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a) Ekman posits that all people share an overlap in facial language
b) Seven facial expressions are recognized and produced cross-culturally
in response to the emotions of happiness, surprise, anger, disgust, fear,
sadness, and contempt
c) Ekman used a neuro-cultural position to reflect the joint contributions
of the brain and culture in emotional expression
3. How does Culture Constrain Emotional Expression?
a) Different cultures have varying standards for management of emotion
b) Cultures establish social rules or norms regarding when and where
certain emotions should be displayed
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B. Theories of Emotion
1. Theories of emotion attempt to explain the relationship between physiological
and psychological aspects of the experience of emotion
2. The physiology of emotion refers to those responses that are designed to
mobilize the body for action to deal with the source of the emotion
a) The autonomic nervous system (ANS) prepares the body for emotional
responses through action of the sympathetic and parasympathetic
nervous systems
(i) The sympathetic nervous system is more active when stimuli
are mild and unpleasant
(ii) The parasympathetic nervous system is more active when
stimuli are mild and pleasant
b) Strong emotions such as fear or anger activate the body’s emergency
reaction system, which prepares the body for potential danger
c) Integration of hormonal and neural aspects of arousal is controlled by
the hypothalamus and the limbic system
(i) The amygdala (part of the limbic system) serves as a gateway
for emotion and a filter for memory
(ii) The hypothalamus, located in the cortex, is involved as
switching station, with its connections to other parts of the
body
3. James-Lange Theory of Body Reaction
a) Holds that emotion stems from bodily feedback, in which the
perception of stimulus causes autonomic arousal and other bodily
actions that lead to the experience of an emotion
b) Considered a peripheralist theory, it assigns the most prominent role
in the chain of emotional response to visceral reactions of the ANS
4. Cannon-Bard Theory of Central Neural Processes
a) Takes a centralist focus on the actions of the central nervous system
(CNS)
b) Four objections to James-Lange Theory:
(i) Visceral activity is irrelevant for emotional experience
(ii) Visceral responses are similar across different arousal
situations, e.g., love making and fear
(iii) Many emotions are not distinguishable from others simply by
their physiological components
(iv) ANS responses are too slow to be the source of emotions
elicited in a split-second
c) Cannon-Bard proposed that emotion requires the brain to intercede
between input of stimulus and output of response
d) Proposed that emotion-arousing stimuli have simultaneous effects,
causing both bodily arousal and the subjective experience of emotion
(via the cortex)
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5. Cognitive Appraisal Theories of Emotion
a) Schachter proposed emotion to be the joint effect of physiological
arousal and cognitive appraisal, with both necessary for emotion to
occur
b) Lazarus maintains that “emotional experience cannot be understood
solely in terms of what happens in the person or in the brain, but
grows out of ongoing transactions with the environment that are
evaluated.”
c) Challenges to Lazarus-Schachter
(i) Awareness of physiological arousal is not a necessary
condition
(ii) Experiencing strong arousal without obvious cause does not
lead to a neutral, undifferentiated state
(iii) Zajonc demonstrates possibility of having preferences
without inferences, and to feel without knowing why—the
mere exposure effect
d) Safest conclusion is that cognitive appraisal is an important, but not
the only, aspect of emotional experience
C. Functions of Emotion
1. Motivation and Arousal
a) Emotions serve a motivational function by arousing the individual to
take action with regard to an experienced or imagined event
b) Emotions direct and sustain behaviors toward specific goals
c) Emotions provide feedback by amplifying or intensifying selected life
experiences, by signaling that a response is significant or has self-
relevance
d) Emotions give an awareness of inner conflicts
e) Yerkes-Dodson law: Performance of difficult tasks decreases, as
arousal increases, whereas performance of easy tasks increases as
arousal increases
(i) Relationship between arousal and performance has a U-
shaped function, predicting that too little or too much arousal
impairs performance
(ii) Explores possibility that optimal arousal level produces peak
performance
(iii) Key to level of arousal is task difficulty
2. Social Functions of Emotion
a) Emotions serve the function of regulating social interactions
(i) Stimulation of prosocial behaviors
(ii) Aid in social communication
3. Emotional Effects on Cognitive Functioning
a) Mood-congruent processing: Material congruent with one’s prevailing
mood is more likely to be attended to, noticed, and processed at a
deeper level than noncongruent material
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b) Mood-dependent memory refers to recall of a previous emotional event
that occurs when the individual is in the same mood as during the
previous event
II.Stress of Living
A. Definitions
1. Stress is the pattern of responses an organism makes to stimulus events that
disturb its equilibrium and tax or exceed its ability to cope
2. Stressor refers to a stimulus event that places a demand on an organism for
some kind of adaptive response
B. Physiological Stress Reactions
1. Acute stress refers to transient states of arousal, with typically clear onset and
offset patterns
2. Chronic stress refers to a state of enduring arousal, continuing over time, in
which demands placed on the organism are perceived by the organism as
being greater than the inner and outer resources available for dealing with
them
3. Emergency Reactions to Acute Threats
a) Cannon first described the fight-or-flight response, a sequence of
internal activity that prepare the body to either defend itself or to run
away when faced with danger
b) Physiology of the stress response:
(i) Hypothalamus referred to as the stress center due to its dual
functions in emergencies:
(a) Control of autonomic nervous system
(b) Activation of the pituitary gland
(ii) ANS regulates activities of organs
(a) The adrenal medulla to release epinephrine and
norepinephrine
(b) The pituitary to secrete thyrotrophic hormone (TTH)
(stimulating the thyroid) and adrenocorticotrophic
hormone (ACTH) (stimulating the adrenal cortex)
4. The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) and Chronic Stress
a) Selye described the GAS as including three stages:
(i) Alarm reaction
(ii) Stage of resistance
(iii) Stage of exhaustion
b) Process is successful at restoration of body’s balance only when
stressor is short-lived or acute
c) Chronic stress compromises integrity of the immune system
d) Application of GAS has been valuable in explaining psychosomatic
disorders
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C. Psychological Stress Reactions
1. Major Life Events
a) Major changes in the life situation are the root cause of stress for many
individuals
(i) The Social Readjustment Rating scale (SRRS) rates degree of
adjustment required by life changes, both pleasant and
unpleasant, is measured in total number of life-change units
(ii) The life experience survey (LES) measures effects of life events
in a different manner than the SRRS
(a) Provides scores for both increases and decreases
(b) Scores reflect individual appraisals of events
(iii) Considerations for interpreting measurements of stressful life
events include:
(a) Tendency for studies to be retrospective, thus dependent on
recall
(b) Prospective studies finding significant correlations
between development of medical problems and earlier
accumulation of life stress units
2. Catastrophic and Traumatic Events
a) Catastrophic events are particularly stressful due to uncontrollability,
unpredictability, and ambiguity
b) Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
(i) Delayed reaction to stress, that occurs repeatedly
(a) Emotional numbing to daily events
(b) Feelings of alienation from others
(c) Emotional pain
(d) Sleep disorders
(e) Survivor guilt
(f) Concentration problems
(g) Exaggerated startle response
(ii) Clinical manifestations of PTSD are described as conditioned
responses, learned in the context of a life-threatening stimulus
situation
(iii) Responses can persist, becoming a chronic syndrome known
as the residual stress pattern
3. Chronic Stressors
a) Chronic stressors endure over time. Such as:
(i) Overpopulation and crime
(ii) Health crisis such as cancer and AIDS
(iii) Threat of nuclear war
b) Some population groups experience chronic stress as a function of
their SES or racial/ethnic identity
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4. Daily Hassles
a) Daily hassles are recurring day-to-day stressors that confront most
people much of the time
b) Relationship between hassles and health problems indicates that the
more frequent and intense the hassles, the poorer the health of the
individual, both physically and mentally
c) Stressors that occur on a daily basis may have a negative impact on
cognitive functioning, including memory impairment
D. Coping with Stress
1. Coping is the process of dealing with internal or external demands that are
perceived as straining or exceeding an individual’s resources
2. Coping may consist of behavioral, emotional, or motivational responses and
thoughts
3. Appraisal of stress
a) Cognitive appraisal plays a central role in defining the situation, refers
to the cognitive interpretation and evaluation of a stressor
b) Lazarus distinguished two phases in cognitive appraisal
(i) Primary appraisal is used for initial evaluation of the
seriousness of a demand
(ii) Secondary appraisal begins the process of deciding that
something must be done
c) Stress moderator variables are those variables that change the impact of
a stressor on a given type of stress reaction
4. Types of Coping Responses
a) Anticipatory coping precedes a potentially stressful event
b) Two main methods of coping
(i) Problem-directed coping, attempts to change the stressor or
one’s relationship to it through direct actions and/or
problem-solving activities; most often used for controllable
stressors
(ii) Emotion-focused coping, changing the self through activities
that make one feel better, but do not change the stressor; most
often used for uncontrollable stressors
5. Modifying cognitive strategies are adaptive methods of changing one’s
evaluations of stressors and self-defeating cognitions about addressing them;
two methods of mentally coping with stress are:
a) Reappraisal of the nature of the stressors
b) Restructuring of one’s cognitions about one’s stress reactions
c) Meichenbaum proposed a three-phase process that allows for stress
inoculation
(i) Phase 1: Individuals work to develop greater awareness of
their actual behavior—what instigates it and what the results
are
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(ii) Phase 2: Identification of new behaviors that negate the
maladaptive, self-defeating behaviors of the past
(iii) Phase 3: Once engaged in adaptive behaviors, appraisal of
consequences of new behaviors from a positive perspective
d) Perceived control is a main theme of coping, the feeling that one has the
ability to make a difference in the outcome of an event or experience
6. Social Support as a Coping Resource
a) Social support refers to the resources others provide, giving the
message that one is loved, cared for, esteemed, and connected to others
in a network of communication and mutual obligation
b) Other forms of support include:
(i) Tangible support: money, transportation, housing
(ii) Informational support: advice, personal feedback, and
information
c) Positive effects of social support can improve recovery from diagnosed
illness and reduce risk of death from disease
III. Health Psychology
A. Definitions
1. Health psychology is the branch of psychology devoted to understanding the
way people stay healthy, the reasons they become ill, and the way they
respond when they do become ill.
2. Health refers to the general condition of the body and mind in terms of
soundness and vigor.
B. The Biopsychosocial Model of Health
1. Traditional health practices employ practices that enhance the quality of life
a) Hozho, a Navajo concept, sees illness as the outcome of disharmony,
with traditional healing ceremonies that seek to banish illness and
restore health through efforts of the shaman and the combined efforts
of the family members, working with the ill person to reachieve a state
of harmony
b) Among the Nyukusa peoples of Africa, any sign of disharmony or
deviation from expected norms generates swift communal intervention
to rectify the situation
c) Western view of medicine typically involves solely a biological or
pharmacological intervention
2. Toward a Biopsychosocial Model
a) In contrast to non-Western cultures, which often assumed a link
between body and mind, the traditional Western biomedical model is
dualistic, medically treating the body separately from the psyche
b) The biopsychosocial model links physical health to state of mind and
environment. It has three components:
(i) Bio acknowledges the reality of biological illness
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(ii) Psycho and social acknowledge the psychological and social
components of health
c) Concept of wellness incorporates physical, intellectual, emotional
spiritual, social, and environmental aspects of your life
d) Health behavior refers to the undertaking of an activity for purposes of
preventing disease or detecting it while still asymptomatic
C. Health Promotion
1. Health promotion means development of general strategies and specific tactics
to eliminate or reduce the risk of getting sick
2. Smoking
a) Smoking may be initiated as a sensation-seeking mode
b) Readiness to quit smoking entails five stages:
(i) Precontemplation, not yet thinking about quitting
(ii) Contemplation, thinking about quitting but no behavioral
changes
(iii) Preparation, getting ready to quit
(iv) Action, taking of action by establishing behavior goals
(v) Maintenance, now a nonsmoker, individual tries to remain so
3. AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)
a) The causal agent is HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)
(i) Infectious agent is not airborne
(ii) Requires direct access to the bloodstream to produce infection
b) The virus is passed from one person to another in one of two ways:
(i) The exchange of semen or blood during sexual contact
(ii) The sharing of intravenous needles and syringes used for
injection of intravenous drugs
c) Who is at risk for AIDS?