Cognitive Appraisal, Emotion, and Empathy

Cognitive Appraisal, Emotion, and Empathy
Author: Becky Lynn Omdahl
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2014-03-05
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1317780892

In a wide array of social sciences, interest in emotion is flourishing. Psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, communication scholars, and cognitive scientists are exploring human emotions in a variety of contexts. This book speaks to central issues raised by scholars in these disciplines through its review of leading cognitive appraisal theories of emotion, clarification of the nature of empathy, and exploration of how people identify and respond to the emotions hidden within the stories people tell. Intrigue with the separateness and oneness of human existence and experience is evident throughout history. It appears in the teachings of all great religions, in the commentaries of philosophers, and in the perceptions of the most famous characters in classic literature. Perhaps it is this wonderment with human distinction and unity that has spawned interest in empathy as a pervasive human phenomena. This book presents an initial examination of the role of cognitive appraisals in facilitating decoding accuracy and empathy. It compares the leading cognitive appraisal theories and addresses the relationships among appraisal information, empathy, and emotion decoding. Real-life descriptions of emotional experiences are used as the basis for a study examining the relationships between perceived appraisals and perspective-taking, and accurate decoding and empathy. Other studies probe the effects of specific appraisal information on decoding and emotional reactions, and address emotional reactivity to stories and delayed retention. Finally, specific applications are offered for parents, educators, social service employees, writers, advertisers, and people striving for personal well-being and healthy relationships.

Cognitive Appraisal, Emotion, and Empathy

Cognitive Appraisal, Emotion, and Empathy
Author: Becky Lynn Omdahl
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2014-03-05
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1317780884

In a wide array of social sciences, interest in emotion is flourishing. Psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, communication scholars, and cognitive scientists are exploring human emotions in a variety of contexts. This book speaks to central issues raised by scholars in these disciplines through its review of leading cognitive appraisal theories of emotion, clarification of the nature of empathy, and exploration of how people identify and respond to the emotions hidden within the stories people tell. Intrigue with the separateness and oneness of human existence and experience is evident throughout history. It appears in the teachings of all great religions, in the commentaries of philosophers, and in the perceptions of the most famous characters in classic literature. Perhaps it is this wonderment with human distinction and unity that has spawned interest in empathy as a pervasive human phenomena. This book presents an initial examination of the role of cognitive appraisals in facilitating decoding accuracy and empathy. It compares the leading cognitive appraisal theories and addresses the relationships among appraisal information, empathy, and emotion decoding. Real-life descriptions of emotional experiences are used as the basis for a study examining the relationships between perceived appraisals and perspective-taking, and accurate decoding and empathy. Other studies probe the effects of specific appraisal information on decoding and emotional reactions, and address emotional reactivity to stories and delayed retention. Finally, specific applications are offered for parents, educators, social service employees, writers, advertisers, and people striving for personal well-being and healthy relationships.

Handbook of Cognition and Emotion

Handbook of Cognition and Emotion
Author: Tim Dalgleish
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 866
Release: 2000-11-21
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0470842210

Edited by leading figures in the field, this handbook gives an overview of the current status of cognition and emotion research by giving the historical background to the debate and the philosophical arguments before moving on to outline the general aspects of the various research traditions. This handbook reflects the latest work being carried out by the key people in the field.

Evolution and Empathy

Evolution and Empathy
Author: Milton E. Brener
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2015-05-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0786451211

This book applies new scientific research in the fields of biology and genetics to an empirical study of the Greco-Roman civilizations and the European Renaissance. These two periods were remarkable in part because of the dominance of empathy and humanism in the philosophical thought of each era. Both periods were preceded by the influx of many populations and genetic lines, a circumstance this book treats as not coincidental but probably causative. The author cites the expression of new genetic combinations in these periods as evidence that genetic evolution can play a large part in the development of new philosophical concepts, as manifested in these two periods. The author explains that humanistic traits seem to rise and fall in lockstep throughout human history, directly or indirectly correlating with changing genetic underpinnings.

The Self-conscious Emotions

The Self-conscious Emotions
Author: Jessica L. Tracy
Publisher: Guilford Press
Total Pages: 513
Release: 2007-08-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1593854862

Timely and authoritative, this volume reviews the breadth of current knowledge on the self-conscious emotions and their role in psychological and social functioning. Leading investigators approach the subject from multiple levels of analysis, ranging from basic brain mechanisms to complex social processes. Chapters present compelling advances in understanding research on the most fundamental self-conscious emotions: embarrassment, guilt, humiliation, pride, and shame. Addressed are neural and evolutionary mechanisms, developmental processes, cultural differences and similarities, and influences on a wide array of social behaviors and personality processes. A unique chapter on assessment describes and evaluates the full range of available measures.

Empathy and the Novel

Empathy and the Novel
Author: Suzanne Keen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 395
Release: 2007-04-19
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0199884145

Does empathy felt while reading fiction actually cultivate a sense of connection, leading to altruistic actions on behalf of real others? Empathy and the Novel presents a comprehensive account of the relationships among novel reading, empathy, and altruism. Drawing on psychology, narrative theory, neuroscience, literary history, philosophy, and recent scholarship in discourse processing, Keen brings together resources and challenges for the literary study of empathy and the psychological study of fiction reading. Empathy robustly enters into affective responses to fiction, yet its role in shaping the behavior of emotional readers has been debated for three centuries. Keen surveys these debates and illustrates the techniques that invite empathetic response. She argues that the perception of fictiveness increases the likelihood of readers' empathy in part by releasing them from the guarded responses necessitated by the demands of real others. Narrative empathy is a strategy and subject of contemporary novelists from around the world, writers who tacitly endorse the potential universality of human emotions when they call upon their readers' empathy. If narrative empathy is to be taken seriously, Keen suggests, then women's reading and responses to popular fiction occupy a central position in literary inquiry, and cognitive literary studies should extend its range beyond canonical novels. In short, Keen's study extends the playing field for literature practitioners, causing it to resemble more closely that wide open landscape inhabited by readers.

Emotions, Technology, and Digital Games

Emotions, Technology, and Digital Games
Author:
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 366
Release: 2015-09-25
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0128018402

Emotions, Technology, and Digital Games explores the need for people to experience enjoyment, excitement, anxiety, anger, frustration, and many other emotions. The book provides essential information on why it is necessary to have a greater understanding of the power these emotions have on players, and how they affect players during, and after, a game. This book takes this understanding and shows how it can be used in practical ways, including the design of video games for teaching and learning, creating tools to measure social and emotional development of children, determining how empathy-related thought processes affect ethical decision-making, and examining how the fictional world of game play can influence and shape real-life experiences. - Details how games affect emotions—both during and after play - Describes how we can manage a player's affective reactions - Applies the emotional affect to making games more immersive - Examines game-based learning and education - Identifies which components of online games support socio-emotional development - Discusses the impact of game-based emotions beyond the context of games

Psychocinematics

Psychocinematics
Author: Arthur P. Shimamura
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 398
Release: 2014-02-15
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0199862141

Largely through trial and error, filmmakers have developed engaging techniques that capture our sensations, thoughts, and feelings. Philosophers and film theorists have thought deeply about the nature and impact of these techniques, yet few scientists have delved into empirical analyses of our movie experience-or what Arthur P. Shimamura has coined "psychocinematics." This edited volume introduces this exciting field by bringing together film theorists, philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists to consider the viability of a scientific approach to our movie experience.

Developmental Spans in Event Comprehension and Representation

Developmental Spans in Event Comprehension and Representation
Author: Paul van den Broek
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 442
Release: 2013-12-16
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1135449821

This book is about building metaphorical bridges--all sorts of bridges. At the most basic level, it concerns the bridges that individuals build to understand the events that they experience--the bridges that connect the events in the mind's eye. At another level, it is about bridges that interconnect findings and theoretical frameworks concerning event comprehension and representation in different age groups, ranging from infancy to adulthood. Finally, it is about building bridges between researchers who share interests, yet may not ordinarily even be aware of each other's work. The success of the book will be measured in terms of the extent to which the contributors have been able to create a picture of the course of development across a wide span in chronological age, and across different types of events, from the fictional to the actual. The individuals whose work is represented in this book conduct their work in a shared environment--they all have an intellectual and scholarly interest in event comprehension and representation. These interests are manifest in the overlapping themes of their work. These include a focus on how people come to temporally integrate individual "snapshots" to form a coherent event that unfolds over time, to understand cause and effect, and to appreciate the role of the goal of events. Another overlapping theme involves the possibility of individual differences. These themes are apparent in work on the early development of representations of specific episodes and autobiographical memories, and comprehension of complex events such as stories involving multiple characters and emotions. The editors of this volume had two missions: * to create a development span by bringing together researchers working from infancy to adulthood, and * to create a bridge between individuals working from within the text comprehension perspective, within the naturalistic perspective, and with laboratory analogues to the naturalistic perspective. Their measure of success will be the extent to which they have been able to create a picture of the course of development across a wide span in chronological age, and across different types of events--from fictional to actual.

The Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science

The Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science
Author: Emma Seppala
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 557
Release: 2017
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0190464682

With contributions from well-established scholars as well as young rising stars in the field, this Handbook bridges a wide variety of diverse perspectives, research methodologies, and theory, and provides a foundation for this new and rapidly growing field.