Book on Emotion-Working Outline (C. Whissell) ReadMe (Introduction)
1. Defining Emotion
a. Dictionary definitions b. Use of emotion in early psychology theories
c. Distinguishing emotion from mood
d. Distinguishing emotion from personality
e. A working definition for psychologists
2. Evolution of Emotion
a. Darwin's theory of evolution
b. Darwin's theory of emotion
c. Is there a continuity of emotion between people and animals?
d. A psycho-evolutionary theory combining Freud's with Darwin's theories
e. Separating emotion from cognition
3. Development of Emotion
a. Emotion in the first 6 months
b. Emotion at age 2
c. Emotion at age 5
d. Emotion at age 12
e. Emotion in developmental theories
4. Emotion in the Face
a. Experience versus expression of emotion
b. Do we "read" our own faces? [facial feedback theory]
c. Do we "read" the faces of others? [lie to me]
d. Ekman's evolutionary theory and FACS
e. Blended expressions
5. Emotion in the Body
a. The nervous system
b. The autonomic nervous system
c. The sympathetic nervous system
d. The parasympathetic nervous system
e. "Lie" detection and the autonomic nervous system
6. Emotion in the Brain
a. A three-level model
b. The brain stem
c. The brain core
d. The grey matter
e. Examples: addiction and reward systems
7. Emotion and Memory
a. The hippocampus
b. Emotion tagging of memories
c. Emotion, memory, and aging
d. Remembering Mr. Smith
e. Emotion and brain deterioration
8. Appraisal in Emotion
a. "Automatized" emotion
b. "Thought out" emotion
c. Lazarus theory of appraisal
d. When does appraisal enter the emotion process?
e. Emotion is a continuous process
9. Emotion and Culture
a. Innate and pancultural aspects
b. Learned aspects
c. Display rules
d. Differences across historical time (diachronous)
e. Differences among cultures (synchronous)
10. Emotion and Psychopathology
a. Role of emotion in DSM 5 diagnoses
b. Emotion and Anxiety
c. Emotion and Depression
d. Role of Emotion in psychotherapy
e. Emotion in Positive Psychology
11. Measuring Emotion
a. &
About the Author:
Cynthia Whissell is an Emeritus Professor (Liberal Arts/Psychology) at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, who is currently teaching part-time. She has been teaching at the University level since 1968, and became interested in emotion in the 1980s. Her research has two main prongs that focus on the quantification of emotion: one addresses the emotional underpinnings of words and another the emotional communication in sounds. The hypothesis underlying these two types of research is that what we say (or what we write) carries emotional as well as cognitive messages, and that the emotional dimensions of Pleasantness and Activation can be used to read the emotional messages. Cynthia has published two books and many research articles, most of these in the area of emotion. She has taught a course in emotion regularly since the mid-1980s. She has also taught emotion online (at a distance). Her second area of interest lies in research design and statistical analysis.
