Great Ideas from the Brain Sciences: How Emotions Steer Learning
By: Mirela C. C. Ramacciotti
Let me ask you a question: can you define emotions? If you say that they are universal and innate, you must have digested information based on the works of Charles Darwin. But if you say that emotions are intentional and ready the body for action, you must have followed John Dewey’s footsteps. Now if you think that emotions are constructs that may vary from person to person, you are indeed up to date and know the works of Lisa Feldman Barrett.
Besides being something that we may find hard to describe—and yet experience on a daily basis—emotions are crucial. They determine how we attend to information, what we register and to what extent we can evoke lessons learned. That’s why teachers need to pay attention to the topic and, especially in the language classroom, understand how words can reshape the way we experience an emotion.
But first things first—and here we take a walk along the history lane.
Darwin, known for this theory of evolution, proposed in 1859, also believed that humans showed emotions in their facial expression, much in the same way that other animals do. To him, they were reflexes that could not be controlled as they were a basic means for our survival. Thus, the idea of “basic emotions” took root and led to many other theories and studies focused on facial expression, emotion recognition and identification. If this vocabulary is in your repertoire for emotions, the theoretical background lies with this approach.
Dewey took a different route. Although he also contributed to some ideas on basic emotions close to the end of the 19th century, he was the first to propose that emotions were intentional. To him, emotions would prepare us for a certain behavior. This idea of “action readiness” would lead to changes in our bodies and behaviors as much as conscious perception, and together they would make one feel an emotion. In this perspective, emotions could vary as they depended on the interpretation, or appraisal, of the situation experienced. Thus, the idea of “appraisal” found fertile ground and inspired works that assumed emotions depended on cognitive mechanisms and could vary from person to person. If you subscribe to these notions, then the theoretical background is now familiar to you.
Over time, and with a long history of experimental discrepancies, Barrett started to draw on previous ideas to put forward her model of constructed emotions in the early 2000s. Her ideas paved the way for emotions to be taken as categories of states that emerged when clues about metabolic states (our affects) allowed the brain to guess their meaning. To her, emotions are under constant construction as the brain tries to interpret events outside the body (like a mock test) combined with sensations inside our bodies (like butterflies in the stomach) to form a concept that acquires meaning according to the context one is in (I’m anxious/excited/thrilled/expectant about testing my learning). Thus, emotions are instances shaped by different facial configurations that people perceive, and which may get distinctive when we refine the language used to categorize them. That is why it makes sense to invest in language—rather than ready-made faces—when talking about emotions in the language classroom.
For More Information
Darwin: The expression of emotions – This summary offers a concise look at the historical context of Charles Darwin’s ideas on emotional expression.
John Dewey: The theory of emotions – In this paper, Dewey presents his critique of Darwin’s Expression of Emotions.
Reconstructing the Past: A Century of Ideas About Emotion in Psychology – In this paper, Maria Gendron and Lisa Feldman Barrett provide an overview of the major ideas about emotion that emerged between 1855 and the late 1950s.
Where emotions come from (and why it matters) Part 1 with Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett and Akiko – This podcast episode starts with an introduction to Lisa Feldman Barrett’s theory of emotions, followed by an interview where Feldman Barrett delves into her theory’s implications for parents.
Your Brain’s Biggest Mistake? The No.1 Neuroscientist Says It’s Anxiety Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett – This interview with Lisa Feldman Barrett explores the science of emotions, challenging traditional views and offering new perspectives on emotional intelligence, mental health, and well-being.
Mirela C. C. Ramacciotti is presently engaged as an external lecturer on the topic of Mind, Brain, and Education at the Graduate Level Course with the Psychology Department at the University of São Paulo. She holds a PhD in Neuroscience and Behavior and another in Human Communication Disorders.