RECOGNISING FEELINGS AND EMOTIONSTwo psychologists called Schachter and Singer performed a series of experiments designed to investigate just how much physiological changes do matter in emotions, and also how much our knowledge of what's going on is important. In 1962, they performed experiments that involved injecting people with adrenaline, and noting how they reacted. They had three groups of subjects. One group was given an injection of adrenaline and told what it was, and the sort of reactions that they could expect from it. (A flushed face, slight tremblings, and sweaty hands.) A second group was also given an adrenaline injection, but they were misinformed about the symptoms: they were told that it might give them a slight headache, or other things like that. The third group had a placebo - that is, they were given a harmless injection of saline solution, which wouldn't have any effect at all. So this would show up any 'imaginary' effects from being given what they thought was a drug. Schachter and Singer told their students that it would take some time for the injection to have its full effect, and asked them to wait in a waiting room in the meantime. In the waiting room, each subject (they were tested individually) met a 'stooge', who said that he was also waiting for the second part of the experiment. The stooge was really an actor, who was instructed to act either happy, or angry. With the angry condition, he would become increasingly impatient, complaining about the experimenters and the waiting period, and eventually showing every sign of becoming really angry. With the happy condition, the stooge would appear euphoric, making jokes, and playing with paper aeroplanes. Schachter and Singer found that the mood that their real subjects fell into matched the mood of the stooge. If the stooge was angry, the subjects would get angry; but if the stooge was euphoric, the subjects, too, would start to become happier. So it seemed from these findings, that the emotions people experience can depend on the social factors around them. But another thing which Schachter and Singer found, was that the degree to which their subjects reacted, depended on the injections that they had been given. The subjects who had been given adrenaline, and misinformed about its effects, reacted very extremely - they either became very angry, or very happy. But the ones who had had adrenaline, and been told what changes they could expect, didn't react so strongly, nor did the control group who had been given the placebo injection. So, from this, Schachter and Singer developed a theory about how emotions seemed to depend on both cognitive factors - the way that they understood their social surroundings; and on physiological factors - the physical changes caused by the autonomic nervous system (ANS). From their studies, then, Schachter and Singer's theory was developed as follows: a stimulus triggers off the physiological response, and at the same time, the stimulus is interpreted in the brain, taking into account previous experiences of similar situations. The brain produces the actual emotion that the subject experiences, through cognitive factors, and the ANS produces the degree to which that emotion is felt. So emotion is a mixture of both cognitive and physiological factors. Although criticism can be made of this study, it does seem to be likely that both cognitive and physiological factors play their part in the emotions that we feel. One theory argues that, in fact, we can divide the influences on emotion into three groups of factors, and that we receive information from each group. When we put all the information together, then this makes up the emotion that we experience. The three groups of factors are: physiological factors, like the emergency reaction; stimulus factors - the actual event which has caused us to react; and cognitive factors in the form of the memories we have of previous events and experiences. Exercise 1. Read and translate the text, find equivalents to the following Russian words and expressions: психолог; провести серию экспериментов; иметь значение; испытуемый; сделать инъекцию; успокоительное средство; соответствовать, сочетаться; зависеть от социальных факторов; познавательный; принимать во внимание предыдущий опыт; физический, физиологический, психологический Exercise 2. Read the text in detail to find the best answer - A, B, C or D - to the following: 1. The subjects in the experiment A all knew the drugs would alter their moods B were all told the truth C were all treated in different ways D received one of three different kinds of treatment 2. In the waiting room A each group met a different stooge B the stooge behaved angrily or happily with each subject C the stooge and the subject both had to wait D the subjects had to wait a long time 3. From their experiment, Schachter and Singer concluded that A our emotions are very dependent on who we are with B our physical state strongly affects our emotions C interpretation of the stimulus follows a psychological response D our nervous system determines how much we feel 4. from the extract we can conclude that its authors A fully agree with Schachter and Singer’s conclusions B thought their experiment was poorly designed C developed Schachter and Singer’s theories D believe Schachter and Singer’s theories were probably correct Exercise 3. Find synonyms to the following words: to examine, get information to mean, be of importance finally, in the end very happy to find, find out a level a depressant, nervine to start a process an answer, reaction to debate, dispute to explain, translate, define to take into consideration
Exercise 4. Find antonyms to the following words: to inform bad headache harmful collectively to decrease patient Exercise 5. Explain the meaning: to misinform someone, symptoms, a placebo, saline solution, “imaginary” effects, a stooge, euphoric, to react extremely, a stimulus, emotions, physiological Exercise 6. Fill in a proper preposition: to complain___ a headache; to complain ___ a bad service; to wait ___ the results; to depend ___ circumstances; to fall ___ good (bad) mood, to match ___ something; to trigger ___ a process; to take ___ account; to divide something ___ parts; to misinform someone ___ the symptoms: it will take some time ___ the injection ___ have its full effect Exercise 7. Discuss with your partner and answer the following questions: 1.What are our feelings caused by? Our bodies, our memories, events, social factors, or by all of these? 2.Where and how are our emotions produced? 3.Is it good for people to experience negative feelings? 4.How important is it to listen to your feelings? 5.What is ‘gut feelings’? 6.Do feelings get in the way of success? 7.Is it better to express rather than suppress your emotions? 8.Do men find it harder to express their emotions than women? 9.How do psychologists call people who express their feelings to other people? How do they call those who hide their feelings? 10.Are you more often guided by your intelligence or feelings?
Exercise 8. Look at the words below. Which of these feelings do you experience more often? In your opinion, which of them is most beneficial / productive? What other feelings might be added to the given list? jealousy contentment bitterness guilt depression self esteem indifference boredom happiness despair hatred envy Exercise 9. Complete this table where possible:
Exercise 10. Explain the meaning of ‘do’, ‘does’ in the sentences from the text. Think of an example of the same kind. 1. Two psychologists called Schachter and Singer performed a series of experiments designed to investigate just how much physiological changes do matter in emotions. 2. Although criticism can be made of this study, it does seem to be likely that both cognitive and physiological factors play their part in the emotions that we feel.
Exercise 11. Put each of the following words or phrases in its place in the passage below.
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