Schachter and Singer

Biological approach

A physiological change, like heart rate change and feeling sleepy

Things occuring in the environment:

• A car speeds towards us

• A school bell sounds

To test out the two-factor theory of emotion, which is that an emotional experience comes from a cognitive label and some physiological arousal

To investigate the effect of a stooge on behavior who would be angry or euphoric

• Cognition: the mental process of acquiring and processing knowledge

• Emotion: the body’s adaptive response to a particular situation

• Two factor theory of emotion: an emotional experience that comes from a cognitive label and some physiological arousal

• When someone experiences emotion, physiological arousal occurs and the person uses the immediate environment to search for emotional cues to label the physiological arousal

  • This cause result in misinterpretations of emotions based on physiological arousal

Physiological and Psychological.

Laboratory, Questionnaire and Observation

Independent groups.

1. The knowledge about injections (Epi Inf, Epi Mis, Epi Ign)

2. The emotional situation the ppt was placed into (euphoria or anger)

saline solution

1. Observational data recorded by 2 observers in a one-way mirror → to what extent the ppt acted in a euphoric or angry way

2. Self-report ppts completed following the emotional arousal

1. joins in the activity

2. initiates a new activity

3. watches stooge

4. ignores stooge

Based on participant’s response:

1. agreed with a comment (+2)

2. disagreed with a comment (-2)

3. neutral to a comment (0)

4. initiates agreement/disagreement (+2 or -2)

5. watches stooge (0)

6. ignores stooge (-1)

184 male college students in an introductory course to psychology, at the University of Minnesota

• They received course credit for their participation

• University health records of all ppts were checked to ensure no harmful effects from injections

• Volunteer sample

• The study was advertised to students who were part of a participant pool

• From Univ. of Minnesota

• They received 2 extra points in their final exam

Students gained two extra points in their final exam for every hour they took part in an experiment.

To test the effects of vitamin supplements on vision.

they’d repeat instruction, take the ppt’s pulse and inject the ppt with ‘Suproxin’

• 1 ppt changed his mind → sample = 184

adrenalin or saline solution (placebo)

A vitamin the ppts were told they were about to be injected with to see if it affects their eye sight.

within 3 to 5 minutes and could last up to 1 hour

Side effects of the injection:

• Your hand will start to shake

• Your heart will start to pound

• Your face may get warm and flushed

  • Provided an explanation for their feelings

Told they could expect some side effects:

• Your feet will feel numb

• You will have an itching sensation over parts of your body

• You may get a slight headache

  • Ppts wouldn’t have any explanation for actual side effects - control condition

• NOT IN ANGER CONDITION

All ppts were cleared by the student health service to check that they would not be harmed by the injection in this study.

the drug was mild and harmless with no side effects.

• Ppts were left in a room with another ppt (the stooge)

• They were told they needed to wait 20 minutes for ‘Suproxin’ to be fully absorbed

Their vision test.

Untidy: rubber bands, pencils, and scrap paper were lying around

He doodled a fish on scrap paper

Says it’s bad, then would crumble it and attempt to throw it into the trash bin (miss)

This led him to throw a paper ball to the ppt to try and get the ppt to join

He makes a paper airplane and flies it

He then throws it at the ppt

Finally, he tears it up to make a slingshot

After making the slingshot, he shoots the ppt

He then shoots at a pile of manila folders, that he eventually hits

While picking up the folders, he noticed a pair of hula hoops

He twirls one on his arm, then sits down until the experimenter returns

14

Doodling (1)

Playing paper basketball (2)

Making paper airplanes (3)

Firing a slingshot (4)

Hula hooping (5)

a five-page questionnaire with questions that got increasingly personal (e.g. parent's income)

how the injection was unfair & regularly complained about the questionnaire while completing it

angrier and would cross out questions

• Eventually, he ripped up his questionnaire and left the room

anger condition (since it was a control)

The experimenter returned to the room, took their pulses, and had ppts fill out a questionnaire about their emotional and physiological state

0 to 4

• e.g) How good or happy they felt

0 to 3

• e.g) Did they feel any tremor?

their side effects

the extent that ppts acted happy or angry

• Ppts’ actions were coded and recorded after each stage of the stooge’s routine

announced the experiment was over

• They explained the deception and its necessity

• Answered any questions

• Swore subjects to secrecy

11 ppts

5

• Opening the window and hurled paper balls at passersby, while laughing

• Jumping on the table, then spinning a hula hoop on his neck and the other on his leg

88%

1. If a person is aroused with no immediate explanation, they will describe their feelings in terms of the cognitions available.

2. When an individual is aroused and has an explanation, they won't label their feelings in terms of the cognition available.

3. If an aroused person is in a situation which in the past could have made them emotional, they would be emotional again.

A control for validity.

1. Epi Misinformed (1.9 self-report)

2. Epi Ign (1.78 self-report)

• More susceptible to stooge because they were unaware of why their bodies felt the way they did

3. Placebo (1.61)

4. Epi Inf - understood why they felt the way they did (.98)

1. Epi Mis (22.56)

2. Epi Ign (18.28)

3. Placebo (16)

4. Epi Inf (12.72)

1. Epi Ign

2. Placebo

3. Epi Inf

1. Epi Inf (1.91)

2. Place (1.63)

3. Epi Ign (1.39)

a pulse increase and high amounts of tremors (placebo group experienced the opposite)

• Largest pulse increase in anger: Epi Ign compared to Epi Inf

• Epi Inf claimed to have experienced fewer palpitations than Epi Ign

Epi Inf was the least euphoric, and least angry since they had an explanation for their internal cues

Twice, once prior to the injection and once immediately after talking to the stooge.

Two open ended questions were about their experiences during the course of the tasks.

An aroused person with no explanation for the arousal describes their feelings in terms of the cognition available. The study is useful in treating people with anxiety or panic attacks as they can identify the environmental triggers that cause them to be aroused.

There are two factors involved when we experience emotions: a physiological one and a psychological one

The confederate performed his activities in a specific order, the person injecting had a script, the pulse check, and the room setup.

Being injected with an ‘unknown’ drug, sitting with a confederate, and attempting to complete a questionnaire aren’t tasks that people complete on a daily basis.

The sample consisted of males who were university students, so the results can’t be generalised to females and those of different ages.

Deception: ppts thought they were receiving ‘Suproxin’ when they were getting epinephrine - they also thought that the confederate was a real ppt

Protection: The injections could’ve been physically harmful and their situations could’ve resulted in a change of psychological state

Nature:

• In all the epinephrine conditions, the pulse rate increased for all participants - biological reaction as it is a hormone being released into the bloodstream

Nurture:

• In the euphoria condition, the Epi Mis group produced the highest activity index score compared to all other groups. This is because the participants may have been choosing environmental cues to explain their feelings.

Individual:

• Some participants may have joined in the activities because of their personality type, e.g. being more extraverted

Situational:

• Some participants may have joined in the activities because of the environment of having the stooge act in a certain way

Useful in treating people with anxiety or panic attacks as they can identify the environmental triggers that cause them to be aroused.