Emotion: Fresh Take

  • Compare and contrast the major theories of emotion
  • Understand the role of the limbic system in emotion
  • Describe how emotions are recognized and expressed

Theories of Emotion

Review the theories of emotion in the following Crash Course Psychology video.
You can view the transcript for “Feeling All the Feels: Crash Course Psychology #25” here (opens in new window).
Think about times in your life when you have been absolutely elated (e.g., perhaps your school’s basketball team just won a closely contested ballgame for the national championship) and very fearful (e.g., you are about to give a speech in your public speaking class to a roomful of 100 strangers). How would you describe how your arousal manifested itself physically? Were there marked differences in physiological arousal associated with each emotional state?

Biology of Emotion

Watch this video to review the parts of the brain that play a role in emotion:

You can view the transcript for “2-Minute Neuroscience: Limbic System” here (opens in new window).

Work through this Open Colleges interactive 3D brain simulator for a refresher on the brain’s parts and their functions. To begin, click the “Start Exploring” button. To access the limbic system, click the plus sign in the right-hand menu (set of three tabs).

Emotion Recognition

This video reviews how expressions can be used to recognize emotion, and how there are some expressions that are universal across cultures:

You can view the transcript for “Are there universal expressions of emotion? – Sophie Zadeh” here (opens in new window).