Deck 4: Functions of Emotion

Question 1

In which of the following theoretical perspectives do many researchers believe that emotions are functional, meaning they are useful and not simply disruptive byproducts of the mind?

A)Evolutionary theory
B)Appraisal theory
C)Psychological constructionism
D)There are researchers from all perspectives who believe emotions are functional

Answer 1

D

Question 2

What is one way in which positive emotions are thought to have broadening effects?

A)People in positive states explore visual scenes less extensively compared to people having negative emotions, attending less to the periphery
B)Positive emotions are triggered by a broader number of biologically prepared stimuli
C)Compared to negative emotions, they tend to encourage attention to a whole scene rather than a narrowing of focus
D)People in positive states tend to make more local responses on local-global judgments
E)All of the above

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What is built by positive affect, according to the Broaden-and-Build theory?

A)Physical and cognitive skills
B)Resilience against harmful effects of negative emotions
C)Social connections
D)Both A and B
E)All of the above

Answer 3

E

Question 4

According to research by Fredrickson and Levenson (1998), how does the experience of positive affect following a negative experience have an undoing effect?

A)The positive state helps the body's physiological arousal return to baseline more quickly
B)The positive experience replaces the negative experience in memory
C)It increases sympathetic nervous system activity, reinforcing the survival benefits of negative emotions
D)All of the above happened in the study

Question 5

What feature of human eyes that is unique among primates allows them to be particularly informative communication tools?

A)Their large size compared to the human skull
B)Their front-facing positioning
C)The degree to which our pupils can dilate
D)The color and visibility of the sclera

Question 6

Why might it be particularly useful for observers to be able to rapidly detect the gaze direction of people expressing fear, compared to other emotions?

A)Fear is generally a difficult emotion to recognize, so being able to contextualize it will be informative for the observer
B)The observer can quickly locate the stimulus based on the expresser's gaze direction and prepare to respond if necessary
C)Fear is the only truly social emotion, and, as such, must be spread rapidly through the group
D)Fear is evolutionarily the oldest emotion state so it is not under the control of the expresser as much as other emotions
E)All of the above

Question 7

Which is not a primary function of parent-infant facial expressions?

A)To reward desired behavior and prevent undesired behavior
B)To foster parent-infant bonding through synchronous expression
C)To serve as a model for how the infant should respond to objects in the environment
D)To regulate the infant's behavior
E)All of the above are functions

Question 8

The powerful influence of parent facial expressions, such as reassuring smiles or positive vocalizations, on infant behavior was famously demonstrated using what experimental methodology?

A)The Behavioral Regulation Paradigm
B)The Bobo Doll Experiment
C)The Visual Cliff Paradigm
D)The Strange Situation

Question 9

Which of the following smiles is not included in the smile typology proposed by Niedenthal et al. (2010)?

A)Shame
B)Affiliation
C)Reward
D)Dominance

Question 10

Which of the three smiles proposed by Niedenthal et al. (2010) fits most closely with the concept of a ""true"" or ""happy"" smile?

A)Shame
B)Affiliation
C)Reward
D)Dominance

Question 11

According to a social functional perspective, why does the expression of sadness exist?

A)It causes the person experiencing sadness to isolate themselves from the group so that they can recover from their loss in isolation
B)It pulls group members to the expresser and compels them to provide support and care
C)It helps the body rest and recuperate from trauma by activating the peripheral nervous system
D)It signals a transition from one goal state to another and triggers a transition to attempting to recover the lost object or person

Question 12

A particular evolutionary perspective predicts that anger and aggression are more likely to occur when an individual feels that they have the potential to inflict more cost or withold benefits, thus rendering their aggression more effective. What particular hypothesis did Sell, Tooby, and Cosmides (2009) find evidence for?

A)People who make more money, regardless of gender, are less likely to express or experience anger and aggression because they have ample resources to get what they want
B)Physical strength in men and attractiveness in women are positively related to how often people experience anger and how much they endorse the use of aggression
C)The more frequently men and women report experiencing anger and acting aggressively, the more likely they are to gain power over time
D)Physical strength in men and social status in women are positively correlated with their endorsement of military violence

Question 13

Which of the following statements about group experience of emotion and group identification is true?

A)Groups that share either positive or negative emotion states can experience a heightened sense of group identification
B)The shared experience of positive, but not negative, emotions can increase group cohesion and identification
C)The shared experience of negative, but not positive, emotions can increase group cohesion and identification
D)Only the experience of anxiety and fear about outgroup members fosters a heightened sense of group identification

Question 14

Keltner et al. (1998) examined the role of emotion expression in group dynamics by filming fraternity brothers. Based on that work, if both high-status and low-status group members want to maintain the current hierarchy of the group, what emotions should they express, respectively?

A)High-status: joy; low-status: sadness
B)High-status: shame; low-status: embarrassment
C)High-status: affiliation; low-status: reward
D)High-status: hostility; low-status: embarrassment or appeasement

Question 15

Which of the following theories helped spark a renewed interest in positive emotions, like joy, amusement, and contentment?

A)Porges' Polyvagal Theory
B)Oatley and Johnson-Laird's Cognitive Theory of Emotion
C)Niedenthal's Smile Typology
D)Fredrickson's Broaden-and-Build Theory

Question 16

According to what theory of emotions is happiness triggered by the juncture of a subgoal being achieved, causing a transition to continuing on with the goal?

A)Oatley and Johnson-Laird's Cognitive Theory of Emotion
B)Porges' Polyvagal Theory
C)Fredrickson's Broaden-and-Build Theory
D)Niedenthal's Smile Typology

Question 17

What are the three levels of social units, as proposed by Keltner and Haidt (1999)?

A)Individual, dyad, and group
B)Intrapersonal, interpersonal, and societal
C)Family, community, and institution
D)Brain, relationship, and social network

Question 18

One way to determine whether emotions help people thrive psychologically and socially is to study cases where emotions and emotional development are atypical. Which of the following is not an approach used by scientists to determine whether emotions are functional?

A)Study people whose emotion responses have been changed by brain lesions
B)Study people whose emotion recognition abilities have been disrupted by developmental disorders
C)Study the genetic correlates of emotions and see whether other successful species have them. If not, they are likely not functional
D)Study the relationship between one's ability to express and discuss emotions and overall psychological health

Question 19

Antisocial behavior, such as criminal activity, is associated with which of the following emotion-related traits?

A)A reduced ability to experience anger and act aggressively
B)A reduced ability to recognize distress in others
C)A reduced ability to express joy and other positive emotions
D)Both A and B
E)All of the above

Question 20

What skills are involved with emotional intelligence?

A)The ability to understand the emotions of the self and others
B)The ability to use one's emotions to guide subsequent behavior and decisions
C)The ability to ignore emotions in favor of more ""rational"" behavior
D)Both A and B
E)All of the above

Question 21

Which of the following statements about emotions and their functions is true?

A)Even if emotions do not feel subjectively ""good"" to a person, their occurrence can be good for the person's survival
B)The physiological components of emotions are largely nonfunctional and are simply byproducts of metabolism
C)All emotions can be associated with all known action tendencies, depending on the context
D)None of the above is true

Question 22

In periods of relative calm and safety, which of the following autonomic systems is dominant?

A)Parasympathetic nervous system
B)Sympathetic nervous system
C)Somatic nervous system
D)Central nervous system

Question 23

Stemmler, Aue, and Wacker (2007) studied the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity of soccer players imagining themselves in either anger- or fear-inducing soccer scenarios. What did they find?

A)Because both fear and anger are high-arousal negative emotion states, they found (as they expected) no differences in ANS activity between the two emotions
B)Even though they are both high-arousal negative emotions, they found differences in ANS activity involving noradrenergic and adrenergic responses
C)Even though they are both high-arousal negative emotions, only fear had an effect on ANS activity, specifically noradrenergic responses
D)Since anger is a high-arousal negative state while fear is low-arousal, only anger had an effect on adrenergic activity

Question 24

What is the vagus nerve?

A)The sympathetic nerve involved in releasing cortisol to the rest of the body
B)The primary cranial nerve involved in voluntary facial muscle movement
C)The major parasympathetic pathway from the brain to organs like the heart
D)The dopamanergic pathway from the ventral tegmental area to the prefrontal cortex

Question 25

What best describes the behavioral and bodily state associated with sadness?

A)High arousal and approach-oriented
B)Behavioral withdrawal and energy conservation
C)Increased sympathetic nervous system activity and decreased cortisol release
D)Increased adrenergic activity and decreased heart rate

Question 26

Which of the following theories proposes that relatively recently in evolution, social mammals (like humans) have acquired the autonomic nervous system features necessary to live peacefully in groups?

A)Fredrickson's Broaden-and-Build Theory
B)Niedenthal's Smile Typology
C)Oatley and Johnson-Laird's Cognitive Theory of Emotion
D)Porges' Polyvagal Theory

Question 27

According to the Polyvagal Theory, organisms acquired the following behavioral responses in what chronological order?

A)Mobilization, immobilization, social communication
B)Immobilization, mobilization, aocial communication
C)Social communication, immobilization, mobilization
D)Social communication, mobilization, immobilization

Question 28

What is the difference between the myelinated and unmyelinated vagus?

A)The unmyelinated vagus sends slower signals because it is uninsulated
B)The unmyelinated vagus is thought to play a more important role in phylogenetically older behavior like freezing
C)The unmyelinated vagus is only found in primates, while the myelinated vagus is found in all vertebrates
D)Both A and B
E)All of the above

Question 29

According to Oatley and Johnson-Laird's Cognitive Theory of Emotion, what is the primary function of emotions?

A)Generating cognitions that reach conscious awareness when the subjective affect is strong enough
B)Communicating to other people in the environment what behavior the individual is about to take
C)Reorganizing and redirecting the person's behavior in the service of managing progress towards goals
D)Triggering reflexive behavioral responses that cannot be influenced by cognition

Question 30

What infant expression is an apparently universal signal that reliably attracts caretaking behavior from parents, regardless of their species?

A)Smiling
B)Laughing
C)Crying
D)Grimacing