Psy 401 Junior Seminar
Fall, 2006
Dell Rhodes
Psy 130, 517-7400
dell.rhodes@reed.edu
Office hours: Usually Tues and Wed 4-5:30. (Depends on TBA lab time for this class.)
I post office hour sign-up sheets for the following week each Thurs. I am usually not on
campus on Monday until late afternoon and all day Friday – but can be reached by email.
Overview of the Course:
This course explores important theories and empirical paradigms across different areas
of psychology, focused on a topic of current high interest in the field. The topical focus
for this semester will be “Affects and Emotions.”
Research on affects, including moods, emotions, and temperament, appear in journals
as diverse as Nature Neuroscience, Cognition & Emotion, Journal of Experimental
Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Journal of Personality & Social Psychology,
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, and Psychological Science. This research employs
techniques across all “levels of analysis” in psychology, e.g., electrophysiological
recordings, neuroimaging in humans, studies of patients with brain damage or clinical
diagnoses, the measurement of reaction times and of performance accuracy,
preferential looking and habituation paradigms in infants, observation of adults and/or
children in group situations, analyses of open-ended and structured self-reports and of
personality inventories. In addition, there are serious disagreements across
investigators about how to conceptualize what “emotions” are (and, thus, how to study
them). As a consequence, the subject matter of this course will provide ample
opportunities to compare and contrast methodological and conceptual approaches
within psychology, emphasizing both analysis and synthesis.
Given the breadth of materials covered in this course, I will know more about some
content areas than others. In a few class sessions we will have the able assistance of a
faculty colleague. In others, I anticipate that the knowledge you bring to this class from
your previous upper division coursework will help to guide our explorations.
Specific Goals of the Course
1. To encourage an appreciation of the methodological and conceptual diversity that
exists within the field of psychology. To demonstrate the advantages of a global
perspective that incorporates this diversity into one’s understanding of a topic. And
to provide some contact with allied disciplines such as philosophy, anthropology,
biology, and the arts.
2. To provide opportunities to acquire or exercise skills that may be helpful in the senior
thesis project. These will include library research skills, paper writing and formatting,
experience in the assessment of experimental design and the interpretation of
statistical analyses, the ability to propose new research, and a more detailed
Syllabus
Psy 401 Junior Seminar: Emotions, Fall, 2006
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understanding of particular research methods. In addition, there may be instruction
in elementary computer programming skills.
3. To facilitate engagement with the materials of the course via short writing
assignments, class presentations, a research paper, and class discussion.
4. And, of course, to convince you of the value of an understanding of affective
processes, both in the academic study of psychology and in your personal lives.
Class preparation
There will be a hand-out for most classes, usually distributed on the previous Thursday.
In some cases, the hand-out will provide background information; in all cases, the handout will help you to allocate your class preparation time and update assignments as
necessary. Extra copies of the hand-out will be available in the box outside my office
door, in the Psy 401 folder on the Courses Server (as Word documents), and (soon)
from a link on my faculty web page (as .pdf documents).
Except where otherwise indicated, conference readings should be prepared according
to the “Conference Preparation Guidelines” distributed during the first week of class. I
expect you to have a copy of the articles to be discussed with you in class, as we will
often refer to specific passages, Tables, or Figures.
Evaluated assignments
Conference preparation (30% total)
One worksheet-based article analysis (due Sept 5). This exercise will be largely
diagnostic.
Two written conference preparations (10% each). You’ll sign up for these in
advance, and serve as a conference facilitator for the sessions in which
these papers are discussed.
Conference preparation & participation throughout the semester (10%).
One topical essay (due Sept 12, 15%)
Methods preparations and (possible) laboratory exercises (30% total)
Two methods preparations and in-class presentations (10% each)
Computer software use/programming project (5%)
Career description (5%)
NB: One or both of the latter two projects may be replaced by a diary-based
project.
Syllabus
Psy 401 Junior Seminar: Emotions, Fall, 2006
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Research proposal (25%)
A longer (12-15 page) paper on a specific emotion domain. The first stage of this
project will be a paper proposal due Oct 12. There will be a (mandatory) first
draft (due Nov 16) and a feedback-based revision of the paper (due at noon,
Dec 13).
Peer review comments on first draft of the paper of two of your colleagues (due
Nov 28).
Readings
There will be no textbook for this course. Except where otherwise indicated, class
readings will be available electronically. The syllabus (at present only the first half) is
linked to the readings via the E-Reserves link on the library web page (instructions for
use and password distributed separately.) There are some required readings from The
Nature of Emotions: Fundamental Questions (1994, Ekman & Davidson, Eds). There
are three copies of this book on library reserve.
Books on library reserve (designated LR in syllabus and suggested readings):
Cornelius, R.R. The Science of Emotion. Prentice Hall, 1996.
Davidson, R.J., Scherer, K. & Goldsmith, H. Handbook of Affective Sciences, Oxford
University Press, 2002.
Ekman, P. & Davidson, R.J. The Nature of Emotion: Fundamental Questions, Oxford
University Press, 1994 (3 copies).
Lewis, M. & Haviland, J.M. (Eds). Handbook of Emotions, Guilford Press, 1993.
Lewis, M. & Haviland-Jones, J.M. (Eds)., Handbook of Emotions, 2nd ed, Guilford
Press, 2000.
Panksepp, J. Affective Neuroscience, Oxford University Press, 1998.
Ray, W.J. Methods toward a Science of Behavior and Experience, 1996.
Journals of primary interest:
Cognition & Emotion
Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience
Developmental Psychology
Emotion
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
Journal of Personality & Social Psychology
Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
Psychological Review
Psychological Science
Syllabus
Psy 401 Junior Seminar: Emotions, Fall, 2006
SUMMARY OF DUE DATES
Psy 401 Junior Seminar
4
Fall, 2006
Tues, Sept 5
Worksheet-based analysis of Schachter & Singer
Thurs, Sept 7
Copies of a one paragraph summary of selected theoretical
paper
Tues, Sept 12
Essay on basic emotions
Thurs, Oct 12
Proposal for Research Paper
Thurs, Nov 16
First draft of Research Paper
Tues, Nov 28
Peer reviews of Research papers
Wed, Dec 13 (noon)
Revised Research Paper
Variable:
Two written conference preparations
Two methods preparations
Short lab exercises
Syllabus
Psy 401 Junior Seminar: Emotions, Fall, 2006
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CLASS TOPICS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS PSY 401 Fall, 2006
*Primary reading(s) for conference discussion.
**Primary reading(s) and candidate(s) for written conference preparation
LR: book available on library reserve
NOTES: Reading assignments subject to change (usually a decrease in number of
assigned papers or a “dividing up” of reading responsibilities among class members).
PLEASE monitor class hand-outs.
“Methods focus” refers to the methodological topic(s) that will receive particular attention
during the indicated week. Assuming we find a time for a lab meeting, this will be the
topic of that meeting. If we do not find a time for a lab meeting, the methods focus will
be worked into normal class meetings.
Tues, Aug 29 Exploration of pre-existing conceptions
Thurs, Aug 31 Affects, moods, emotions, sentiments, and temperament – generating
a consensual terminology
Assigned Reading:
Frijda, N.H. (1994). Varieties of affect: emotions and episodes, moods, and
sentiments. In Ekman, P. & Davidson, R.J. (Eds). The Nature of Emotions:
Fundamental Questions, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 59-67. (LR)
Watson, D. & Clark, L.A. (1994). Emotions, moods, traits, and temperament, In
Ekman, P. & Davidson, R.J. (Eds). The Nature of Emotions: Fundamental
Questions, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp.89-93 AND The vicissitudes of
mood, pp. 400-405. (LR)
Russell, J.A. (2003). Core affect and the psychological construction of emotion,
Psychological Review, 110(1), 145-172. (Note: this reading also central to
next two classes, Sept 5 & 7).
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Tues, Sept 5 Components and dimensions of affects
Assigned Reading (due: worksheet-based analysis):
*Schachter, S. & Singer, J.S. (1962). Cognitive, social, and physiological
determinants of emotional state, Psychological Review, 69, 379-399.
For this class and the next one, plus for the position paper due Sept 12, you
should read at least one of the following. (You’ll be asked to sign up for
one):
Ellsworth, P. & Scherer, K. (2002). Appraisal processes in emotion, In
Davidson, R.J., Scherer, K. & Goldsmith, H. (2002). Handbook of
Affective Sciences, Oxford University Press, pp. 572-595. (LR).
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Psy 401 Junior Seminar: Emotions, Fall, 2006
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Feldman Barrett, L. (2006). Solving the emotion paradox: Categorization
and the experience of emotion, Personality & Social Psychology
Review, 10(1), 20-46.
Panksepp, J. (2000). Emotions as natural kinds in the brain. In Lewis, M. &
Haviland-Jones, J.M. (Eds). Handbook of Emotions, 2nd ed., NY:
Guilford Press, pp. 137-156. (LR)
Methods focus: statistics & experimental design
Thurs, Sept 7 “Basic” emotions
Debate: are there basic emotions?
Assigned reading:
Averill, J.R. (1994). In the eyes of the beholder. In Ekman, P. & Davidson, R.J.
(Eds). The Nature of Emotions: Fundamental Questions, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum, pp. 7-14. (LR)
*Shaver, P. et al. (1987). Emotion knowledge: Further exploration of a prototype
approach, Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 52, 1061-1086.
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Tues, Sept 12 Self-report and subjective awareness
Due: essay on basic emotions
Assigned reading:
Schwarz, N. (1999). Self-reports: how the questions shape the answers,
American Psychologist, 54, 93-105.
Robinson, M.D. & Clore, G.L. (2002). Belief and feeling: evidence for an
accessibility model of emotional self-report. Psychological Bulletin, 128(6),
934-960.
*Fredrickson, B.L. & Kahneman, D. (1993). Duration neglect in retrospective
evaluations of affective episodes. Journal of Personality & Social
Psychology, 65, 45-55.
Methods focus: induction procedures and demand characteristics, emotion scales
(including PANAS, LEAS), FACS, facial EMGs
Thurs, Sept 14 Facial expressions: read-outs or social signals?
Assigned reading:
Russell, J.A., Bachorowski, J.-A., & Fernandez-Dols, J.-M. (2003). Facial and
vocal expressions of emotion, Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 329-349.
*Carroll, J.M. & Russell, J.A. (1997). Facial expressions in Hollywood’s portrayal
of emotion, Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 72(1), 164-176.
**Marsh, A.A., Ambady, N. & Kleck, R.E. (2005). The effects of fear and anger
facial expressions on approach- and avoidance-related behaviors, Emotion,
5(1), 119-124.
*Dimberg, U., Thunberg, M. & Elmehed, K. (2000). Unconscious facial reactions
to emotional facial expressions, Psychological Science, 11, 86-89.
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Tues, Sept 19 Physiological studies I: the autonomic nervous system and somatic
reflexes
Assigned Reading:
Levenson, R.W. (1994). The search for autonomic specificity. In Ekman, P. &
Davidson, R.J. (Eds). The Nature of Emotions: Fundamental Questions,
New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 252-257. (LR)
Lang, P.J. (1995). The emotion probe: studies of motivation and attention,
American Psychologist, 50, 372-385.
*Ax, A.F. (1953). The physiological differentiation between fear and anger in
humans, Psychosomatic Medicine, 15(5), 433-442.
**Levenson, R.W., Ekman, P. & Friesen, W.V. (1990). Voluntary facial action
generates emotion-specific autonomic nervous system activity,
Psychophysiology, 27(4), 363-384.
Methods focus: physiological methods (autonomic nervous system measures,
neuroimaging, electrical recordings)
Thurs, Sept 21 Physiological studies II: recording brain activity
Assigned Reading:
Feldman Barrett, L. & Wager, T.D. (2006). The structure of emotion: evidence
from neuroimaging studies, Current Directions in Psychological Science,
15(2), 79-83.
Whalen, P.J. (1998). Fear, vigilance, and ambiguity: Initial neuroimaging studies
of the human amygdala, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 7,
177-188.
**Hamann. S.B. et al. (2002). Activation of the human amygdala in positive and
negative emotion, Psychological Science, 13, 135-141.
**Davidson, R.J. et al. (1990). Approach/withdrawal and cerebral asymmetry:
Emotional expression and brain physiology, Journal of Personality & Social
Psychology, 58, 330-341.
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Tues, Sept 26 Physiological studies III: Seeking the modules
Assigned reading:
Calder, A.J., Lawrence, A.D. & Young, A.W. (2001). Neuropsychology of fear
and loathing, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2(5), 352-363.
**Bechara, A. et al. (1999). Different contributions of the human amygdala and
ventromedial prefrontal cortex to decision-makiing. Journal of
Neuroscience, 19(13), 5473-5481.
Methods focus: Introduction to SuperLab
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Psy 401 Junior Seminar: Emotions, Fall, 2006
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Thurs, Sept 28 The somatovisceral self: William James, facial feedback, and visceral
perception
Assigned Reading:
Ellsworth, P.C. (1994). William James and emotion: is a century of fame worth a
century of misunderstanding? Psychological Review, 101(2), 222-229.
**Strack, F., Stepper, S. & Martin, L.L. (1988). Inhibiting and facilitating
conditions of the human smile: a nonobtrusive test of the facial feedback
hypothesis, Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 54, 768-777.
**Katkin, E.S., Wiens, S. & Ohman, A. (2001). Nonconscious fear conditioning,
visceral perception and the development of gut feelings, Psychological
Science, 12(5), 366-370.
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Tues, Oct 3 Individual differences: personality, temperament, and emotional
intelligence
Assigned reading:
Hamann, S. & Canli, T. (2004). Individual differences in emotion processing,
Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 14, 233-238.
Salovey, P. & Grewal, D. (2005). The science of emotional intelligence, Current
Directions in Psychological Research, 14(6), 281-285.
*Diener, E., Smith, H. & Fujita, F. (1995). The personality structure of affect,
Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 69(1), 130-141.
**Gross, J.J. et al. (1998). Relations between affect and personality: Support for
the affect-level and affective-reactivity views, Personality & Social
Psychology Bulletin, 24, 279-288.
Methods focus: data analysis (Excel)
Due: SuperLab program
Thurs, Oct 5 The cognitive self: modes of processing and appraisal dimensions
Assigned reading:
Frederickson, B.L. (2003). The value of positive emotions, American Scientist,
91, 330-335.
Introductory pages from Wegener, D.T. (1995), Scherer (1997), Forgas & Locke
(2005). Distributed.
*Mauro, R., Sato, K. & Tucker, J. (1992). The role of appraisal in human
emotions: a cross-cultural study, Journal of Personality & Social
Psychology, 62(2), 301-317.
**Lerner, J.S. et al. (2003). Effects of fear and anger on perceived risks of
terrorism: A national field experiment, Psychological Science, 14, 144150.
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Syllabus
Psy 401 Junior Seminar: Emotions, Fall, 2006
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week-end of Oct 7/8 Affects and stereotyping meet with Kathy’ Oleson’s class,
White Salmon
Assigned reading:
**DeSteno, D. et al. (2004). Prejudice from thin air: The effect of emotion on
automatic intergroup attitude, Psychological Science, 15(5), 319-324.
Half read each, to present to class:
*Bodenhausen, G.V., Sheppard, L.A. & Kramer, G.P. (1994). Negative affect
and social judgment: the differential impact of anger and sadness,
European Journal of Social Psychology, 24(1), 45-62.
*Keltner, D., Ellsworth, P & Edwards, K. (1993). Beyond simple pessimism:
Effects of sadness and anger on social perception, Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 740-752.
Tues, Oct 10 Animal affects
Assigned reading:
Bekoff, M. (2000). Animal emotions: Exploring passionate natures, BioScience,
50, 861-870.
Dawkiins, M.S. (2000). Animal minds and animal emotions, American Zoologist,
40, 883-888.
Methods focus: writing (in-class analysis of samples)
Thurs, Oct 12
NO CLASS
Paper proposal due
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FALL BREAK
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Tues, Oct 24 The unaware self: diffuse affect and nonconscious attributions
Assigned reading:
Clore, G.L. (1994). Why emotions are never unconscious. In Ekman, P. &
Davidson, R.J. (Eds). The Nature of Emotions: Fundamental Questions,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 285-290. (LR)
Winkielman, P. & Berridge, K.C. (2004). Unconscious emotion, Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 13(3), 120-123.
**Monahan, J.L., Murphy, S.T. & Zajonc, R.B. (2000). Subliminal mere exposure:
specific, general, and diffuse effects, Psychological Science, 11(6), 462466.
*Stapel, D.A., Koomen, W. & Ruys, K.I. (2002). The effects of diffuse and distinct
affect, Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 83(1), 60-74.
Methods focus priming, cognitive paradigms
Syllabus
Psy 401 Junior Seminar: Emotions, Fall, 2006
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Thurs, Oct 26: Affects and memory (Dan Reisberg will join us)
Assigned reading:
Levine, L.J. & Safer, M.A. (2002). Sources of bias in memory for emotions,
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11(5), 169-173.
**Kensinger, E.A. & Corkin, S. (2004). Two routes to emotional memory:
distinct neural processes for arousal and valence, Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, 101, 3310-3315.
*Storbeck, J. & Clore, G.L. (2005). With sadness comes accuracy, with
happiness, false memory, Psychological Science, 16(10), 785-791.
**Safer, M.A., Levine, L.J. & Drapalski, A.L. (2002). Distortion in memory for
emotions: the contributions of personality and post-event knowledge,
Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(11), 1495-1507.
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Tues Oct 31 The social self: Social roles, culture
Assigned reading:
Lutz, C. & White, G.M. (1986). The anthropology of emotions. Annual Review
of Anthropology, 15,405-436.
**Cohen, D. et al. (1996). Insult, aggression, and the Southern culture of
honor: An experimental “ethnography,” Journal of Personality & Social
Psychology, 70, 945-960.
Half read each, to present to class:
*Tiedens, L.Z,, Ellsworth, P.C. & Mesquita, B. (2000). Sentimental
stereotypes: emotional expectations for high- and low-status group
members, Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(5), 560-575.
*Kring, A.M. & Gordon, A.H. (1998). Sex differences in emotion: expression,
experience, and physiology, Journal of Personality & Social Psychology,
74(3), 686-703.
Methods focus: field and lab, testing infants/children, ecological validity, ethics
Tues, Oct 31 Self and others: Affective development (Jennifer Corpus will join us)
Assigned reading:
Tronick, E.Z. (1989). Emotions and emotional communication in infants,
American Psychologist, 44(2), 112-119.
**Barna, J. & Legerstee, M. (2005). Nine- and twelve-month-old infants relate
emotions to people’s actions, Cognition & Emotion, 19(1), 53-67.
*Dunn, J. & Hughes, C. (1998). Young children’s understanding of emotions
within close relationships, Cognition & Emotion, 12(2), 171-190.
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Syllabus
Psy 401 Junior Seminar: Emotions, Fall, 2006
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Tues, Nov 7 Self and others: contagion, empathy and sympathy
Assigned reading:
Goldman, A.I. & Sripada, C.S. (2005). Simulationist models of face-based
emotion recognition, Cognition, 94, 193-213.
Half the class read each:
**Marangoni, C. et al. (1995). Empathic accuracy in a clinically relevant setting.
Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 68(5), 854-869.
*Levenson, R.W. & Reuf, A.M. (1992). Empathy: A physiological substrate,
Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 63, 234-246.
Focus: careers in psychology
Due: description of a career
Thurs, Nov 9 Self-regulation
Assigned reading:
Gross, J.J. (2001). Emotion regulation in adulthood: timing is everything, Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 10(6), 214-219.
Moses, E.B. & Barlow, D.H. (2006). A new unified treatment approach for
emotional disorders based on emotion science, Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 15(3), 146-150.
**Bonanno, G.A. et al. (2004). The importance of being flexible: the ability to
both enhance and suppress emotional expression predicts long-term
adjustment, Psychological Science, 15(7), 482-487.
*Kross, E. et al. (2005). When asking “why” does not hurt: distinguishing
rumination from reflective processing of negative emotions. Psychological
Science, 16(9), 709-715.
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Tues, Nov 14 Fear & anxiety (Ken Abrams will join us)
Assigned reading:
Rosen, J.B. & Schulkin, J. (1998). From normal fear to pathological anxiety,
Psychological Review, 105(2), 325-350.
**Kahsdan,T.B. & Steger, M.F. (2001). Expanding the topography of social
anxiety: An experience-sampling assessment of positive emotions, positive
events, and emotion suppression, Psychological Science, 17(2), 120-128.
*Zvolensky et al. (2005). Acute nicotine withdrawal symptoms and anxious
responding to bodily sensations: a test of incremental predictive validity
among young adult smokers, Behaviour Research & Therapy, 43, 16831700.
Methods focus: Diary methods
Thurs, Nov 16 NO CLASS: First draft of paper due
Syllabus
Psy 401 Junior Seminar: Emotions, Fall, 2006
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Tues, Nov 21 Sadness, grief, depression
Assigned reading:
Davidson, R. J. et al. (2002). Depression: Perspectives from affective
neuroscience, Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 545-574.
**Rottenberg, J. et al. (2002). Sadness and amusement reactivity differentially
predict concurrent and prospective functioning in major depressive disorder,
Emotion, 2(2), 135-146.
*Bonanno, G.A. & Keltner, D. (1997). Facial expressions of emotion and the
course of conjugal bereavement, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106(1),
126-137.
Thurs, Nov 23 Thanksgiving
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Tues, Nov 28 Love & jealousy
Peer reviews due
Assigned reading:
Fisher, H. (2000). Lust, attraction, attachment: biology and evolution of three
primary emotion systems for mating, reproduction, and parenting, Journal of
Sex Education & Therapy, 25(1), 96-102.
Harris, C.R. (2004) . The evolution of jealousy, American Scientist, 92(1), 62-71.
*Aron, A. & Westbay, L. (1996) Dimensions of the prototype of love, Journal of
Personality & Social Psychology, 70(3), 535-551.
**Harris, C.R. (2000).. Psychophysiological responses to imagined infidelity: the
specific innate modular view of jealousy reconsidered, Journal of
Personality & Social Psychology, 78(6), 1082-1091.
Thurs, Nov 30 The moral emotions
Assigned reading:
Greene, J. & Haidt, J. (2002). How (and where) does moral judgment work?
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6(12), 517-523.
*Rozin, P et al. (1999). The CAD hypothesis: A mapping between three moral
emotions (contempt, anger, disgust) and three moral codes (community,
autonomy, divinity). Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 76(4), 574586.
**Rozin, P. et al. (1997). Moralization and becoming a vegetarian: the
transformation of preferences into values and the recruitment of disgust,
Psychological Science, 8(2), 67-73.
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Tues, Dec 5 TBA
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Wed, Dec 13 at noon: Revised research paper due