Primary Readings (provided in course packet):
Pinker, S. (1999). How the mind works. (Chapter 6, "Hotheads"). New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
Ekman, P. (2003). Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life. (Chapters 1-2). New York: Times Books.
LeDoux J.E. (1996). The Emotional Brain (Chapters 1-2). New York: Simon & Schuster.
Pennebaker, J. (1990). Opening up: The healing power of expressing
emotions (Chapters 3-5). New York: The Guilford Press.
Ariely, D. (2008). Predictably Irrational (Chapter 5, "The influence of arousal"). New York: Harper Collins.
Additional Readings for the Curious
A General Overview
Frijda, N. (1988) The Laws of Emotion, American Psychologist, 43, 349-358.
Facial Expression
Gladwell, M. (August 5, 2002) The naked face. The New Yorker.
Emotions and Physical Health
Sapolsky, R.M. (Fall, 2007) Peace among primates. Greater good: The science of a meaningful life.
Emotions and Aging
Hall, S.S. (May 2007) The Older-and-Wiser Hypothesis. The New York Times Magazine.
Emotion, Gender, and Culture
Chentsova-Dutton, Y. & Tsai, J.L. (2007). Gender differences in emotional response among European Americans and Hmong Americans. Cognition and Emotion, 21, 162-181.
Humor and Laughter
Panksepp, J. (2005). Beyond a joke: From animal laughter to human joy?Science, 308.
Provine, R. (2000) The science of laughter. Psychology Today.
Some "lighter" online readings:
Mining the internet for feelings [NYTimes.com]
How getting botox treatments might affect your emotional life
Children are psychopaths [theonion.com]
Blind people recognizing facial emotion
Emotional wiring different in men and women [livescience.com]
Why love is like cocaine [cnn.com]
One professor's attempt to explain every joke ever [Wired.com]