Passage
Prominent theories of emotion have long held that alterations in one's internal physiological state are necessary for the experience of emotion. Interoception involves both the unconscious and conscious perception of one's internal physiological state. The insula (or insular cortex), located deep within the lateral fissure on both sides of the brain, appears to be largely responsible for interoception. Studies suggest that the posterior insula (PI) is involved with processing homeostatic afferent information such as pain, temperature, hunger, thirst, and the impulse to breathe. In contrast, the anterior insula (AI) appears to process information regarding emotional awareness, the conscious experience of emotion.A recent study evaluated AI activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Using fMRI, the participants' brain activity was monitored during two different tasks: an emotion-eliciting task and an interoceptive task.Task 1Participants watched 10 short videos of people recalling personal events that were either negative (eg, surviving a mass shooting attack) or positive (eg, seeing a loved one after a year apart). After each video, participants rated their reactions on a Likert scale from 1 (no emotional reaction) to 10 (extreme emotional reaction).Task 2Participants were instructed to monitor their own heart rate and press a button each time they felt their heartbeat. Participants' heart rates were externally monitored to gauge the accuracy of their responses.ResultsNeuroimaging results suggested that both tasks elicited activity in the AI. Furthermore, there was a high degree of overlap in the activity of the right AI and surrounding limbic and paralimbic brain regions at both the individual and group levels.
J. Zaki, J. I. Davis, and K. N. Ochsner ©2012 by Elsevier, B. V., and A. D. Craig ©2003 by Elsevier, B. V.
-To test the hypothesis that emotions play an adaptive role in society, researchers added a Task 3 to assess social success (higher scores = more social success). This hypothesis would be best supported by:

Question

Passage
Prominent theories of emotion have long held that alterations in one's internal physiological state are necessary for the experience of emotion.  Interoception involves both the unconscious and conscious perception of one's internal physiological state.  The insula (or insular cortex), located deep within the lateral fissure on both sides of the brain, appears to be largely responsible for interoception.  Studies suggest that the posterior insula (PI) is involved with processing homeostatic afferent information such as pain, temperature, hunger, thirst, and the impulse to breathe.  In contrast, the anterior insula (AI) appears to process information regarding emotional awareness, the conscious experience of emotion.A recent study evaluated AI activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).  Using fMRI, the participants' brain activity was monitored during two different tasks:  an emotion-eliciting task and an interoceptive task.Task 1Participants watched 10 short videos of people recalling personal events that were either negative (eg, surviving a mass shooting attack) or positive (eg, seeing a loved one after a year apart).  After each video, participants rated their reactions on a Likert scale from 1 (no emotional reaction) to 10 (extreme emotional reaction).Task 2Participants were instructed to monitor their own heart rate and press a button each time they felt their heartbeat.  Participants' heart rates were externally monitored to gauge the accuracy of their responses.ResultsNeuroimaging results suggested that both tasks elicited activity in the AI.  Furthermore, there was a high degree of overlap in the activity of the right AI and surrounding limbic and paralimbic brain regions at both the individual and group levels.
J. Zaki, J. I. Davis, and K. N. Ochsner ©2012 by Elsevier, B. V., and A. D. Craig ©2003 by Elsevier, B. V.
-To test the hypothesis that emotions play an adaptive role in society, researchers added a Task 3 to assess social success (higher scores = more social success).  This hypothesis would be best supported by:

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

11ecba2d_0c8b_40c4_a3bf_07e38f1b810a_MD0008_00 Emotion plays an important role in individual and group behaviors. Positive emotions motivate people to engage in a behavior again whereas negative emotions cause avoidance. For example, if a child shares her toy and is praised for it, she is likely to repeat the behavior. On the other hand, if a teenager is socially shunned for wearing a new pair of shoes, he is unlikely to wear them again. Emotions play an adaptive role in society by allowing humans to emotionally connect with others through feelings such as love, affection, and attachment, and by fostering group unity and conformity. A desire to experience certain emotions (eg, happiness, pride) and avoid others (eg, embarrassment, shame) causes people to behave in predictable, socially acceptable ways. Understanding the emotions of others and expressing emotions to others are important elements of social interaction. A positive correlation between emotional expression scores from Task 1 (for both the positive and negative videos) and social success scores would support the hypothesis that emotions play an adaptive role in society. Individuals with stronger emotional reactions to the videos may be more understanding/perceptive of positive or negative emotions, which should correspond with an increased ability to build interpersonal connections (ie, social success). (Choice A) The ability to have an emotional reaction to both positive and negative life experiences of others is important for social success. Therefore, there should be a positive (not negative) correlation between Task 1 scores for both negative and positive videos and Task 3 scores. (Choice C) Because changes in heart rate reflect a variety of different emotions, both positive (eg, excitement) and negative (eg, anxiety), it is not possible to determine how heart rate might be related to social success. (Choice D) During Task 2, participants pushed a button every time they felt their heartbeat. Task 2 accuracy would mean that button pushes corresponded with actual heart rate, suggesting that the participant demonstrated good interoceptive ability. However, it is unclear how this ability might relate to social success. Educational objective: Emotions play an adaptive role in society by influencing behavior and social interaction in ways that improve group unity and conformity. Individuals who are better at perceiving and understanding emotions should also have more social success.

Passage Prominent Theories of Emotion Have Long Held That Alterations in in One's