Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

FIGURE 3
Connections from the 
amygdala, seen here in red, allow it 
to mediate many of the autonomic 
expressions of emotional states through 
the hippocampus (purple) and visual 
cortex (orange). 
(Source: From Dolan, R. J. 
(2002). Emotion, cognition, and behavior. 
Science, 298,
no. 5596, 1191–1194 (Figure 1, 
p. 1192). Drawing of brain reprinted with 
permission from AAAS.)
Hippocampus 
Amygdala 
Visual cortex 
Study Alert
It is important to understand 
the basic neuroscience of 
emotional experience.
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This abundance of perspectives on emotion is not a cause for despair—or unhap-
piness, fear, or any other negative emotion. It simply refl ects the fact that psychology 
is an evolving, developing science. As we gather more evidence, the specifi c answers 
to questions about the nature of emotions will become clearer.
Consider, for a moment, the six photos displayed in Figure 4. 
Can you identify the emotions being expressed by the person in 
each of the photos? 
If you are a good judge of facial expressions, you will 
conclude that these expressions display six of the basic 
emotions: happiness, anger, sadness, surprise, disgust, and 
fear. Hundreds of studies of nonverbal behavior show that 
these emotions are consistently distinct and identifi able even by untrained observers 
(Ekman & O’Sullivan, 1991). 
Interestingly, these six emotions are not unique to members of Western cultures; 
rather, they constitute the basic emotions expressed universally by members of the 
human race, regardless of where individuals have been raised and what learning 
experiences they have had. Psychologist Paul Ekman convincingly demonstrated this 
point when he studied members of an isolated New Guinea jungle tribe who had had 
almost no contact with Westerners (Ekman, 1972). The people of the tribe did not 
speak or understand English, had never seen a movie, and had very limited experience 
FIGURE 4 
These photos demonstrate six 
of the primary emotions: happiness, 
anger, sadness, surprise, disgust, and fear.
Exploring