How Ya Feelin'?! (Week 9 is fine)
The above are the classic and universal expressions associated with the basic human emotions. Many thanks for Paul Ekman and his socio-emotional-behavioral research team.
Wikipedia says, "Paul Ekman is a Psychologist who has been the pioneer in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions. He is considered one of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the twentieth century. Ekman takes an evolutionary perspective, in that the development of human traits and states over time is the background to his research." Ekman found that facial expressions of emotion are not culturally determined but are universal to all human cultures and suggesting they are biological in origin (innate?). Ekman also discovered microexpressions which are a brief facial expression that last less than a quarter of a second. In his research called the Diogenes Project, Paul Ekman found that these tiny movements often can expose lying (seen "Lie To ME" on TV?). Paul Ekman is also the founder of The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) which details the exact muscular-physical expressions of emotions which is useful to psychologists and animators.
So, how ya feelin'?
Much of emotion is communicated non-verbally - both it's expression and perception. Expressed emotion is 'affect', while experiencing emotion is 'mood'. Different mood states involve different patterns of activation in both physical and cognitive domains. "Flat affect" indicates a lack of emotional expression. May be on purpose (like a poker face) or reflect low mood/low energy (like in major depressive episodes). Adding emotion (or meaning) to our spoken language is known as "prosody." This aspect of langauage, and emotional processing in general seems to be one of the strengths of the right hemisphere. However, there are known structures and pathways specializing in emotion and I will name only the amygdala; a limbic structure, sub-cortical (diencephalon) with some tight connections with memory structures such as the hippocampus.
"Feeling" or "feelings" is another problematic term - it is probably more accurate to use sensation(s), perception(s), or emotion(s). My point is picky I suppose, but just clarify what exactly it is that you are "feeling" - it's a verb - so, "I am feeling angry" suits me fine; so does, "I am feeling something poke me". Emotional processing is just another example of information processing; on the other hand, some have argued that ALL information processing IS emotional. Kenneth Dodge suggests that, "emotion is the energy that drives, organizes, amplifies and attenuates cognitive activity."
Most theories of emotion include common themes: emotion involves complex layers of processes that are in constant interaction with the environment. Emotional processing involves BOTH cognitive AND physical process.
Basic Phases of EmotionInitial Orientation
Appraisal
Arousal
Organizing EmotionsDifferential and Categorical - most simple category is the emotional valence. (positive vs. negative)
Primary Emotions - more highly categorized, and yet, basic emotions such as: sadness, fear, joy, anger, disgust or surprise.
Development of emotional maturity is largely about regulating emotional responsiveness.
IntegrationOne of the mind-brain's key features is it's ability to interconnect a range of processes within it's present time frame as well as interconnecting activities and content across time. We experience this as 'spatiotemporal integration.' Much brain tissue and activity is about this type of 'association' of information rather than specific or direct sensory or motor processing (side note on association cortex). Lack of integration leads to a lack of cohesiveness in our mental/cognitive worlds/experiences. While specific (modular) cognitive activities can lead to or disrupt integrative experience, holistic (molar) operations such as language, consciousness, emotional processing (or powerful retrieval experiences) are more likely to set the tone for integration or
cohesive mental experience. When successful, this is a seamless, tacit process. That is, we are unaware of all the sub-processing and patterns of activation, we experience it as a whole. Our consciousness.
What needs to be integrated?1. Various cognitive activities (content and process); orientation, attention, sensation-perception, visuospatial function, cognitive mapping, memory function, language processing, prosody, emotion, planning and other executive functions. AND basic body control/monitoring.
2. Various levels of brain functions (triune brain; vertical integration in columns)
3. Hemispheres of the brain (lateral integration; corpus callosum)
Evidence/pathways to integration1. Self - sense of self may result from the recursive nature of ALL neural processing. It's always happening to YOUR neural pathways and the activity shifts always resemble to ones before and after closely. It's a placeholder, or perhaps a canvas, or a major landmark by which to measure and compare all experience.
2. Theory of mind - requires some meta-cogition and meta-memory. What we know about our own cognitive/memory function. Building a theory of mind requires that we have the ability to place ourselves in their position and imagine what they would hear/feel/etc.
3. Response flexibility - consider alternative responses and select the best suited response set. Opposite is 'stimulus bound' behavior. This may be ultimate executive function. Intelligence? Problem solving?
4. Narrative - sequential descriptions of people and events that condense numerous experiences in generalizations and contrasting stories. Narrative process attempts to make meaning of the world and one's own mind on it's various states.
What is lack of integration?
Disintegration? Lack of cohesive experience; incoherent. Lack of the above 4 items? Some terms for lack of various functions:
Dementia
Amentia
Amnesia
Aphasia
Agnosia
Apraxia
Psychopathological dissociation - shizophrenia (split or broken mind) vs. multiple personality disorder.
Can result from structural or functional brain problems or simply psychogenic states with no know organic cause.
State(s) of consciousnessOVERALL pattern of mind-brain activation; includes, but more than simply being conscious or unconscious or "the subconscious" mind. These states are fluctuating, however, any pattern of activation is likely to recur; and a recurring pattern of activation may become a persisting TRAIT rather than simply a state. The state reflects both the type of processing going on (or degrees of various processes) AND the content being processed. Many things can affect the overall pattern of activation; keep in mind you have some control over this. SO, be mindful over whatever pattern of activation you allow - because it will recur or possibly even persist and may not go away (or at least not easily).
