Evolutionary Approach to Emotion

Evolutionary Approach to Emotion

• Evolutionary approach involves looking at the basic principles of evolution.
• Understanding the term 'functional' is central to this approach.
• Evolutionary functions of emotions are considered.
• The universality assumption is a key component.

Evolutionary Theory

• Charles Darwin highlighted the importance of functions in evolution.
• William James contributed to the understanding of functionalism.

Principles of Evolutionary Theory

• Genes and mutations are vitally important.
• Natural selection is the mechanism by which evolution occurs.
• Adaptations are the result of natural selection.
• Functionality needs clarification to avoid confusion.
• The Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA) is where traits evolved.

Genes and Mutations

• Genes are DNA units with assembly instructions for the body.
• Genes are copied through replication and passed from parent to child.
• Mutations are copying errors during replication.

Mutations in Evolution

• DNA copy differs from the original gene through mutations.
• Some mutations reduce the chance of survival.
• Some mutations do not make any difference to survival.
• Some mutations increase the chance of survival.

Natural Selection

• Natural selection removes problematic genetic mutations from the population.
  • Problematic genetic mutations cause individuals to under-reproduce.
• Beneficial mutations spread through a population
  • Beneficial mutations result in individuals having more offspring.

Adaptations

• Adaptations are beneficial characteristics that spread through natural selection.
• Adaptations tend to persist once genes spread through the population.
• Evolution is conservative - only mutations which improve an already existing adaptation can survive.
  • This mutation will only spread very slowly through the population.

Functionality

• A gene-based characteristic assists survival, increases reproduction, and aids relatives.
• Functional characteristics do not ensure happiness or morality.
• Morality plays no part in evolutionary functionality.

Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA)

• EEA occurs in the past, when a characteristic spread through the population.
• Characteristics don't need to be functional nowadays.
• Functionality during the EEA is enough for the characteristic to persist.
  • Storing fat is an example.

Emotions as Adaptations

• Emotions have a genetic basis.
• Genes for emotions started as random mutations.
• Individuals with emotions had more offspring than those without.
• Natural selection made emotion-supporting genes typical in the population.
• Emotions are shared with other animals.
  • Fear helps individuals escape predators.
  • Pride enables individuals to claim status within a group.
  • Love serves to increase commitment.

Limitations to Emotion

• Every emotion is not functional in every situation.
• If emotions are adaptive, why do people do such stupid things when they are angry?
• Emotions are functional only in the EEA and increase the chance to reproduce.
  • The function of anger can vary between the past and the present.
• Not every aspect of emotion needs to be adaptive.
  • A characteristic that is neutral but linked to another functional mutation can be a byproduct of evolution.
    • This would be carried through evolution because it is linked with another characteristic.

Emotions as Superordinate Neural Programs

• Tooby & Cosmides proposed the concept of emotions as superordinate neural programs.
  • The mind has a computational architecture.
  • Information processing principles are innate.
  • The brain comprises information programs.
    • This includes face detection, mistake recall, risk evaluation, and judgement of others.
• Emotions coordinate programs, which serve the purpose of coordinating these different programs.
• Emotions are superordinate neural programs activated in situations that have fitness implications.
• Emotions (superordinate programs) are to activate little programs and inhibit programs that interfere with resolving the situation.

Example Program

• Consider a computer with several subroutines, which include:
  • Calculate the route home.
  • Calculate the route from the place you found your last meal.
  • Prioritizing the self-protection goal.
  • Prioritizing the care-giving goal.
  • Kin detection, animal detection, distance measurement, mating preference algorithms.
  • Physiological arousal mechanisms.

Superordinate Neural Program

• A person walking in the forest hears footsteps.
• The person's 'fear' superordinate program and subroutines gets activated.
  • Algorithms become biased to detect subtle images that could entail a threat.
  • Distance measurement algorithm is activated to check how far away a predator is.
  • The algorithm for mating preference is inhibited to avoid noticing attractive mates.
  • Kin detection memories activated.
  • Little programs can decide to trigger a fight, trigger the flight response, or fade away.

Intrapersonal Functions of Emotion

• Within-person functions directly benefit the individual.
• Emotions are functional because they help to save the individual and change things within-person.
• Emotions directly resolve the problem.
• Intrapersonal functions primarily explain the function of negative emotions

Social Functions of Emotion

• Individuals rely on each other to survive.
• Throughout history, people spent their entire lives in a tribe.
• Emotions ensure certain social functions.
• Social emotions solve adaptive problems.
• Adaptations help relationships between individuals.
  • Love helps to build a sense of commitment.
  • Embarrassment ensures individual survival.

Emotion's Role

• Emotions sometimes have both intrapersonal and social functions.
  • Anger is 1 example.

Problems with Evolution

• Evolutionary perspective faces the problem of being hard to prove.
• It is impossible to travel back in time and conduct experiments.
  • It is impossible to conduct research; therefore, assumptions need to be made.

Universality Approach

• It supports the evolutionary perspective if certain aspects of emotion are universal.
• Darwin observed similarities across emotional expressions.
• Researchers also observed similarities across cultures.

Facial Expressions

• The physical behaviors animals' species exhibits when threatened, angry, sad, or excited are similar.
• Common human expressions of emotion occur in monkeys and apes.
• Evolution has occurred because it conferred some kind of survival to certain individuals.

Research on Darwin

• Facial expressions researched with letters to friends from different parts of the world.
• Wrote about typical facial expressions.
• Asked friends if natives expressed each emotion in the same way.
• Research suggested individuals show similar expressions.
• Even people who are born deaf or blind express emotions.

Criticisms on Darwin

• Darwin used suggestive questions.
• A typical question was based on the eyes/mouth opening and the eyebrows being raised.
• The questions may influenced the response.

Cultural Universality Study

• Paul Ekman & Carroll Izard asked participants to identify emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise) in pictures.

Study Results

• The study was conducted in various places across the world.
• Study found the majority of people give similar interpretations of facial expressions.

Study Limitations

• Photos of emotions used in study were extremely distinct.
• Matching procedure overestimated accuracy.
  • Photos provided eliminating choices.
    • A solution would be "free-labeling" to avoid choices given.
• The procedure in the study might underestimate individuals to interpret.
  • Static facial expressions can be a problem.
    • Emotions change over time and posture.
• Direct gaze in the standard emotion pictures could pose a problem.
  • Sad individual's gaze down.
  • Fearful individuals look towards the danger.
  • Angry individuals look towards the target.

Study Conclusions

• Facial expressions mostly convey the same meaning regardless of culture.
• Innate, universal templates are used for producing and interpreting certain facial expressions.
• The results support the idea that our emotions are a result of evolution--and not only our culture.
• It is crucial to find cross-cultural similarities with appraisal.
• Evaluations of the events are very important, not situations themselves.
  • But do particular emotions accompany the same appraisals?

Study 1997

• Klaus Scherer conducted a study, conducted in 37 countries across 5 continents.
• Participants had to think of a time they felt each emotion: joy, anger, fear, disgust, shame, and guilt
• Participants rated each situation on several perspectives when looking at each situation.
  • They appraised their appraisals
    • Such as "novelty/expectedness, pleasantness, goal conduciveness, fairness, responsible agent, coping potential, morals, and relevance.

Appraisal Patterns

• Examination of average appraisal pattern occurs with each emotion by a person.
• Average appraisals were done across central Europe, New World, Asia, the Mediterranean, and Africa.
  • Turkey was excluded.
• Appraisal of study is the same emotions are displayed across the world.

Similarities and Differences

• There appear similarities overall in appraisal across various cultural differences.
• "Moral Appraisal" caused significant differences.

Other Emotions

• Across 4 other emotions (Distrust, Sad, Shame, & Guilt) the "moral appraisal" criteria caused major differences.

Appraisal Patterns

• Similar appraisal patterns happen.
• Morality appraisal in emotion is less universal and more culture-specific.

Physiology of Emotions

• Evolved adaptations should show similar physical patterns.
• A comparison of the Minangkabau men and men from the USA was completed.
• Participants instructed to pose each emotion: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, and happiness.
• They were compared in terms of:
  • Heart rate, finger temp and skin conductance