TEST BANK Psychology of Emotion 2nd Edition Paula Niedenthal
Chapter 1: Theories of Emotion
1 Dimensional accounts of emotion are opposed to discrete or basic emotion theories. The
most commonly accepted dimensional view is that:
(A) There are four dimensions that account for emotional experience and these are positivity,
negativity, low power, and high power
(B) Emotional experience can be described by a circumplex, but this model is not made up of
dimensions
(C) The dimensions that characterize emotional experience can be mathematically described in a
multidimensional space with infinite dimensions
(D) There are two dimensions that account for emotional experience and these are pleasantness-
unpleasantness and activated-deactivated
Answer: (D) There are two dimensions that account for emotional experience and these are
pleasantness-unpleasantness and activated-deactivated
Feedback: While the two dimensions have been given various names over the last century, valence and
arousal/activation continue to be considered the two most essential dimensions of emotions.
2 Which of the following adaptive problems is not paired with the correct emotion, according
to Plutchik's theory of actions?
(A) Threat: fear
(B) Obstacle or goal thwarting: anger
(C) Sudden novel object: sadness
(D) All of the above are correctly paired
Answer: (C) Sudden novel object: sadness
Feedback: Plutchik suggested that sudden novel objects elicit surprise, while the loss of a valued
person elicits sadness
3 Which of the following theories of emotion is best known for predicting patterns of
autonomic arousal for each basic emotion?
(A) Evolutionary theories
(B) Componential appraisal theories
(C) Psychological constructionism
(D) All theories of emotion argue for specificity of autonomic arousal during emotion states
Answer: (A) Evolutionary theories
Feedback: Psychological constructionism has most strongly argued against the evolutionary
perspective's notion of autonomic specificity, while componential versions of appraisal
theories do not endorse the idea of ""basic"" emotions
4 Which theorist is best known for the peripheralist notion that specific autonomic activity
creates the feeling state for each emotion?
(A) Charles Darwin
(B) William James
(C) Robert Plutchik
(D) Phoebe Ellsworth
Answer: (B) William James
,Feedback: The James-Lange theory proposes that the subjective experience results from the conscious
feeling of specific changes in autonomic nervous system that accompany emotions
5 Which of the following statements about appraisal theories is true?
(A) They claim that emotions are determined by how an individual appraises his or her
circumstances
(B) The theories state that very few objects or events inevitably cause the same emotion in all
people
(C) The only commonly accepted appraisal dimensions are ""good"" and ""bad""
(D) Both A and B
(E) All of the above
Answer: (D) Both A and B
Feedback: C is not correct because appraisal theorists include valence, novelty, control, and certainty,
among others, as appraisal dimensions
6 According to appraisal theories, what causes specific emotions, such as anger?
(A) Having the cultural knowledge of the concept of anger and appraising the situation as fitting that
concept
(B) A distinct pattern of appraisals on dimensions like valence, control, and certainty
(C) A signal stimulus triggers an innate appraisal of its biological significance
(D) There are no specific emotions in appraisal theories, just core affect
Answer: (B) A distinct pattern of appraisals on dimensions like valence, control, and certainty
Feedback: Choice A best describes psychological constructionism, C sounds like evolutionary theories
but is distorted, and D is closest to psychological constructionism
7 In appraisal theories, what terms describe appraisals that are quick, automatic, and
probably shared with other species, and appraisals that rely on higher-order mental
processes and are probably learned?
(A) Primary and secondary appraisals
(B) Biological and sociological appraisals
(C) Essential and nonessential appraisals
(D) Hot and cold appraisals
Answer: (A) Primary and secondary appraisals
Feedback: The commonly recognized primary appraisal dimensions are novelty and valence, and the
secondary appraisal dimensions are thought to require more cognitive elaboration than the
primary
8 Certain modern variations of appraisal theories discount the idea of all-or-none ""basic
emotions,"" and instead use appraisal dimensions to predict specific affective behaviors like
rejection, freezing, and approaching, and changes in other components of emotion. What is
one name for these newer theories, such as that of Scherer?
(A) Componential theories
(B) Programmatic appraisal theories
(C) Two-factor theories
(D) Behavioral appraisal theories
,Answer: (A) Componential theories
Feedback: Componential appraisal theories do not try to describe traditional ""basic"" emotions in
terms of appraisal dimensions, but instead try to predict particular changes in components
of emotion based on appraisal dimensions
9 A researcher wants to test her hypothesis that newborns' facial expressions reflect only
positive and negative affect, at different levels of arousal. She is most likely which type of
theorist?
(A) An appraisal theorist
(B) An evolutionary theorist
(C) A componential theorist
(D) A psychological constructionist
Answer: (D) A psychological constructionist
Feedback: Psychological constructionists believe that having emotions—that is, states that are more
specific than varying degrees of valence and arousal—requires knowledge about emotion
concepts, which newborns do not have
10 Why do some researchers call emotions a ""conceptual act""?
(A) Because they believe that appraisals are conceptually tied to associated actions, but this does
not necessarily reflect a causal sequence
(B) They think emotion category knowledge plays an active role in constructing emotions from more
primitive affective states
(C) They think humans and our primate relatives have discrete emotion states because of our
shared ability to conceptualize the actions of others
(D) They think all human behavior is a sort of performance and emotions are just another ""acted
out"" phenomenon
Answer: (B) They think emotion category knowledge plays an active role in constructing emotions
from more primitive affective states
Feedback: Psychological constructionists are the theorists who use the term ""conceptual act,"" and
choice B describes their theory
11 Imagine a group of researchers conducted studies around the world and found strong
evidence that all human cultures experience, express, and have a word for something akin
to ""anger."" How might the psychological constructionism perspective account for this?
(A) By pointing out that cross-cultural variations in how ""anger"" is conceptualized can explain
differences in how those cultures experience and express emotion
(B) By arguing that the emotion is not innate or biologically programmed, but occurs across cultures
because the concept of ""anger"" is universally useful for people living in social groups
(C) By suggesting that an innate pattern of aggressive behaviors, physiological activity, and
expression occurs universally, but we cannot know what people are actually feeling
(D) Both A and B
Answer: (D) Both A and B
Feedback: Choice C is wrong because psychological constructionists reject studies purporting to
demonstrate coherent affect programs, which is essentially what choice C describes
12 An action tendency is:
, (A) A reflexive and unchanging behavior that will inevitably follow from an emotion state
(B) A stimulus in the environment that is likely to cause a behavioral response in an organism
(C) A general pattern of adaptive and flexible behaviors associated with a particular emotion
(D) None of the above
Answer: (C) A general pattern of adaptive and flexible behaviors associated with a particular emotion
Feedback: Action tendencies are not considered to be reflexive or highly stereotyped; rather, they are
more flexible response patterns like approach and avoidance
13 What is another term for biologically prepared stimuli, or things in the environment that are
important enough for survival that organisms innately respond to them?
(A) action tendencies
(B) signal stimuli
(C) core affects
(D) biological givens
Answer: (B) signal stimuli
Feedback: Signal stimuli is a term used to describe stimuli, like cliffs and snakes, that some
evolutionary theorists think organisms have innate emotional responses to
14 Which of the following is a difference between a mood and an emotion?
(A) A mood is a prolonged state, while an emotion is short-lived
(B) An emotion is less intense than a mood
(C) A mood is usually undifferentiated, while an emotion is more discrete in quality
(D) Both A and C
(E) All of the above
Answer: (D) Both A and C
Feedback: Emotions are considered more short-lived, discrete, and intense than moods
15 Which of the following would present a problem for a basic, evolutionary theory view of
emotion?
(A) In cultures that do not have words for a particular emotion, people do not appear to experience
that emotion
(B) When participants in the laboratory are under threat of shock, they always have increased
sweating and heart rate, open their eyes wide, and express the desire to escape
(C) When people make the basic facial expressions, their physiological responses are differentiated
and specific to the emotion being expressed on the face
(D) People in Spain and Uganda show the same facial expression when they are presented with a
rotten piece of meat
Answer: (A) In cultures that do not have words for a particular emotion, people do not appear to
experience that emotion
Feedback: The scenario described in choice A would provide support for the psychological
constructionism view, which is incompatible with the evolutionary theories of emotion
16 According to psychological constructionist theories, emotions:
