Emotion An introduction and approaches to understanding T. Curwen

Write down 5 emotions §Are you 100% sure they are emotions? What is an emotion? Is an emotion different from: l moods, sensations, traits, sentiments?

Are emotions: Dangerous? Harmful? Beneficial? Necessary?

Overview §Evolution of emotion: l knowledge l research l approaches Brain science, physiology, sociology Emotion - defined

Early work §Emotions and passions are dangerous §Should rid ourselves of emotion §Moderation to unify mind and morals §Emotion inhibited superiority

Early Behavioural/Cognitive approaches §Core of emotion is behaviour l Facial behaviour l Body movements l Evaluation of something in internal/ext. environ l Nature/inclinations to act l Complex reasoning processes that lead to emotions

Why little interest in emotions? §Behaviourism was popular during the 30’s §Focus on observable behaviours §~60’s - 70’s great interest in the mind developed

Influences on emotion work since 60’s §Infancy and emotion §Attachment §Neuroscience §Cognitive psychology §Stress §Ethology §Facial Expression

Does LOVE have a facial expression?

Ekman §Emotion families §Feelings in emotion families §Basic vs. complex emotions

1.Brief 2.Unbidden/Involuntary 3.Unlike a lot of processes 4.Automatic unconscious appraisal component 5.Quick onset 6.Coherent Ekman’s Nine Attributes of Emotion

7) Signal in the face and body 8) Universal antecedents 9) Physiology Ekman’s Nine Attributes of Emotion 3 Criteria to help distinguish the emotion

The Physiological Component A Historical Perspective James-Lange Theory of Emotion

The Physiological Component A Historical Perspective Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion

Two-factor Theory Emotion Physiological Arousal Appraisal + =

What emotion is she demonstrating? Is it an emotion? Is the context important to interpreting this picture?

What is emotion?

Comparing emotion l Emotion vs. Moods l Emotion vs. Sensations l Emotion vs. Trait l Emotion vs. Sentiment

Emotion components The Physiological Component The Expressive Component The Cognitive Component

Emotion Definitions §James, 1884 – “bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feelings of the same changes as they occur is the emotion” §Barrett & Compos, 1987 – “emotions as bidirectional processes of establishing, maintaining, and/or disrupting significant relationships between an organism and the (internal/external) environment”

§Lazarus, 1991 – “emotions are organized psycho-physiological reactions to news about ongoing relationships with the environment” §Frijda & Mesquita, 1994 – “emotions are first and foremost, modes of relating to the environment states of readiness for engaging, or not engaging, in interaction with the environment”

Emotion Three Components of Emotion

Evolution and Emotion

Outline §Elements of an evolutionary approach §Emotions serve functions §Origins of emotions §Basis of social relationships §Evolution of language

Assumptions of Evolutionary Theory 1)Designed for gene replication 2)Selection pressures 1) Natural selection 2) Sexual Selection 3)Adaptations 1) Reproduce our genes 2) Mating is costly 3) Fertility 4) Giving birth is costly

Evolutionary Theory & Emotion §Evolutionary theory §How do these evolutionary theories/approaches apply to emotion?

§Emotions as adaptations l Solve problems Emotion functions to solve a problem Emotions affect our cognitions Face presents information to others Evolutionary Theory & Emotion

Face presents information to others!