Psy 336 Final Exam

Front 1

Can money buy happiness?

Back 1

No
-lottery winners usually spend all their winnings in the first few years and brings them back to their original status
-the happiness never shifted, it was just temporary bliss

Front 2

Boredom

Back 2

the element in which human emotion goes through a particular circumstance in which excitement or appealing conditions are not occuring (needs to be fixed)
-the opposite of boredom is excitement NOT pleasure

Front 3

Why does Russell think envy is so unfortunate?

Back 3

envy is one of the most potent causes of unhappiness
-an unfortunate characteristic of ordinary human nature is that we think in comparisons

Front 4

What are Seligman's 3 causes of happiness?

Back 4

1. pleasure (weakest)- things that feel good
2. involvement - being immersed in things like family, work and hobbies
3. meaning - using personal strengths to serve a larger end/belief in a cause

Front 5

What are some other causes of happiness?

Back 5

-understanding and being aware of your "place" in life
-companionship
-friendly interest in people and things
*likes to observe people and finds pleasure in their individual traits

Front 6

Which personality traits tend to be correlated with happiness?

Back 6

-extroverted personality--positively associated with happiness

-neuroticism personality--negatively associated with happiness

Front 7

does happiness decline with age?

Back 7

in children aged 9-12, happier children tended to be more social, less shy emotional and anxious
-they were more active
-happiness doesn't decline with age
-young people mispredict happiness levels in old age

Front 8

are rage attacks associated with brain damage? why?

Back 8

yes
-Lewis compared imprisioned delinquents to other delinquents with different medical histories and accidents and injuries
-62% of incarcerated delinquents had severe face or head injuries
-98.6% of "violents" had at least 1 neurological abnormality
-overall 75% of violents had suffered violent head injuries as children

Front 9

What happens when an individual's amygdala is electrically stimulated?

Back 9

-previously violent individuals became violent
-perviously nonviolent patients did not become violent

Front 10

not all brain damaged people are subject to rage attacks, why?

Back 10

in one study, 10 in 2000 cases of head trauma displayed sudden explosive "Rage attacks", therefore rage attacks cannot fully be determined by brain injuries

Front 11

is there such a thing as a "rage circuit"?

Back 11

no, there is no brain circuitry that is irrespective to environment and learning

Front 12

What four domains of temperament have a strong genetic component?

Back 12

1. emotionality --> intensity of reaction
2. sociability --> strong desire to be with others
3. level of activity --> total energy output
4. inpulsivity --> tendency to respond to events immediately without inhibiting one's feelings

Front 13

How to genes determine temperament? single gene, multiple genes, etc?

Back 13

-there is no "single gene" for a given temperament
-any inherited predispositions are more diffuse and generalized than those of lower animals

-genes provide us with a reaction range and environmental events determine where in the range an individual will fall

Front 14

epinephrine
(its role in fear, anger and other emotions)

Back 14

-it is the energy behind most of our emotional states
(fear, anger, excitement, anxiety, jealousy and joy)

Front 15

role of appraisal in anger and mixed emotions

Back 15

-anger is generally motivated by personal gain, retaliation and punishment
-most events that happen to us are ambiguous and our emotional responses to them depend on how we explain them

Front 16

what other emotions do people typically feel along with anger?

Back 16

-ppl report feeling anxious or depressed while angry
-also afraid, and anger that they are afraid

Front 17

people who feel emotions more intensely than others think in similar ways, what are 3 typical ways of thinking?

Back 17

1. personalize events
2. pay selective attention
3. overgeneralize

-this is important because it is indicated that we can seperate our emotions from our mental lives
-also indicates that there are genetic or organic causes to emotional disorders

Front 18

HPA axis

Back 18

hypothalimic-pituitary-adrenal axis

Front 19

what is the biological process of the hypothalamus, how is it regulated and what is the process for?

Back 19

CRH is released into the blood by neurons in the paragentricular nucleus of the hypothalamus
-in response, ACTH is then released by the anterior pituitary gland
-cortisol is released by the adrenal glands in response to the ACTH
-when the central nucleus of the amygdala becomes active, the stress response ensues
-the hippocampus contains glucocortcoid receptors that respond to cortisol released in response to the HPA system activation

Front 20

effects of chronic stress on brain tissues

Back 20

-chronic stress = continuous cortisol exposure
-can cause hippocampal neurons to wither and die in experimental animals
-sets off a vicious cycle of more cortisol release and hippocampal damage

Front 21

what does the HPA system have to do with chronic stress?

Back 21

the amygdala and hypocampus regulate the HPA system and stress response in a push-pull fashion
-the amygdala stimulate the HPA system
-the hippocampus inhibits the HPA system

Front 22

is the way we handle anger connected to the ability to reduce stress?

Back 22

anger and stress are not necessarily related

Front 23

"anger in" verses "anger out"

Back 23

"anger in" style is thought to be associated with suppressed hostility
-"anger in" causes stress, is an argument that isn't supported

Front 24

is anger a state or a trait?

Back 24

the context of anger shapes our responses to it

Front 25

is there a relationship between anger and high blood pressure?

Back 25

the connection between anger and high blood pressure depends on your age, race, sex, social class, and the reason why you feel angry
-suppressed anger can be bad cuz it allows bad situations to continue
-expressed anger can be bad if in revealing our feelings, we make the stressful situation even worse

Front 26

Anger and hypertension?

Back 26

some psychologists believe by constantly suppressing anger being hypertensive keeps their blood pressure elevated
-release the anger and blood pressure should fall

Front 27

is the research on hypertension and anger consistant?

Back 27

it is contradicting

Front 28

what is more strongly related to blood pressure than anger?

Back 28

anxiety

Front 29

what is one theory behind why people develop hypertension?

Back 29

as a response to painful and prolonged difficulties that they cannot control

Front 30

what produces elevated blood-pressure levels and the body's inability to regulate them?

Back 30

-full answer is not known
-but most likely a combination of relentless environmental stress and genetic susceptibility

Front 31

acute stress and cardiovascular disease?

Back 31

acute stress can cause:
-constriction of the coronary arteries
-arrhythmias in heartbeat
-blood clots
-increased viscosity of the blood

Front 32

how exactly does stress increase a person's susceptibility to infectious diseases?

Back 32

-caused by decreased production of a particular immunoglobulin
-being unhappy or depressed decreased IgA levels

Front 33

is aggression the instinctive catharsis for anger?

Back 33

no

Front 34

what did Hokanson find about catharsis habits?

Back 34

-found that aggression was cathartic in men
-but aggression can only be cathartic against peers and subordinates
-not if the target is an authority figure or an innocent bystander
-aggressive catharsis is a learned reaction to anger, not an instinctive one

Front 35

is aggression usually cathartic?

Back 35

- for men, yes

-for women, friendliness was cathartic

Front 36

do the same principles for anger and aggression apply to children and adults?

Back 36

yes, the same principles apply

Front 37

do couples who yell at each other feel more or less angry afterward?

Back 37

more angry

Front 38

when someone is angry what pattern are they most likely to follow?

Back 38

they are going to do what worked for them before

Front 39

Does taking out anger get rid of it or make you feel less angry?

Back 39

no it is a myth
-taking out an emotion rehearses it
-anger is often socially created

Front 40

are tantrums and other childhood rages healthy expressions of anger that forestall neurosis?

Back 40

no, that is a myth
-occurs between 1-2 years

Front 41

how is a child's anger thought to have a social purpose?

Back 41

human survival depends on our attachment to others
-

Front 42

when you allow your child to scream, hit and smash objects what are you really doing?

Back 42

-increasing the aggressiveness of the child
-teaching a cathartic habit
-attending to form of anger while ignoring its legitimate cause

Front 43

under what conditions will expressing anger produce beneficial effects?

Back 43

-anger must be directed at the target of your anger
-expression of anger must restore your sense of control over the situation & your sense of justice
-you and your target must speak the same anger language

Front 44

aristotle's view on emotions

Back 44

-emotions depend on what we believe (our evaluations)
-this idea gave people a sense of control over their emotions

Front 45

rhetoric, how do we persuade others?

Back 45

-the listener is more likely to believe a good person than a bad person
-people are persuaded when what is said stirs emotions
-people are persuaded by arguments that seem truthful

Front 46

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin

Back 46

-humans are more closely related to some animals genetically and behaviorally than to others
-observed emotional expressions in nonhuman species

Front 47

where do our emotions come from?

Back 47

habits (reflex-like mechanisms) that in our evolutionary or individual past had once been useful
-significance in evolutionary thinking
-certain behavioral responses show how related to even lower animals we are
-emotions link us to our past

Front 48

why did Darwin argue that emotions are universal?

Back 48

observed emotional expressions in nonhuman species as well as in adult and infant humans
-he catalogued a number of expressions

Front 49

James-Lange Theory of Emotions

Back 49

-James reversed the traditional belief that emotion results from the perception of an event
-perception causes bodily reactions that are often then experienced as emotions
-emotions give "color and warmth" to experience

Front 50

what is the difference between the traditional view of emotions and the james-lange theory?

Back 50

traditional: we see a bear, become frightened and run away because we are afraid

james-lange: we see a bear, run away, then experience fear due to physiological changes while we run

Front 51

what part of Phineas Gage's brain was destroyed?

Back 51

-his frontal lobes

Front 52

why is the phineas gage story important?

Back 52

the first case to suggest that damage to specific regions of the brain might affect personality and behavior

Front 53

what distinctly human properties were damaged by the destruction of the frontal lobes?

Back 53

-the ability to anticipate the future and plan accordingly within a complex social enviornment
•The sense of responsibility toward the self and others
•The ability to orchestrate one’s survival deliberately, at the command of one’s free will

Front 54

what important human skill did Gage lose?

Back 54

his ability to plan this future as a social being

Front 55

what do the subcortical regions do?

Back 55

are associated with emotions (e.g., amygdala, hypothalamus, limbic system)

Front 56

cerebral cortex

Back 56

•Cerebral cortex may function to modulate the output of these subcortical structures

Front 57

schachter & singer experiment

Back 57

•Subjects injected with epinephrine
Ss uninformed of drug’s effects responded to particular experimental setting with heightened emotions (e.g., became happy or angry)
-Ss informed of drug’s arousing effects responded to particular experimental setting with significantly less emotions

Front 58

2-factor theory of emotion

Back 58

emotion is partitioned into two components:
1. bodily physiological arousal
2. appraisal

Front 59

General finding of the Dutton & Aron (1974) experiments

Back 59

•Male passers-by from two bridges (10 ft vs. 200 ft above water/rocks)
•Approached by male or female to fill out questionnaire and Thematic Apperception Test (ambiguous pix can assign meaning to)
•Ss approached by female responded with significantly sexual imagery to ambiguous pix
•Effect increased in group crossing 200 ft bridge (more likely to call female interviewer)

Front 60

Transfer of arousal (arousal assoc w/ fear induced by crossing bridge trans. Mistakenly to sexual energy).

Back 60

• Male Ss participated in what they thought was an experiment on the effects of electric shock
• All saw “an attractive female” participating with them, but did not talk to her (she was actually a confederate)
• Ss and female confederate tossed a coin to determine whether they’d receive a painful or non-painful shock
• Completed a questionnaire and Thematic Apperception Test (shown ambiguous pictures)
• Ss who were anxious in anticipation of receiving painful shock were more attracted to female confederate and responded to Thematic Apperception test with more sexual imagery than Ss expecting non-painful shock
• Effect of transfer of arousal confirmed and further replicated by other researchers

Front 61

facial expression and most bodily response only last for...

Back 61

a few seconds

Front 62

self-reported emotions typically last

Back 62

between a few minutes and a few hours

Front 63

how long does a "mood" last for?

Back 63

hours, days or weeks

Front 64

what does a "mood" lack?

Back 64

intentionality

Front 65

emotional disorders last how long?

Back 65

weeks or months

Front 66

what is at the core of personality/temperament

Back 66

a strong emotional component

Front 67

Darwin's theory of evolution

Back 67

the reproductive capacity of all living organisms allows for many more offspring than can survive in a given enviornment
-therefore there is a struggle for survival
-among the offspring of any given species, there are vast INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES, some of which are more conducive to survival than others
***this results in the survival of the fittest

Front 68

natural selection

Back 68

of adaptive characteristics from individual differences
-occurs among the offspring of a species

Front 69

superabundance

Back 69

animals and plants produce more offspring than necessary merely to reproduce themselves

Front 70

variation

Back 70

each offspring is somewhat different than the others and differences are passed on by heredity

Front 71

natural selection

Back 71

characteristics that allow the individual to be adapted to the environment they are in, disadvantageous characteristics are selected against

Front 72

selection pressures

Back 72

features of the physical or social environment that determines how individuals need to evolve in order to survive and reproduce

Front 73

intrasexual competition

Back 73

occurs within a sex for access to mates

Front 74

intersexual competition

Back 74

process by which one sex selects specific kinds of traits in the other sex

Front 75

adaptation

Back 75

genetically based traits that allow organisms to respond well to specific selection pressures and to survive and reproduce

Front 76

epiphenomenon

Back 76

traits that are thought to be byproducts of other adaptations, serve no apparent evolutionary function in-and-of themselves
-a secondary phenomenon that results from and accompanies another

Front 77

exaptation

Back 77

a process in which a structure or feature acquires a function that is different than the original function it was adapted or selected for

Front 78

is there a basis for our emotions in our genes?

Back 78

yes

Front 79

how to emotions help us with our environment?

Back 79

they help us rapidly orientate ourselves to events in the environment

Front 80

independant self-construal (individualism)

Back 80

the self is autonomous and separate from others
-when explaining human behavior, the focus is on internal causes such as one's own dispositions or preferences, which are thought of as stable across time and social context

Front 81

interdependant self-construal (collectivism)

Back 81

-the self is fundamentally connected with other people
-imperative to find one's status, identity and role within the community and other collectives
-in explaining human behavior, the emphasis is on the social context and the situational influences on behavior