EMOTION II

Infants Naturally Occurring Emotions

FEAR

Fear can be poisonous. It can torment us, rob us of sleep, and preoccupy our thinking. People can literally be scared to death. Fear can also be contagious.

What would happen if you yelled “fire” in a crowded theater?

Many complex emotions like disgust have their roots in fear. Paul Rozin’s test demonstrates how the disgust response is very different from simple, rejection of unpleasant tastes, smells, and sights. Which of the following glasses of water would you drink:1) one that contains an odorless, harmless chemical which is terribly bitter?2) One that is laced with a lethal dose of arsenic?3) One that is sterile and contains only pure water, which previously held a sample of dog feces?

LEARNING FEAR

When infants begin to crawl, they learn from their falls and near-falls becoming increasingly afraid of heights. Through such conditioning the short list of naturally painful and frightening events can multiply into a long list of human fears—fear of driving or flying, fear of mice or cockroaches, fear of closed or open spaces, etc.

PHOBIAS

Compared to other mental disorders, phobias are relatively easy to treat. Usually phobias are learned responses to a stimulus so they can be extinguished using traditional conditioning techniques such as systematic desensitization. Typically however, most people do not seek treatment for their phobias because they do not interfere with daily life.

THE BIOLOGY OF FEAR

Nerves running out from the knots of neural tissue one on either side of the brain’s center, carry messages that control heart rate, sweating, stress hormones, attentions and other engines that rev up in threatening situations.

Bandura and Fear

Do you remember social learning theory? Can watching the way others act cause the observer to learn the behavior without experiencing the stimulus?

Can you think of some examples?

ANGER

Why does expressing instant anger over minor annoyances lead to health problems in the future?

Why do you think the incidence of rage-related situations has increased in different years?

What are some techniques people can use to deal with their feelings of instant rage?

What are some of the reasons why “blowing off steam” or expressing rage only intensifies hostile feelings?

“Anger is a short madness that carries the mind away.”

It can be “many times more hurtful than the injury that caused it.”

Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind.

Catharsis

Emotional release. The catharsis hypothesis maintains that releasing aggressive energy relieves aggressive urges.

Why are mental illnesses easier to study than positive traits?

What prejudices might lead some to disregard the study of positive qualities?

How might knowing the qualities of positive experiences lead to greater knowledge of our health?

Happiness

Mr. Wachs please read info on page 389

Feel-Good Do-Good Phenomenon

People’s tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood.

Denmark and Happiness

See page 392 in the AP Book How to Be Happier page 395