Lecture12(耶鲁大学-心理学导论讲稿)

1IntroductiontoPsychologyYaleUniversityLecture12Sowhatwe'redoingtodayiscontinuingonthethemeofemotions.Emotionsisatwo-partlectureandwe'recontinuingalongcertainthemes.Iwanttobeginbyrespondingtoaquestionwhichwasraisedinthelastclassconcerningsmilingandnonhumanprimates.Itwasaverygoodquestion.Theissuewas:weknowthathumanshavedifferentsortsofsmilestoconveydifferentsortsofinformation.Thequestionwas,dononhumanprimates,likechimpanzeesorgorillasorgibbons,havethesamemanysortsofsmiles?So,Icontactedtheworld'sexpertonsmiling,whodidnotreturnmye-mails.So,Icontactedthesecondworld'sexpertonsmilingwhotoldmethattheanswerisno,thatprimate--nonhumanprimatesmilesactuallycorrespondalmostentirelytoappeasementsmiles.They'redon'thurtmesmiles.They'reequivalenttothecoysmilethatwesawonhumans.Butthatnonhumanprimatesdonotusesmilesforgreetings;there'snoequivalenttothegreetingsmileorPanAmsmile;nordotheyusethemasgenuineexpressionsofhappiness.There'snoequivalenttotheDuchennesmile.That'sasfarasIknow.Iftheworld'sexpertgetsbacktomeandsayssomethingdifferent,I'llkeepyouposted.Anotherthing.Goingbacktothebeginningthemeoftheclass,whatwestarted--justtoreview,wetalkedaboutthedifferentfunctionsofemotions.Andthenwetalkedaboutsmilingandfacialexpressions.Andthenweturnedtosome--toanonsocialemotion,thecaseoffear.Andthenweshiftedtosocialemotions.Andwetalkedaboutsocialemotionstowardskinandthespecialevolutionaryreasonsthatwouldleadthemtoevolve.Andaswewereending,weweretalkingabouttherelationshipbetweenananimalanditschildren,particularlyincaseslikehumansandbirdsandmammalswheretheretendstobeacloserelationshipwithourchildren.Weinvestinquality,notquantity.Imightproduceveryfewchildreninmylife.Andmyevolutionarytrickthenistofocusveryintentlyonthemandmakesuretheysurvive.IfIweretoproduce100children,Icouldstandtoloseafew,butifIjustproducefiveinmylifetimeortwoorone,theybecomeveryprecioustome.Andso,thestoryoftheevolutionofaspecieslikeusinvolvesalongperiodofdependenceanddeep,deepbondsbetweentheparentandthechild.Andthat'spartofwhatItalkedabout,howparentsrespondtochildren.AndIwanttobeginthisclassbygivinganillustrationfromadocumentaryaboutparentalresponsetochildren,butIwanttogiveitinaspeciesthat'snotus.Andhereiswhy.I'llexplainwhywithananalogy.Ihaveafriendofminewhostudiesthepsychologyofreligion.Hestudieswhypeopleholdreligiousbeliefs.Andhetellsmethatwhenhe'stalkingtoanonspecialist,somebodynotinthefield,hedoesn'tevertellthem,Yeah,I'mreallyinterestedinwhypeoplebelieveintheBibleorwhypeoplelightthecandlesonSabbathorwhypeoplegotochurchbecausethesearereligionsthatpeoplearoundherehold,andifyoutellpeopleyoustudythemthey'llsortofbepuzzled,whywouldyouwanttostudysomethinglikethatoroffended.Ifyouwanttotalkaboutthepsychologyofreligiontoanaudiencelikethis,whatyoudoisyoustartwiththeexotic.So,youstartbytalkingaboutpeoplewhoputbutterontheirheads.DanSperbertalksaboutaculturewherethemenputbutterontheirheadsinthesummer.Anditkindofmeltsandthat'spartof--oneofthethingsthattheydoor--youtalkaboutaculturethatbelievesinspiritsorthattreescantalk.Yousayyou'restudyingitandtheysay,Oh,that'sinteresting.Iwonderwhytheybelievethat?Andyouusethatasawaytolookatmoregeneralfactsthatexisteveninourculture.Youuse2IntroductiontoPsychologyYaleUniversityLecture12thefactthatwedon'ttaketheexoticforgrantedasawaytomotivatethescientificstudyofthingswedotakeforgranted.Andthisis,ofcourse,truemoregenerally.ThiswasthepointintheWilliamJamesquotewhenhetalkedaboutthingsthatarenaturaltousandnoticedthatsomeveryoddthingsareequallynaturaltootherspecies.Andit'strue,Ithink,inparticularwhenwetalkaboutthingslikethelovewehaveforourchildren.So,onewaytolookatthelovewehaveforourchildrenscientifically,isn'ttolookatithead-on,becausethelovewefeeltowardsourownchildrenfeelssacred,itfeelsspecial,butlookatitinotherspecies.Andso,oneofthenicestillustrationsofthisistheEmperorpenguin,whichwas--which--whosechildcareandmatingpracticesweredramatizedinawonderfulmoviecalledMarchofthePenguins.Andthisisinterestingbecausetheyhadthisincrediblyelaborateandquiteprecarioussystemofgeneratingandtakingcareofoffspring.So,Iwanttoshowyouabriefclipofthemovietoillustratesomepartsofthis.Whattheydoatthebeginning,whichisnot--whichleadsuptothis,istheytakeaverylongtrekfromthewatertotheirbreedinggrounds.Theirbreedinggroundsis--areprotectedfromthewindandthey'reonafirmpieceoficesotheycouldholdthewholepack.Theydothebreedingthereandit'stherethattheeggsarecreated.So,thisiswherethemoviebeginsatthispoint.[clipplaying]MarchofthePenguinswasthesecondbest--secondmostpopulardocumentaryofalltime,beatenonlybyFahrenheit9/11.Andpeoplerespondedtoitindifferentways,whichareinformativewhenwethinkaboutthegeneralizationsyoucouldmakefromanimalbehaviortohumanbehavior.Someconservativecommentatorssawthisasacelebrationoffamilyvalues,suchasloveandtrustandmonogamy.Someliberals,whohateeverythingthat'sgoodandtrue,[laughter]respondedbysaying,Well,yeah,they'remonogamousforonebreedingseason.It'sayear.Thentheygoandfindanothermate.Ifyouadditup,it'sprettyslutty.[laughter]Ithinkmoretothepoint,peoplewereimpressedandstunnedbyt