Hedonism

Seeking of pleasure and avoidance of pain
Spencer said: Pleasurable behaviour has survival value: pleasurable behaviours are adaptive and random responses leading to pain became less probable; similar to Darwinian theory – Stimulation in 3 categories:

Beneception: pleasant feelings are aroused by stimuli i.e. sweet tastes
Nociception: unpleasant feelings are aroused by stimuli i.e. bitter tastes
Neutroception: stimuli causing neither pleasant or unpleasant feelings i.e. vision

– Beebe Center- proposed hedonic continuum: pleasantness and unpleasantness are opposite extremes on continuum w/neutral zone in middle

o Bright pressure: reactions of sense organs to make pleasant feelings o Dull pressure: reactions of sense organs to make unpleasant feelings

– Instructions can change perceived pleasantness or unpleasantness of stimuli, which indicates pleasantness and unpleasantness are relative to whatever else is happening to us; instructions alter pleasantness of stimuli by changing actions of sense organs vs. by altering perceptions of stimulation at some more central

(brain) level; but today, effects are predicted to be more central in nature

P.T. Young: Sign, Intensity and Duration

T. Young: best known hedonic theorist
Affective processes in continuum have 3 properties:

Sign: (+) affect = approach vs. (-) affect = avoidance
Intensity: to observe intensity affects, researchers use preference tests: in 2choice situation, chosen substance is more hedonically intense than nonchosen one
Duration: hedonic processes may last as long as sensory stimulation lasts and some outlast stimulation

Graphical representation of hedonic continuum: range of hedonic continuum from max. (-) end = distress to neutral zone to max. (+) end = delight

o Differences in intensity are represented by arbitrary units marked along continuum

Nervous system is made in way that causes organisms to try to maximize (+) affect and minimize (-) affect
When (-) change occurs, organism is motivated to reduce (-) affect situation

Sensory Stimulation and the Hedonic Continuum

Sensory stimuli: provide info to organism about conditions of its external and internal environment
Affective processes, as represented by hedonic continuum convey little info: whether something is good (pleasant) or bad (unpleasant); thus, this affective info is biologically primitive o Thus, hedonic continuum is not same as sensory stimulation
e. choices between distilled water and salty water = preference for salt vs. choice between distilled water and increased concentration of salty water = preference for distilled water o Thus, we cannot assume changes in sensory intensity = changes in hedonic effect
Hedonic processes represented by hedonic continuum have motivational influences on behaviour:

(+) affect is closely associated w/approach behaviour and (-) affect w/withdrawal 2. Affective processes both activate and direct behaviour so max. (+) affect and min. (-) affect are maintained
Affective processes lead to development of stable, motives and dispositions i.e.

sweet taste of ice cream = development of choosing ice cream over other foods – Changes in motivation are also seen as dependent on changes in hedonic value

i.e. if rat is given choice between 2 substances i.e. sugar and flour, it will prefer sugar; but if one of test foods is replaced by new food, change may occur in behaviour exhibited toward old substances in choice situation o Thus, introduction of new substance changes motivation of organism b/c organism as developed expectancy of choice between 2 substances of diff hedonic value

o Thus, changes in goal objects = changes in expectancy = changes in performance

The Motivational Influence of Sensations

Paffman suggested sensory stimulation alone is motivating and leads to approach or withdrawal behaviour i.e. taste sensations are enough to trigger approach or avoidance behaviour without being tied to physiological chance
Paffman and Young realize hedonic and sensory intensity are not equivalent
Paffman believed stimulus properties of tasted substance directly determine hedonic value of substance

Hedonic Value and Contact Receptors

Stimulation of contact receptors i.e. taste seems more often associated w/strong emotion than stimulation of distance receptors i.e. vision and are more often associated w/consummatory activity i.e. taste- eating and genetic contact- sex
Hedonic tone provided directly by contact receptors may be evolutionary adaption i.e. distance receptor (vision) give lead time for person to make judgment and react, but contact receptors often involve stimuli (i.e. pain) that require quick reaction if organism is to survive o Thus, hedonic value (pleasure or pain) may evolved in conjunction w/stimulation of contact receptors to quickly direct behaviour

o There is relationship between contact receptors, emotion and consummatory behaviour

Pain

Prior to Melzack and Wall’s model, pain was thought to result from pain receptors sending their messages along specific pain fibres to brain, where pain was experiences; impossible b/c men wounded in battle sometimes feel no pain
Thus, there is no simple and direct relationship between severity of injury and amount of pain experiences
Pathological pain states such as: causalgia: burning pain caused by lesion of peripheral nerve, peripheral neuralgia: occurs after peripheral nerve infection and phantom limb pain: experienced even when involved body part is amputated o Cannot be treated by lesions of peripheral or central nervous system; thus, pain is more than simple perception of painful stimulation
If person is focused on painful aspects of procedure, pain is experienced more intensely
Higher brain processes can alter experience of pain
Melzack and Wall’s gate control theory: model of pain that emphasized role of higher brain processes in controlling experience f pain and modulating system within spinal cord that influenced how much pain info reaches brain
Pain control gates are modulated by neurotransmitter changes involving endogenous opiates
Naloxone: evidence for opioid system in gating of pain; blocks effects of opiates and analgesic effects of acupuncture
Gender diffs in pain (shows pain is complex interaction of brain systems):
- Women are at higher risk for many clinical pain conditions o Postoperative and procedural pain is more severe for women than men o Women have greater pain sensitivity than men, caused by psychosocial factors i.e. gender roles
- Learning and emotional reactions can also modulate pain
Areas of brain that contribute to pain modulation: thalamus, limbic system, prefrontal cortex, somatosensory cortex, cingulate cortex and basal ganglia
Grey matter in brain stem is important in reduction of pain made by endogenous opiates o Endogenous opiates produce analgesia by blocking production of substance P: transmitters
Thus, central modulation of pain is partly mediated by action of endogenous opiates
Cognitive control of painful stimulation results partly from activation of opioid system

Novelty, Curiosity and Exploratory Behaviour

Terms used to describe motive state made by external stimuli  challenges drive-reduction theory of motivation
Changes in sensory qualities of environment (eternal stimuli) i.e. novelty and uncertainty = increased arousal = changes in motivated behaviour  then we make efforts to have moderate level of arousal

Behaviours Released by Stimulation

Harlow argues external stimuli are important in motivating behaviour and much of human behaviour is motivated by non-homeostatic mechanisms i.e. humans solve problems w/no use
Behaviours are motivated simply by sensory stimulation they provide
Experiment by Harlow: delivery of food tended to disrupt performance on puzzles and rewarded group lost interest in puzzles sooner than non-rewarded group o For non-rewarded group, behaviour was maintained by motive to manipulate and explore puzzle
Berlyne argued that exploratory activity has function of altering stimulus fields that we are immersed in; involved in changing stimulus input that we receive vs. causing changes in body tissue
Berlyne suggested factors such as novelty and uncertainty have motivational properties b/c they increase arousal level or organism
He argued that if we attempt to maintain optimal level of arousal; if stimulation drops to low (i.e. in boredom), we become motivated to increase behaviour and if arousal level becomes to high, we will be motivated to lower it
Amount of exploratory behaviour showed by Montgomery’s rats were controlled by the degree of stimulation change involved i.e. drastic change in colour: black  white
Hebb believed that moderate changes in arousal are reinforcing b/c we become used to the familiar; we approach new stimulus situations, if they are too arousing, we will withdraw from the,

He assumed that brain and body need to be active i.e. play behaviour occurs when other needs are not active; it has neural component b/c many games depend on memory of earlier experiences i.e. patty-cake o Play behaviour occurs b/c of boredom; it proved higher level of arousal

Studies of exploratory behaviour, play, novelty and uncertainty showed that motivation can be triggered by situations that lead to increase in stimulation o Motivation is activated when stimulus conditions are too high or low
Deviations from optimal arousal (too much or too little): trigger motivation in organisms to behave in ways that bring arousal back to optimal level
Thus, depriving organism of changing stimulus input = motivated behaviour

The Need for Stimulation

Need for stimulation exists
Results of sensory deprivation in developing organisms and adults show disruption of normal behaviour and big attitude change

 Early Sensory Restriction

When experimental Scotties were let out of isolation condition, they were very active vs. Scotties raised in controls; they explored environments after control subjects got bored of it o Thus, sensory restriction altered normal motivation behaviour of dogs
Scotties’ reactions to strange and painful objects: isolated Scotties became agitated by strange object but did not avoid it (seemed unaware that pain was from eternal object in their environment) vs. normal Scotties learned to avoid
Test of problem-solving abilities: experimental Scotties were deficient compared to normal ones
Sensory restriction had long-term and permanent effects on behaviour of isolated Scotties
Isolated Scotties were unable to direct behaviour in efficient and adaptive way

i.e. in escaping from painful object

Sensory restrictions may induce emotionality (hyperexcitability) when normal levels of stimulation are provided ***
Conclusion of study: increases in stimulation were emotion producing for darkreared subjects
Emotional disturbance may sometimes result of consequence of incongruent sensory input
Lighter environment was incongruent w/rearing histories of animals
Animals were 1) hyperexcitable and emotional and 2) did not cope well w/new and strange simulation situations
Early sensory restrictions may alter normal functioning of the brain; evidenced by increased susceptibility to seizure
Visual patterning experienced early in development infleunces development of visual processing circuits
Adequate stimulation is needed for normal development

Thought much of effect of sensory restriction results from physiological and perceptual changes, research also suggests that motivational and emotional changes occur

To deprived animal, new sensations lead to fear and withdrawal

Attachment

Maternal Deprivation
- Loss of care from mother or whoever is responsible for developing organism
- Parents of young animals provide rich source of stimuli to developing organism i.e. sight, touch, smell, etc.
- Lack of adequate parent-infant interactions makes long-lasting effects b/c of reduced sensory stimulation from both environment and parent
- Harlow experiment: infants separated from mothers developed strong attachment to cloth pads placed in their cages + became emotional when pads were removed o Baby monkeys were taken from mothers at birth and put into individual cages w/surrogate mother made of wire of soft cloth
  - Monkeys spent most time w/soft cloth mom b/c of contact comfort: body contact; source of security
  - Rocking movement, temp., etc. also involved in attachment process o Maternal face is beautiful to baby no matter how others may judge it o More isolation = more abnormal behaviour + more likely for abnormal behaviour to be permanent i.e. chew own bodies until they bleed
  - Thus, experience w/mom and peers is necessary
- In child abuse cases, abuser was usually abused; thus: proper parenting partly depends on observing how parents behaved
- Parenting can be understood as motivated behaviour resulting partly from learning process of modeling
Protest, Despair, Detachment and Ambivalence
- Predictable series of behaviours kids go through in child-separation: 1) protest: crying and uncooperative w/attendants, 2) despair: accept some comfort from attendants and become possessive of them and hostility toward other children, 3) children return to parents: degree of detachment depends on length of time child has ben separated from parents, 4) ambivalence: child shows hostility towards parents and clinging towards parents o 1) more mothering and 2) familiar people i.e. grandparents = reduced intensity of separation effects
- Institutionalized infants die w/adequate physical care if no adequate individual attention
Deprivation Dwarfism (Psychosocial Dwarfism)
- Retarted growth; reduction of bone maturation to point that child’s physical maturation is less than normal for its age

Caused by lack of adequate home conditions (social environment) vs. neuralendocrine problems

Study: 6 dwarfs stunted physically and psychologically w/passively neglectful parent(s) o When children were removed from their bad environment to hospital:

improved physically and psychologically; started growing again

Residual effects of early deprivation on personality structure and intelligence still existed

Environmental deprivation and emotional disturbance influence endocrine functioning; especially pituitary gland
Pituitary gland secretes growth hormone (somatotrophin): stimulated growth; subnormal level in dwarfs
Disruption of normal sleep pattern suppresses this growth hormone; dwarfs have abnormal sleep patterns
Growth hormone is mostly secreted in beginning of sleep; thus, is person does not sleep, hormone
Summary: poor social environment = abnormal sleep patterns = change in secretion of growth hormone = reduction in growth
There is critical period where external stimulation is needed for optimal development; Harlow found this too
Without adequate stimulation, permanent deficiencies result i.e. withdrawal
Bad social environment where children are forced to live is not optimal
Mother-infant and peer-interactions are important sources of stimulation needed for normal development of organism and motivation
Diffs in mother-infant interactions may partly explain diffs in adulthood

Sensory Deprivation in Adults
- Sensory deprivation studies usually deprive participants of many sensory inputs at the same time i.e. tactile, visual and audio inputs; types:
  - Absolute reduction, reduced patterning or imposed structuring (usually monotonous, without any reduction in stimulation) of sensory stimulation – Some participants could no longer tolerate isolated conditions (b/c of boredom and irritability) and showed impaired thinking, hallucinations, emotionality and changes in EEG of brain activity
- Sensory deprivation = aversive
- People need to maintain certain level of stimulation needed for efficient functioning; they become motivated to increase it if deprived of it
- Perceptual (i.e. loss of patterned vision) and intellectual (i.e. decreased performance on many tasks) functioning are altered by sensory input
- Sensory deprivation in adults = temp. disruptions in behaviour vs. in children = perm. deficiencies
- Social contact may be important b/c provides complex sensory
- Adults who already developed adequate processes for dealing w/incoming sensory info are constantly monitoring and correcting strategies as conditions change

Effects of sensory deprivation in adults disrupt this evaluation process = temp. reduction in cognitive abilities and distortion in perception of events

Study: sensory deprivation in adult jet pilots caused disorientation of feelings and surroundings o In all cases, persons disorientation was isolated from rest of crew o 3 conditions associated w/disorientation: flying alone, flying at high altitudes and minimum activity
- Symptoms reported by fliers are similar to those in sensory deprivation experiments
- All disorientation symptoms were reduced if activity was required of other people to talk w/were present
Any situation w/ reduced or monotonous stimulation and little activity are candidate for disorientation i.e. driving in dark highway alone in midnight
Some people tolerate sensory deprivation better than others: participants who scored as mature handlers of primary process though (w/min. anxiety) had better toleration
Some people who are emotionally secure can profit from isolation experiences if they are not too long or severe
Sensory deprivation may have beneficial effects i.e. some people enjoy it, can be therapeutically helpful and in environment REST (Restricted Environmental Stimulation Technique), some participants improve in controlling habits i.e. smoking

Sensation Seeking

When sensory restriction occurs, people seek stimulation and can become more susceptible to persuasion
Optimal level of stimulation differs from person to person (these 2 points should go above)
Sensation seeking: tendency to seek novel, varied, complex and intense sensation and experiences and willingness to take risks for these experiences
Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS): reliable measure of differences in level of stimulation people seek out o From a person’s responses, total SSS score and scores on 4 subscales can be obtained: 1) thrill and adventure seeking (TAS), 2) experience seeking

(ES), 3) disinhibition (DIS), 4) boredom susceptibility (BS) – Factors for high SS:

Age (SS declines in age) and sex (men are higher in SS): 2 most influential factors observed in SS
Risky behaviours: high SS rate situations as less risky than low SS b/c of their successful experience w/more risky situations in the past o More participation in sports
Risky vocations (i.e. police work) o Social interactions: high SS find it more of a (+) experience than low SS o Emotionally expressive o Sexually permissive o High divorce o More drug use: b/c of need for novelty and curiosity

Thus, optimal level of arousal can vary widely from person to person and people are motivated to engage in activities (or to avoid them) in order to maintain level of stimulation they prefer
Effects of alcohol, gender and SS on gambling choices: alcohol sue does not affect gambling choices, but SS does
High SS is not negative trait though i.e. Israeli war veterans score higher in SS and were less influenced by war-related problems i.e. PTSD

o B/c high SS has stress-buffering effect that helps in presently dangerous situation and in long-term adjustment to stress of war

Opponent-Process Theory: Hedonism Theory

Solomon and Corbit proposed homeostatic model of hedonic quality: both pleasant and aversive hedonic states are opposed by central nervous system processes that reduces their intensity by producing hedonic state that is opposite in quality to the initial stimulus
- Thus, stimuli that give rise to pleasurable feelings will be opposed by aversive feelings generated by process vs. stimuli that initially give rise to aversive feelings will be opposed by pleasant feelings generated by process
Every affective situation has 5 characteristics; when stimulus is detected it makes hedonic reaction that: 1) quickly peaks, 2) adaption phase; intensity of hedonic experience declines, 3) steady level, 4) peak affective after-reaction w/characteristics opposite to original hedonic state and 5) decay until intensity of affective after-reaction returns to 0
Assumes that physiological processes that triggers initial hedonic reaction State A, will be opposed by second physiological state, which will trigger an opposite hedonic reaction State B
Decline in hedonic value from peak of State A to steady level results from state B’s effect of reducing State A
Thus, steady level of hedonic intensity is State A – State B
When stimulus creating A is no longer present, full force of State B (opposite hedonic reaction to state) is felt
State A and B are different b/c: 1) opposite hedonic quality, 2) State A develops quickly and is associated w/intensity of stimulus that produced vs. State B develops slowly and is produced as reaction to State A (not made by stimulus), 3) State B decreases slowly and continues even when State A is removed b/c it decays slowly, 4) repeated presentations of stimulus that produced State A have

no effect on intensity of State A vs. repeated elicitation of State B leads to strengthening of State B

Since activation of state B has effect of reducing intensity of state A, repeated presentations of the stimulus that triggered state A will actually lead to a reduction in the hedonic intensity of state A b/c state B will increase in intensity

Drug Addiction: An Alternative to the Incentive Sensitization View

Addicting substance will initially give rise to pleasurable feelings (state A), but OP will gain in strength as person uses dug, so aversive state B develops
Since pleasurable experiences of state A are reduced by growing aversive state B, a point will be reached where addicted individual maintains drug to avoid aversiveness of state B vs. for pleasure of drug; withdrawal symptoms that occurs when drug-maintained state A is absent
Neutral stimuli that precede states A and B can become conditioned to those states; any cue that consistently occurs before high of drug state A will begin to act as secondary reinforce for continued drug use
Neutral stimuli associated w/aversive state B of drug withdrawal will negatively reinforce behaviours that reduce these stimuli o Only way to avoid (-) stimuli is to take drug again = addiction
Tolerance of drug can be partly explained as result of A an B states o Experiment: rats develop conditioned tolerance of morphine in environmental situations that signal impending drug administration; cues signaling drug injection have become conditioned to compensatory process that has same characteristics as O-P state B aroused by drug injection

Thrill Seeking

O-P suggests that one reason people engage in behaviours such as roller-coaster riding is b/c of strong state b that occurs after initial fear-producing or painful state A
e. in parachute jumping, aversive state A occurs during initial jump (shown by signs of terror i.e. eyes bulge) and upon landing, positive state B is in effect; people are very excited after i.e. interact socially in animated ways
For experienced chutist it is diff: after repeated jumps, fearful state A is reduced to point hat chutist is eager (vs. scared) b/c build up of (+) state B reduces state

A; thus chutist looks more excited before jump (vs. signs of terror)

According to O-P, people engage in frightening behaviours b/c of reduction in initially aversive state A and highly (+) opposite reaction that occurs when behaviour stops

Social Attachment

Some aspect of imprinting stimulus triggers (+) state A b/c studies show that young birds are highly motivated to approach and follow and imprinting stimulus and that such stimulus can serve as positive reinforce
Removal of imprinted stimulus leads to distress calling, which is used as a measure of (-) state B
Distress calling appeared to indicate the growth of (-) state B opposing (+) state A that happens when imprinted stimulus is present
Important factor in development of (-) state B: time interval between successive presentations of imprinting stimulus
- Short interval: negative state B grows as predicted by O-P vs. long interval: (-) state B has time to decay and thus, does not grow stronger = critical decay
If changes in intensity of imprinting stimulus (i.e. adding sound) and changes in duration (decreasing time stimulus is present affects critical decay Additional: pgs. 357-3632

Emotion from a Biological Perspective

Anithesis

Darwin proposed opposite emotions = opposite behaviours

Direct Action of the Nervous System

Says that some emotional expressions occur simply b/c of changes in nervous system activity i.e. trembling when fearful

Recognition of Emotional States

Survival value of emotional behaviour: provides “clues” of person’s emotional state to other members of its species; recognition of these “clues” are innate

Other Formulations of Emotion after Darwin

The James-Lange Theory

Perception of experience of emotion: perception of environmental stimulus (.e. barking dog)  bodily responses (i.e. rapid breathing, increased heart rate)  sent to brain indicating “changed state” = changed physical state = experience of emotion

o Thus, perceptions of changes in our body = arousal = emotional experience o Emphasized role of ANS

Cannon emphasized role of central nervous system: cortex, thalamus and hypothalamus were “seat” of emotional experience – Cannon argued:

Bodily changes can be eliminated w/out disturbing emotions of organism
Bodily changes are same regardless of emotion shown
Internal organs (viscera) providing feedback to brain are not sensitive structures
Changes in internal organs are too slow to provide experience of emotion
Artificial induction of aroused emotional state does not lead to emotional “feeling”

Emergency theory: alternative to James-Lange theory

The Automatic Nervous System

Controls processes we do not voluntary control (ANS) i.e. heartbeat
Sympathetic nervous system (SNS): most active when energy stores of body are being used
Parasympathetic nervous system (PSN): most active when body is in process of storing energy for future use

The Cognitive-Physiological theory of Emotion

By Schachter; proposed both physiological arousal and cognitive attributions (that identify w/one’s immediate environment) are necessary for full experience of emotion
Arousal and cognitive labeling are needed for authentic emotional experience