Human Psychology

1. EMOTION
Results from the perception or idea
of a whole situation/ A stirred-up
state of body and mind , attended
with a conative tendency towards
action.

2. Emotion- Definition
Kulpe- Emotion is a mixture of organic
sensation and feeling.
Hoffding- regards emotion as a sort of
pleasantness-unpleasantness-feeling
conscious of its cause.
Sully- Emotion is a kind of sensory and
revived material which is tinged with
feeling.
Ward- considers emotion to be a whole
mental process cognitive, affective and
conative at once.
These definitions are unanimous in one
respect that emotion is not a simple but a
complex mental process

3. Emotion- Characteristics
1. Emotion is attended with a feeling of
pleasantness or unpleasantness.
2. It is also attended with a somatic
resonance. It arouses widespread
changes in the organism, e.g.,in the
rate and strength of pulse together
with amplitude of respiration and
glandular respiration.

4. Emotion- Characteristics (Contd)
3. Emotion is characterized by duration.
Its onset is sudden. It increases
gradually up to a limit. Then it
gradually decreases, till it melts
away.
4. It is not caused like feeling by a
specific or an isolated stimulus but
by a whole situation.

5. Emotion- Characteristics (Contd)
5. According to Stout, emotions are
parasitical by nature, for they occur on
the basis of an instinct or conation. The
cow is infuriated with anger if her new-
born calf is handled. Here, the motherly
instinct touches off the emotion of anger.
6. Emotion is ideal feeling. It is not caused by
a sensation or a presentation merely but
also by images and ideas associated with
it.

6. Emotion- Characteristics (Contd)
7. Reasoning is subdued by emotion. In a fit
of emotion we talk or behave in a manner
which appears as foolish or nonsensical
in cool moments.
8. Emotions tend to be conditioned easily.
For eg., the child’s fear of loud sound
may be conditioned by the very sight of
the man who makes it.
9. Lastly, Emotion involves the perception or
idea of a whole situation and a tendency
to act upon it.

7. Physiological changes in Emotion
Galvanic skin Response- GSR is also
known as EDR (Electro Dermal Response)
and PGR (Psycho Galvanic Response).
When a minute electric current is passed
through the skin it usually meets with some
resistance, which can be conveniently
measured by an appliance known as the
psychogalvanoscope.It has been shown
that the electrical resistance of the skin
falls rapidly as a result of arousal in the
bodily processes.

8. Physiological changes in Emotion
(Contd)
Thus, under a strong emotion, the fall
is much steeper compared to the one
in milder emotional states. It is
presumed that a fall in the electrical
resistance of the skin is mainly due to
the action of the sweat glands, for the
salty substance in sweat are mainly
responsible for increased skin
conductance.

9. Physiological changes in Emotion
(Contd)
Blood Distribution- Changes in the
blood pressure and blood distribution
on the surface of the body and
internal organs also takes place in
emotion. Reactions like blushing or a
red flushed face in anger and
blanching or whitening of the face and
lips in fright or agony are the best
apparent signs of circulatory changes
in the body.

10. Physiological changes in Emotion
(Contd)
Heart Rate- The heart rate is
connected with blood circulation. The
pounding of the heart and excessive
acceleration of its normal rate is very
common in anger, fear, joy and many
other emotions. This is probably why
the heart is regarded as the symbol of
emotion.

11. Physiological changes in Emotion
(Contd)
Breathing Rate- Heavy breathing, fast
breathing, arrested breathing are some of
the common changes we observe under
stressful conditions. It is possible to record
such changes by a experimental technique
known as pneumography. It records the
rate and amount of displacement of air
from lungs . A breathing cycle constitutes a
period of inspiration (Taking in air in the
lungs) and expiration (breathing out the air)

12. Physiological changes in Emotion
(Contd)
Pupilliary response- There is a general
tendency of the pupils of the eyes to dilate
in moments of excitement, anger, pain and
constrict at the time of calm. It is possible
to measure the exact dilation of the pupil
by a technique known as pupillometrics.
With a movie camera, the eyes are
photographed at the rate of 2
photographs/seconds when they
concentrating on the stimuli. After the
pictures are enlarged to twenty times their
size, the dilation and constriction can be
measured within 1/20th of a mm.

13. Physiological changes in Emotion
(Contd)
Gastro-Intestinal Motility- In most of
the emotional responses, the intestine
is considerably affected, and attempts
have been made to investigate
intestinal changes by using the X-ray
methods and the balloon technique.
Emotional excitement also leads to
nausea and diarrhea.

14. Physiological changes in Emotion
(Contd)
Muscular Tensions and Tremors- Muscular
tension is one of the symptoms of emotion.
Currently, a number of methods are used
to determine the degree and extent of
tension in the muscles. Some of these
actually involves the recording by the use
of electronic devices. Tremors are usually
produced when opposing muscles are
contracted simultaneously. They may also
occur when a person is experiencing
severe conflicting desires.

15. Physiological changes in Emotion
(Contd)
Blood composition- Far reaching chemical
changes take place in the blood when a
person is in the grip of an emotion, most of
which are brought about by the secretions
of the endocrine glands, which pour their
substances in the blood stream. Chemical
analyses of blood samples taken during
emotional stress tell a lot about changes
such as blood sugar, acid base balance
and adrenalin content.

16. Physiological changes in Emotion
(Contd)
Endocrine Glandular Secretion-
Salivation and sweating are the two
most common responses which we
come across in certain emotional
states. The breaking out of cold sweat
and the drying of the mouth in severe
fright are two such familiar responses.
But milder changes in glandular
secretions do take place in emotional
states.

17. Physiological Basis of Emotion
The many bodily changes usually
occur in varying degrees, depending
upon the degree of arousal produced
by an emotional state. The organized
pattern of such changes is usually
under the direct control of our nervous
system and the endocrine glands.

18. Physiological Basis of Emotion
(Contd)
The Physiological changes that take place in an
emotional state are usually produced by the
activity of a part of the nervous system known as
the Autonomic Nervous System. The autonomic
nervous system is a highly complicated structure.
It consists of many nerves.
Central nervous system i.e. brain and spinal cord
→ Nerves → smooth muscles of the various
organs of body, including the heart, the arteries
and the blood vessels, large and small muscles of
the body.

19. Physiological Basis of Emotion
(Contd)
Sympathetic Action- Autonomic
Nervous System is a composite
system consisting of two parts, one
known as the sympathetic system and
the other as the parasympathetic
system. The functions of these two
systems are somewhat opposed to
each other

20. Physiological Basis of Emotion
(Contd)
The Sympathetic System is mainly
responsible for speeding up the rate of the
various physiological changes. Thus, its
functioning may lead to an increase in the
heart rate, pulse rate, blood pressure,
respiration and the general action of the
endocrine system. All such changes are in
no way isolated but are fully integrated to
keep the body in an accelerated state of
arousal to meet an emergency situation.

21. Physiological Basis of Emotion
(Contd)
The sympathetic system also causes the
discharge of the hormones- epinephrine and
norepinephrine. These are the hormones secreted
by the adrenalin gland located above the kidneys
which are mainly responsible for the many
changes in the processes of the body.
For instance- epinephrine
stimulates the liver to make available extra
supplies of glycogen for the blood, to be used by
muscles.
also causes heart to beat faster and harder
Affects blood vessels so that they constrict and
raise blood pressure

22. Physiological Basis of Emotion
(Contd)
Parasympathetic Action- is a mechanism
which works in the opposite direction and is
usually in full possession of bodily
processes when we are calm and relaxed.
Its Main function- help the body to build up
and conserve its sources of energy. When
an emotion has spent its force, it starts
functioning by reducing the heart rate and
blood pressure, by slowing down the
respiratory activity and routing the blood
from the external muscles to the internal
organs

23. Physiological Basis of Emotion
(Contd)
Brain Mechanisms in Emotion- The
autonomic nervous system is only the
peripheral part of the neural
mechanisms. There are ways in
which the brain seems to affect
emotional response.

24. Physiological Basis of Emotion
(Contd)
Role of Cortex- It is well known that the
cerebral cortex has its role to play in an
emotional state.
Main Functions- Relate a current emotional
event to past experience. This is actually a
process that helps interpret an emotional
situation and determine whether there
should or should not be an emotional
arousal. Many investigators feel that it is
the cortex that is primarily involved in
development of emotional state.

25. Physiological Basis of Emotion
(Contd)
Functions of Cortex- Cortex has some
power to execute the autonomic
activity which we find in an emotional
response.
For instance, the stimulation of some
parts of the underside of the frontal
lobe (Known as the transitional
cortex) produces some autonomic
responses which are similar to
emotional responses.

26. Physiological Basis of Emotion
(Contd)
Functions of Cortex- Cerebral cortex serves as a
check on unrestrained emotional responses.
Normally, the intensity of an emotional response
seems to be proportional to the seriousness of the
emotional situation;
But if certain part of the cortex have been affected
in some way (as under the influence of drug or
alcohol) an individual makes wrong or excessive
emotional responses.
Decorticated (with lesions or cuts in the cortex)
dogs and cats also show no gradation in the
intensity of emotional responses.

27. Physiological Basis of Emotion
(Contd)
Pre-frontal Areas- is the forward part
of the frontal lobe. When it is
damaged by an accident or a tumor, it
changes the emotional life of a
person, who is unable to react
appropriately to emotional situations
or to inhibit his emotional responses.
He is also likely to become lazy,
untidy and abusive.

28. Physiological Basis of Emotion
(Contd)
Sub cortical Mechanisms- The role of
cortex has only a partial control over
emotional responses and that the real
centers of emotion are located elsewhere.
These centers are located in the Thalamus,
which receives impulses from the whole
body.
The subthalamus, which is just beneath it,
exerts control over the voluntary muscles
involved in an emotional expression.

29. Physiological Basis of Emotion
(Contd)
The Hypothalamus- the most
important centre controlling both the
sympathetic and the parasympathetic
nervous systems, and the
rhinecephalon, are also involved.
All these sub cortical structures seem
to be connected with emotion, but the
part played by the hypothalamus and
the reticular activation system is the
most important.