summary about all the lectures, quizzes and extra material from canvas (! no extra material outside of the course, the information that is labelled 'extra' on canvas that you can also access) from the course emotions. excludes the book literature
Features of emotions
Reaction to a stimulus
Appraisal (memory is important to us)
Experience and expression
Limited duration
Motivation to display specific behaviours
Capacity to regulate emotions
Effect on the individual and others
Adaptive (past-present-future)
Function of emotion
Emotions help us display optimal behaviour in certain situations
o To display useful emotions and display adaptive behaviour the situation needs to
conform to:
Accurate appraisal
Proper degree of importance attached to situation
Prioritizing goals corresponds with importance
Reactions make sense for the situation
High emotional intelligence
Duration
Expressions - autonomic changes - self-reported emotions - mood - emotional disorders -
personality traits
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Lecture 1: evolutionary psychology
Origins of species (Darwin)
Evolution is the explanation for the diversity of life on earth
Natural selection is the driving force behind adaptive evolution
3 main characteristics of evolution
Superabundance (more than you need)
Variation
(natural) selection
‘Natural selection is differential reproduction of characteristics which provide better survival by
enhancing adaptation to a given environment. The product of natural selection is the adaptation of
populations of organisms to their environment’
Examples of adaptation
problem / pressure
o Avoid eating toxins → bitterness
, o Share costs of raising offspring → preference for males with status
o Find fertile mate → preference for younger mate
o Protect offspring → ‘cuteness’ of baby-like cues
o Epigenetics → the turning on or off of genes depending on the environment
Two different strategies
Males tend to use statistical strategy, because sperm are expendable
Women tend to use investment strategy, eggs are precious
Intrasexual selection
o Individuals of one sex evolve traits that enable them to compete with other individuals
of the same sex and win mating opportunities
Intersexual selection
o Individuals of one sex evolve traits that are preferred by members of the opposite sex,
this is referred to as ‘mate choice’ (feathers on a bird)
Crucial social motivations
To enhance chances of survival of our genes
Attachment
o Evolving into (romantic) bonds later
o Used for protection
Hierarchy (power motivation)
o Status hierarchies: including taking care of those low in hierarchy/ stopping conflicts
among group members by alpha’s (more prominent in non-human primates)
Affiliation
o Taking care of each other cooperatively
In-group preference
o Antisocial towards outgroups
Methods to study evolutionary psychology
Zoology (near relatives)
Archaeology (human ancestry)
Anthropology (contemporary societies in an earlier stage of development)
Evolution and psychology
Adaptive problem of having many context specific brain programs
o May deliver conflicting outputs when simultaneously activated
E.g., sleep management vs. predator threat
Solution
o Equip the mind with superordinate programs that override and orchestrate lower
programs (emotions)
Emotions are
Modes of functioning
Coordinate physiological, cognitive, motivation, behavioural and subjective responses in
patterns that
o Increase the ability to meet the adaptive challenges of situations that have occurred
over evolutionary time
1. Emotion programs detect evolutionary reliable clues that a certain situation exists
a. E.g., predator avoidance includes change in heart rate, auditory activity, sleep
management and food intake
2. When triggered, they entrain a specific set of subprograms for solving problems that situation
posed in ancestral environment
3. Consequently: the whole system operates harmoniously
To meet an evolutionary recurrent situation or condition: the adaptive problem you need:
o Cues that signal the presence of the situation
o Situation-detecting algorithms
Algorithms that monitor for situation-defining cues (sensory detection,
threshold)
, o Algorithms that assign priorities
o An internal communication system
o → orchestrated response
Emotion research
Usually just proximal
o What is it, how does it work?
o How does it develop in an individual?
Equally important are however evolutionary questions
o How did the trait develop over time in the history of species?
o What evolutionary factors shaped the trait?
Evolutionary genetics perspective (the selfish gene)
o Our genes are in charge: use us to get reproduced by our characteristics, including
emotions?
Influence of language
Emerged about 200,000 years ago
o Development theory of mind
o Broadening repertoire of emotion expression
o Extending focus of behaviour from present moment to the future
o extending possibilities for cooperation
Classifications of emotions
Valence is most often used for classification systems: is the emotion pleasant or unpleasant?
But:
o There are no strict boundaries between emotion
o The internal state (emotion) is a result of specific kinds of situations
Of which there are a lot
Which overlap in their characteristics → overlapping constructs
Perhaps even a multidimensional space with potentially an infinite number of
overlapping emotions
Valence may be driving behaviour, but more fundamental for adaptation
Functions of emotions
Positive emotions
o Motivate organism to take advantage of opportunities
Negative emotions
o Motivate organism to
Avoid misfortune by escaping
Attacking
Preventing internal harm
Repairing loss or damage
Can one emotion have different functions? → yes
Can one function be served by different emotions? → yes
Emotions and communication
Emotional expression
o The associated emotion program has been activated in the individual
o The identity of evolutionary recurrent situation being faced
Some emotions have a more automatic display (e.g., sadness), yet a much larger set of
emotions exists with no automatic display (jealousy, guilt, boredom)
o These are also often the emotions that develop with age and are not as much inborn
Depression
Evolution
o Low mood has advantages in certain situations
Functions may be
o Cry for help
, o Disengaging investing in unfruitful endeavours (including submission: powerlessness
often accompanies depression)
o (re)establishing proximity/ attachment to someone
o However, does MDD have functions?
Attachment theory
o Depression as an attempt to re-establish attachment
Social comparison theory
o Submissiveness as self-protection, facilitated by a depressive mood
Psychic pain hypothesis
o Depression as mental signal to protect oneself (postnatal depression)
Criticism
o Is powerlessness restricted to social context?
o Humans have a very strong memory, potentially extending depressive episodes in
humans
Implications
o If major depressive disorder is a dysfunctional form a low mood
Examine healthy low mood and understand MDD better
Treat the dysfunctional part
Do not pathologize low mood
If MDD is in itself functional
In the case of analytical rumination: help in the task, what is needed
to accomplish your goal?
In the case of fruitless endeavour: acknowledge the feeling
(mindfulness) and let go of the endeavour
Limitations of evolutionary psychology
Hypotheses difficult to test and only lead to indirect evidence
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Lecture 2: emotion regulation
Emotion regulation
You can influence your emotions depending on your goals
Hedonic emotions
o Short goals to feel better and decrease unhappiness (e.g., eat chocolate)
Instrumental
o Social or performance motives (e.g., expression of anger can affect your relations)
Reappraisal
E.g., being bullied makes you stronger
Adaptive emotion regulation strategy
Expressive suppression
E.g., trying to hide your tears to not show how upset you are
Often less self-esteem and life satisfaction
Maladaptive emotion regulation strategy
In-depth questions about the video
1. What if your hedonic goal does not match your instrumental goal, which goal wins?
Which goal wins depends on what is your main goal and other aspects such as how
you value your emotions, your repertoire of emotion regulation strategies, your
emotion regulation abilities and your effort to employ a strategy
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