Thursday, March 1, 2012

What causes emotions?

Different definitions for emotion:
*Emotion is a feeling that is very a very private matter. Humans are can feel an extraordinary range or states which they can either feel or experience.
*Emotion is a state of psychological arousal that is an expression that can display a distinctive somatic and/or autonomic responses.
*Emotional states can be defined by your bodily responses
*The responses that can cause your emotion(s) are autonomously innervated visceral organs like the heart or the stomach
*Researchers study and examine emotions through animals and human beings
*Emotions can be defined as actions such as defending or attacking in response to a threat
Wilhelm Wundt was a great nineteenth century psychologist that though that emotions consist of three basic dimension that are opposite states:
1. pleasantness/unpleasantness
2. tension/release
3. excitement/relaxation
*Plutchik says that thought that there were eight basic emotions grouped i four pairs that are opposite of each other:
1. joy/sadness
2. acceptance/disgust
3. anger/fear
4. surprise/anticipation

4 comments:

  1. Check out this video, you might find it interesting: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html

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  2. I disagree with the point that joy/happiness is an emotion. I disagree because from what I have researched happiness is not an emotion but a state of being.

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  3. A point that you may want to think about is color causing different emotions. Take a look at this article I found:
    http://www.school.eb.com/article-21867
    You may want to think about this because it deals with the ideas of your body responding to certain things, like you talked about in your post. In the article, it talks about color having an affect on emotions.

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  4. An idea you might want to consider is the evolutionary reason for emotions. You might want to consider that because I think it will give you more information as to why we have emotions and what they are. I would look on the database SIRS.

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