PSY260: - L19

Reading §

1. Emotion involves three distinct but interrelated phenomena namely (), (), (), and that are produced in response to an affecting situation.¹
2. The () theory of emotion states that conscious feelings of emotion occur after the mind senses the physiological responses associated with arousal. The () theory of emotion states that conscious feelings of emotion and bodily responses (physiological responses and overt behaviors) occur simultaneously and independently. The () theory of emotion states that a combination of cognitive appraisal and perception of biological changes together determine our experience of emotion.²
3. The () is a collection of nerves and structures that control internal organs and glands and help mediate the physiological components of emotion.³
4. A(n) () is an excessive and irrational fear of an object, a place, or a situation. One type of therapy for conditions of this kind includes (), in which successive approximations of the fear-evoking stimulus are presented while the patient learns to remain relaxed.⁴
5. The () response (also known as ()) is a collection of bodily responses, including increased blood flow to the muscles, increased respiration, and depressed digestion and immune functions, that prepare the organism to deal with a threat either by facing it down or by running away.⁵
6. The principle that it is easiest to retrieve memories that match our current mood or emotional state is known as ().⁶
7. The () is a brain area critical for learning and expressing emotional responses as well as for mediating the emotional modulation of memory.⁷
8. In (), animals learn to make particular responses in order to terminate an aversive stimulus. In (), animals learn to make particular responses in order to prevent exposure to that aversive stimulus.⁸
9. When we experience emotions such as fear or anger, the ANS releases () that help mediate the fight-or-flight response. Two examples are () and ().⁹
10. () is a psychiatric condition that involves feelings of sadness as well as a general loss of initiative and activity. Some think it reflects a type of conditioning called , in which exposure to an uncontrollable punisher teaches an organism that its responses are ineffective, which in turn reduces the motivation to attempt to escape.¹⁰
11. A memory formed under conditions of extreme emotion and that seems especially vivid and long-lasting is called a(n) ().¹¹
12. () theories of emotion are based on the central premise that physiological responses to stimuli come first, and they determine or induce emotions.¹²
13. The () is a cluster of physiological, motor, and conscious reactions that accompany the emotion of fear. An example of a physiological reaction is (), where a mammal’s hair stands on end, making the animal look bigger and more threatening than it is.¹³
14. Any stimulus or event that causes bodily arousal is a form of ().¹⁴
15. () is a psychological disorder that can develop after exposure to a horrific event, with symptoms including (), (), (), and ().¹⁵
16. The laboratory technique called () is used to make neurons responsive to light, such that light stimulation can be used to turn those neurons “on” and “off” at will.¹⁶
17. The () theory of avoidance learning holds that avoidance learning involves an interaction between classical conditioning and operant conditioning. An alternate theory—the () theory—holds that animals choose among possible responses based on the expected outcome of each response.¹⁷
18. Although epinephrine cannot cross the blood–brain barrier, the related neurotransmitter () can enter the brain and affect brain function.¹⁸
19. A () is a classically conditioned response (CR) that is produced in response to a CS that has been paired with an emotion-evoking US.¹⁹
20. Some individuals may respond to threat by protecting offspring and seeking out social support, a strategy known as ().²⁰

Lecture §

• What is emotion
  • What are the 3 facets of emotion?
    1. Physiological response: heart rate changes…
    2. Overt behaviours: smiling…
    3. Conscious feelings: feeling of the emotion…
  • What the are the 6 basic emotions Ekman suggested
    1. Happiness
    2. Surprise
    3. Fear
    4. Sadness
    5. Anger
    6. Disgust
  • What is the biological bases of the physiological components of emtion
    • Its primarily mediated by the Autonomic nervous system (both sympathetic and parasympathetic)
    • Sympathetic: produce the fight-or-flight response
• Emotion in nonhuman animal
  • Do nonhuman animals feel emotions?
    • Evolutionary considerations suggest yes, as we are unlikely to be so different from our animal relatives
    • Darwin noted that fear behaviors are very similar across many mammalian species
      • Similarities include startle, piloerection (hair standing on end), possible loss of bladder control, release of cortisol, increased heart rate, pupil dilation, and more
    • Still, these similarities in behavior don’t necessarily indicate similarities in conscious experience
  • What is conditioned escape and its related to emotions in animals
    • Use negative reinforcement
    • Conditioned avoidance is a variation on conditioned escape
      • Response before stimulation, avoiding it altogether
    • Learned helplessness
      • Inescapable adverse event impair later avoidance learning
      • Just give up on escaping
      • This can generalize to many tasks impairing learning, decreasing effort and dampening mood
    • Inoculation
      • Early success at controlling averse stimuli makes helps to learn conditioned avoidance
• Effect of emotion on learning and memory
  • Define flashbulb memories and its effect on memory encoding
    • Flashbulb memories: very emotional events can lead to particularly vivid episodic memories
    • Flashbulb memories suggest that emotion can greatly increase memory encoding
    • Participants were told a story about a hospital visit as part of an accident had better memory recall than those who were told the story was a drill
• Brain substrates
  • What are the 3 key structures related to emotional learning?
    1. Amygdala: central processing station for emotions
    2. Hippocampus: encodes emotional context
    3. Frontal Lobe: regulates emotional reactions
  • What is the pathway of emotion information from stimulus to physiological reactions
    • Sensory stimulus -> Thalamus -> Forebrain | Amygdala -> ANS | motor cortex

      • Transclude of block f351ad

    1. Collects relevant emotional info from cortex and thalamus; each nucleus has unique projections
    2. Basolateral amygdala receives sensory info
       • Direct input: from the Thalamus: rapid & fuzzy (fast-and rough)
       • Indirect input: from the cortex: slower & accurate
    3. Central nucleus organizes the expression of emotional responses via outputs to ANS and motor systems
  • How does emotions effect memory encoding?
    • Inputs from hormonal system via the brainstem
    • Outputs to the Hippocampus
    • Detailed Steps
      • 
      1. Emotional stimuli cause the release of stress hormones
      2. Adrenal gland then produces epinephrine
      3. Epinephrine activates brainstem nuclei to release Norepinephrine
      4. Norepinephrine activates basolaternal Amygdala
      5. Basolaternal amygdala projects to Hippocampus

Footnotes §

1. physiological response, overt response, conscious feelings ↩

2. James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, two-factor theory ↩

3. ANS ↩

4. phobia, systematic desensitization ↩

5. arousal, fight-or-flight ↩

6. mood congruency of memory ↩

7. amygdala ↩

8. escape conditioning, avoidance conditioning ↩

9. stress hormones, epinephrine, glucocorticoid ↩

10. depression, learned hopelessness ↩

11. flashbulb memory ↩

12. somatic ↩

13. fear response, piloerection ↩

14. stress ↩

15. PTSD, re-experiencing the event (through intrusive recollections, flashbacks, or nightmares); avoidance of reminders of the trauma; emotional numbing; heightened anxiety ↩

16. optogenetics ↩

17. two-factor, cognitive expectancy ↩

18. Norepinephrine ↩

19. conditioned emotional response ↩

20. tend-and-befriend response ↩