Emotion

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Emotion
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AccomplishmentPride, Happiness
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LossSadness
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DisrespectAnger
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Outline

• What are emotions?
• Why do we have emotions?
• How does emotion relate to the rest of
  psychology?
• What are the emotions?
• What causes emotions?
• What are the effects of emotions?

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What Are Emotions?

• How do you use the term emotion?
• Brief feelings states with
• Subjective (feeling)
• Physiological
• Cognitive
• Behavioral

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Example
Physiology
Subjective
Antecedent
Behavior
Cognitive
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Related Terms

• Mood
• Feelings

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Central Themes

• Emotions are usually adaptive
• Relationship with the environment
• Provide information to self/others
• Direct cognitive resources
• Motivate behavior
• Promote learning

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Historical Views

• Stoicism
• 3rd Century BC
• Founded by Zeno
• Virtue is knowledge
• Emotions are destructive

• Zeno

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Historical Views

• Robert Woodworth (1940)
• IQ tests should demonstrate the absence of fear,
  anger, grief, and other emotions characteristic
  of younger children

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Historical Views

• We all know that emotions are useless and bad
  for our peace of mind and our blood pressure.
• BF Skinner (1948)

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Modern Life
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Are Emotions Adaptive?

• Emotions are short-lived psychological-physiologi
  cal phenomena that represent efficient modes of
  adaptation to changing environmental demands
• Robert Levenson (1994 emphasis added)

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Emotion and Psychology

• Social Psychology
• Emotion as a situational influence

• Neuroscience
• Brain activity during emotions

• Behaviorism
• Emotion in learning (maybe)

• Personality
• Individual differences

• Evolutionary Psychology
• Origins and functions

• Developmental Psychology
• Age of learning

• Abnormal Psychology
• Emotion regulation

• Cognitive Psychology
• Attention
• Memory

Intelligence
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What Are the Emotions?
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Evolution and Emotion

• Which emotions have distant evolutionary origins?
• Evolution vs. learning/social construction

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Basic Emotions

• Paul Ekman (1992)
• Evolutionary basis/functional
• Universal (all societies/languages)
• Evident early in life
• Universal antecedents, specific appraisals
• Form of behavioral expression
• Distinct physiological basis

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Which Emotions Are Basic?

• Anger
• Joy/happiness
• Fear
• Disgust
• Sadness
• Surprise
• Contempt

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Facial Expression Research

• If emotions serve communicative functions and
• If these functions have been crucial to survival
• Then people should be able to recognize facial
  emotion expressions

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Facial Expression Research

• If humans face common threats across cultures
• Then recognition abilities should be universal
• If recognition abilities are universal
• Then we may be innately prepared to experience
  recognize certain emotions

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Facial Expression

• Match the emotion
• Fear
• Anger
• Disgust
• Contempt?
• Joy/happiness
• Sadness
• Surprise

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Universality of Facial Expressions

• Ekman Friesen (1971)
• Adults and children in New Guinea

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Universality of Facial Expressions

• Americans posed the six basic emotions
• A story is translated to South Fore language
• John is now looking at something new and
  unexpected (surprise)
• Johns mother has died, and he feels very sad
  (sadness)
• View three emotion faces and match correct one to
  story

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Universality of Facial Expressions
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Universality of Facial Expressions

• Exception for fear/surprise
• Findings replicated in Hungary, Japan, Poland,
  Sumatra, Vietnam
• No experience with western culture required
• Recognizing emotions appears innate
• Same findings for vocal expression

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Emotion Expression on TV

• What (if anything) is so interesting about these
  commericals?
• http//youtube.com/watch?v9GQBABkFI34
• http//youtube.com/watch?v5uzULboIx3o