Two-factor Theory of Emotion - Procedure

Procedure

Epinephrine informed: The experimenters would tell the participates that some subjects had experienced side effects from the "Suproxin" and that those side effects would last for about 15–20 minutes. Subjects were told their hands would start to shake, their heart will start to pound, and their face may get warm and flushed. Once again, they would mention that the effects would last 15–20 minutes. While the physician was giving the injection, subjects were told that the injection was mild and harmless but the physician repeated the description of the symptoms that the subject could expect. Therefore, the subjects would know precisely what they would probably feel from an injection of epinephrine and why.

Epinephrine ignorant: The experimenter said nothing relevant to the side effects and left the room while the physician was giving the injection. The physician again told the subject that the injection was mild and harmless but said it would have no side effects. In this group, the experimenters didn't explain to the subjects what symptoms of effects of epinephrine they might feel.

Epinephrine misinformed: In this group, the experimenter would misinform the subjects about what they would feel. The experimenter again told them the side effects would only last around 15–20 minutes, but they were told they would probably feel their feet go numb, and have an itching sensation over parts of their body, and a slight headache.

All of those subjects were injected with the same dose of epinephrine. (When there was a placebo condition, when the subjects were injected with saline solution. Those injected with the saline solution, were given the same treatment as the epinephrine conditions.) None of these symptoms in the misinformed group are consequences of an injection of epinephrine.

After the physician left the room, an actor came into the room. The actor was to manipulate the situation by acting euphoric or angry. To demonstrate these emotions, the actor had a specified routine of verbal, nonverbal, and actions to perform. For the euphoria routine, as soon as the experimenter left the actor introduced himself, made a series of icebreaker comments and then started the routine.

The anger actor did not break the ice. As the subjects were filling out a five page questionnaire, the actor paced his or her own answers with the subjects. At several points in during the questionnaire, the actor made comments about the questions. His comments started off innocently, then grew angry, and the actor ended up in an apparent rage.

To record evidence of euphoria or anger, an observer kept a chronicle of what the subjects did and said. For the euphoria stage, there were four specific categories the observers looked for: 1) the subject joins the stooge’s activity,2) subject initiates a new activity, 3) subject ignores the stooge, or 4)subject simply watches the stooge. During any particular behavior, the subjects were was coded in one or more of these categories.

There were six categories of measurement during the anger stage. The observer would record the subjects in the following categories: 1) the subject agrees with the stooge, 2)the subject disagrees with the stooge, 3) the subject is neutral or has a noncommittal response, 4) the subject initiates agreement or disagreement, 5) the subject watches without comment, and 6) the subject ignores the stooge.