Various theory of emotion

1. E
M
O T
Theory of Emotions
Presented by
Vinod Sanjay Rao Sawant
(M.A.Clinical Psychology 2nd year)
I
O
N
Guided by
Prof. Varsha Ma’am
Sub:- Psycho-Diagnosis

2. EMOTION
PHYSIOLOGY OF EMOTIONS
CONTENTS
THEORIES OF EMOTIONS
CONCLUSIONS

3. PART
01

4. What is ?
Reaction
Response
intelligence

5. It is derived from a Latin word “emovere” meaning ‘to
stir up’ or ‘to agitate’
It is an affective experience that accompanies
generalized inner adjustment and mental and
physiological stirred up states in the individual and that
shows itself in his overt behavior.
a conscious mental reaction (such as anger or fear)
subjectively experienced as strong feeling usually
directed toward a specific object and typically
accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in
the body
a state of feeling i.e. the affective aspect of
consciousness.

6. PART
02

7. 1.Physical reaction
2. Conscious experience or feeling
The aroused state that is part of
emotion is due to increased activation
of brain cells in
•Cerebral cortex
•Hypothalamus
•Limbic system
•ARAS
• Endocrine glands
• Autonomic nervous
system
• Brain
Emotion has 2 components

8. They affect the emotional behavior by increasing or decreasing the secretion of the
respective hormones
Dopamine
mood swings and
cognitive problems
GABA
(anti anxiety, anti pain, sleep)
Restlessness and anxiety
Oestrogen
anxiety and mood swings
Progesterone
insomnia, head ache and anxiety
Serotonin
(anti depressant ) aggressive and
impulsive behaviour
Testosterone
decreased sex drive and erectile
dysfunction

9. 1. Sympathetic division
2. Parasympathetic division
Consists of two divisions
Sympathetic division
Adrenal gland
ADR, NA
Increase in HR
Increase in BP
Increased blood sugar
Pupillary dilatation
Inhibits salivation
Relaxes bronchi
Inhibits peristalsis
Skin perspires
Fear or
anger
Calmness
relaxed period
Parasympathetic division
Decrease in HR
Decrease in BP
Pupillary constriction
Increases salivation
Constricts bronchi
Stimulates peristalsis
Skin dries
Calmness and
relaxed period

11. It controls the somatic and autonomic
patterns of activity .
In others words, it controls the
physiological expression of emotion
The aroused state that is part
of emotion is due to increased
activation of brain cells in
•Cerebral cortex
•Hypothalamus
•Limbic system
•ARAS

12. The Sympathetic and Parasympathetic division have
centers in the hypothalamus.
•Stimulation of the posterior area of the
hypothalamus  sympathetic activity  anxiety or
tension
•Stimulation of the anterior area of the hypothalamus
 parasympathetic activity  depression or
relaxation
Specific emotions result in specific bodily changes.
Happiness  Heart Rate
Surprise
Angry
Fearfulness  Heart Rate
Sad mood

13. Facial expressions and emotion
•Facial movements can influence emotional experience.
An individual who is forced to smile in an event will
find the event more enjoyable one.
•Suppressing facial expression 
emotions
•Facial muscle movements are closely related
to the body’s physiological response in
emotion.
•Emotions are also displayed through
1. Tone of voice
2. Behaviour
3. Body language

14. PART
03

15. THEORIES OF EMOTION
In 1870, Charles Darwin said
•Emotions evolved because they were adaptive.
• allowed humans and animals to survive and reproduce.
•.Feelings of love and affection lead people to seek mates and reproduce.
•Feelings of fear compel people to either fight or flee the source of danger.
•Emotions motivate people to respond quickly to stimuli, which improve the chances of success and survival.
•Understanding the emotions of other people and animals also plays a crucial role in safety and survival. If you
encounter a hissing animal you quickly realize and run away.

16. Proposed by William James and Carl Lange
in 1885
Felt emotion is the perception of bodily changes.
Emotion spring from physiological reaction.
The perception of stimulus
physiological changes
specific sensations
brain interprets these sensations as different emotions.
•Bodily changes, both the internal changes in the
ANS and external movements of the body precede the
emotional experience.
•For this theory to work there should be different sets
of internal and external bodily changes for each
emotion.

17. JAMES LANGES THEORY
On most occasions emotion occurs immediately after the stimulus. E.g. hearing a loud bang and
being startled. But our visceral responses could not be that fast.
In case of less intense emotion, the bodily patterns can’t be perceived.
On many occasions we experience physiological changes but do not experience emotion e.g.
joggers have a pounding heart but there is no associated emotion.
With the same physiological arousal, people can experience different emotions. E.g. a person
may have racing heart both when he is angry and when he is afraid.
Criticism against James Lange Theory

18. Cannon Bard Theory
Proposed by Walter Cannon and Philip Bard in 1927.
Felt emotions and physiological responses are independent events.
They occur simultaneously.

19. James -Lange Theory Vs Bard Theory

20. Proposed by Stanley Schachter and
Jerome Singer
Two factors jointly determine the emotional
experience.
•Physiological arousal
•Interpretation of the experience based on the
environmental cues.
 Bodily state of emotional arousal is much same for
most of the emotions we feel. But people have different
emotions because of the differences in the way they
interpret.
In other words, our emotional arousal depends on both
physiological changes and cognitive or mental
interpretation of those changes. Since this interpretation
is purely by cognitive functioning, cognitive factors are
said to be the potent determiners of emotional states.

21. Subjects injected Inj. ADR
Informed that Inj. Not Informed that Inj.
Will cause arousal Will cause arousal
Attributed arousal Ignorant about
To injunction injunction Action
put in a put in a
happy situation angrier situation
more happier more angrier
Different emotions were experienced with the same
state of physiological arousal

22. Proposed by Richard Lazarus in 1970.
 Emotions we feel result from appraisals or evaluation of
information’s coming from the
• environmental situations
• the body
• the memory
 In addition, appraisal comes from
• Memories of past encounters with similar situations
• Dispositions to respond in certain ways
• Consideration of consequences of actions that might result
from the emotional state
Outcome of complex appraisal of all these information is the emotion.

23. Subjects shown an emotion producing movie
Circumcision rites of Australian aborigeenes
4 different sound tracks
Trauma denial intellectualization no
track track track track
Stress reaction
HR, Skin conductance
Highest lowest lowest next highest
Sound tracks induced to make different appraisals of the
same stimulus – film
Different emotion occurs to same stimulus because of the
differences in the appraisal of the stimulus.

24. Reappraisal
It is an important part of the cognitive theory.
It is a way of coping with the stressful situations.
Suppose
If called by  appraisal  FEAR
The Dean
You got the  reappraisal  FEAR PLEASURE
First mark
People reappraise with the emotion producing stimuli with
•Denial – it is not stressful at all think positively
•Intellectualization – this is all very interesting
•Reaction formation – this isn’t stressful, in fact it’s a great
learning experience
These kinds of people are able to reduce the intensity of
disturbed emotional feelings which accompany stressful
situations.

25. Coined by Donald B Lindsley in 1951
•Emotion represents a state of heightened arousal
rather than a psychological, physiological or
biological process.
•Arousal lies on a wide continuum ranging from a
very low level of deep sleep to extremely agitated
states of rage or anger.
Emotion provoking stimuli
ARAS
cortex
musculature

26. Given in 1966, one of the first ones to use the concept of cognition. This concept is known
as ‘sequential model’. The steps involved in emotions are
1. Perception of the stimulus
2. Appraisal : stimulus is beneficial or harmful
3. Determining emotions with regards to the situation
4. Expressing emotions also accompanying physiological responses
5. Finally they all give an idea to approach a situation or not.

27. Given by Richard Solomon and John Corbit.
• Every emotional arousal has an opposite, i.e.
when one type of emotion is elicited there must
be an opposite to suppress or cancel it. In this way
the emotional arousal remains at some baseline.
• If you are frightened by a mean dog,
Fear
Relief
• If the fear-causing stimulus continues to be present,
after a while
Fear
Relief

28. Emotions are
• Indistinct
• Intermingled
• Constantly changing
Robert Plutchik has proposed a theory in 1970.
Concerned with what are called primary or basic emotions.
• According to him, the emotions differ in three ways:
1. Intensity,
2. Similarity,
3. Polarity or oppositeness. He uses these three dimensions to draw a spatial
model.
There are eight segments in his model, representing eight primary emotions.
Within each segment,
• The strongest variety of the emotion is at the top of the segment with
progressively weaker emotions towards the bottom.
• The similar emotions are adjacent to each other and the opposite emotions
are at the opposite poles.

29. • Lie detectors
• They are also called as polygraphs.
• They make simultaneous records of several bodily reactions thought to be indicative of
emotional arousal. They measure the changes in BP, HR, breathing rate, depth of
breathing.

30. Abnormalities of basic emotions
■ Intensity of emotions
•diminution - anhedonia
•Exacerbation – mania, ecstasy
■ Duration, time and quality of experience, including lability of mood, pathological crying and
laughing, parathymia and paramimia
■ Expression of emotion, including blunting and flattening of affect
■ Appropriateness to object, including phobia
Abnormality of physiological arousal
■ Alexithymia
Abnormalities of evaluation of social context
■ Negative cognitive schemas
■ Prosopoaffective agnosia
■ Receptive vocal dysprosody
Classification of disorders of emotion

32. • None of the theories is a comprehensive theory of emotion
• The biological structure of an individual modulated by the environmental
experiences, in one way or the other, must activate the internal organs and the
cerebral cortex for the various physiological responses and affective experiences
that are experienced by the individual while going through an emotional
behavior.

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