All Encompassing Fear

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PWBUA1985FP

Humanities

Description

fr your Signature Assignment, choose one of the primary emotions (happy, sad, fear, anger, disgust, or surprise), and then identify research that has been conducted on the emotion you selected. Your investigation should include research conducted on this emotion as it relates to the various topics discussed in this class. For example, if you select "anger" you could search for research conducted on the emotional regulation of anger, areas of the brain activated during an anger response, physiological changes occurring during an anger response, individual differences in the expression of anger, etc.

The literature review should not simply consist of a series of article reviews; the literature review should provide an integrated synthesis of the research in the particular areas you select to include in your paper.

In addition to the articles you used in your annotated bibliography, be sure to locate another five references from scholarly sources to support your assignment.

Length: 12-15 pages

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Explanation & Answer

Attached.

Running head: THE FUNCTIONAL STATE OF FEAR

The Functional State of Fear

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Date

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THE FUNCTIONAL STATE OF FEAR

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Abstract

There are many emotions that affect human beings and to some extent animals. Fear is
one of these emotions. The aim of this research is to review literature related to the scientific
study of fear and integrate the findings of the different studies. The paper looks into how fear is
functionally defined, the signs and symptoms related to fear, and the distinction between fear and
anxiety. Literature concerning the emotional regulation of fear, how the different parts of the
brain are activated when an organism encounters a threatening stimulus, and physiological
changes triggered by the brain is also reviewed. The brain responds to threatening stimulus by
activating a defense mechanism known as fight or flight response. The defense mechanism is
activated using the nervous system and hormones. Individuals and animals differ in their
expression of fear. Some are more affected by threatening stimulus than others. Studies in rats
show that genetic differences play a part in an individual or animal’s expression of fear.

THE FUNCTIONAL STATE OF FEAR

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Introduction

Fear is described by some researchers as one of the most understood emotion (Feinstein,
2011). Most if not all people around the world have felt afraid. Fear can also be recognized in
may animals. Research conducted on rodents show that they have brain circuits that respond to
fear (Graham & Richardson, 2016). However, there are disputes as to whether the term can be
properly applied to animals. The cause of the dispute is the question whether animals can know
whether they are feeling afraid (Adolphs, 2013). This raises the question whether a person or
animal can be in a state of fear without having a conscious experience of it. In day-to-day
conversations, people rarely have trouble with the use of the word fear. However, researchers in
the field of emotion have problems regarding how to define and investigate fear (Adolphs, 2013).
This paper urges a functional concept of fear. What this means is that fear be defined in
terms of how it is caused by certain stimuli that are perceived as threats and how these stimuli
cause people or animals to adopt in a certain way so as to cope with or avoid the perceived threat
(Adolphs, 2013). The functional concept allows an objective scientific investigation of fear
(Adolphs, 2013). This is because a scientist can investigate the emotion by looking into certain
stimuli that cause fear and how these stimuli affect the brain, nervous system, hormones, and the
behavior of a human being or animal. Researchers have for long looked into the causal process
and good progress has been made. However, the study of the human brain has proven to be a
difficult task and a lot still remains to be uncovered. There are many brain regions that are
involved in fear response but how all these regions interconnect is still a mystery.
Literature Review
Definition and Signs and Symptoms

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Adolphs (2013) defines fear as feeling that arises when a human being or animal
perceives a threat or danger and this feeling causes changes in the human being or animal’s
organs metabolic functions, and behavior. The human being or animal may try to flee, hide, or
freeze. Goodwin and Norbury (2016) define fear as a powerful, unpleasant emotion that is
induced by the awareness or anticipation of actual or potential danger in the environment. When
an organism feels afraid, it either tries to escape or fight. This has come to be known as fight or
flight response (Goodwin & Norbury, 2016). In some cases, the fear can be so horrifying to the
point where an organism is unable to fight or escape but freezes. This is referred to as a freeze
response (Goodwin & Norbury, 2016). From an evolutionary point of view, fear enhances
survival by automatically preparing an organism to respond to threats in the environment.
Signs and Symptoms associated with fear include increased heart rate, breathing rate,
goosebumps, increased muscle tension, dilation of pupils, and sweating (Feinstein, 2011). The
breathing rate increases so as to increase oxygen in the body. The heart rate accelerates so as to
pump blood rich in oxygen and glucose to the muscles (Feinstein, 2011). The oxygen and
glucose are to be broken down into energy that will help the organism escape or fight.
Goosebumps are caused by the increase in tension of the muscles connected to hair follicles
(Feinstein, 2011). Sweating helps keep an organism’s body cool by lowering the skin’s
temperature (Feinstein, 2011). All these changes in the body help prepare an organism to fight or
escape. In humans, the changes result in a conscious realization of fear. All the changes in the
body are automatic and unconscious.
Fear v Anxiety

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Anxiety is an emotion that is related to fear. Adolphs (2013) considers anxiety to be a
type of fear. However, Perusini & Fanselow (2015) consider anxiety to be distinct from fear.
According to Adolphs (2013), the distinction between fear and anxiety is that fear is transient
and is induced when a person confronts a stimulus that is perceived as threatening while anxiety
is more tonic and induced when an individual predicts that they would encounter a threatening
stimu...


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