Watch Understanding Human Emotions

2023
1 Season

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.

Understanding Human Emotions is a series that ran for 1 seasons (12 episodes) between November 1, 2023 and on The Great Courses

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Seasons

12. Connecting People: A Focus on Love

November 1, 2023

We would all agree that love is an emotion. But while we have defined all emotions as being fleeting, this is not a characteristic we really want to attribute to love. Discover the differences between romantic and companionate love. Explore these two types of love from an evolutionary point of view and discover how they can both contribute to our species

11. The Purpose of Disgust and Anger

November 1, 2023

Disgust and anger are complicated feelings. Learn why the latest work by some evolutionary psychologists identify three types of disgust

10. Emotional Disorders: Anxiety and Depression

November 1, 2023

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?

9. The Rational and Moral Sides of Emotions

November 1, 2023

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.

8. How Children Develop Emotions

November 1, 2023

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.

7. Culture and Emotions

November 1, 2023

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.

6. Self-Conscious Emotions: From Empathy to Shame

November 1, 2023

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

5. Facial Expressions and Nonverbal Behavior

November 1, 2023

Explore the fascinating human face, a dual-processing system that can produce both genuine emotional and feigned expressions

4. The Social Purpose of Emotions

November 1, 2023

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.

3. How the Body and Emotions Influence One Another

November 1, 2023

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.

2. How Emotions Evolved

November 1, 2023

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.

1. The Science and Philosophy of Emotions

November 1, 2023

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 Ren

Description

Understanding Human Emotions is a series that ran for 1 seasons (12 episodes) between November 1, 2023 and on The Great Courses

Where to Watch Understanding Human Emotions

Understanding Human Emotions is available for streaming on the The Great Courses website, both individual episodes and full seasons. You can also watch Understanding Human Emotions on demand at Amazon Prime and Amazon.