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EMOTIONS, Assignment 1: Identifying Emotions Carley Clouthier (3422703) …

- - - - Challenges with prototype categories
        
        Clearly define the notion of "typical" (i.e. cases that are exhibiting significant characteristics of a category)
        
        Each person may have a different version of a "typical" emotion
        
        "Typical" covaries with frequences
        
        Extreme cases that yield media attention may be perceived to be typical and frequent
        
        Typical cases may be perceived as more intense than they really are
        
        Typical gets convoluted with extreme
      - Qualities of prototype categories
        
        Emotions are analyzed as if they were context free
      - Types of categories
        
        Prototypical categories: opposite of binary in that it does not have clear-cut boundaries or an equal degree of membership. Membership is determined by the degree of similarity to another item
        
        Binary categories: has clear boundaries in which conditions must be met in order to be a member of that category; there must be an equal degree of membership for all items
    - - Levels: physiological, biological, psychological, sociological or philosophical
      - Each level of description provides a unique cognitive perspective
      - Different cognitive levels can be studies within the same level of description
    - - The goal is to reduce complexity and heterogeneity
      - All emotions are classified by referring to elements that are not emotions (i.e. feeling dimension or intentional components)
      - All emotions are classified by reference to a few simple emotions which are considered to be basic
- - - - Applicable to personal situations and the sociological context
        
        Emotional instability is higher in unstable societies
      - Can be argued that calmness is the essential characteristic, not instability
    - - Emotions magnify; everything seems larger when we are emotional
      - Can be reduced by broadening our scope
    - - Focused on a narrow target
      - Express a personal and interested perspective
      - We have trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy
    - - Typically are a matter of seconds
      - Duration of emotions is a debatable and can be determined by 2 conflicting features
        
        The perpetuating nature of emotions
        
        External constraints forcing the diffusal of resources
      - Can be argued that emotions are dynamic states, not isolated, brief entities
  - - - It is unclear what a significant change is
        
        Significant is subjective
      - The significance of change is important only in some emotions
      - Changes are not essential to emotions
      - Changes cannot be used to distinguish emotions from non-emotions
  - - - Meaning is construed by the set of relations it has with something
      - We can understand an emotion only if it can be compared to other states
      - We have a personal baseline, which is dependent on biological, social, personal and contextual features, that provides the framework for which we compare emotional events
      - Emotions are generated when there is a discrepancy between our current personal state and our baseline
      - Perceived change may be actual or imaginary
    - - The more available the alternative, the more intense the emotion
      - Determined by how likely it is to occur
    - - Compares our current state to that of other people, to our own pervious, ideal, or "ought" states
      - Reduces uncertainty about ourselves
      - Is helpful in maintaining or enhancing self-esteem
      - We mimic the emotions of those who are close to us (e.g. when someone socially related to us is sad, we are saddened)
    - - Assigning people to different groups accentuates the perceived cognitive and evaluative differences between them
      - A group is defined as a structured collection of individuals who share certain norms
      - Social group: those we have frequent social contacts
        
        Broadens our perspectives
      - Reference group: comparable to us and are most relevant to the achievement of our goals and self-esteem
- - - - The relation of being about something
      - Involves our cognitive ability to separate ourselves from the situation in order to create meaningful subject-object relation
    - - Expresses the subject's own state of mind
      - Mode of consciousness
      - Difficult to describe due to their homogeneous and basic nature
      - Feelings and emotions are frequently used interchangeably, however they are two separate entities
        
        Feelings are more passive than emotions
        
        Feelings are more localized and are not intentional
        
        We cannot say why we feel a certain way, in the way that we can explain emotions
  - - - Partiality: when one does not see the entire picture, distorted claims or conclusions may be made
      - Closeness: when we look at something from a short distance, our vision is fragmented and often distorted
      - Intense feeling: some of our intellectual faculties no longer function when we experience intense feelings
    - - Emotional cause
        
        Usually known to us; indicates a significant change in our environment
      - Emotional object
      - Focus of concern
        
        Should consider where our cognitive resources are directed at
        
        Admitting the existence of the emotion we are experiencing may not always be in our best interest (i.e. it may contradict our perception of who we are)
  - - - Deliberative
        
        Involve a slow and conscious process
        
        Under voluntary control
        
        Verbally accessible
        
        Based on semantic information
        
        Operate in a linear, serial mode
        
        Preparatory process that precedes and is separate from its product
      - Schematic
        
        Involve spontaneous responses
        
        Dependent on a more tacit and elementary evaluative system
        
        Typically fast, automatic and with little awareness
        
        Occurs outside of focus awareness and with minimal resources
        
        Not reliant on verbal information
        
        Considers emotions as part of an ongoing interaction
  - - - a full-fledged desire which is expressed in actual behaviour
      - a desire or want which is not expressed in actual behaviour
      - a wish, which is not intended to be translated into actual behaviour