The social constructivist perspective

TEXT 2

Emotion is sometimes regarded as the antithesis of _________ (1). This distinction stems from Western philosophy and is reflected in common phrases like appeal to__________ (2) or your emotions have taken over. Emotions can be undesired to the individual experiencing them; he or she may wish to control but often cannot. Thus one of the most distinctive, and perhaps challenging, facts about human_________ (3) is this potential for__________ (4), or even opposition, between will, emotion, and reason.

In Paul MacLean's classic Triune brain model, emotions are defined as the __________ (5) of the Mammalian cortex. Emotion competes with even more instinctive responses from the Reptilian ________ (6) and the more logical, reasoning neocortex. However, current research on the neural_________ (7) of emotion suggests that emotion is an essential part of human decision-making and __________ (8), and that the famous distinction made by Descartes between reason and emotion is not as clear as it seems.

Emotion is complex, and the term has no single universally accepted definition. Emotions create a response in the mind that arises spontaneously, rather than through conscious__________ (9). It is unclear whether animals or all human beings experience emotion. Emotions are physical expressions, often involuntary, related to feelings, perceptions or__________ (10) about elements, objects or relations between them, in reality or in the imagination. The study of emotions is part of psychology, neuroscience, and, more recently, ________ (11) intelligence. Еmotions are_________ (12) processes. Some authors emphasize the difference between human emotions and the affective behavior of animals.

TEXT 3

Theoretical traditions

Four main theoretical traditions have dominated research in emotions starting in the 1800s with Darwin's observations of emotion in man and animals. These traditions are not mutually exclusive and many researchers incorporate multiple perspectives in their work.

The Darwinian perspective

First articulated in the late 19th century by Charles Darwin, emotions evolved via natural selection and therefore have cross-culturally universal counterparts. Most research in this area has focused on physical displays of emotion including body language of animals and facial expressions in humans. Paul Ekman's work on basic emotions is representative of the Darwinian tradition.

The Jamesian perspective

William James in the 1800s believed that emotional experience is largely due to the experience of bodily changes. These changes might be visceral, postural, or facially expressive. However, the physiological aspects of his theory were empirically discredited by Walter Cannon in the second edition of Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage.

The cognitive perspective

Most writers on emotion hold that thought and in particular cognitive appraisal of the environment is an underlying causal explanation for emotional processes. Many go farther and believe that emotions express beliefs, or are certain kinds of beliefs or appearances.

The social constructivist perspective

Social constructivism emphasizes the importance of culture and context in understanding what occurs in society and constructs knowledge based on this understanding. Much current research in emotion is based on the social constructivist view.

The neurological tradition (Plutchik, 1980)

This tradition draws on recent work on neurophysiology and neuroanatomy to explain the nature of emotions. Joseph LeDoux (1986) reviews relatively current knowledge on the neurophysiology of emotion.

TEXT 4

Дата добавления: 2015-10-31