AP Psychology: Emotion, Stress and Health (Modules 40-44)
This flashcard set explains the nature of emotions as involving physiological arousal, behavior, and conscious experience. It also compares major emotion theories—James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, and Schachter’s Two-Factor—which differ in how they link bodily responses with emotional experience.
emotions
A response of the whole organism involving physiological arousal, expressive behaviors and conscious experience.
Key Terms
emotions
A response of the whole organism involving physiological arousal, expressive behaviors and conscious experience.
James-Lange Theory
Our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses and the subjective experience of emotion.
Cannon-Bard Theory
An emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers physiological responses and the subjective experience of emotion.
Schachter’s Two-Factor Theory
To experience emotion, one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal.
What part of the nervous system triggers many of the physical responses we have when we experience an emotion?
The autonomic nervous system mobilizes your body for action via its sympathetic division’s command to release epinephrine and norepinephrine in tim...
What is the point to remember about the spillover effect?
Arousal fuels emotion; cognition channels it.
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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
emotions | A response of the whole organism involving physiological arousal, expressive behaviors and conscious experience. |
James-Lange Theory | Our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses and the subjective experience of emotion. |
Cannon-Bard Theory | An emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers physiological responses and the subjective experience of emotion. |
| To experience emotion, one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal. |
What part of the nervous system triggers many of the physical responses we have when we experience an emotion? | The autonomic nervous system mobilizes your body for action via its sympathetic division’s command to release epinephrine and norepinephrine in times of crisis; its parasympathetic division calms the body once the crisis has passed. |
What is the point to remember about the spillover effect? | Arousal fuels emotion; cognition channels it. |
Do different emotions have very different patterns of activation in the brain? | Yes, emotions differ in the brain circuits they use. |
Are humans good or bad at recognizing emotions in other people? | Good |
Are men or women better at analyzing people’s nonverbal expressions? | Women |
Do facial expressions have different meanings in different cultures? | No |
According to Darwin, why would it have been important evolutionarily for facial muscles to be universal to every culture? | Facial features were crucial channels of communication before the development of language and thus universal facial features allowed humans to survive. |
Facial-feedback effect | Facial movements/expressions can influence one’s experience of emotion. |
What part of the brain is responsible for fear? | Amygdala |
Catharsis | Emotion release; the catharsis hypothesis maintains that “releasing” aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges. |
Feel-good, do-good phenomenon | People tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood. |
Subjective well-being | Self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people’s quality of life. |
Adaptation-level phenomenon | Our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income, relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience. |
Happiness is not related to what 4 factors? | Age, gender, parenthood, physical attractiveness |
Stress | The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging. |
| Mobilize the immune system to fend off infections and heal wounds; motivates us to conquer problems. |
What are the harmful effects of prolonged stress? | More likely to experience circulatory, digestive, respiratory and infectious disease; higher risk of chronic disease. |
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) | Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases: alarm, resistance and exhaustion. |
What are the three phases of responding to stress? | Alarm, resistance and exhaustion |
Famous psychologist who founded the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) | Hans Selye |
What happens in Phase 1 of the General Adaptation Syndrome? | Alarm: Your sympathetic nervous system activates suddenly. Your heart rate increases, blood is diverted to skeletal muscles and you experience shock. |
What happens in Phase 2 of the General Adaptation Syndrome? | Resistance: Your body temperature, blood pressure and respiration remain high. There is a sudden outpouring of hormones. |
What happens in Phase 3 of the General Adaptation Syndrome? | Exhaustion: Your body's reserves are depleted. |
What could happen if exhaustion is prolonged? | Increased vulnerability to illness, collapse and death. |
Tend-and-befriend response | Stress response in which one seeks to give support; alternative to "fight or flight" response |
What are the three main types of stressors? | Catastrophes, significant life changes, daily hassles |
Type A personality | Friedman and Rosenman's term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive and anger-prone people |
Type B personality | Friedman and Rosenman's term for easygoing, relaxed people |
What type of personality is more likely to have cardiovascular troubles? | Type A |
Psycho-physiological Illnesses | Literally "mind-body" illness; any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches |
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) | The study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health. |
Can stress predict a faster decline in those with AIDS? | Yes, there is a correlation between stress and 1) a progression from HIV infection to AIDS and 2) the speed of decline in those affected. |
Does stress create cancer cells? | No |
Coping | Alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive or behavioral methods. |
Problem-focused coping | Attempting to alleviate stress directly -- by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor. |
Emotion-focused coping | Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction. |
How does perceived loss of control affect our health? | We become more vulnerable to ill health. |
Biofeedback | A system for electronically recording, amplifying and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension. |
How are the results of biofeedback testing used? | Allows one to learn techniques for controlling a particular physiological response. |
What are three possible explanations for the correlation between religious involvement and longevity? | 1) Healthier lifestyles; smoke and drink less. |