The Evolution of the Study of Emotions
As LeDoux noted, I like the majority of my peers felt I understood what emotions were until I was asked to define them. Unfortunately, scientists appear to have the same problem. In order to understand emotions, it is important to analyze the evolution of psychology and philosophy.
The first scientists who attempted to analyze, define, and understand the mind and emotions were the ancient Greeks. Unfortunately, the Greeks were so preoccupied with rationality, logic, and reason that they devalued “irrational” emotions. Plato himself considered emotion and desire to be horses pulling the chariot of his personality driven by a charioteer of reason. Emotions were deemed primitive, uncontrollable and lesser, while our noble logic and reason set us apart from the animals. This duality caused and still causes an incalculable influence on the study of emotions. However, the Greeks also recognized the existence of “knowable” and “unknowable” thoughts, making them the first to recognize the existence of the unconscious.
After the Greeks came Descartes, who with his now infamous “I think therefore I am” philosophy completely disregarded any form of unconscious thought. He believed only in conscious, rational thought. Consequentially, animals were considered “mindless” and emotions continued to maintain their “primitive” status. Eventually however, unconscious thought received a new significance with the emergence of Freud and his psychoanalytic theories. Freud reestablished the link connecting humans and animals through our shared unconscious thoughts, instincts and desires.
Soon after, the field of psychology underwent a period dominated by behaviorism. The behaviorists did not believe in the mind in the traditional sense, instead believing that every instance of human cognition, emotion and action is simply the result of prior occurrences. The true motives for our actions does not come from within, but rather from environmental and usually abstract external sources like education, religious instruction, parents, peers, role models and social mores. Therefore, conscious thought was merely the predictable result of our conditioning and unconscious thought was again invalidated.
Fortunately, many scientists believed the behaviorists to be far too simplistic and consequently developed cognitive science. Cognitive scientists reverted back to the ancient Greek philosophy when analyzing the mind, but developed it. They considered the mind as a machine. However, cognitive scientists continued to emphasize cognitive thought i.e. memory, language, perception, learning, etc. while emotions were largely understudied and misunderstood.
This brief synopsis of the evolution of the study of emotion as noted by LeDoux highlights one glaring misconception: that emotions are less important than cognition. Instead of recognizing the equally important and indivisible qualities of the two, scientists have actively attempted to polarize the two ideas, and only legitimizing the latter. The significance and even the existence of unconscious thought and emotions have been traditionally diminished. This is directly related to the misconception that relates emotions with subjectivity and cognition with objectivity. It is obvious that the study of the mind is incredibly abstract and difficult to prove or disprove potential theories. Therefore in order for psychologists to appear legitmate, they are compelled to study the seemingly more objective aspects of the mind (cognitive thought) while largely ignoring the more subjective areas (emotion). Evidence of this continuous association between objectivity (i.e. scientific legitimacy)/cognition and subjectivity/emotion is apparent in the subjects of the other readings. The reason for Darwin and Ekman et al’s reliance on external displays is because those are the only aspects of emotion that can be “objectively” observed and analyzed.
The other readings demonstrated that emotions are universal among humans and even animals to an extent. They are yet another biological result of evolution, just as cognitive thought and as such, cannot be deemed lesser. If organisms were better off or even capable of suppressing their “wild horses of emotion,” then they would have evolved without them. However, experience has proven their vital role and ultimate benefit for those organisms endowed with the ability to feel, express and detect other’s emotion. It would be ignorant and arrogant to continue to perceive emotion as anything less than necessary for survival and equally significant as cognitive thought.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
readings for 1/24
I really enjoyed the first three chapters of LeDoux’s book. He clearly laid out various different perspectives on several psychological disciplines and supported them with examples of studies that had been preformed. I found it interesting how many theories, over time, were put to rest and then reapplied and transformed many years afterwards. One concept I found myself struggling with (as I’m sure others do) was the issue of subjectivity. Because "emotions are notoriously difficult to verbalize" (71), how can one be certain that any of the tests done are valid? I think there tends to be an egocentric view as far as emotions go, and that we don’t always realize someone else’s interpretation of emotion may be entirely different than ours. On a more technical level, I was curious as to how, exactly, the split brain experiments were done; is it really possible to send information to only one section of the brain and how is this actually done?
Initial Questions
From your "What is an emotion?" papers:
What is the difference between emotions and feelings?
Are there male/female differences in emotions/emotional expression?
What is the evolutionary reason for emotions – what is their adaptive value?
Why is it so difficult to repress emotions?
Why is it so difficult to understand/talk about emotions?
What is the relationship between emotions and language related to emotional experience?
How can emotions be regulated? Can we “choose” which emotion to experience (e.g. frustration turned to humor)
When does the emotional “feeling” happen?
What is the role of emotions in rational thinking?
What is it like to have a defect in emotions/emotional expression, for example, in autism?
What information do we learn from facial expressions (or other expressions of emotions)
Is there one brain/genetic system that generates all emotions?
Is there an emotional intelligence?
Is emotional expression meant to be used as a form of communication, or is it just the by-product of the physical activation of an emotion?
Do non-human animals have emotions?
What is the difference between emotions and feelings?
Are there male/female differences in emotions/emotional expression?
What is the evolutionary reason for emotions – what is their adaptive value?
Why is it so difficult to repress emotions?
Why is it so difficult to understand/talk about emotions?
What is the relationship between emotions and language related to emotional experience?
How can emotions be regulated? Can we “choose” which emotion to experience (e.g. frustration turned to humor)
When does the emotional “feeling” happen?
What is the role of emotions in rational thinking?
What is it like to have a defect in emotions/emotional expression, for example, in autism?
What information do we learn from facial expressions (or other expressions of emotions)
Is there one brain/genetic system that generates all emotions?
Is there an emotional intelligence?
Is emotional expression meant to be used as a form of communication, or is it just the by-product of the physical activation of an emotion?
Do non-human animals have emotions?
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Time Magazine Article
Le Doux's discussion on consciousness and what conscious processes happen unconsciously is highly interesting...
This article in Time Magazine questions what processes are conscious and which ones aren't. Neuroimaging brain scans shows brain activity in coma patients ( some frequently deemed 'unconscious', but in actuality, 'minimally conscious'). This arises many issues in neuroplasticity, as well as euthanasia and how to handle those in a "persistent vegetative state." Here's the link to the video:
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=2370295n
The New Issue of Time "The Brain: A User's Guide" is great, you should all pick it up. Here's the link:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1580394,00.html
This article in Time Magazine questions what processes are conscious and which ones aren't. Neuroimaging brain scans shows brain activity in coma patients ( some frequently deemed 'unconscious', but in actuality, 'minimally conscious'). This arises many issues in neuroplasticity, as well as euthanasia and how to handle those in a "persistent vegetative state." Here's the link to the video:
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=2370295n
The New Issue of Time "The Brain: A User's Guide" is great, you should all pick it up. Here's the link:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1580394,00.html
Monday, January 22, 2007
Sarah Weiss
Liz Johnston and Leah Olson
The Feeling Brain
21 January 2007
The Evolution of Emotions
Throughout each of the readings assigned for this week, there was a common theme in topic – both animal and human emotions – much like the body - have gone through a long evolutionary process that has developed over time into what is so commonly viewed by psychologists and biologists today. Proof of our emotional evolution can be seen in our cross-cultural recognition of the emotions present in facial expressions, our common physical responses to our felt emotions, and from this, the way in which “…emotion and cognition are…separate but interacting mental functions mediated by separate but interacting brain systems” (LeDoux 69).
In the article “Pan-Cultural Elements in Facial Displays of Emotion,” we are shown that the human recognition of facial expressions is not socially learned, but rather an evolutionary trait that spans across cultures. Indeed, the findings from Ekman, Sorenson, and Friesen’s research unquestionably “…support Darwin’s suggestion that facial expressions of emotion are similar among humans, regardless of culture, because of their evolutionary origin” (Ekman, Friesen, Sorenson 4). This was witnessed through the respondents’ (who were selected from New Guinea, Borneo, Brazil, Japan, and the United States) “…similar recognitions of happiness, anger, and fear in all samples, and for disgust, surprise, and sadness in two out of three samples” (Ekman, Friesen, Sorenson 5).
In the chapters read from Charles Darwin’s The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals, we are introduced to the strong connection between the instinctual physical reactions both humans and animals have in response to emotions and the evolutionary purpose of this link. Darwin’s work clearly emphasizes that many habitual physical reactions “…are of direct or indirect service under certain states of the mind…to relieve or gratify certain sensations [or] desires” yet are also tend to “…take place without any sensation or consciousness on our part, though often thus accompanied” (Darwin). These types of responses are witnessed in almost all forms of animal life, from the tendency of a young child who is learning to write to “…twist about [his tongue] as [his] fingers move” to the “…involuntary closing of the eyelids when the surface of the eye is touched,” to a dog’s inclination before going to sleep to “…turn round and round and scratch the ground with their fore-paws in a senseless manner, as if they intended to trample down the grass and scoop out a hollow, as no doubt their wild parents did, when they lived on open grassy plains or in the woods” (Darwin).
In the chapters read from Joseph LeDoux’s The Emotional Brain, he both re-illustrates the evolutionary aspects of emotions and goes on to explore its link to cognition. By this, LeDoux aims to show how emotions interact with the brain’s cognitive functions – seen in such examples as the brain’s ability to detect “…the emotional meaning of a stimulus…before the perceptual systems have fully processed the stimulus,” and how this serves as evolutionary purpose for the brain to “…know [whether] something is good or bad before it knows exactly what it is” (LeDoux 69).
In essence, each reading has shown that the evolution of emotions has and continues to guide the daily reactions of humans and animals to common stimuli from the environment, and while perplexing at times, has unquestionably aided the survival of animal life.
Darwin, C. (1872). The expression of the emotions in man and animals. http://www.darwin-literature.com/The_Expression_Of_The_Emotions_In_Man_And_Animals/0.html.
Ekman, P., et al. (1969). Pan-cultural elements in facial displays of emotion. In Science Magazine, iss. 164, pp.86-88.
LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Liz Johnston and Leah Olson
The Feeling Brain
21 January 2007
The Evolution of Emotions
Throughout each of the readings assigned for this week, there was a common theme in topic – both animal and human emotions – much like the body - have gone through a long evolutionary process that has developed over time into what is so commonly viewed by psychologists and biologists today. Proof of our emotional evolution can be seen in our cross-cultural recognition of the emotions present in facial expressions, our common physical responses to our felt emotions, and from this, the way in which “…emotion and cognition are…separate but interacting mental functions mediated by separate but interacting brain systems” (LeDoux 69).
In the article “Pan-Cultural Elements in Facial Displays of Emotion,” we are shown that the human recognition of facial expressions is not socially learned, but rather an evolutionary trait that spans across cultures. Indeed, the findings from Ekman, Sorenson, and Friesen’s research unquestionably “…support Darwin’s suggestion that facial expressions of emotion are similar among humans, regardless of culture, because of their evolutionary origin” (Ekman, Friesen, Sorenson 4). This was witnessed through the respondents’ (who were selected from New Guinea, Borneo, Brazil, Japan, and the United States) “…similar recognitions of happiness, anger, and fear in all samples, and for disgust, surprise, and sadness in two out of three samples” (Ekman, Friesen, Sorenson 5).
In the chapters read from Charles Darwin’s The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals, we are introduced to the strong connection between the instinctual physical reactions both humans and animals have in response to emotions and the evolutionary purpose of this link. Darwin’s work clearly emphasizes that many habitual physical reactions “…are of direct or indirect service under certain states of the mind…to relieve or gratify certain sensations [or] desires” yet are also tend to “…take place without any sensation or consciousness on our part, though often thus accompanied” (Darwin). These types of responses are witnessed in almost all forms of animal life, from the tendency of a young child who is learning to write to “…twist about [his tongue] as [his] fingers move” to the “…involuntary closing of the eyelids when the surface of the eye is touched,” to a dog’s inclination before going to sleep to “…turn round and round and scratch the ground with their fore-paws in a senseless manner, as if they intended to trample down the grass and scoop out a hollow, as no doubt their wild parents did, when they lived on open grassy plains or in the woods” (Darwin).
In the chapters read from Joseph LeDoux’s The Emotional Brain, he both re-illustrates the evolutionary aspects of emotions and goes on to explore its link to cognition. By this, LeDoux aims to show how emotions interact with the brain’s cognitive functions – seen in such examples as the brain’s ability to detect “…the emotional meaning of a stimulus…before the perceptual systems have fully processed the stimulus,” and how this serves as evolutionary purpose for the brain to “…know [whether] something is good or bad before it knows exactly what it is” (LeDoux 69).
In essence, each reading has shown that the evolution of emotions has and continues to guide the daily reactions of humans and animals to common stimuli from the environment, and while perplexing at times, has unquestionably aided the survival of animal life.
Darwin, C. (1872). The expression of the emotions in man and animals. http://www.darwin-literature.com/The_Expression_Of_The_Emotions_In_Man_And_Animals/0.html.
Ekman, P., et al. (1969). Pan-cultural elements in facial displays of emotion. In Science Magazine, iss. 164, pp.86-88.
LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Alee's Reading Response
The Evolution of Emotions
ALee Russell
The Feeling Brain
1/24/07
For years scientists have been trying to find the appropriate way to dissect the complex science of human and animal emotions. It has been approached from both psychological and biological vantage points, trying to piece together the framework of our feelings. In this weeks readings we start with Darwin’s evolutionary approach to emotions as he attempts to explain the importance of expression as a source of communication in our early ancestors. Within the next reading, the authors take Darwin’s work a step further and search for a common link within the facial expressions of other cultures across the globe. The final reading by LeDoux focused on his study of the process that leads to an emotional as well as physical response. The study of emotions is an ongoing one, a field in which much has yet to be discovered, but each of these readings provides pivotal building blocks to further the understanding of emotions.
Charles Darwin, writer of The Origin of Species and evolutionary theorist, has become known as one of the most influential men in the world of science. He has set much of the groundwork for many fields including the study of emotions. In his book The Expression of Emotions In Man and Animals he introduces us to his three general principles of expression. First, the idea that certain habits form to produce a desired effect, secondly, the idea of antithesis, that there are universal habits, which serve as a form of communication between one another, and thirdly, the idea of a direct action upon the nervous system that produces an involuntary reaction that we recognize as an expression. Darwin believed that both animals and humans are inherently linked in regards to emotion and expression. In his book he introduced the idea that emotions and expressions evolved from the need to communicate to survive. Darwin stressed the link between the physical aspects of emotion to the mental feeling involved with emotion. He also discussed the idea of conscious and unconscious impulses, which set a good deal of the foundation for further studies within the internal process of emotion.
Darwin also set the example for scientists Paul Ekman, Richard Sorenson and Wallace V. Friesen who set out to test pan-cultural boundaries in emotion. They conducted an experiment in which they showed photographs of the face in different states of emotion to both literate and preliterate cultures and told them to choose which emotion was being portrayed. Generally the results were an affirmative for the facial cues expressed in the photographs. This experiment, however, chose only Caucasian faces as the stimuli, which may have affected their results. Their experiment, despite its flaws, confirms the idea that in both literate and preliterate cultures emotions, specifically facial expressions can be recognized across cultures. These results further confirm Darwin’s theories that across species, facial expressions are used as a form of communication and can be recognized universally.
Joseph LeDoux, as a cognitive scientist, takes a more brain-centralized approach to the study of emotions. In the first three chapters of his book, The Emotional Brain, he discusses questions that scientists have been trying to answer for years such as ‘What is an emotion?’ and ‘what comes first? The emotion or the bodily reaction/response?’ The second and third chapters examine the progression of cognitive scientists and their struggles with combining functional reasoning and logical mind with the emotional, feeling brain. In chapters two and three he traces the progression of cognitive scientists and his own theories on the processes that lead emotional responses to emotional experiences. He stresses the fact that unconscious mind as an important component in the study and understanding of emotions, saying that much of our responses to stimuli occur subconsciously.
The mysterious field of emotions has been approached from psychological and biological ways both never fully understanding the complete package of our emotions. Darwin, LeDoux and other scientists have spent their lives attempting to answer the complex question of what an emotion is. Scientists have worked tirelessly to bridge the gap between the psychological and biological aspects of emotion. There is still much that we don’t know about our own internal processes, but through research in both fields we are getting closer to our goal of understanding our emotions.
Readings:
Darwin, C. (1872). The expression of the emotions in man and animals. http://www.darwin-literature.com/The_Expression_Of_The_Emotions_In_Man_And_Animals/0.html.
Ekman, P., et al. (1969). Pan-cultural elements in facial displays of emotion. In Science Magazine, iss. 164, pp.86-88.
LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
ALee Russell
The Feeling Brain
1/24/07
For years scientists have been trying to find the appropriate way to dissect the complex science of human and animal emotions. It has been approached from both psychological and biological vantage points, trying to piece together the framework of our feelings. In this weeks readings we start with Darwin’s evolutionary approach to emotions as he attempts to explain the importance of expression as a source of communication in our early ancestors. Within the next reading, the authors take Darwin’s work a step further and search for a common link within the facial expressions of other cultures across the globe. The final reading by LeDoux focused on his study of the process that leads to an emotional as well as physical response. The study of emotions is an ongoing one, a field in which much has yet to be discovered, but each of these readings provides pivotal building blocks to further the understanding of emotions.
Charles Darwin, writer of The Origin of Species and evolutionary theorist, has become known as one of the most influential men in the world of science. He has set much of the groundwork for many fields including the study of emotions. In his book The Expression of Emotions In Man and Animals he introduces us to his three general principles of expression. First, the idea that certain habits form to produce a desired effect, secondly, the idea of antithesis, that there are universal habits, which serve as a form of communication between one another, and thirdly, the idea of a direct action upon the nervous system that produces an involuntary reaction that we recognize as an expression. Darwin believed that both animals and humans are inherently linked in regards to emotion and expression. In his book he introduced the idea that emotions and expressions evolved from the need to communicate to survive. Darwin stressed the link between the physical aspects of emotion to the mental feeling involved with emotion. He also discussed the idea of conscious and unconscious impulses, which set a good deal of the foundation for further studies within the internal process of emotion.
Darwin also set the example for scientists Paul Ekman, Richard Sorenson and Wallace V. Friesen who set out to test pan-cultural boundaries in emotion. They conducted an experiment in which they showed photographs of the face in different states of emotion to both literate and preliterate cultures and told them to choose which emotion was being portrayed. Generally the results were an affirmative for the facial cues expressed in the photographs. This experiment, however, chose only Caucasian faces as the stimuli, which may have affected their results. Their experiment, despite its flaws, confirms the idea that in both literate and preliterate cultures emotions, specifically facial expressions can be recognized across cultures. These results further confirm Darwin’s theories that across species, facial expressions are used as a form of communication and can be recognized universally.
Joseph LeDoux, as a cognitive scientist, takes a more brain-centralized approach to the study of emotions. In the first three chapters of his book, The Emotional Brain, he discusses questions that scientists have been trying to answer for years such as ‘What is an emotion?’ and ‘what comes first? The emotion or the bodily reaction/response?’ The second and third chapters examine the progression of cognitive scientists and their struggles with combining functional reasoning and logical mind with the emotional, feeling brain. In chapters two and three he traces the progression of cognitive scientists and his own theories on the processes that lead emotional responses to emotional experiences. He stresses the fact that unconscious mind as an important component in the study and understanding of emotions, saying that much of our responses to stimuli occur subconsciously.
The mysterious field of emotions has been approached from psychological and biological ways both never fully understanding the complete package of our emotions. Darwin, LeDoux and other scientists have spent their lives attempting to answer the complex question of what an emotion is. Scientists have worked tirelessly to bridge the gap between the psychological and biological aspects of emotion. There is still much that we don’t know about our own internal processes, but through research in both fields we are getting closer to our goal of understanding our emotions.
Readings:
Darwin, C. (1872). The expression of the emotions in man and animals. http://www.darwin-literature.com/The_Expression_Of_The_Emotions_In_Man_And_Animals/0.html.
Ekman, P., et al. (1969). Pan-cultural elements in facial displays of emotion. In Science Magazine, iss. 164, pp.86-88.
LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Jake's Reading Response
Jake Szczypek
Reading Response #1
1/21/07
The Role of Bodily Expressions in Emotions
In responding to the class readings, this paper aims to summarize some of the interesting points the authors made regarding, in particular, the bodily expressions of emotions. Some comparisons will be made between the readings, but the point of this response is not to evaluate the readings, but to summarize what I found most compelling.
According to LeDoux’s The Emotional Brain (1996), emotions typically involve bodily responses that seem to be “an integral part of the overall emotion process” (LeDoux, 1996, p. 40). Just as in William James’ What is an Emotion?, LeDoux acknowledges this important role that the body plays in the study of emotion. In fact, LeDoux claims that the expressive responses produced by emotions are so specific that one can communicate quite effectively without speech. It is common knowledge, of course, that deaf animals often communicate without speech and do so effectively, but what is most interesting is that Darwin’s studies of “lower animals” came to the same conclusion with little knowledge of cognitive science. According to Darwin’s principle of antithesis, a specific bodily expression correlates to a specific emotion, but if an “opposite state of mind is induced” (Darwin, 1872, ch.2, p.1), than the correlating bodily expression will also be opposite. In order to support this principle, Darwin indicates that hearing impaired humans use opposite gestures in expressing opposite emotions. Therefore, a logical conclusion would be that an animal’s bodily response to happiness should be the opposite of an animal’s bodily response to sadness.
The Ekman, et al. article, Pan-Cultural Elements in Facial Displays of Emotion (1969), confirms how bodily expressions (specifically of the face) are, for the most part, universally recognized in literate and preliterate cultures. This supports Darwin’s claim that the human race has possibly inherited many of these bodily expressions of emotions, because otherwise one would have to be taught that a smile is indicative of happiness in order to associate the two. However, it seems that a smile is universally associated with happiness, indicating that it is a true emotional expression that is somehow inherent to the human race.
According to Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872), the “useless” bodily expressions or reflexes in animals are sometimes inherited habits or instincts that come from the species’ ancestry. The response to a fearful situation, for example, typically involves a fight or flight response which, in turn, involves many bodily reactions (pounding heart, sweaty palms, etc.). Accordingly, Darwin claims this involuntary sequence of bodily reactions to be a reflex that allows no time for an animal’s consciousness to decide how to appropriately react. Over a century later, LeDoux comes to the same conclusion when comparing cognition to emotions. He states that cognition differs from emotions because cognition affords an individual to think about how to respond in a given situation, while emotions do not. However, it is unclear as to whether emotions are truly separate from cognition in the unconscious.
Consequently, LeDoux discusses how the unconscious mind is a major proponent in the study of emotions. Since it is difficult to study the unconscious workings of emotional reactions, much of the theories surrounding emotion are based on “the feelings through which we know our emotions” (LeDoux, 1996, p.41) which only occur after we have “become conscious of the unconscious workings of emotional systems in the brain” (LeDoux, 1996, p.41). Therefore, emotional states should only be “viewed as the end result of information processing occurring unconsciously” (LeDoux, 1996, p. 37). Additionally, most of the research (specifically that of appraisal theorists) has focused on our introspections on the reasons of an emotional reaction as opposed to the actual causes of such a reaction. The cause of an emotion may be very different from our proposed reason for such an emotion because of our lack of access to the unconscious processing in the brain.
Overall, the assigned readings seem to come to many of the same conclusions on bodily expressions, even though different research methods were used. LeDoux, however, went even further into the unconscious mind and the information processing that cannot be accessed by conscious introspection.
Readings:
Darwin, C. (1872). The expression of the emotions in man and animals. http://www.darwin-literature.com/The_Expression_Of_The_Emotions_In_Man_And_Animals/0.html.
Ekman, P., et al. (1969). Pan-cultural elements in facial displays of emotion. In Science Magazine, iss. 164, pp.86-88.
LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Reading Response #1
1/21/07
The Role of Bodily Expressions in Emotions
In responding to the class readings, this paper aims to summarize some of the interesting points the authors made regarding, in particular, the bodily expressions of emotions. Some comparisons will be made between the readings, but the point of this response is not to evaluate the readings, but to summarize what I found most compelling.
According to LeDoux’s The Emotional Brain (1996), emotions typically involve bodily responses that seem to be “an integral part of the overall emotion process” (LeDoux, 1996, p. 40). Just as in William James’ What is an Emotion?, LeDoux acknowledges this important role that the body plays in the study of emotion. In fact, LeDoux claims that the expressive responses produced by emotions are so specific that one can communicate quite effectively without speech. It is common knowledge, of course, that deaf animals often communicate without speech and do so effectively, but what is most interesting is that Darwin’s studies of “lower animals” came to the same conclusion with little knowledge of cognitive science. According to Darwin’s principle of antithesis, a specific bodily expression correlates to a specific emotion, but if an “opposite state of mind is induced” (Darwin, 1872, ch.2, p.1), than the correlating bodily expression will also be opposite. In order to support this principle, Darwin indicates that hearing impaired humans use opposite gestures in expressing opposite emotions. Therefore, a logical conclusion would be that an animal’s bodily response to happiness should be the opposite of an animal’s bodily response to sadness.
The Ekman, et al. article, Pan-Cultural Elements in Facial Displays of Emotion (1969), confirms how bodily expressions (specifically of the face) are, for the most part, universally recognized in literate and preliterate cultures. This supports Darwin’s claim that the human race has possibly inherited many of these bodily expressions of emotions, because otherwise one would have to be taught that a smile is indicative of happiness in order to associate the two. However, it seems that a smile is universally associated with happiness, indicating that it is a true emotional expression that is somehow inherent to the human race.
According to Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872), the “useless” bodily expressions or reflexes in animals are sometimes inherited habits or instincts that come from the species’ ancestry. The response to a fearful situation, for example, typically involves a fight or flight response which, in turn, involves many bodily reactions (pounding heart, sweaty palms, etc.). Accordingly, Darwin claims this involuntary sequence of bodily reactions to be a reflex that allows no time for an animal’s consciousness to decide how to appropriately react. Over a century later, LeDoux comes to the same conclusion when comparing cognition to emotions. He states that cognition differs from emotions because cognition affords an individual to think about how to respond in a given situation, while emotions do not. However, it is unclear as to whether emotions are truly separate from cognition in the unconscious.
Consequently, LeDoux discusses how the unconscious mind is a major proponent in the study of emotions. Since it is difficult to study the unconscious workings of emotional reactions, much of the theories surrounding emotion are based on “the feelings through which we know our emotions” (LeDoux, 1996, p.41) which only occur after we have “become conscious of the unconscious workings of emotional systems in the brain” (LeDoux, 1996, p.41). Therefore, emotional states should only be “viewed as the end result of information processing occurring unconsciously” (LeDoux, 1996, p. 37). Additionally, most of the research (specifically that of appraisal theorists) has focused on our introspections on the reasons of an emotional reaction as opposed to the actual causes of such a reaction. The cause of an emotion may be very different from our proposed reason for such an emotion because of our lack of access to the unconscious processing in the brain.
Overall, the assigned readings seem to come to many of the same conclusions on bodily expressions, even though different research methods were used. LeDoux, however, went even further into the unconscious mind and the information processing that cannot be accessed by conscious introspection.
Readings:
Darwin, C. (1872). The expression of the emotions in man and animals. http://www.darwin-literature.com/The_Expression_Of_The_Emotions_In_Man_And_Animals/0.html.
Ekman, P., et al. (1969). Pan-cultural elements in facial displays of emotion. In Science Magazine, iss. 164, pp.86-88.
LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Aiyanna's Reading Response
Aiyanna Sezak-Blatt
January 20, 2007
The Biology and Psychology of Emotion
Leah Olson and Elizabeth Johnston
The Expression of Emotion: An Evolutionary and Cognitive Investigation
The process of understanding emotional expression in humans and in animals is challenging in that it can be approached from many different vantage points. As seen in this week’s reading, many different lens are worn when attempting to unravel the mysteries of emotional origins and their physical consequences. Charles Darwin took and evolutionary approach to understanding emotion, arguing that man and animals inherited from their early progenitors an array of emotional expressions that are advantage in species survival. He argues that emotions facilitate intercommunication, that they are innate in that we lack conscious control over them, and are universal signals, which express our needs and physical states. Building upon Darwin’s work, many scientists look to the brain and take a ‘cognitive’ eye towards the understanding of emotions; assessing how the brain perceives stimuli and responds to that stimuli. Cognitive Science, or Mind Science, as Joseph LeDoux modified, seeks to understand the processes that lead us to an emotional state of being through brain mapping and testing stimuli responses in relation to physical, bodily changes. The greatest phenomena of emotional expression is that, on a species level and often between species, whether conscious and unconscious, emotions are universally experienced and highly recognized; they are cognitive and subjective functions that enable us to better understand both our outside and internal world.
Darwin, remarkably, seems to have set the foundation for much of modern science and theory— including that of the emotional expression in man and in animals. His book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, published in 1872, set a precedent in the way we contextualize the role of emotions in humans and in other animals through evolutionary theory. In the first three chapters of his book, and in his concluding remarks, Darwin outlines three principles of expression: (1) habit, inheritance and association, (2) antithesis, innate, universal signals that are serviceable for the purpose of communication, and (3) emotions and their physical consequences, “direct action of the nervous system on the body, independently of the will in part of habit” (Darwin, 1872).
Darwin argues that humans and animals are highly expressive, that their emotional states are linked with habitual or inherited behaviours and with physical, bodily changes, such as increased heart rate and facial contortions. Darwin’s three principles intertwine to create a repertoire of emotional expression: “Actions, which were at first voluntary, soon become habitual, and at last hereditary, and may then be preformed in opposition to our will.” Darwin uses adult and infant humans, dogs, cats, and other mammals to demonstrate the universal qualities of emotion.
Recently, studies conducted on the recognition of emotions cross-culturally have supported Darwin’s original hypotheses: “that the study of the theory of expression confirms to a certain limited extent the conclusion that man is derived from some lower animal form, [evolving from a common ancestor] and supports the belief of the specific or sub-specific unity of the several races. [Expressions] or the language of emotions, is certainly of importance for the welfare of mankind” (Darwin, 1872). The Pan-Cultural Elements in Facial Displays of Emotion, conducted by Paul Ekman, E. Richard Sorenson, and Wallace V. Friesen, concluded that in both literate and preliterate societies, facial expressions were positively (greater than fifty percent) recognized on a cross-cultural level. This study, however, faced two obstacles that may have mitigated the exact figures represented in its conclusion. These obstacles were (1) a language barrier that many have compromised the accuracy of translation and (2) the sole use of Caucasian faces to present an expressive image. Despite these challenges and or oversights, Ekman, Sorenson, and Friesen found that key facial expressions (Happiness, Fear, Anger, Surprise, and Sadness) were recognized cross-culturally, from New Guinea to Brazil, and Japan, “regardless of culture, because of their evolutionary origin” (Ekman, Sorenson, and Friesen, 1969). This study supports the notion that facial expressions representing specific emotions are cross-culturally recognized and that the ability to assess the moods and emotional states of others, despite language and cultural differentials, is highly adaptive.
Mind Scientists, such as LeDoux, look to the all-encompassing brain to unlock the secrets of our emotions and the physical consequences of those emotions. The ‘all-encompassing’ brain is meant to ensure that there is no distinction between the analytical, thinking brain, and the feeling, emotional brain— a point the LeDoux mandates as essential for the study of emotions. In his book, The Emotional Brain, Joseph LeDoux discusses a question that cognitive scientists are still grappling with: what comes first an emotion or a bodily reaction; what goes on internally to make us react to an outer stimulus? LeDoux gives his readers a strong overview of the history of Cognitive Science, which has transformed greatly from William James’ proposal in 1884, to Richard Lazarus’ Appraisal Theory proposed in the 1960’s (See Figure 1). From one theory to another, the field of cognitive sciences has transformed, one step leading to the to next.
Figure 1. An example of the ways in which Cognitive Science have evaluated emotional expression (two of many that are described by LeDoux).
A. William James theory of cognitive feedback and emotional response (1884) as cited by LeDoux, 1996.
Stimulus— Response— Feedback—Feeling
B. Arnolds Appraisal Theory 1960’s, as cited by LeDoux
Stimulus—Appraisal—Action Tendency—Feeling
To understand emotions, one must also understand the brain functions that trigger our physical reactions. LeDoux offers a cohesive way to understand this process:
[Emotional responses to emotional experiences go as such] The physical features of a stimulus have to be evaluated–appraised; their significance to an individual has to be determined. [And LeDoux argues further, expounding on this theory] …the conscious outcome might be based on nonverbal intuitions, so-called gut
feelings, rather than on some verbalized set of proportions (LeDoux, 1996).
On a cognitive level, emotions occur both consciously and unconsciously; the brain is immediately involved in evaluating our external environment.
Much has yet to be explored in the field of Mind Science. The reconciliation between the feeling brain and the thinking brain is the next step to more wholly uncovering the nature of emotional reactions and states of consciousness. Our feelings and emotional states have yet to be fully understood on the level of our cognitive unconscious or through subjective introspection; however since biology (the thinking brain) and psychology (the feeling brain) are merging, an exiting interdisciplinary field awaits.
This Week’s Reading:
Charles Darwin, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, originally published in 1872.
Paul Ekman, Richard Sorenson, and Wallace V. Friesen, 1969, Pan-Cultural Elements in Facial Displays of Emotion, Science Magazine, issue 164: 86-88.
Joseph LeDoux, 1996, The Emotional Brain, Simon and Schuster Paperbacks
January 20, 2007
The Biology and Psychology of Emotion
Leah Olson and Elizabeth Johnston
The Expression of Emotion: An Evolutionary and Cognitive Investigation
The process of understanding emotional expression in humans and in animals is challenging in that it can be approached from many different vantage points. As seen in this week’s reading, many different lens are worn when attempting to unravel the mysteries of emotional origins and their physical consequences. Charles Darwin took and evolutionary approach to understanding emotion, arguing that man and animals inherited from their early progenitors an array of emotional expressions that are advantage in species survival. He argues that emotions facilitate intercommunication, that they are innate in that we lack conscious control over them, and are universal signals, which express our needs and physical states. Building upon Darwin’s work, many scientists look to the brain and take a ‘cognitive’ eye towards the understanding of emotions; assessing how the brain perceives stimuli and responds to that stimuli. Cognitive Science, or Mind Science, as Joseph LeDoux modified, seeks to understand the processes that lead us to an emotional state of being through brain mapping and testing stimuli responses in relation to physical, bodily changes. The greatest phenomena of emotional expression is that, on a species level and often between species, whether conscious and unconscious, emotions are universally experienced and highly recognized; they are cognitive and subjective functions that enable us to better understand both our outside and internal world.
Darwin, remarkably, seems to have set the foundation for much of modern science and theory— including that of the emotional expression in man and in animals. His book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, published in 1872, set a precedent in the way we contextualize the role of emotions in humans and in other animals through evolutionary theory. In the first three chapters of his book, and in his concluding remarks, Darwin outlines three principles of expression: (1) habit, inheritance and association, (2) antithesis, innate, universal signals that are serviceable for the purpose of communication, and (3) emotions and their physical consequences, “direct action of the nervous system on the body, independently of the will in part of habit” (Darwin, 1872).
Darwin argues that humans and animals are highly expressive, that their emotional states are linked with habitual or inherited behaviours and with physical, bodily changes, such as increased heart rate and facial contortions. Darwin’s three principles intertwine to create a repertoire of emotional expression: “Actions, which were at first voluntary, soon become habitual, and at last hereditary, and may then be preformed in opposition to our will.” Darwin uses adult and infant humans, dogs, cats, and other mammals to demonstrate the universal qualities of emotion.
Recently, studies conducted on the recognition of emotions cross-culturally have supported Darwin’s original hypotheses: “that the study of the theory of expression confirms to a certain limited extent the conclusion that man is derived from some lower animal form, [evolving from a common ancestor] and supports the belief of the specific or sub-specific unity of the several races. [Expressions] or the language of emotions, is certainly of importance for the welfare of mankind” (Darwin, 1872). The Pan-Cultural Elements in Facial Displays of Emotion, conducted by Paul Ekman, E. Richard Sorenson, and Wallace V. Friesen, concluded that in both literate and preliterate societies, facial expressions were positively (greater than fifty percent) recognized on a cross-cultural level. This study, however, faced two obstacles that may have mitigated the exact figures represented in its conclusion. These obstacles were (1) a language barrier that many have compromised the accuracy of translation and (2) the sole use of Caucasian faces to present an expressive image. Despite these challenges and or oversights, Ekman, Sorenson, and Friesen found that key facial expressions (Happiness, Fear, Anger, Surprise, and Sadness) were recognized cross-culturally, from New Guinea to Brazil, and Japan, “regardless of culture, because of their evolutionary origin” (Ekman, Sorenson, and Friesen, 1969). This study supports the notion that facial expressions representing specific emotions are cross-culturally recognized and that the ability to assess the moods and emotional states of others, despite language and cultural differentials, is highly adaptive.
Mind Scientists, such as LeDoux, look to the all-encompassing brain to unlock the secrets of our emotions and the physical consequences of those emotions. The ‘all-encompassing’ brain is meant to ensure that there is no distinction between the analytical, thinking brain, and the feeling, emotional brain— a point the LeDoux mandates as essential for the study of emotions. In his book, The Emotional Brain, Joseph LeDoux discusses a question that cognitive scientists are still grappling with: what comes first an emotion or a bodily reaction; what goes on internally to make us react to an outer stimulus? LeDoux gives his readers a strong overview of the history of Cognitive Science, which has transformed greatly from William James’ proposal in 1884, to Richard Lazarus’ Appraisal Theory proposed in the 1960’s (See Figure 1). From one theory to another, the field of cognitive sciences has transformed, one step leading to the to next.
Figure 1. An example of the ways in which Cognitive Science have evaluated emotional expression (two of many that are described by LeDoux).
A. William James theory of cognitive feedback and emotional response (1884) as cited by LeDoux, 1996.
Stimulus— Response— Feedback—Feeling
B. Arnolds Appraisal Theory 1960’s, as cited by LeDoux
Stimulus—Appraisal—Action Tendency—Feeling
To understand emotions, one must also understand the brain functions that trigger our physical reactions. LeDoux offers a cohesive way to understand this process:
[Emotional responses to emotional experiences go as such] The physical features of a stimulus have to be evaluated–appraised; their significance to an individual has to be determined. [And LeDoux argues further, expounding on this theory] …the conscious outcome might be based on nonverbal intuitions, so-called gut
feelings, rather than on some verbalized set of proportions (LeDoux, 1996).
On a cognitive level, emotions occur both consciously and unconsciously; the brain is immediately involved in evaluating our external environment.
Much has yet to be explored in the field of Mind Science. The reconciliation between the feeling brain and the thinking brain is the next step to more wholly uncovering the nature of emotional reactions and states of consciousness. Our feelings and emotional states have yet to be fully understood on the level of our cognitive unconscious or through subjective introspection; however since biology (the thinking brain) and psychology (the feeling brain) are merging, an exiting interdisciplinary field awaits.
This Week’s Reading:
Charles Darwin, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, originally published in 1872.
Paul Ekman, Richard Sorenson, and Wallace V. Friesen, 1969, Pan-Cultural Elements in Facial Displays of Emotion, Science Magazine, issue 164: 86-88.
Joseph LeDoux, 1996, The Emotional Brain, Simon and Schuster Paperbacks
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