HUMAN 105H, Spring, 2014
Dr. Harnett
Week 12 Class Notes, page 1
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Announcements:
Unit 2 Paper graded and returned today if you have not already received it. Exam
3 will be graded ASAP this week and next. See me for any advice and feedback I
can provide. Outside Reports will be graded ASAP as well.
Today is the last day for Unit 3 Oral and Outside Reports.
Unit 4 begins today. See me about your Outside and Oral Reports for it as soon as
possible so that yours is a great success. Note that the Final for our course is the
Unit 4 Exam, and that it is not cumulative.
Readings for next time by Van Boven will be posted on the HUMAN 105H page in
Syllabus and Course Materials, and the excerpt from Dandelion Wine by Ray
Bradbury will be handed out (available in print only).
Oral Reports:
Readings on Anger:
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, also known as Seneca the Younger (c. 3 BCE – 65
CE), On Anger. New link at http://praxeology.net/seneca2.htm
1. Why anger is a problem—the effects of anger (Book I, Chapter 5, other parts)
2. Why anger is not useful, why not make use of it (Book I, Chapters 7-14, 17)
3. The nature of anger—Is it a choice or an impulse? (Book II, Chapters 1-3)
4. How people can overcome anger (Book II, Chapters 2-4, 6-7)
5. Seneca’s final points about anger, including whether anger has any value (Book
II, Chapter 12-13)
6. Other:
Brad Bushman (2002), “Does Venting Anger Feed or Extinguish the Flame?
Catharsis, Rumination, Distraction, Anger, and Aggressive Responding.”
http://bama.ua.edu/~sprentic/672%20Bushman%202002.pdf
1. The topic: Which method of anger management is more effective: _____ or
______?
2. Catharsis Theory:_______
3. Cognitive Neoassociation Theory:_________
4. Rumination:______ and Distraction:______
5. Bushman’s study:
a. Overview
b. Participants
c. Method
d. Results
6. Discussion and Conclusion, including possible alternative explanations to
results:_____
A little more on anger—road rage! Watch a comedic look at how it can escalate
in this clip from the TV show Malcolm in the Middle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBvysuewIOs (2:40) What does it tell you about
anger?
For Next Time: Readings on Happiness.
 Leaf Van Boven, “Experientialism, Materialism, and the Pursuit of Happiness” (pdf—
posted in Course Materials)
HUMAN 105H, Spring, 2014
Dr. Harnett
Week 12 Class Notes, page 2
Ray Bradbury, excerpt from the novel Dandelion Wine (printed handout).

Thursday, May 15, 2014
Announcements:
Oral Reports and Outside Reports for Unit 4: See me for advice and feedback.
Exam 3 will be graded ASAP.
Note: The UPenn link below and in the syllabus were updated just before the start of the
semester, but they were not working, so I updated them again.
Write answers that are clear on their own and hand it in.

Ray Bradbury, excerpt from Dandelion Wine (handout).
1. Describe and discuss the Happiness Machine as Leo Aufmann has
designed it. (2-3 sentences)
2. What is Lena’s experience in it at first?
3. Why does Lena begin crying soon after this and call it the Sadness
Machine?
4. What happens to the Happiness Machine after Leo goes into it himself?
5. What is the real Happiness Machine at the end?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Leaf Van Boven, “Experientialism, Materialism, and the Pursuit of
Happiness.” [PDF on Website in Syllabus and Course Materials]. This is a
psychological article about a business-based set of behaviors. Note the rise in
psychological and other studies in business and other fields that previously
were viewed as separate. Purchases are motivational decisions that affect
quality of life and happiness. Some main points from the article:
the problem, guiding question of this article, thesis
materialism in sources, US, effects of materialism
N.B.: basic needs must be met; empirical approach of Van Boven; experiential
vs. material purchases
National phone survey: method, results (Table 1), limitations
Recent purchases survey with college students: method, results (Table 2),
verification
Moods and memories: how accurately can people report their own happiness?
Survey—descriptions of feelings after material/experiential purchases;
argument to validate this survey
Why Experiences Satisfy: 3 reasons
o First reason
 Experiences
 Material gains
 “favorable abstract construals”—distant vs. near future: study
and results
o second reason
 materialism: comparison/competition vs. experiences
 survey: income & “positional outcome” vs. vacation
 when expectations are not met: materialism vs. experientialism
o third reason
 experience vs. materialism vis-à-vis social relationships
HUMAN 105H, Spring, 2014
Dr. Harnett
Week 12 Class Notes, page 3
 study method and results, discussion
8. Conclusion
o Materialism
o Experientialism
o Genetic factors?
o Do we need to avoid material purchases?
o Does it matter how materialistic a person is?
o Would knowledge about materialism vs. experience change people’s
“consumption behavior”?
o People’s awareness of their own materialism?
o What are our “needs”?
More on Anger: Watch these scenes from the movie Amadeus, starring Tom
Hulce as Mozart and F. Murrray Abraham as Antonio Salieri:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ciFTP_KRy4 (3:10)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlhdYH1WpBo (3:20)
1. You are Salieri, the court composer who worked so hard on the musical piece
for the Emperor. Your immediate responses to what Mozart does are to___ :
a. Thoughts—immediate reactions (be specific):_______
b. Thoughts—later reactions and plans:
c. Actions or behaviors in the future: _______
2. Discuss Salieri’s reactions in terms of Seneca’s thoughts about anger.
3. Discuss Salieri’s reactions to anger in light of the ventilationist approach vs.
Tavris’ point of view.
4. Notice Salieri’s facial expressions. What do they reveal to us?
For Next Time:

Read Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 1, Chapters 8-13; Book 2,
Chapters 1-6 at http://www.constitution.org/ari/ethic_00.htm **Annotations
Due (1 or more per chapter, 12 or more total).
Also, read through the UPenn Positive Psychology Center website at
http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/ Select one of these articles and read it for next time as
well.
o A Balanced Psychology and a Full Life, Seligman, Parks, & Steen,
2004
o Positive Psychotherapy, Seligman, Rashid, & Parks, 2006
o Positive Health, Seligman, 2008
o Positive Education: Positive Psychology and Classroom
Interventions, Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich, & Linkins, 2009.
Begin reading Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving as soon as you can; you will need
to have half of it completed by next Thursday (May 22), and the whole thing read
and Annotated for the Tuesday after Memorial Day (5/27).