UniversityofCambridge: The Psychology of Emotions: An Introduction to Embodied Cognition

Psychology is not just the mind, this course introduces and explores the idea that our mind is rooted in our body and that perhaps it is time to move on from this dichotomy. This course will touch on the fundamental principles of cognitive psychology with a specific focus on emotional social and embodied cognition, which theorizes that many functions of human cognition (even those linked to logic, reasoning and decision making) are aided by our entire bodies’ feelings and sensations.

Discover what might shape our ability to understand others and the importance of a functional emotional processing for every kind of interaction with others. This increased understanding can improve decision making processes, with knowledge of cognitive neuroscience sitting alongside human factors, and introduces new concepts to include in a view of mental health.

Learners will be encouraged to reflect on crucial and thought-provoking concepts such as the mind-body dualism and reductionism. The course is likely to make learners self-aware of how they express their emotions as well as how they read and interpret other persons’ emotions. Learners will know both the complexity and simplicity of the cognitive process that takes place whenever we try to recognize facial expressions, and how easily we can misinterpret others’ emotions.

During the course we will focus on the main theories of embodiment and hypotheses and on how researchers investigate and address them. In doing so, we will learn about the main methods and materials used to explore emotional embodiment and to measure our ability to recognise other people’s facial expressions. This will include the main experimental designs, behavioural and neuroimaging methods adopted.