PYB102:

The Mind
and The
Brain
Lecture Eleven (Week 11)

Dr Brooke Andrew
 Feeling emotional??...
• Emotion vs Mood

• A traditional/basic emotions approach would suggest

that there are a certain number of emotions.
However, there isn’t a great deal of agreement on
this!

• Most frequently used number is 6: Surprise, Anger,

Fear, Sadness, Disgust, and Happiness (Ekman, 1999)
W. W. Norton
W. W. Norton
Cannon’s Criticisms of the James-
Lange Theory of Emotion
1. The autonomic responses are relatively slow
(i.e.,- we experience or ‘feel’ the emotion before
the physiological changes have occurred)
2. Cutting nerves from the viscera has no effect on
emotions in rats
3. Many different emotional states are linked to the
same visceral responses
4. Injecting adrenaline/epinephrine (as can be
released during a ‘normal’ emotional state) does
not induce the feeling of an emotion
W. W. Norton
W. W. Norton
Schachter and Singer’s Experiment
1. The experimenters advertised for participants to have a
‘multivitamin’ injection, under the pretence that they were
testing for side-effects.

2. Participants actually injected with either adrenalin or a

placebo (an inert salt solution)

3. Those given adrenalin were told to expect one of the

following:
a) Exactly what adrenalin does to the body
b) That they would get itchy eyeballs
c) Nothing

4. Those given the placebo were told nothing

Schachter and Singer’s Experiment
5. Then the participants waited with a confederate of the
experimenter who either:
a) Acted the fool and attempted to be quite humorous
(euphoric situation)
b) Acted really rude and asked the participant to fill in an
anger provoking questionnaire (anger situation)  

6. Results:
Group 3a reported “It’s as if I’m happy/angry, but it’s the
effect of the injection”
Group 3b reported being very happy or very angry depending
on the situation
Group 3c reported feeling quite happy or quite angry
Group 4 (placebo group) reported feeling a bit happy (not as
much as 3c), or quite angry
W. W. Norton
Chris Lisle/Corbis.
Summary of Important Emotion Theories
W. W. Norton
Limitations of the traditional/basic
emotions approach

• Lack of agreement on how many emotions

• Lack of specific physiology for each emotion
• Difficulty localising these in the brain
 Stress

• Stress refers to a challenge to a person’s capacity to

adapt to inner and outer demands.
• Stressful experiences typically produce physiological
and emotional arousal.
• Stressful experiences typically elicit cognitive and
behavioural efforts to cope with the stress
Stress as a psychobiological
process
• Stress has both psychological and physiological
components and consequences

• Understanding the physiological components of

stress requires us to consider both the nervous
system and the endocrine (hormonal) systems
Divisions of the PNS: Autonomic
Nervous System
• The autonomic nervous system is concerned with
the regulation of smooth muscle (eg. skin, blood
vessels, walls of the gut), cardiac muscle, and
glands.

• The ANS consists of two anatomically separate

systems: the sympathetic division and the
parasympathetic division.
 The Sympathetic Division of the
ANS

• The sympathetic division is most involved in activities

associated with the expenditure of energy from
reserves stored in the body.
The Parasympathetic Division of the
ANS

• The parasympathetic division supports activities

that are involved with increases in the body’s
supply of stored energy.
skin

W. W. Norton
Glands of the Endocrine System
Neural communication
Endocrine communication
Pituitary
Hypothalamu
s
The HPA Axis
Acronym heaven…
• HPA: hypothalamic-
pituitary- adrenal
• CRF: corticotropin
releasing factor
• ACTH:
adrenocorticotropic
hormone

W. W. Norton
 Stressor

Brain
(Hypothalamus)

Anterior Pituitary Sympathetic Nervous System

Adrenal Cortex Adrenal Medulla

Glucocorticoids Epinephrine (Adrenalin)

(Cortisol) and Norepinephrine