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.There is not as much to report as there isfor the face, partly because not as much work has been done.Also, itis hard to describe the sound of the different emotions in a way thatcan be practically used.That may require hearing the voice, just asthe best way to explain the facial clues to emotion is through photo-graphs, films, or video.For most people it is also easier to visualizefrom a verbal explanation of a facial sign what it will look like thanit is to imagine the sound from a verbal description of a vocal sign.In the chapters to follow I will describe what has been found for thevoice signals of emotion, as well as showing photographs depictingthe various facial expressions for each emotion.In addition to the facial and vocal emotion signals, there are alsoemotional impulses to physical action that can be recognized.Ibelieve they are just as universal as the expressions in the face andvoice, although there has not been much research about them.I willdescribe them briefly here because they are not as familiar to us asthe facial and vocal expressions.In anger and also in some forms ofenjoyment there is an impulse to move closer to the emotion trigger.In fear there is an impulse to freeze if that will avoid detection, or toget out of harm's way if it won't.There is a similar impulse in dis-gust, but I think it is not as strong; the point seems to be not somuch trying to move away as it is getting rid of the offensive object.For example, people may turn away if the offensive object is visual;they may gag or even vomit if it is gustatory or olfactory.In sadness, but not in anguish, there is a loss of overall muscletone; the posture slumps in withdrawal, without action.In contemptthere is an impulse to look down upon the object of contempt.Insurprise and in wonderment there is fixed attention on the object ofthe emotion.In relief there is a relaxation of body posture; in tactilesensory pleasure there is a movement toward the source of the stim-ulation, and in the other sensory pleasures there is an orientationtoward the source of the stimulation, although no movement mayoccur other than the direction of the person's glance.Watching ath-letes make a difficult point suggests that there may be an impulse foraction, often involving the hands, in the moment when one takespride in having achieved something.The laughter that often occursduring intense amusement produces repetitive bodily movements,together with the laughing spasms.None of these impulses to action8 would technically be consid-ered signals, because they have not been elaborated over the courseof our evolution specifically for the purpose of conveying informa-tion clearly.I have described them here because they can provide uswith information about what emotion is occurring.They are invol-untary, like the facial and vocal emotion signals, but probably mucheasier to inhibit.Like the facial and vocal signals, they are universaland preset, in the sense that we do not need to learn them.Everything else that we do when we are emotional is learned, notpreset, and is likely to be specific to the culture or a particular indi-vidual.These learned actions, which include physical activity and thewords we speak, are the product of our continuing lifelong experience(and assessment) of what works when coping with what triggered theemotion and the events that unfold over the course of an emotionalepisode.It is easier and faster for us to learn actions that are consistentwith our preset, automatic emotional actions.For example, for fearwe would more easily learn an action pattern that involves literal orfigurative withdrawal than one that involves attack.But any actionpattern can become established for any emotion.Once learned, theseaction patterns operate automatically, just as if they were preset.We can deliberately interfere, overriding or supplanting our reflexesand impulses with quite different actions or no action at all.Theinterference may also occur automatically, governed by an overlearnedhabit and not by deliberation.The man stonewalling may do so with-out thought, without conscious choice.Either way, by deliberatechoice or well-established habit, interfering with emotional expres-sions and actions may be a struggle when the emotion is very intense.For most people it will be easier to prevent an action than totally toremove any sign of the emotion in our face or voice.I believe this is sobecause we have such excellent voluntary control over the bodily(skeletal) muscles, without which we could not engage in all the com-plex and skilled actions necessary for our survival.Indeed, we havemuch better control over our bodily muscles and our words than wehave for our facial muscles or the settings in our vocal apparatus.Just because something we do occurs involuntarily, governed byautomatic appraisal without conscious consideration, does not meanthat it is the product of our evolution and universal.Habits arelearned and operate automatically, often outside of our awareness [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]