EMOTION

 Dynamic process created within the

socially influenced, value-appraising
processes of the brain
 Changes in the state of integration in the
mind within and between people
 Primary emotions directly reflect changes
in states of mind; the linkage of
differentiated processes
Initial Orientation, Appraisal, and
Arousal
 Perception of significance; alertness
 Is this good or bad? Social context
 Systems get activated or deactivated
according to the appraisal
 All of this process may be unconscious
 Categorical emotions: sadness, shame,
disgust, fear, surprise, and joy
Affect and Mood
 Affect is the facial expression of a
categorical emotion: social signal
 Mood refers to the general tone of
emotions across time: a feedback loop
tends to reinforce the dominant mood
Amygdala
 Early experiences of fear may become
indelible subcortical emotional memories
and alter the epigenetic control of gene
expression; bias the perceptual apparatus
 Our nonconscious “gut reactions”
influence our decision-making outside of
our awareness
Meaning
 The arousal process of emotion gives our
lives meaning
 Mirror neurons allow us to share internal
states
 Response flexibility enables the mind to
assess stimuli/emotional states, and then
modify external behaviors and internal
reactions
The body
 Interoception: our body’s response lets us
know how we are feeling
 Impaired input of the right-sided sources
of somatic representations lead people to
be consciously unaware of what their
bodies are feeling: avoidant attachment
Emotion Regulation
 Self and Other throughout life span
 Allows integration to take place
 Contain and explain