10 Questions
According to the Evolutionary Theory of Dreams, what is the purpose of scary content and negative emotions in dreams?
To rehearse and resolve threats, helping us prepare for real-life situations
Which of the following emotions does NOT promote approaching objects that help us?
Disgust
What is the primary function of the emotion of fear, according to evolutionary theory?
To promote fight or flight response
Which theory of dreams suggests that dreams are mere side effects of neural activity during REM sleep?
Neural Theory
What is the main idea behind Wegner's dream study?
To test the suppression of target persons before sleep
According to Plutchik's model of emotions, how many primary emotions are there?
8
What is the function of the emotion of happiness, according to Darwin's 6 basic emotions?
To facilitate bonding, reproduction, and caring
Which of the following is NOT a primary emotion according to Darwin's 6 basic emotions?
Excitement
What is the purpose of the emotion of sadness, according to Darwin's 6 basic emotions?
To motivate us to recover or prevent loss
Which theory of dreams suggests that dreams help us resolve unconscious conflicts and repressed desires?
Psychoanalytic Theory
Study Notes
Catharsis
- Catharsis is a central idea in Freudian psychoanalysis, which suggests that expressing an emotion reduces its intensity.
- Despite popular belief, acting aggressively does not reduce feelings of anger; instead, it can increase anger.
Resisting Temptation
- Dynamically inconsistent behavior occurs when people's preferences change over time.
- Two key factors influencing behavior are temptation and mindlessness.
- Temptations are highly personal and can be categorized into two states: hot (impulsive) and cold (rational).
- Commitment strategies, such as removing temptations, can help overcome self-control problems.
- The hot-cold empathy gap refers to the tendency to underestimate the impact of arousal on our choices.
Emotions
- Emotions can be categorized into four pairs of opposites: joy vs. sorrow, anger vs. fear, acceptance vs. disgust, and surprise vs. expectancy.
- Certain emotions, such as envy, empathy, and pride, are uniquely human.
- Bodily reactions can influence emotional intensity, but perceptions and thoughts determine the type of emotion.
Theories of Emotion
- James's peripheral feedback theory suggests that bodily reactions precede and cause emotions.
- Schachter's cognition-plus-feedback theory proposes that peripheral feedback affects emotional intensity, but perceptions and thoughts determine the type of emotion.
- Ekman's facial feedback theory suggests that facial muscle feedback can induce feelings and bodily reactions indicative of emotion.
- Facial feedback studies have shown that people can experience and exhibit physiological reactions consistent with a specific emotion when they mimic it.
Dreams
- Freudian psychoanalysis suggests that dreams allow suppressed wishes to assert themselves.
- Wegner's dream study demonstrated that people are more likely to dream about a target person when they think about them before sleep.
- Dreams can help rehearse and resolve threats, prepare for real-life situations, or be mere side effects of neural activity.
- Theories about the purpose of dreams include revealing deep desires, preparing for danger, or being random by-products of neural activity.
Emotions (continued)
- Darwin's six basic emotions are surprise, anger, sadness, disgust, fear, and happiness.
- Each of these emotions has a specific function, such as promoting approaching or fighting for survival.
- Plutchik's model of emotions identifies eight primary emotions.
Explore the concept of catharsis in psychoanalysis, where expressing an emotion is believed to reduce its intensity. But does acting aggressively really reduce anger?
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