Emotional Processing

How Ya Feelin'?! (HDEV 3101 Week 4, 2011)

The above are the SIX classic and universal expressions associated with the basic, or primary, human emotions. Many thanks for Paul Ekman and his socio-emotional-behavioral research team. Assuming you are human and have vision, you should recognize each of these "affects", or expressions of emotions - and you should also be able to name them. Depending on your culture, language or experience, you may used different words to label them, or may express them under different conditions, but they are indeed expressed and perceived consistently across cultures.

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 internally is 'mood'. Different mood states involve different patterns of activation in both physical and cognitive domains. "Flat affect" indicates a lack of emotional expression. Maybe on purpose (like a poker face) or reflect low energy (fatigue) or low mood (like in major depressive episodes). Adding emotion (or meaning) to our spoken language with varying inflection is known as "prosody." This aspect of language, and emotional processing in general seems to be one of the strengths of the right hemisphere. However, there are known bilateral 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 for me - it is probably more accurate to use sensation(s), perception(s), or emotion(s). "Feeling" is usually assumed to mean emotional state - "how or what are you feeling?" is an attempt to tap into someones emotional condition, not their sensory-perceptual experience. 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. Or put another way, you are always feeling SOME emotion, and that pattern of activation flavors your cognitive processing. Perceptions, memories, decision making are ALL effected by emotion (and vice versa), so the two are nearly impossible to separate.

Kenneth Dodge suggests that, "emotion is the energy that drives, organizes, amplifies and attenuates cognitive activity." "Feelings" would be a noun - a thing - the things that people "feel". So again, please notice how general & vague that would be. Much like we use "see" for think, we use "feel" for emotion.

Most theories of emotion include some 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/Timing of Emotion/Emotional Processing
Initial Orientation/Awareness - we orient toward a stimulus, early activation, focusing of attention, first 100 ms.

Appraisal - what did that stimulus mean? Additional perceptual info on the stimulus tells us more. 100-300 ms.

Arousal, mental and physical (coupled with cognitive appraisal, this gives us experienced emotion, or "feeling"). This represents our full awareness of both the perceptual process and emotional process, now packaged into what we might refer to as a "feeling", or better yet, an "emotion". 350+ ms.

Organizing Emotions
Differential and Categorical - most simple category is the emotional valence. (positive vs. negative emotions).

Positive emotions are not "good", they are inherently rewarding, we'd like to feel more of them.

Negative emotions are not "bad", are not rewarding, we'd like to feel less of them, or feel them less intensely.

Primary Emotions - more highly categorized, and yet, basic emotions such as: sadness, fear, joy, anger, disgust or surprise.

Some emotions are differentiated by their complexity, we often experience a blend of two or more basic emotions. (Such as the term "emotional complex")

Development of emotional maturity is largely about regulating emotional responsiveness. But also may involve more full awareness and acceptance of more complicated emotions as well as recognizing and respecting the emotional states of others. (Recall the types of "change".)

Mood states?
The Profile of Mood States
Mood disorders?
These are actual diagnoses, not just "feelings".