(tentative) Syllabus Fall 2014

Human Emotions (50:830:306 sec.01)

Goals of the Course:  The learning objectives of this course are consistent with the goals of the Rutgers-Camden psychology department.  Course exams are designed to assess these learning objectives.  Upon successful completion of this course you should be able to:

  • Explain what emotions are (What are their components?)
  • Explain when we have emotions (What are their causes?)
  • Explain why we have emotions (What are their functions?)
  • Discuss whether everybody has the same emotions (Are there developmental, individual, gender, and/or cultural differences in emotions?)
  • Discuss major causes of emotional problems, and how they can be overcome (What are the causes of emotional dysfunction, and how can emotions be regulated and controlled?) 

Obtaining Course Readings:

Robeson library is making readings for this course available electronically.  As of Sept. 2, 2014, you should be able to view and print the first few readings from the IRIS catalog web page http://www.iris.rutgers.edu/iris.html by clicking on RESERVES, entering HUMAN EMOTIONS as the search term, and clicking on COURSE NAME.  When the list of readings appears on your screen, you can scroll down to the "ELECTRONIC RESERVE" reading(s) you want to obtain, and click on the Electronic access link in order to download and print them (you may have to click on NEXT or PREVIOUS near the top of the screen to find the reading you want).  Note that when the library has divided a reading into several parts, you are responsible for reading all of the parts.
You must have Adobe Reader on the computer you are using, in order to download, read, and print the files.  You can download Adobe Reader for free at 
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Warning: You should be aware that it may take a long time (e.g.,  many hours if the Rutgers computer system is having operating difficulties) to download and print the readings.  Long delays in being able to electronically read and print particular readings are possible.  Robeson library does not keep paper copies of course readings on reserve!  So you should make every effort to download and print each reading sufficiently in advance to allow you enough time to read and study it.  If you have difficulty printing a readable copy of any required reading, please let me know as soon as possible.  Claims that you were not able to obtain, print, or read an assigned reading will not be accepted as reasons for delaying or retaking an exam, or curving the grades.

Detailed instructions for finding, viewing, and printing electronic reserve documents are given in "Electronic Documents on Reserve, A User's Guide" at http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/lib_servs/reserve_services_users.shtml

If you are trying to view, download, or print reserve documents from home or another off-campus location, you must first have configured the computer to gain access to Rutgers library resources.  Instructions for doing so can be found by going to http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu (the Rutgers libraries web page), and clicking on "How do I...connect from off campus". If you have difficulty getting electronic access to reserve materials you can ask a librarian via e-mail from the libraries web page, or by phone or in person at Robeson library. 

                                                        Syllabus

READINGS: *R  = required reading
    (B) = background reading, not required

You are not required to do background readings, and you will not be tested on them. Background readings are listed to provide an extra source of information, for students who are interested in learning more about particular topics. Both required and background readings will be on reserve at Robeson Library. Note that readings may be added or changeduring the semester.  
 

Sept. 2 - 4    Introduction; The phenomenological component of emotions.

 *R    Miller, S. (1985). The shame experience. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (read pp. 28-70).

 (B)    Damasio, A. (1994). Descartes' error: Emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York: Harcourt Brace. (Chapter 7: Emotions and feelings)

 (B)    Barrett, L. F., Mesquita, B., Ochsner, K. N., & Gross, J. J. (2007). The experience of emotion. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 373-403. 
 

Sept. 9 - 11     The physiological component of emotions

 (B)    LeDoux, J. E. (1996). The emotional brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster (Chapter 4: The Holy Grail; Chapter 6: A few degrees of separation)

 *R    Keltner, D., Oatley, K., & Jenkins, J. M. (2014). Understanding emotions (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. (read Chapter 5: Bodily changes and emotions).

 (B)    Carlson, N. R. (2013). Physiology of behavior (11th ed.) Boston: Allyn & Bacon (Pearson). (Chapter 3 from "The Forebrain" to the end of the chapter; & Chapter 11: Emotion; Note: file on Electronic Reserve should have color diagrams; if printed in black & white may be hard to read).

Sept. 16- 18      The expressive component

 (B)    Darwin, C. R. (1969). The expression of the emotions in man and animals. New York: Greenwood. (original work published 1872) (pp. 27-65, 347-366).

 *R    Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1975). Unmasking the face. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.  (pp. 21-65)

 (B)    Matsumoto, D., Keltner, D., Shiota, M. N., O'Sullivan, M., & Frank, M. G. (2008). Facial expressions of emotion. In M. Lewis, J. Haviland, & L. F. Barrett (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (3rd ed., pp. 211-234).  New York: Guilford Press.
 

Sept. 23 - 25   The behavioral component

 *R    Frijda, N. H. (1986). The emotions. New York: Cambridge University Press. (pp. 69-94)

 (B) Blanchard, D. C., Hynd, A. L., Minke, K. A., and Blanchard, R. J. (2001). Human defensive behaviors to threat scenarios show parallels to fear- and anxiety-related defense patterns of nonhuman mammals. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 25, 761-770.

 (B)    Potegal, M. (2010). The temporal dynamics of anger: phenomena, processes, and perplexities. In M. Potegal, G. Stemmler, & C. Spielberger (Eds.), International handbook of anger (pp. 385-401). New York: Springer..


Sept. 30      The motivational component

 (B) Tomkins, S. S. (1970). Affect as the primary motivational system. In M. B. Arnold (Ed.), Feelings and. emotions: The Loyola Symposium (pp. 101-110). New York: Academic Press

 (B)    Izard, C. E. (1991). The psychology of emotions. New York: Plenum (pp. 89-130).

 *R    Roseman, I. J., Wiest, C., & Swartz, T. S. (1994). Phenomenology, behaviors, and goals differentiate discrete emotions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 206-221.

Oct. 2   Exam 1 on readings and lectures from Sept. 2 – Sept. 30
 

Oct. 7 - 9          The situations in which emotions occur

 (B)    Aristotle (1966). Rhetoric. In Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics (W. R. Roberts, Trans.). New York: Modern Library. (pp. 90-121). (Original work written c. 350 B.C.)

 *R    Rozin, P., Haidt, J., & McCauley, C. (2008). Disgust. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland-Jones, & L. F. Barrett (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (3rd ed., pp. 757-776).  New York: Guilford Press.
 
 (B)    Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (2008). The evolutionary psychology of the emotions and their relationship to internal regulatory variables. In M. Lewis, J. Haviland, & L. F. Barrett (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (3rd ed., pp. 114-137).  New York: Guilford Press.

Oct. 14 - 16      Appraisal determinants of emotion: Motivation + cognition

 *R    Cornelius, R. R. (1996). The science of emotion: Research and tradition in the psychology of emotion. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. (read pp. 112-148: Feeling is thinking: The cognitive perspective)

 (B)    Roseman, I. J., & Smith, C. A. (2001). Appraisal theory: Overview, assumptions, varieties, controversies. In K. R. Scherer, A. Schorr, & T. Johnstone (Eds.), Appraisal processes in emotion: Theory, methods, research (pp. 3-19). New York: Oxford University Press.

 (B)    Frijda, N. F. (2007). The laws of emotion. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. (chapter 4: Appraisal, pp. 93-121)

Oct. 21 - 23   The effects of emotions

 (B)    Clark, M. S., & Isen, A. M. (1982). Toward understanding the relationship between feeling states and social behavior. In A. Hastorf & A. M. Isen (eds.) Cognitive social psychology. New York: Elsevier North Holland.

 *R    Salovey, P., Detweiler, J. B., Steward, W. T., & Bedell, B. T. (2001). Affect and health-relevant cognition. In J. P. Forgas (Ed.) Handbook of affect and social cognition (pp. 344-368). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

(B)        Lerner, J. S., Gonzalez, R. M., Small, D. A., & Fischhoff, B. (2003). Effects of fear and anger on perceived risks of terrorism: A national field experiment. Psychological Science, 14, 144-150. 

Oct. 28 - 30   The functions of emotions

*R    Ekman, P., & Davidson, R. (Eds.). (1994). The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. New York: Oxford University Press. (pp. 99-139)

(B)    Keltner, D., & Haidt, J. (1999). Social functions of emotions at four levels of analysis. Cognition and Emotion, 13, 505-522.

(B)        Fredrickson, B. L. (2005).The broaden and build theory of positive emotions. In F. A. Huppert, N. Baylis, & B. Keverne (Eds.) The Science of Well-Being (pp. 217-238). New York: Oxford University Press.


Nov. 4  -  6     The structure of emotions

 *R    Plutchik, R. (1984). Emotions: A general psychoevolutionary theory. In K. R. Scherer and P. Ekman (Eds.) Approaches to emotion (pp. 197-219). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

 (B)    Russell, J. A. (2003). Core affect and the psychological construction of emotion. Psychological Review, 110, 145-172.

 (B)    Roseman, I. J. (2011). Emotional behaviors, emotivational goals, emotion strategies: Multiple levels of organization integrate variable and consistent responses. Emotion Review, 3, 434-443.
 

Nov. 11   Exam 2 on readings and lectures from Oct. 7 - Nov. 6
 

Nov. 13    Emotional development

 (B)    Kagan, J. (2003). Behavioral inhibition as a temperamental category. In R. J. Davidson &. K. R. Scherer & H. H. Goldsmith (Eds.), Handbook of affective sciences (pp. 8-24). New York: Oxford University Press. 

 (B)    Mascolo, M. J., Fischer, K. W., & Li, J. (2003). Dynamic development of component systems of emotions: Pride, shame, and guilt in China and the United States. In R. J. Davidson, K. Scherer, & H. H. Goldsmith (Eds.), Handbook of affective sciences (pp. 375-408). New York: Oxford University Press.

 *R    Keltner, D., Oatley, K., & Jenkins, J. M. (2014). Understanding emotions (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. (chapter 8: Development of emotions in childhood)

 

Nov. 18 - 20   Individual, gender, and cultural differences

 *R    Shaver, P. R. & Mikulincer, M. (2002). Attachment-related psychodynamics.  Attachment and Human Development, 4, 133-161.

 (B)    Brody, L. R., & Hall, J. A. (2008). Gender and emotion in context. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland-Jones, & L. F. Barrett (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (3rd ed., pp. 395-408).  New York: Guilford Press.

 (B)    Shiota, M. N., & Kalat, J. W. (2012). Emotion (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage. (Chapter 3: Culture and emotion)
 

Nov. 25 - Dec. 2     Emotional dysfunction

 (B)    Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. New York: International Univ. Press. (pp. 76-101)

 *R    Keltner, D., Oatley, K., & Jenkins, J. M. (2014). Understanding emotions (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. (chapter 13: Mental disorder and well-being in adulthood).

 (B)    Jamison, K. R. (1995). An unquiet mind. New York: Knopf. (pp. 9 - 40: The wild blue yonder)

Dec. 4 - 9     The regulation and control of emotions

 *R    Carlson, J. G., & Hatfield, E. (1992). Psychology of emotion. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. (Chapter 14, "Dealing with Emotions", pp. 517-564)

 (B)    Grewal, D., & Salovey, P. (2005). Feeling smart: The science of emotional intelligence. American Scientist, 93, 330-339.

 (B)    Gross, J. J., Richards, J. M., & John, O. P. (2006). Emotion regulation in everyday life. In D. K. Snyder, J. A. Simpson, & J. N. Hughes (Eds.). Emotion regulation in couples and families: Pathways to dysfunction and health (pp. 13-35). Washington DC: American Psychological Association. 
 

Dec. 16 (Tuesday, 2:45pm-5:45pm) Exam 3 on readings and lectures from Nov. 13 - end of term