Deck 4: Communication of Emotions

Question 1

Emotional expressions serve an incentive function that facilitates the coordination of social interactions by:

A) providing information about the sender's current emotions.
B) triggering particular emotional responses in perceivers.
C) rewarding desirable social behaviors.
D) signalling the sender's relationship with the target.

Answer 1

rewarding desirable social behaviors.

Question 2

Given two best friends, it has been found that such friends are likely to engage in antiphonal laughter which:

A) fills the empty gaps in conversation.
B) signals that one is tracking what the other is saying.
C) is contagious and sequential, such that the laughter of one is followed by the laughter of the other.
D) occurs in unison, such that there is an overlap in the friends' bouts of laughter.

Answer 2

occurs in unison, such that there is an overlap in the friends' bouts of laughter.

Question 3

Tracy and Matsumoto (2008) analyzed the emotional expressions of sighted and blind Olympic athletes from 20 different countries just after they had either won or lost a judo competition. Their results showed that:

A) after victory, sighted athletes were more likely to express pride by throwing their arms in the air than were blind athletes.
B) after loss, both groups of athletes dropped their heads and slumped their shoulders in similar displays of shame.
C) positive emotions are more socially constructed than are negative emotions.
D) all of the above are consistent with Tracy and Matsumoto's (2008) study of Olympic athletes.

Answer 3

after loss, both groups of athletes dropped their heads and slumped their shoulders in similar displays of shame.

Question 4

Human embarrassment displays resemble the appeasement displays of other species in which of the following ways?

A) Gaze aversion occurs.
B) Head movements that reduce the size of one's body relative to another individual are common.
C) Face touching is a characteristic behavior.
D) All of the above are common appeasement expressions in humans and non-human species.

Question 5

Studies of nonhuman primate grooming and human touch reveal that a key function of tactile contact includes all but which one of the following?

A) soothe.
B) control subordinates.
C) signal safety.
D) increase cooperation.

Question 6

Vervet monkeys have three main predators - the eagle, the snake and the leopard. If a vervet monkey sees a predator, he or she emits:

A) a specific alarm call that signals to other vervet monkeys the type of predator that has been spotted.
B) a general alarm call that does not distinguish the type of predator, but rather that a threat has been identified.
C) no alarm call, and instead takes cover in undergrowth in an effort to go undetected.
D) no alarm call, and instead approaches the predator in an effort to distract attention away from other members of its colony.

Question 7

How might emotional states alter vocalization patterns? Klaus Scherer has argued that emotion-related physiological changes alter:

A) the variability in pitch of one's speech.
B) the tempo or speed with which one speaks.
C) how softly or loudly one speaks.
D) all of the above.

Question 8

The act of raising one's eyebrows when articulating the most important point in a phrase is an example of a(n):

A) self-adaptor
B) emblem
C) illustrator
D) regulator

Question 9

A self-adaptor is:

A) emotional, in that it conveys emotion to others.
B) conscious, in that people are always aware of this type of behavior.
C) a behavior that lacks seeming intentions, and which may occur merely to release nervous energy.
D) all of the above are true of self-adaptors.

Question 10

According to Charles Darwin emotional expressions can be explained by way of three principles, including the principle of antithesis which holds that:

A) expressive behaviors that helped individuals survive in the past will be more likely to reoccur in the future as compared to expressive behaviors that threatened an individual's well-being in past situations.
B) opposing emotional states will be associated with opposing emotional expressions.
C) the more stressed an individual, the more likely they are to release undirected energy through random expressions.
D) the size of the familial group determines the level of competition between individuals as well as the intensity of the emotional expressions that develop in the offspring within that group.

Question 11

In a review of 60 studies assessing the recognition of voiced emotions cross-culturally, Juslin and Laukka (2003) concluded that hearers can judge five different emotions in the voice, including _________________ with accuracy rates approaching 70%, and that judgments are ________________.

A) anger, fear, happiness, sadness and tenderness; best when hearers listen to members of their own culture.
B) anger, fear, happiness, sadness and disgust; no different when hearers listen to members of their own culture compared to members of a different culture.
C) anger, fear, disappointment, sadness, and tenderness; no different when hearers listen to members of their own culture compared to members of a different culture.
D) fear, happiness, disappointment, surprise, and tenderness; best when hearers listen to members of their own culture.

Question 12

The fact that most of the research on recognition of facial expressions has used static pictures is at the core of the ______________ critique of studies of universal facial expressions.

A) reliability
B) free response
C) construct validity
D) ecological validity

Question 13

In a study of the Fore, Ekman and Friesen (1971) devised emotionally themed stories and asked participants to match each story to one of three facial expressions of emotion. The results from this study:

A) provided evidence to suggest that there are 6 universal emotions.
B) were critiqued because the Fore had seen U.S. television and films and might thereby have learned about American emotions.
C) showed that adults but not children of the Fore were able to identify 6 universal emotions, suggesting that the ability to judge emotions from facial expressions occurs late in development.
D) all of the above are true.

Question 14

An emblem is:

A) a nonverbal gesture that accompanies our speech, to make it vivid, visual, or emphatic.
B) a verbal behavior that expresses emotion.
C) a nonverbal gesture that directly translates into words.
D) a behavior that we use to coordinate conversation.

Question 15

A vocal burst is a(n) ________ and it is ________ to communicate emotions:

A) brief, non-word utterance that arises between speech incidents; not sufficient.
B) brief, non-word utterance that arises between speech incidents; sufficient.
C) acceleration of tempo or amplification of the volume of multiple word utterances; not sufficient.
D) acceleration of tempo or amplification of the volume of multiple word utterances; sufficient.

Question 16

The following characteristic differentiates emotional expressions from other non-emotional, nonverbal behaviors:

A) Emotional expressions tend to be long-lasting, enduring for minutes at a time.
B) Facial expressions of emotion are exceptionally brief, lasting a quarter of a second.
C) Facial expressions of emotion involve involuntary muscle actions that people cannot suppress.
D) Emotional expressions of emotion tend to be more subtle than feigned expressions of emotion.

Question 17

The decoding hypothesis implies that:

A) feeling happiness inspires smiling in every culture.
B) receiving a gift inspires happiness in every culture.
C) facial expressions of emotion are culturally specific.
D) people of different cultures will interpret a smile in the same way.

Question 18

According to studies about flirting completed by Givens (1983) and Perper (1985), the more that potential partners _______________________, the more likely they are to take the next step in the romantic encounter.

A) mimic each other's emotional expressions
B) show off signs of their social status (e.g., raising their arms to show of a flashy watch)
C) gaze intently at each other
D) touch each other on the arm

Question 19

The encoding hypothesis implies that:

A) feeling happiness inspires smiling in every culture.
B) receiving a gift inspires happiness in every culture.
C) facial expressions of emotion are culturally specific.
D) people of different cultures will interpret a smile in the same way.

Question 20

In a series of studies, Nancy Eisenberg and her colleagues carefully coded the facial actions of people witnessing someone suffer (Eisenberg et al., 1989). They found that the experience of sympathy is correlated with:

A) gaze aversion
B) increased helping behavior
C) heart rate acceleration
D) all of the above