Affect theory AND Migram experiment

I have been reading into affect theory - from what i have understood, affect is an emotion or experienced feeling. 

There is a bunch of psychoanalysis who strive to organise such affects into categories according to its associated response. 

So, for example, the affect of anger could be observed through the reaction of frowning. 

Such affects can be identified through instant facial reactions that people have to the initial emotion. Supposedly this physical response occurs prior to the persons brain actually processing any real response.

Silvan Tomkins writes about affect theory and i have been reading some of his book - Affect Imagery Consciousness. 

He uses the word affect, specifically referring to the -

 "biological portion of emotion, that is, to hard-wired, preprogrammed, genetically transmitted mechanisms that exist in each of us which, when triggered, precipitates a "known pattern of biological events," although it is also acknowledged that, in adults, the affective experience is a result of both the innate mechanism and a "complex matrix of nested and interacting ideo-affective formations."

"The nine affects can be used as a blueprint for optimal mental health and intimate relationships" (Silvan Tomkins - Affect imagery consciousness) 

Below are the nine affects, listed with a low/high intensity label for each affect and accompanied by its biological expression:

Positive:

• Enjoyment/Joy - smiling, lips wide and out
• Interest/Excitement - eyebrows down, eyes tracking, eyes looking, closer listening

Neutral:

• Surprise/Startle - eyebrows up, eyes blinking

Negative:

• Anger/Rage - frowning, a clenched jaw, a red face
• Disgust - the lower lip raised and protruded, head forward and down
• Dissmell (reaction to bad smell) - upper lip raised, head pulled back
• Distress/Anguish - crying, rhythmic sobbing, arched eyebrows, mouth lowered
• Fear/Terror - a frozen stare, a pale face, coldness, sweat, erect hair
• Shame/Humiliation - eyes lowered, the head down and averted, blushing

Leading on from this, i wanted to look into the Stanley Milgram experiment, i became aware of this a few years ago as a friend studying for a criminology degree was writing an essay on it.

The Stanley Milgram experiment was carried out in 1961 - Milgram, a psychologist created a system which generated 'electric shocks' 

He gave the machine 30 buttons, each of which was marked in 15 volt increments ranging from 15 to 540 volts, in addition he provided labels which indicated the expected shock level, for example 'moderate', 'strong', 'danger' and the highest levels were labeled 'XXX'.

"The shock generator" as he called it, was in fact phoney and only ever produced sound when the buttons were pressed. He used newspaper ad's to recruit 40 subject - whom were all male. They thought they were going to be participating in an experiment about learning and memory. In the test, each subject was informed that regardless of their level of participation they would be able to keep the payment purely for having arrived. 

The main question, which Milgram was hoping to be albe to answer -

“For how long will someone continue to give shocks to another person if they are told to do so, even if they thought they could be seriously hurt?”

Next the subject was introduced to the 'experimenter' (the person leading the experiment) and another person they thought to be an additional subject. (This person was in fact a 47 year old actor - fully aware of the experiment)

The two subjects (The genuine male who has responded to the newspaper ad, and the actor) would draw in a raffle like system to find out who would play the part of the "learner" and the "teacher" (this was set up to ensure the actor would always get the role of the "teacher")

The teacher would then watch as the learner was strapped to a chair and electric belts were attached, before being taken into another room in front of the shock generator, unable to see the learner. 

The subject was instructed to teach word-pairs to the learner, When the learner made a mistake the subject was instructed to punish him by generating an electric shock - increasing by 15 volts each time. Of course, the learner never received the shock, however pre-recorded audio was triggered when a button was pressed. 

Before the Stanley Milgram experiment, experts predicted that around 1-3% of the 40 subjects would continue giving shocks - stating a person would have to be pathological and psychopath to carry on. In the experiment 65% continued to generate shocks, none of them stopped when the learner complained of heart problems. This experiment alone shows that people will do as they are instructed, especially when the instructor is believed to be in authority.

"If the subject asked who was responsible if anything would happen to the learner, the experimenter answered “I am responsible”. This gave the subject a relief and many continued."

"During the Stanley Milgram Experiment, many subjects showed signs of tension. 3 subjects had “full-blown, uncontrollable seizures”.Although most subjects were uncomfortable doing it, all 40 subjects obeyed up to 300 volts.25 of the 40 subjects continued to complete to give shocks until the maximum level of 450 volts was reached."