Emotion, Learning, and Memory

Continued

NO CLASS APRIL 18 "Gender Differences" Omitted See Revised Syllabus on Emotions Web Page

State Dependent Memory and Mood Congruent Learning

State-Dependent Memory: How mood helps/hurts retrieval of things that are already there. Based on "associative networks" Mood-Congruent Learning: How mood affects they way in which new information is brought into memory to begin with.

Bower's "Burglar/Realtor" study, as empirical metaphor.

8 7.5

7 6.5

6 5.5

5

Number of Happy/Sad Story Incidents Recalled by Ss Who Read Story in Happy/Sad Mood

Happy Sad Happy Scene Sad Scene

Emotion Intensity Rating Study SKIP

Purpose:

To show that new events that trigger more intense emotions are better learned.

Procedure:

1. Ss given emotion prompts: "lost child", "happy days", "bad bets", "mid term next week" 2. Ss evoke a personal memory associated with each prompt 3. Ss rate the intensity of evoked memory, per prompt 4. Ss get surprise memory test for all prompts

Probability of Recalling a Prompt due to Strength of Emotion Generated by the Memory Associated to the Prompt SKIP

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 Intensity Rating 7 8 9 10

Procedure for Emotional Intensity and Learning Study: Session 1

SKIP a. Subjects are hypnotized b. Ss trained to evoke three different levels of either happy, sad, or angry

Procedure for Emotional Intensity and Learning Study: Session 2 SKIP a. Ss access mood they were trained to evoke b. Imagine self in 4 happy scenes, 4 sad scenes, 4 angry scenes narrated to Ss by the experimenter 1. At emotion level 1 (lowest) 2. At emotion level 2 ( middle) 3. At emotion level 3 (highest) c. Shift to neutral mood d. Remove from hypnotic trance e. Filler task for 5 minutes f. Free recall of gist of episodes

Average free-recall of happy, angry, sad episodes by happy, angry, sad subjects SKIP 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 Happy Angry Sad Happy Episode Angry Episode Sad Episode

Average Free-Recall For Episodes SKIP Under Low, Medium, Or High Intensity Emotion 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 Happy Angry Sad Low Intensity Med. Intensity High Intensity

Emotional Intelligence and Emotions as Information

Class 14

Can Understanding Own and Others' Emotions Affect One's Quality of Life?

a. Emotions and health 1. Sadness  lack of motivation 2. Happiness  undue risk taking b. Emotions and development 1. Attending to baby’s emotions 2. Knowing when to ignore baby’s emotions 3. Recognizing anger as a call for bonding

Understanding Own Emotions and Quality of Life (continued)

c. Physiology and emotion: Gut brain d. Culture and emotion: Culture’s effect on emotions e. Emotions and cognition 1. Mood can affect learning and memory 2. Mood can affect how you see others 3. Mood can affect creativity, problem solving 4. Mood can affect self acceptance

What Is Emotional Intelligence?

Ability to recognize others’ emotions Ability to recognize one’s own emotions Ability to appropriately express own emotions Ability to manage one’s own emotions Ability to manage other’s emotions

Salovey and Meyer Definition:

The ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.

What Professions/Occupations Benefit from Emotional Intelligence?

Political leaders Writers Actors Therapists Salespersons Managers Teachers Coaches Clergy Military Scientists Physicians Lawyers Animal trainers Law Enforcement Who doesn't????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywDZKfZ-iZA We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France,

we shall fight

on the seas and oceans,

we shall fight

with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,

we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight

on the landing grounds,

we shall fight

in the fields and in the streets,

we shall fight

in the hills;

we shall never surrender

,

Historic Bias Against Emotions

Publilius Syrus: “Rule feelings lest they rule you” Young: Emotions = “acute disturbances of the individual as a whole” Psych Texts: Emotions as “a complete loss of cerebral control’ containing no “trace of conscious purpose”.

Woodworth: IQ should contain tests showing ability TO NOT be afraid, angry, grieved, curious about things that arouse emotions in kids.

MSCEIT

Test of Emotional Intelligence Is NOT strongly related to IQ Is a reliable measure -- Time 1 scores resemble Time 2 scores Predicts: Helping Deviancy Academic performance

Verbal Items From MSCEIT

I.

II.

MATCHING MOODS WITH EVENTS/TASKS

What mood(s) might be helpful to feel when following a very complicated cooking recipe?

a. Tension b. Sorry c. Neutral mood

UNDERSTANDING OTHERS’ EMOTIONS

Marjorie felt more and more ashamed, and began to feel worthless. She then felt: a. Overwhelmed b. Depressed c. ashamed d. Self-conscious

III. TRANSLATING FROM SENSORY TO EMOTIONAL DOMAINS

Imagine you are feeling cold, slow, and sharp. This is like?

a. Challenged b. Isolated c. Surprised

READING THE MIND IN THE EYES TEST http://glennrowe.net/baroncohen/faces/eyestest.aspx

Simon Baron-Cohen: The Essential

Difference: Men, Women, and the Extreme Male Brain

Who is Simon Baron-Cohen's brother?

Central Domains of Emotional Intelligence

1. Expressing and Understanding own emotions 2. Understanding others' emotions 3. Regulating own emotions

Emotionally-Intelligent Communication: Referential Activity (RA)

RA is language that helps convey emotions and emotional experiences

Transfers information from the emotional/sensory realm to the abstract/linguistic realm. * Imagistic: Boats anchored in the open bay rocked and

strained like troubled men tossing through a restless sleep.

* Concrete: Her face was set, eyes focused on the lead runner,

deep lines above knit brows, cheek bones sharp under taut skin.

* Sensory: Her voice, soft and calm, was like a cool morning

breeze that feathered the back of his neck.

Examples of High RA vs. Low RA

Low RA: I went to the cafeteria. The salsa was a gustatory

success. The burritos, however, were unpalatable, odious, distasteful.

High RA: I Went to the cafeteria—you could smell the salsa

before you got there, tangy oniony smell that tickles the back of your nose and makes your eyes blink. But the burritos were like white, beached whales; beans and rice oozing out the side like spilled guts and a smell like last week’s laundry.

* High RA leads to better therapy outcomes.

* High RA speech in therapy precedes breakthroughs

CARAT Test

Purpose of Test: To gauge sensitivity to others’ non-verbal emotions.

Format:

1. Subject A watches slides: scenic, grotesque, sexual, sad.

2. Subject B watches Subject A’s face as Subject A views slides.

3. Test: How well can Subject B guess the kind of slide Subject A is viewing, based only on Subject A’s facial expressions.

CARAT test shows:

1. Artists better than scientists 2. Women better than men

Meta-Experience of Mood

Defined: Knowing not only what mood you are in, but what to expect of that mood, how to use that mood, and how to manage that mood.

Why valuable to know these things?

a. Knowing time course of moods can stop them from being too influential (i.e., panic attack) b. Can use tactics to prolong positive moods c. Can learn when and how to listen to own emotional signals

Gut Feelings in the Desert: Antoine De Saint Exupery and the Dragon Fly

I shaved carefully in a cracked mirror. From time to time I went to the door and looked at the naked sand. … I was thoughtful. … For the moment everything was all right. But I heard something sizzling. It was a dragonfly knocking against the lamp. Why it was I cannot say, but I felt a twinge in my heart. I went outdoors and looked round. The air was pure. … Over the desert reigned a vast silence as of a house in order. But here were a green butterfly and two dragonflies knocking against my lamp. Again I felt a dull ache which might as easily have been joy as fear, but came up from the depths of me.

Saint Exupery in the Desert, continued

Something was calling to me from a great distance. Was it instinct?

Once again I went out. The wind had died down completely. The air was still cool. But I had received a warning. I guessed, I believed I could guess, what I was expecting. I climbed a dune and sat down face to the east. If I was right, the thing would not be long in coming. What were they after here, those dragonflies, hundreds of miles from their oases inland?

Saint Exupery in the Desert

Wreckage thrown up upon the beach bears witness to a storm at sea. Even so did these insects declare to me that a sand storm was on the way, a storm out of the east that had blown them out of their oases. Solemnly, for it was fraught with danger, the east wind rose. … But that was not what excited. What filled me with a barbaric joy was …that I had been able to read the anger of the desert in the beating wings of a dragonfly.

St. Exupery, A. (1939). Wind, sand, and stars.

Affect as Information

(G. Clore, et al.) Emotions are persuasive messages from the self to the self.

Has something important occurred?

Is an event, object, or person good or bad?

How urgent is the need to respond, react?

Limits to Affect as Information

People use emotions as information when:

1. Ambiguous rather than clearly defined events 2. When responses aren’t overly scripted or rehearsed 3. When moderate (rather than little or intense) thought is required 4. When feelings are attributed to thing being judged

Does Self Esteem Influence Use of Emotions as Information?

(Harber, 2005) Challenge of using emotions as information What it the temp. today?

Are Toyota Camry’s safe cars?

Thermometer Consumers’ Reports Should I get into this elevator with this weird looking guy inside it?

Emotions, gut

The Self as Credible Persuader

Attributes of Credible Persuader (Hovland, 1954)

Moral Intelligent Attractive Stable Likeable Competent

Elements of High Self Esteem (Baumeister, 1998)

Moral Intelligent Attractive Stable Likeable Competent

Clues that Self Esteem is Linked to Using Emotion as Information

1. Self esteem is positively related to emotional intelligence 2. Self esteem is negatively related to emotional ambivalence 3. Self esteem is negatively related to self doubt 4. Self esteem is positively related to autonomy, resistance to outside pressures.

Testing Whether Self-Esteem Determines use of Emotions as Information, Study 1

Subjects (60 females) listen to baby cries, of varying intensities. Subjects rate each cry for distress conveyed Subjects rate how upset the cries made them feel Subjects complete self-esteem measure

Effect of Own Upset on Cry Rating, as a Function of Self Esteem

6 5.8

5.6

5.4

5.2

5 4.8

4.6

High Esteem Med. Esteem Low Esteem Mild Upset Mod. Upset Extreme Upset

Study 2: Replication of Study 1, With Self Esteem Measured Before Experiment

SKIP Subjects (57 females) complete self esteem measure 3- 6 weeks before experiment Listen to baby cries, of varying intensities. Subjects rate each cry for distress conveyed Subjects rate how upset the cries made them feel

Effect of Own Upset on Cry Rating, as a Function of Self Esteem, Study 2

SKIP 6 5.8

5.6

5.4

5.2

5 4.8

4.6

Mild Upset Mod. Upset Extreme Upset High Esteem Med. Esteem Low Esteem

Study 3: Manipulated Self Worth and Use of Emotions as Information

SKIP Subjects assigned to one of three self-worth conditions

1. Boosted self worth 2. Unchanged self worth 3. Depressed self worth

Self worth manipulated by imaging task Subjects then hear and rate baby cries, report own upset.

Prediction? Boosted self worth will use emotions most Depressed self worth will use emotions least

R esults Experiment 3:

SKIP

Correlation Between Upset and Cry Ratings as a Function of Self Worth Condition

Self Worth Boosted Self Worth Unchanged Self Worth Depressed Correl. own upset to judgment of baby’s distress .63 * .39

-.15

* p < .05

Self Esteem Effects Use of Emotions as Information. So What?

Why should we care if self esteem affects use of emotions as information?

Important life choices: Who you date, marry What career path you chose Where you live Financial investments Blow up the world--the

The Emotionally Intelligent Lt. Colonel Stanislav Petrov 1983: Soviet early-warning alarms- incoming US nuclear missile.

Petrov decides: is warning real or error?

"For 15 seconds in a state of shock" Petrov decides reports are false--doesn't announce alarm to high command.

"I had a funny feeling in my gut: I didn't want to make a mistake. I made a decision and that was it." CIA Analyst: "Probably the most dangerous incident of 1980s."

Gift of Fear (De Becker)

Intuition:

* Emotion is always in response to something * Emotion always has your best interest at heart Fear Anxiety Apprehension Suspicion Hesitation Doubt Hunches Nagging feelings Persistent thoughts Humor Wonder Curiosity

The Costs of Ignoring One’s Own Emotions

(Gavin De Becker, The Gift of Fear) A woman is waiting for an elevator, and when the doors open she sees a man inside who causes her apprehension. Since she is not usually afraid, it may be the late hour, his size, the way he looks at her, the rate of attacks in the neighborhood, an article she read a year ago—it doesn’t matter why. The point is, she gets a feeling of fear.

How does she respond to this survival signal?

She suppresses it, telling herself: “I’m not going to live like that; I’m not going to insult this guy by letting the door close on his face.” When the fear doesn’t go away, she tells herself not to be so silly, and gets into the elevator.

Now, which is sillier: waiting for the next elevator or getting into a soundproof steel chamber with a stranger she is afraid of?

De Becker: Gift of Fear

Kelly's travail:

What signal does she FAIL to attend to? Why?

What signal does she finally attend to? Why?

Why do people discard danger signals?

Dilemma: external cues do not justify feeling.

Social desirability, politeness norms Dependence on experts

What might determine who listens to own emotions?

De Becker meets St. Exupery:

a. How do emotions and cognition interact?

b. Which informs which? In what order?

MIDTERM REVIEW Format: Multiple choice Short answer Extra credit ques (about 30) (about 20) (about 4) Study tips: Review PowerPoint slides Review main points in readings Test is NOT nit-picky, but not cake. STUDY!

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Darwin considered emotions to be VESTIGIAL. Evidence in support of this is: A. ___ People communicate with emotions B. ___ Damage to emotions centers harms judgment.

C. ___ Emotions are most evident in primitive cultures.

E. ___ None of the above

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Removal of a monkey's limbic system leads to: A. ___ Instant death B. ___ Extreme caution and wariness D. ___ Clinging to a terrycloth mother E. ___ All of the above

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

In order to understand the role of emotions, MacLean studied lizards. Why?

Lizards show what behaviors are "left" when emotional skills are removed. That way, he could see what contributions emotions make.

.

How does self esteem effect use of emotions as information?

People with more self esteem see their emotions as "making sense", and therefore are more likely to listen to their emotions than people with low self-esteem.