About

Without the full range of our emotions, we simply would not be here. In Understanding Human Emotions, Professor Lawrence Ian Reed helps us consider our emotions from an evolutionary point of view, with a deep dive into the crucial role of emotion in human survival and success.

Related Subjects

Episodes

1. The Science and Philosophy of Emotions

29m

Men and women have been pondering the definition of emotion for thousands of years. Explore the thoughts of scientists, philosophers, and psychologists from Aristotle to René Descartes, B. F. Skinner to Magda Arnold, and more. Each has added significant concepts to the discussion. But do we have a functionally complete definition, yet? Do we even need one?

2. How Emotions Evolved

24m

Our ancestors had a long list of adaptations to help them survive. But some of those adaptations are mutually exclusive, and how did they know which one to call on in a given circumstance? Explore the phenomenon of natural selection in the development of fear, joy, anger, and disgust as the superordinate programs we rely on today.

3. How the Body and Emotions Influence One Another

28m

We know that our autonomic nervous, neuroendocrine, and immune systems are strongly related to our emotions, and we usually think of them as responding to emotions. But if we made changes in those systems, could we create the associated emotions? Learn about the fascinating experiments that have tried to do just that.

4. The Social Purpose of Emotions

28m

Humans are social animals and our best chance of survival comes when we thrive in the social environment. Learn about the affiliative and distancing functions of emotions on our ability to create the social connections necessary for survival. Explore the fascinating games created to test various hypotheses about the effects of emotions on social bonds.

5. Facial Expressions and Nonverbal Behavior

25m

Explore the fascinating human face, a dual-processing system that can produce both genuine emotional and feigned expressions-from two different neuronal pathways. Discover the possible evolutionary reasons for showing those expressions front and center, on a body part that is so difficult to hide.

6. Self-Conscious Emotions: From Empathy to Shame

26m

Some of our emotions result from an assessment of our own behavior in relation to a particular standard or goal. These evaluative self-conscious emotions include shame, guilt, pride, embarrassment, and hubris. Explore the very detailed and unique physical expressions that tend to accompany these particular emotions-and why.

7. Culture and Emotions

25m

In the Western world, we tend to view our emotions as individualistic. But for the rest of the world, this idea makes no sense. Most people consider emotions to be interpersonal, and this is the trend among scientists studying emotions now, too. Explore the fascinating ways in which culture affects our concepts, and expression, of emotions.

8. How Children Develop Emotions

26m

We all know that babies do not exhibit the full range of human emotions. Jealousy, pride, shame, guilt, etc. cannot be expressed until later development. But is each baby born with access to the full range of human emotions or are emotional tendencies shaped by family, culture, and peer group? Learn about the fascinating theories.

9. The Rational and Moral Sides of Emotions

27m

Throughout the centuries, we have often worshipped the rationality of our cognitive powers. Our emotions, however, have usually been negatively described as irrational. But what if we think our emotions are pointless only because we are in the dark about their goals? Discover why scientists describe emotions as orderly; purposeful; and, yes, intelligent.

10. Emotional Disorders: Anxiety and Depression

27m

While emotional responses are short lived, lasting on a scale of seconds to minutes, and always with an obvious trigger, moods can last days, months, or even a lifetime, and be future-oriented. Explore the mood disorders of anxiety and of depression. How could these disorders have resulted from the process of natural selection?

Extended Details

SeriesUnderstanding Human Emotions

Closed CaptionsEnglish

Artists

The Great CoursesDirector

The Great CoursesProducer

Lawrence Ian ReedActor