AP Psychology Unit 8B: Emotions Flashcards

Theories of Emotion

• James-Lange Theory: Proposes that emotions arise from bodily responses to stimuli; awareness of these bodily reactions leads to emotional experience.
• Cannon-Bard Theory: Asserts that an emotion-triggering stimulus simultaneously generates a physiological response and subjective emotional experience.
• Schachter's Two-Factor Theory: Suggests emotion experience requires physical arousal and cognitive labeling of that arousal.

Emotional Concepts

• Spillover Effect: Emotional reactions can carry over from one event to another, influencing subsequent feelings and behaviors.
• Women's Intuition: The belief that women possess superior intuitive abilities, often interpreted as a natural understanding of situations without conscious reasoning.
• Display Rules: Culturally specific norms dictating the appropriate expression of emotions in different contexts.

Feedback Mechanisms

• Facial Feedback Effect: The phenomenon where facial expressions can influence emotional experiences; for example, smiling can enhance feelings of happiness.
• Behavior Feedback: Acting in a way consistent with a particular emotion can lead to actually feeling that emotion, such as pretending to be happy can foster genuine happiness.

Psychological and Social Phenomena

• Feel-Good, Do-Good Phenomenon: Individuals in a positive mood are more likely to engage in helpful or altruistic behaviors.
• Diminishing Returns Phenomenon: As one accumulates wealth or comfort, the associated satisfaction tends to decrease, leading to potential dissatisfaction.
• Adaptation-Level Phenomenon: People evaluate experiences based on previous encounters, leading to adjustments in emotional reactions over time.

Perception and Comparison

• Relative Deprivation: The sense of feeling worse off when comparing oneself to others, leading to feelings of dissatisfaction or envy.
• General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS): Describes the body's three-stage response to stress: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

Personality Types

• Type A Personality: Characterized by competitiveness, impatience, and susceptibility to stress; prone to anger and hostility.
• Type B Personality: Defined by a more relaxed, easygoing demeanor, typically calmer and less competitive.

Fields of Psychology

• Behavioral Medicine: Integrates behavioral and medical knowledge to understand health and illness, focusing on the psychological aspects of medical conditions.
• Health Psychology: A subfield of psychology that studies how psychological factors influence health and illness.

Emotional Release and Well-Being

• Catharsis: The process of releasing pent-up emotions, often thought to relieve stress and aggression; for example, through physical expression like punching a pillow.
• Well-Being: Refers to overall happiness and life satisfaction, often used as a measure of quality of life.

Stress and Health Interactions

• Stress: The subjective process of perceiving and responding to life events, which can impact mental and physical health.
• Psychophysiological Illness: Physical illnesses exacerbated by psychological stress, such as hypertension and tension headaches.
• Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI): Examines how psychological processes influence the immune system and overall health.

Immune System Components

• Lymphocytes: White blood cells crucial for immune response; B lymphocytes produce antibodies, while T lymphocytes attack infected or cancerous cells.

Cognitive Processing of Emotions

• Lazarus's Theory of Emotion: Highlights the role of cognitive appraisal in emotion generation, suggesting emotions arise from unconscious processing of stimuli.