Question 1

Belinda makes a quick stop at the grocery store on the way home from work, in order to pick up a few items. She carries her keys into the store, and in her rush she almost puts them down in order to reach up for an item on a high shelf. In a flash, however, she imagines leaving the keys on the grocery shelf, forgetting them, and getting back to her car only to realize she has lost her keys. The thought is so unpleasant that she carefully puts the keys in her purse instead. This example illustrates which of the following theoretical models?

Accepted Answer

The somatic marker hypothesis suggests that emotional processes guide behavior and decision-making, often unconsciously. Belinda's unpleasant emotional response to the imagined scenario of losing her keys influences her decision to put them in her purse.

Question 2

In a study by Wilson and colleagues (1993), described in your textbook, participants spent time doing a task, and then chose one of several posters that had been hanging on the wall as a gift to take home. The researchers called participants three weeks later, and asked them to rate how much they liked their new poster. Which of the following best summarizes the implications of the study results?

Accepted Answer

The study suggests that when decisions are based on personal values and preferences, relying on gut reactions can lead to more satisfaction than overanalyzing the options.

Question 3

The trolley dilemma, described in your textbook, is commonly used to study .

Accepted Answer

The trolley dilemma is a thought experiment in ethics and psychology that is used to study moral reasoning, as it presents a moral decision-making scenario.

Question 4

In the trolley dilemma, participants must decide whether to flip a switch that will divert a trolley, saving five people's live but killing one person. In the footbridge dilemma, participants must decide whether to push a large wrestler into the path of a trolley, killing that wrestler but saving the lives of five people who would otherwise have been hit. When researchers compare participants' responses to these two dilemmas, what do they find?

Accepted Answer

Most people are more hesitant to push the wrestler into the trolley's path than they are to flip the switch because the footbridge dilemma involves a more direct and personal form of harm, which is psychologically more difficult for people to justify.

Question 5

According to your textbook, when making a decision about a risky, but potentially rewarding situation people's emotions are NOT very responsive to:

Accepted Answer

People's emotions are often less responsive to the probability of obtaining the reward compared to the magnitude of the reward and the possible negative consequences.

Question 6

After viewing a long series of emotionally intense and neutral images, people are more likely to remember the emotional images a year later.

Accepted Answer

Emotional images tend to be more memorable due to the emotional arousal they cause, which enhances memory retention compared to neutral images.

Question 7

According to the broaden and build model, positive emotions help expand our attention more broadly across the environment, so we are more likely to detect opportunities.

Accepted Answer

The broaden and build model suggests that positive emotions widen our scope of attention and cognition, allowing us to notice more possibilities and opportunities in our surroundings.

Question 8

Flashbulb memories - vivid and detailed memories of emotionally intense events - tend to be more accurate than memories of neutral experiences.

Accepted Answer

Flashbulb memories are vivid and detailed but are not necessarily more accurate than other types of memories; they are subject to the same distortions and inaccuracies as regular memories.

Question 9

In the process of being retrieved from storage, memories can be changed, so memory is different after retrieval than before retrieval.

Accepted Answer

Memory retrieval can lead to reconsolidation, where memories are susceptible to modification, potentially altering the original memory.

Question 10

As a general rule, people in a happy mood are more likely to make decisions based on careful, logical reasoning than those in a sad mood.

Accepted Answer

Research suggests that people in a happy mood are more likely to rely on heuristics and less detailed processing, while those in a sad mood tend to engage in more careful, analytical thinking.

Question 11

According to the somatic marker hypothesis, people form stronger memories of events that were marked by bodily arousal.

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to the somatic marker hypothesis, people...

Question 12

Patients with damage to a region of the brain that supports emotional influence on decisions tend to make poor decisions, despite being able to process situations rationally.

Accepted Answer

Damage to brain regions like the ventromedial prefrontal cortex can impair emotional processing, which is crucial for decision-making, leading to poor choices even when rational thought is intact.

Question 13

Evidence suggests that, when making a moral decision, people typically make their decision based on emotions and then find logical reasons to justify that decision, rather than basing the decision on logic.

Accepted Answer

Research in moral psychology, such as Jonathan Haidt's social intuitionist model, suggests that people often rely on intuitive emotional responses when making moral decisions and then use reasoning to justify their choices post hoc.

Question 14

Summarize the "tag and capture hypothesis" discussed in your textbook, and describe one study that supports this hypothesis.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Summarize the "tag and capture hypothesis" discussed...

Question 15

Explain the difference between systematic and heuristic cognition, and describe one study that documents effects of emotion on this aspect of cognition.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain the difference between systematic and heuristic...

Question 16

Summarize the somatic marker hypothesis, and describe a real-life example (not previously discussed in class or your textbook) of this process.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Summarize the somatic marker hypothesis, and describe...

Question 17

The term "cognition" is an umbrella term that covers several more specific processes, including attention, memory, reasoning, and decision-making. Describe one study finding relating emotion to each of these aspects of cognition, described in class or in your textbook.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The term "cognition" is an umbrella term...

Question 18

Western philosophy has long been skeptical of emotions, often proposing that rational logic is a better basis for decision-making. Some emotion theorists have argued, in contrast, that emotions are necessary for making good decisions. Do you think that, in general, emotions are good or bad for human decision-making? You may also argue that emotions are mostly helpful in one kind of circumstance, but mostly harmful in another (be specific about each kind of circumstance if this is your thesis). Support your argument with at least three empirical study findings discussed in class or in your textbook.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Western philosophy has long been skeptical of...

Quiz 10: Emotion and Cognition