Emotion
Class
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What are key tenets (propositions) of discrete emotion theory?
What evidence suggests infant emotion is discrete what evidence
suggests it is not?
What is the main finding of the Oster studied reviewed by Camras and
presented in the PPT? (Provide examples of two emotion).
Do you think infants can have emotions without being reflectively
aware of what they are feeling?
Provide links to the best video you can (e.g. youtube) showing an
infant expressing a discrete negative emotion that is not distress (e.g.
anger, sadness, or disgust).
What do you think this infant was feeling?
Find a theory you agree with or disagree with (discrete, functional,
dynamic). Does the video indicate that a particular emotion theory is
incorrect or does it support the theory?
Extra questions:
What evidence suggests that emotions are not discrete and may be
more dynamic and functional?
Describe a study distinguishing between emotion and facial
expression.
dmessinger@miami.edu
When do people smile?
2
Emotions
Organize action, physiology, cognition, and
perception to meet ever-changing
environmental and internal demands
 In patterns constituting core aspects of
temperament/personality functioning
 Motivate action and thought, creating value
in life—and impacting wellness and
sickness
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dmessinger@miami.edu
3
History
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Emotions don’t exist (or can’t be studied)
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Emotional expressions are infinitely malleable
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Some anthropological accounts
Emotions are things – structural accounts
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Behaviorism, ’50s - ‘60s
Discrete/Differential theory, ’70s – ’80s
Cross-cultural recognition of expressions
Demonstrates hard-wiring of universal emotions?
Emotions are processes and have functions
–
Functionalist, dynamic systems, emotion regulation,
constuctivist ‘90s – ’10s
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4
Universality
What emotions do you see here?
Cohn
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6
The Universality hypothesis
Are facial expressions of emotion universal
cross-culturally?
 If universal,
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–
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are they innate and genetically determined?
or could there be “species-constant learning
experiences”?
dmessinger@miami.edu
7
True?
“There are some facial expressions of
emotion that are universal.”
 “why do we not press our lips tightly
together when happy and curve the corners
up when angry, rather than the reverse?”
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•
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(Ekman, 1973, p. 219)
‘facial affect program’ ?
•
p. 220
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8
Who’s friends came to visit
From Cohn
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9
Pre-literate culture study
Read an emotion-situation story.
 Shown three photos and asked to choose
one
 A high % correctly identified (p. 212)
 Why is expression identification in preliterate cultures important?
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dmessinger@miami.edu
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Critique
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Are identified expressions posed or spontaneous
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Emblematic denotative expressions – caricatures?
Verbal identification of posed expressions
Relevant to of expression recognition
Not to universality of expression production
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Or their innateness
dmessinger@miami.edu
11
What about development?
Infant emotions
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Core elements of infant behavior
Quickly motivate behavior
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Hunger-Distress-Cry
Interest-Attentive face
Engaging playful other – joy - smile
Organize action, physiology, cognition, and
perception
To meet environmental and internal demands
Patterns constitute core aspects of
temperament/personality functioning
dmessinger@miami.edu
13
Infant emotional development
Distress is present at birth
 Interest and joy emerge in the first 2 mos.
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joy developing through at least 6 mos.
Anger, sadness, fear differentiate after 4 m.
 Pride and shame develop between 1 & 2
years
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14
1 to 3 months
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Disgust
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Joy
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Dropped lower lip, raised upper lip and nose screwed up
Spitting out the disliked food/object
Defensive reflex since no hand-mouth/grasping coordination
To familiar events, persons or objects
(Smile) and wide-open bright eyes
Sadness??
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Brows are raised at the center but dropped at the sides and
mouth corners are drawn back and down
Crying usually intensifies the expression
As a result of withdrawal or loss of a desired object/person
Oberwelland (summary of Lewis)
4 to 9 months
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Anger
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4 and 6 months
Mouth open with a squarish shape and angled
downward to the back of the mouth, wide open eyes,
intense gaze and lowered brows
Whenever a child gets frustrated
Demonstrated as young as 2 months (Lewis, 2007)
Fear
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Might not be developed until 18 months but present
earlier at about 6-8 months (Lewis, 2007), not before 10
months (Fogel, 2001)
Raised and furrowed brows, mouth corners are
retracted straight back
Reasons vary widely
Oberwelland (summary of Lewis)
4 to 9 months
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Surprise
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During the first 6 months
Whenever there is violation of what is expected
or as a response to discovery (”aha” effect)
Mouth is open and the eyes are focused
Oberwelland (summary of Lewis)
12 to 24 months
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Embarrassment
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Shame
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Wish to disappear or hide is reflected in
expression
Children seem to shrink and hunch over so that
the arms and hands will hide the face
Guilt
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Blushing face and gaze down
Moves in space as if trying to repair the action
Pride
Oberwelland (summary of Lewis)
Developmental patterns
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Socialization
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Emotion displays become more restricted
Full-face to partial face - miniaturization
Cognitive input
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shame, guilt, contempt emerge
 involve
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rudimentary appraisal of self vis-à-vis other
dynamic systems
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20
THEORIES
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Functions
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Interest
Fear
Anger
Joy
Sadness
Disgust
Surprise
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Orienting/exploration
Avoidance/flight
Goal removal
Approach/continuation
Withdrawal
Expulsion
Orienting
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22
The Natural-Kind View
“Many models assume
that each emotion kind
is characterized by a
distinctive syndrome
of hormonal,
muscular, and
autonomic responses
that are coordinated in
time and correlated in
intensity “
p. 30 Barrett, 2006
dmessinger@miami.edu
23
Discrete Emotions Theory (DET)
= Natural Kind View
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Emotion composed of:
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Neurochemical processes
Expressive behavior
Subjective feeling
“Many models assume that each emotion …
is characterized by a distinctive syndrome
of hormonal, muscular, and autonomic
responses that are coordinated in time and
correlated in intensity.” Barrett, 2006
dmessinger@miami.edu
24
Neurochemical processes
Emotional brain - Limbic system
Border between primitive brain stem and
cortex
 Lower portions - visceral (bodily) feelings
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Developed at birth
Limbic cortex – awareness of feeling
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26
Limbic system
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28
Amygdala
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Transforms sensory
stimuli to emotion elicitors
 Not
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–
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mediated by neocortex
Input: rapid, automatic
appraisal of relevance
Output: Expression and
Experience
Reactivity of amygdala
determines temperament
dmessinger@miami.edu
Limbic cortex
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Anterior cingulate gyrus
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Motivation
Orbitofrontal cortex
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Inhibition, social control
Feeds back to amygdala,
other subcortical structures
Neural development
evident 6 – 24 months
Pruning continues into
adolescence
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30
But where are specific emotions?
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31
Key brain regions implicated in
emotion-related processing.
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32
Where is joy located?
One possibility is that
anterior cingulate
cortex, is associated
with joyful responses,
whereas basal ganglia
are involved in related
action tendencies.
Greater left than right cerebral activation
(Duchenne smiles, tail wagging, etc)
dmessinger@miami.edu
34
Facial affect programs?
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Current evidence:
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Relevant linked brain systems
But not distinct affect programs
Fear may be exception
Panskepp and current animal work
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35
Subjective feeling
Damasio’s theory
Emotion is a neurochemical process
 Feeling is our sensation of that process
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Affective-cognitive schema
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Emotion feeling linked to cognitions
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produces thoughts and actions
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Emotion-cognition does not transform feeling
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i.e. self-appraisals
Feeling never changes
but feeling linked to different images and thoughts
In development, modular systems - emotion,
cognition, motor - become less insular and more
integrated
dmessinger@miami.edu
38
Is there emotional feeling without
knowledge of feeling?
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Infantile memory
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Strong emotional associations
Without explicit knowledge of associations
Makes associations inaccessible to reflection
and difficult to change
Memories of smells, movements, even abuse
dmessinger@miami.edu
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For DET, Feeling is a
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Quality of consciousness
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Not defined by cognitions
 Hence,
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babies have them!
But by action-tendencies and readiness
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Inherently adaptive
• Maladaptive when linked to wrong cognitions
dmessinger@miami.edu
40
Role of cognition
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For Barrett, emotion knowledge is
necessary.
–
Hence no emotions for babies?
If emotion is a feeling, cognition is not
necessary
 But if emotion is about something, some
degree of cognition is involved
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dmessinger@miami.edu
41
Discrete Emotions Theory (DET)
Hypotheses
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“Emotion-specific” programs unite expressive,
physiological, and phenomenological processes
As the CNS matures, “basic emotions emerge as
structured wholes”
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don’t come together developmentally
There are no display rules operating in infancy
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In infancy, as discrete emotions arise, they should be
accompanied by discrete facial expressions of those
emotions (read-outs)
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Expressive behavior
Discrete infant emotions
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46
Assumptions about Categorization
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The form of infant expressions
matches the adult form
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MAX is based on adult & infant
configurations
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But few of these correspond with
adult (FACS) configurations
Adults can identify and respond
to discrete emotional expression
–
In a forced choice paradigm they
pick the right MAX configuration
more
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But accuracy is low and results are
mixed for negative
But not with free choice
Mattson
49
Adults expressions seen as discrete
(Oster et al., 1992)
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50
Infant negative expressions rated
as distress
(Oster et al., 1992) dmessinger@miami.edu
51
Situational appropriateness:
Production studies
Premise:
 In response to an appropriate elicitor
(situation), hypothesized emotional
expression should occur significantly more
than other expressions
dmessinger@miami.edu
52
Negative emotional expressions
are not situationally specific
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Through 2 months, Justine
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shows distress to bathing, being moved, &
pacifier removal (inoculation and hunger)
After 2 months, anger and, to a much lesser
degree, sadness are most common reaction
to all negative elicitors
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infants cry, not a specific reaction
•
dmessinger@miami.edu
Camras, 1992
53
Examples
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Examples (Slides 3-10 are pictures) : http://www.slideserve.com/marilu/emotions
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Sad  distresssmile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akPVtObBUOk&feature=related
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Distress:
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Saddisress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7oD9WX-1CU
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Fear/orientdistress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=QiBrPkGoqFM
Feardistress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fASp42ZvjIM&feature=fvwrel,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=H-1me_wsuyk (alligator bite)
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Sad
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: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szLjXta0Szw, dad singing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAzLsnYvdYo&feature=related (lower lip in response to rasberries)
dmessinger@miami.edu
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Maze game—Scary—children
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGd5NqP6qd4
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Slow-motion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC5qPvTQUdo
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Compendium: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cypeLuCIrU0
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Long: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9kNCBGEyfk 0:55-1:07, 1:45-2:30
dmessinger@miami.edu
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Surprise! Its not in the face
Covert toy switch
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Surprise examples
Expression on demand:
 Coordinative structure?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DaKcKqVheE&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOvtNPljtv0&feature=related
Posed adult: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4AyfrM8Q2o
Girl and Dad 1:05—1:40. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5HXl_zJ5po
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57
Dynamic blends
Discrete emotions—pattern of facial action.
 When patterns from different emotion
expressions occur together, a blend occurs.
 Matias & Cohn found that negative blends
were as frequent as negative discrete
emotions.
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Positive discrete > positive blends
dmessinger@miami.edu
58
Summary
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Some negative facial expressions
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are not recognizably expressions of discrete
emotions
do not always occur in response to appropriate
elicitors
nor do they occur discretely in time
dmessinger@miami.edu
59
Beyond DET Structuralism
Alternate Views
Functional and dynamic views
Emotion is not inside you.
 Emotions are process of changing (or
maintaining) relations with environment
significant to the individual.
 Emotions influence situation.

dmessinger@miami.edu
62
Alternative views
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Functional
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Insight: Recognition of function of emotions and their
flexibility in functioning
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Regulating emotion to achieve goals
Difficulty: Use goals to interpret behavior but use
behavior to infer goals
Dynamic
–
–
Insight: Recognition of interfacing role of multiple
components in emotional process
Difficulty: Specifying process
dmessinger@miami.edu
63
Functionalist theory

Emotion is the person’s attempt or readiness to
establish, maintain, or change the relation between
the person and the environment on on matters of
significance to that person (Saarni et al., 1998).
–
Emotion is associated with goal-attainment, social
relationships, situational appraisals, action tendencies,
self-understanding, self regulation, etc.
dmessinger@miami.edu
64
Dynamic systems
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Development, interaction, and (emotional)
behavior are complex
involving multiple interfacing/interacting
constituents
which produce patterns we see as pre-designed
regularities
A bottom-up approach
–
Discrete emotions as preferred states formed from the
interface of multiple constituents
dmessinger@miami.edu
67
Dynamic phenomena
The raised brow of interest occurs with
raising the head
 There are different interest expressions
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Problems with top-down approaches
Duchenne smiling as a muscular dynamic
 Joy appears to develop in time
 Neonatal (Duchenne) smile may emerge
before happiness
 Importance?

dmessinger@miami.edu
69
Dynamic systems alternative
‘Distress-pain, anger, sadness often seen
together during crying’
 Perhaps negative emotion in infancy differs
in intensity - phases of crying - distress &
anger, with sadness reflecting a weakening
of intensity
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–
Camras
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70
Surprise expressions as
coordinative motor structures
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Results indicate that MO is selectively associated
with raised brows
–
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Brow raises occurred after the onset of the MO
movement, further suggesting that MO recruits raised
brows.
Facial criteria may be inappropriate for identifying
"surprise" expressions in infants.
–
Camras, L. A., Lambrecht, L., & Michel, G. F. (1996). Infant
"surprise" expressions as coordinative motor structures. Journal
of Nonverbal Behavior, 20(3), 183-195.
dmessinger@miami.edu
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Interest expressions as
coordinative motor structures
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Opening the mouth is accompanied by brow
raising in infants, thus producing "surprise“
expressions in non-surprise situations.
–
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Raised-brow movements significantly cooccurred with head-up and/or eyes-up
movements for both ages.
Knit-brows co-occurred with eyes-down at 5
mo and head-down at 7 mo
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Michel, G. F., Camras, L. A., & Sullivan, J. (1992). Infant interest expressions as
coordinative motor structures. Infant Behavior and Development, 15(3), 347-358.
dmessinger@miami.edu
72
Feedback loops
Internal: Proprioceptive
 External: Social
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–
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"I take smiling to be a social signal," Messinger
says. "I really think that babies are learning
what joy is by sharing it with someone else." In
other words, smiling might not be so much an
expression of a preexisting state as a path we
take to get to that state.
Why do babies smile? - Slate Magazine, Jul 1, 2010 –
dmessinger@miami.edu
74
Mirror Neuron System
Neural basis for apperception of others’
experience
 What you see is what you feel
 Research limitations
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–
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Inter-species generalization, imaging
constraints, etc
But potential source of ASD affective
deficits…
Relative reduced activity of pars
opercularis of inferior frontal gyrus
to facial expressions
(Typical – ASD)
Observation
Imitation
Dapretto et al., 2006, Nature Neuroscience
Holodynski & Friedlmeier
(2010). The Development of
Emotions and Emotion
Regulation.
dmessinger@miami.edu
78
Internalization model

1.
2.
3.
Three postulates describing the mechanisms
involved in the development of the emotion
components
The processes that differentiate the appraisal
and expression components are
interdependent
Expression signs can be used symbolically
Body sensations accompanying emotions are
transformed into conscious feeling
Oberwelland
1a. Differentiation of the Expressive
Reactions
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In adults: appraisal precedes expression and body
reactions (cause-effect relation)
In infants: effects tend to be reciprocal when
emotions emerge!
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–
–
caregivers talk and smile to their infants to provoke a
reaction
First smile of infant as a result of imitation
Caregivers will mark such events contingently by
increased smiling and talking
Infant builds up contingencies and initiate the cycle of
pleasure ( real smiling)
Evidence: differences in expressing anger at different
ages
Oberwelland
1b. Expression Signs as Mediators between
Infant and Caregiver
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Coregulation
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–
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Interdependence of infant and parent behavior
Infant’s emotional experiences are mediated by the
caregivers’ interpretation
Caregivers respond with actions that are
coordinated with their interpretation of their baby’s
expression (feeding the crying infant)
Temporal contingencies will emerge when the
caregiver acts sensitively, promptly and
consistently
Oberwelland
1c. Affect Mirroring and Motor Mimicry
Caregivers mirror their infants’ emotionspecific expression signs in their own
expressions
 Infants register the contingent mirroring and
then anticipate this from their caregivers
 Infants imitate their caregivers’ expression
signs
 Interplay between caregiver and infants leads
to synchronization of expression signs,
universal and individual signs

Oberwelland
2. Expression signs can be used
symbolically

Transformation of expressive reactions into
expression signs
–
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Example mother - infant:
–
–
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Represent generalized emotion specific action
readiness and subjective feeling state
Smile from the mother as assurance
Mother’s angry face as avoidance sign
Example infant - mother:
–
Infant starts crying when a wish is denied, and stops
immediately when the wish gets fulfilled
 Crying
is used as a symbol not as an expression of real
distress
Oberwelland
3. Body sensations accompanying
emotions into conscious feeling



Without signs, no consciousness; without expression
signs, no conscious feeling
Feeling emerges from interoceptive and
proprioceptive feedback on body and expressive
reactions
Example feeling state of pleasure:
Expression sign: smiling
– Feedback associated with pleasure: warmth, relaxation
– Feedback not associated with pleasure: e.g. itchy leg…
 Only those relevant will be single out
–
Oberwelland
Emotion is not facial expression

“Happiness alone is
not sufficient to
produce smiles.
Rather, happiness
produces smiles only
during social
interaction.”
(Ferenandez-Dols &
Ruiz-Belda, 1995, p.
1114).
dmessinger@miami.edu
86
Tennis players--Todorov
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87
Behavioral ecologists.
Biologically oriented ethologists attempting
to explain signaling behavior across species
within a framework of evolution through
natural selection.
 Facial expressions do not reflect emotions
 They occur during social interaction &
reflect social motives and negotiation

dmessinger@miami.edu
88
Behavioral ecology view

Facial displays:
–
–
–
“signify our trajectory in a given social
interaction”
“’social tools’ aiding the negotiation of social
encounters”
“specific to intent and context”
dmessinger@miami.edu
89
Dimensional


dmessinger@miami.edu
Emphasizes
commonalities
between
emotions
De-emphasizes
uniqueness of
individual
emotions
90
Circumplex:
Self-reported emotion
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91
Critique of dynamic systems
The task assembles the behavior
 What’s the emotional task?
 Signaling to other; signaling/motivating self

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92