Motivation and emotion/Lectures/Nature of emotion

Lecture 07: Nature of emotion
This is the seventh lecture for the motivation and emotion unit of study.

Overview edit

This lecture discusses key questions about the psychology of emotion.

Take-home messages:

Emotions involve subjective feelings, physiological and neurological change, expressive behaviour, and guide motivation
Emotions serve adaptative, functional purposes

Outline edit

Figure 1. Emotions are triggered by significant life events and have at least four distinct components: feelings, bodily arousal, social expression, and goal-directed sense of purpose (Reeve, 2018)

What is an emotion?
What causes an emotion?
How many emotions are there?
What good are emotions?
How can we control our emotions?
What is the difference between emotion and mood?

Core emotions edit

Plutchik's wheel of emotions represents the valence and intensity of core emotions using colour. More detail.

According to Reeve (2018):

Fear
Anger
Disgust
Sadness
Interest
Joy

Other candidates:

Contempt
Surprise

Readings edit

Chapter 12: Nature of emotion: Six perennial questions (Reeve, 2018)

Multimedia edit

Feeling all the feels (CrashCourse Psychology #25, YouTube) (2:01 mins): an introduction to emotion
Emotions and the brain (Sentis, YouTube, 2012) (2:02 mins): a simple, clear explanation of emotions, the brain, and emotion regulation
Inside out - Meet Riley's emotions (Pixar, YouTube, 2015) (3:08 mins): Trailer for the animated movie Inside Out which provides an entertaining look at our inner emotions and memories
What is an emotion? (Paul Ekman) (Mind with Heart, 2012, YouTube) (7:35 mins): Paul Ekman explains what emotion is, why we have emotions, and how they can be regulated
Lie to me (Quicksubs, YouTube, 2015) (2:01 mins): Trailer for a TV series about lie detection through analysis of facial expression and body language