PSYC 385 Study Guide - Final Guide: Emotional Expression, Circumflex, Social Emotions

• School: University of Victoria
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 385
• Professor: Frederick Grouzet

Document Summary

What is an emotion: emotions are feelings states, biological reactions, agents of purpose and socially expressive (i. e. they are multidimensional) Emotions are one type of motive that energize, direct and sustain behavior. Emotions read out the person ever changing motivational states and personal adaptation status. Two systems view: according to this idea there are two systems 1) that is innate and biologically driven that reacts automatically and involuntarily and 2) one that is experience based cognitive system that reacts interpretively. Chicken and the egg problem: emotions should not be conceptualize as caused cognitively or biologically, rather emotion is a process, chain of events into a complex feedback system. First they end upon the removal of the significant life event. Second, emotions generate coping behaviors and these coping behaviors are often successful in managing and altering the life event. Biological perspective: emphasizes that basic emotions with a lower limit of 2/3 and upper limit of 8.