Emotions and Pragmatic

Primary Emotions:

-innate, biologically based, - arise from sensory experience, -same for all humans regardless of culture, and many animals as well, Sensory inputs go directly to the limbic areas

Secondary Emotions:

-Learned & social. Dependent on learning and social environment, sensory inputs must first go to the cortex (frontal lobe), and then to the limbic areas.

Darwin

proposed that humans have developed a finite set of basic emotional states, common to all humans

Ekman and Friesen

) studied human culture around the world and found that facial responses to anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness and surprise are universal.

Damasio

suggested that Ekman’s universal emotions are innate and controlled by the amygdala and cingulate cortex.

Fear

it is innate and easily conditioned to tones with electric shocks, loud noises, etc.

Lesion studies

show decerebrate animals still show conditioned fear response, so the cortex cannot be entirely necessary.

LeDoux

showed the amygdala is crucial part of the fear circuit. The amygdala is also heavily involved in sex, anger and aggression. The hypothalamus is also implicated.