Emotional Attunement

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Emotional Attunement

• Class 6

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Course Updates
Readings for Understanding Emotions, 2nd Edition,
now entered in revised syllabus. 1st Editions
page numbers in parentheses. PowerPoint slides
for all PAST lectures have been updated, on Web
site http//psychology.rutgers.edu/kharber/
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Ekman's Facial Action Coding System (FACS) and
Emotion Generation
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Ekman, et al. Facial Poses and Emotional
Arousal
Facial Pose Heart Rate Galvanic
Skin Response Happy Low XXXX Disgust L
ow XXXX Surprise Low XXXX Sadness High Low
Anger High High Fear High High
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So, Are Emotions Distinct?
Cacioppo et al. (1993) conduct a major review of
many studies on emotion and bodily change. Jury
is still out, results too conflicted. Example
10 comparisons of happiness and anger, 5 show
differences, 5 do not.
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Separate Systems Hypothesis Lang, 1985
  1. Conscious/cognitive/verbal   2.
Body/physiological   3. Behavioral/expressive
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Modes of Emotional Experience Unified or
Independent?
Unified model Cognitive and Physiological and
Expressive aspects of emotions must
co-occur   Independent model Cognitive or
Physiological or Expressive aspects can occur in
any combination
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Possible Combinations of Emotional Features as
Independent
Awareness Y Y Y Y N N N Expression Y Y N N Y N Y
Bodily Y N N Y Y Y N Arousal
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Different Modalities of Emotion Appear to be
Independent
Rosenberg Ekman (1994) Subjects watch icky
movie
(amputation, rat crawls into a man's mouth)
Monitor Ss's facial expressions,
self-reported feelings 50 of facial expressions
DON'T MATCH feelings. Jones, Collins, Hong
(1991) Babies viewed when play with interesting
toys, when turning to look at moms. When do
babies smile? When playing w' toys ____ If
mom is watching _____
X
Conclusion Emotional expressions occur in
social contexts, not when alone.
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Emotions as Orienting Device The Phineas Gage
Story
Gage a railroad foreman Blasts out prefrontal
lobes with tamping tool Survives injury,
but Behavior radically changed Cant plan
Impulsive, short tempered, terrible social
judgment Other studies of frontal lobe damage
show same pattern emotional blunting poor
planning obsess on details
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Prefrontal Damage Sustained by Phineas Gage
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Emotions as Protective Teachers
Seymour Epstein, emotions theorist Fishing off
back of boat, trawling. Line caught in weeds.
Yanks the line. Hook flashes by eye. Repeated,
involuntary images of self yanking on pole, fish
hook just missing his own eyeover and over
again. Each recall followed by highly disturbing
emotion. Why this cycle? Emotion is teaching
him to not repeat dangerous behavior.
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Thinking and Emotions
Emotions shift direction of thought Mental
radar (Herbert Simon, 1967). Emotions are
thought-interrupters   Emotions focus attention
on emotion-relevant things   Emotions focus
attention on un-solved problems   BUT Emotions
can also be changed by changes in thinking (in
line with Appraisal Theory).
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Emotions and the Human Dilemma
We know enough to know we dont know enough.  
We need to act in order to survive  Acting
requires making choices  Best choices based on
complete information  We rarely have complete
information  Yet we must chose anyway Emotions 1
. Help us set priorities 2. Give us cues to
action when we lack vital information
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EMOTIONS AND DEVELOPMENT I
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The Existentialists' Greeting Card
Are humans basically alone?   Are we ever able
to understand another person?   Are others able
to understand us?   Can we ever know ourselves? 
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What emotion is best described by the following
qualities 1. Person totally understands how you
feel in a wide variety of situations. 2. Person
knows what to say and how to act when you're sad,
angry, happy, they know how to act. 3. The
person knows who you are, deep down. 4. The
person knows how to be with you, without saying
much. 5. You can count on the person to be these
ways, day in/day out.
Emotion?
Love
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Affect Attunement
 Process that occurs between parent and infant
which allows an infant to perceive how it is
perceived.   1. Requires that parent is
able to read the infants emotional
state / inner experience from over behavior.
2. Infant must be able to interpret parents
response to it as deriving from its
own behavior. 
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Examples of Attunement

• Baby excited by toy, grabs it, lets out an
  aaaahhh!!!
• Mom does intense go-go dancer shimmy, lasts
  as long as babys aaaahhh.
• Baby boy hits things with plastic hammer, in
  steady rhythm. At each stroke, mom goes
  kaaa-boom! kaaa-boom! Kaaa-boom! in cadence
  with hammer strikes.
• Baby reaches for toy just beyond reach. As it
  pushes towards toy, mom goes uuh, .uuuuh!,
  ---uuuuhhh!!! with his efforts.

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What Are Attunements?
Attunement is not simply imitation. Not
mirroring, not echoing.   Cross modal
channel used by mom different from that
used by baby Reference for match is internal
state, not simply external
behavior.  Nature of match is itself an
expression of inner state that corresponds
to inner state expressed by baby  Process is
rapid and largely unconscious
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Attunement Study Design
10 moms, 5 w baby girls, 5 w baby boys
Moms told to bring baby and two of babys
favorite toys   Moms told to play with baby as
normally do   Interactions videotaped, moms
help score events   Event is 1. Any
time baby showed marked change in emotion 2.
Mom behaved in way that looked like
mirroring, matching, attuning to baby
behavior 3. Baby could either see or hear
behavior.
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What Got Scored in Attunement Study
Modality Match voice, face, etc. Dimensions of
Match Intensity Absolute level, directional
shift   Timing Matches Beat, Rhythm,
duration   Shape Matches contour (rise, fall,
rise of voice, e.g.)  Moms awareness of her own
behavior  Type of Attunement Overmatch, equal
match, undermatch
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Functions of attunement
1. To be with (positive) 2. To be with
(negative) 3. Responses pos or neg
reinforcement 4. Tuning increase or decrease
arousal level 5. Restructure interaction
change course of behavior 6. Play routine
Match part of an established play routine
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Results of Attunement Study

• Frequency of attune
• Mode of attunements
•  
• c. Types of attunements
• d. Moms awareness

1 every 65 seconds.
Vocalizations Gestures Facial displays
Mixed mode Cross mode Same mode
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Unaware Partly aware Fully aware
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30
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Functions of attunements
  1. Commune45   2. Respond 33   3. Tune
19   4. Restructure 2   5. Play routine
1
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Babies' Responses to Attunements
Most common response from baby is ___
smiling ___ cooing ___ playing
more ___ no response
X
Mom's told to "mis-attune" to baby. Baby looks at
mom as if saying "What gives?" Indicates baby
feels like mom/baby are a single unit, need to
respond only if the "unit" fails. What does this
say about how emotions arise?
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Why Does Intersubjectivity Matter?

• Play, flirting, connecting
• HIM Wow, its cold outside!
• HER Um, feels pretty warm around here
• HIM Hubba! Hubba! Vs. That is
  climatically impossible.

• Emotional support, understanding
• John Cassevettes, Gena Rolands A Woman Under
  the Influence (1974)
• Rolands Dad, arent you going to stand up for
  me?
• Dad Stands up.

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Main Take-Home Points of Attunement Study
a. Importance of cross-modality of
attunements b. Attunement is relatively
automatic c. Attunement is very constant, almost
continual d. Communing is 1 function