PSC 154 - Ch 1 - Approaches to Understanding Emotions

emotion

What is a…?

Internal states triggered by events related to our concerns & that motivate action

• Gives priority to one goal over others

• Gives urgency to a specific concern

• Social & relational

Charles Darwin

19th Century Founders

The Evolutionary Approach

Argued that emotional expressions derive largely from habits in our evolutionary/individual past that had once been useful

• Expressions based on reflex-like mechanisms

• Expressions shows continuity of adult human emotions w/ those of lower animals & infancy

William James

19th Century Founders

The Bodily Approach

Proposed that the core of an emotion is the pattern of bodily responses; emotion is the perception of changes of our body as we react

• Experience of emotions involves changes of automatic NS

• Emotions give “color & warmth” to experience

Sigmund Freud

19th Century Founders

The Psychoanalytic Approach

Believed that an emotion in the present could derive from past experiences and r-ships in childhood

• Certain events can leave emotional scars that affect the rest of one’s life > emotions = core of mental illness

psychoanalysis

19th Century Founders

The Psychoanalytic Approach

A therapeutic method in which a patient recalls memories while the therapist fills in any gaps w/ interpretations, revealing insights to the unconscious

• Often criticized

Aristotle

Philosophical & Literary Approaches

Believed that emotional experiences are shaped by our judgment & evaluations. Also acknowledge the central place of emotions in artistic expression

epicureanism

Philosophical & Literary Approaches

A school of thought derived from Aristotle’s beliefs that emotional experiences are shaped by our judgment & evaluations. Living in a way that is pleasurable through moderate

• One should live in a simple way & enjoy simple pleasures

• Pursuit of happiness

• Living naturally & in harmony w/ environ

stoicism

Philosophical & Literary Approaches

A school of thought derived from Aristotle’s beliefs that emotional experiences are shaped by our judgment & evaluations. Living so that rationality & the building of character are the highest virtues

• Emotions derive from desires

• Most emotions are damaging to one self & society > need to be disciplined out

first movements, second movements

Philosophical & Literary Approaches

Chrysippus is a stoic philosopher who distinguished between automatic emotions, aka blank, and emotions that are mental and involve judgment + decision making, aka blank

Rene Descartes

Philosophical & Literary Approaches

Philosophically Speaking

Claimed that 6 fundamental emotions — wonder, joy, desire, love, hatred, & sadness — occur in the thinking aspect of ourselves called the soul (our sense of self)

• Emotions tells us what’s important to our concerns & identities

George Elliot

Philosophical & Literary Approaches

The World of Arts

Believed that emotion acts as a compass, moving us forward in life in the pursuit of what we care about

• Emphasized the importance of literary art for emotions

• Emotions (sympathies) connect us to each other

accidental damage

Brain Science, Psychology, Sociology, & Anthropology

Toward a Brain Science of Emotion

Before electronics, evidence about emotion & human brain function came from blank, such as that of Phineas Gage

frontal lobes

Brain Science, Psychology, Sociology, & Anthropology

Toward a Brain Science of Emotion

Damage to the blank was shown to have detrimental effects on judgment and managing r-ships + inappropriate judgments in risk, morality, $, pleasure, & trustworthiness

fMRI

Brain Science, Psychology, Sociology, & Anthropology

Toward a Brain Science of Emotion

What is a common technology used by neuroscientists to study emotion-related brain activation?

empathy

Brain Science, Psychology, Sociology, & Anthropology

Toward a Brain Science of Emotion

The state of feeling what another person is feeling. A line of research is growing in studying this

sympathy/compassion

Brain Science, Psychology, Sociology, & Anthropology

Toward a Brain Science of Emotion

Responding to others’ suffering/pain with own feelings of concern & motivation to help that person

Magda Arnold

Brain Science, Psychology, Sociology, & Anthropology

New Psychological Theories

Proposed that emotions are based on appraisals of events; emotion arises when a person perceives, or thinks about something, that’s relevant to a concern

• Emotion is relational - concerns self w/ an object

Sylvan Tomkins

Brain Science, Psychology, Sociology, & Anthropology

New Psychological Theories

Claimed that affect is the primary motivational system; emotions = amplifiers of drives

Goffman

Brain Science, Psychology, Sociology, & Anthropology

Emotions as Moral Dramas Involving Selves & Others

Proposed how humans give dramatic presentations of ourselves to each other and create the social reality in which we live; life is a drama & emotions are constructed within specific roles

• We take on social roles and give a certain performance to sustain our role, which have their emotional correlates

Hochschild

Brain Science, Psychology, Sociology, & Anthropology

Emotions as Moral Dramas Involving Selves & Others

Developed a theory of “feeling rules,” which specify what emotional feelings are appropriate to the specific context

• In performances of emotions, we situate our identities within the roles, values, & structures that make up culture

emotional work

Brain Science, Psychology, Sociology, & Anthropology

Emotions as Moral Dramas Involving Selves & Others

As part of Hochschild’s feeling rules, work that involves constructing emotions in oneself to induce them in others

ethology

Empirical Inspirations for a New Science of Emotion

The study of animals and people as they live their own lives

• Emotional expressions & experiences = basic elements of interactions

split brain operations

Empirical Inspirations for a New Science of Emotion

An epilepsy treatment where the left side of the cortex is separated from the right

• Gazzinga’s work suggests that regions of the brain are engaged in emotional experiences

positive states

Empirical Inspirations for a New Science of Emotion

Alice Isen et al found that blank can lead people to more creative thought, recollection of more positive memories, more collaborative negotiations, and more unusual associations to words

• First evidence on how emotions shape our social behavior, judgment, & decision making

affect

The Emotional Realm

Phenomena that has anything to do with emotions, moods, dispositions, & preferences

emotion/emotion episode

The Emotional Realm

A state that lasts for a limited time; typically has an object as its source

mood

The Emotional Realm

A state that may last for hours, days, or weeks; often objectless in source

emotional disorders

The Emotional Realm

A state that may last for weeks, months, or years; most common is depression & anxiety

personality

The Emotional Realm

Emotional aspects that can last a lifetime, often designated using traits

temperament

The Emotional Realm

The kind of personality one is born with