CHAPTER VIII

EMOTIONS, FEELINGS AND ATTITUDES

Emotions, feelings, and attitudes play many rôles in man's life. They act as drives or motives in getting his work done; they add very materially to his happiness; and they contribute to his health. The readings show quite definitely how emotions, feelings, and attitudes can be used in the educative process. It is of especial importance that they be "hitched up" with action.

The genetic studies of Watson (5,6,14) show that the child possesses three basic unlearned emotional tendencies at birth: fear, rage, and love. The readings from Crile (16,19), and Cannon (17), show a close relation between the emotions and glandular action. The proper control of the emotions is shown to be essential for hygienic living and social efficiency.

1. Emotional Behavior

[DEARBORN, Ned Harland, An Introduction to Teaching, pp. 251-254. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1925.]

Emotional reactions fall within the realm of the subjective. There are theories regarding the causes, general activities, and results of emotionalities, but detailed objective analysis in this field is not yet a reality. Nevertheless, emotional behavior is sufficiently well understood through subjective studies to merit the most careful attention on the part of all students of education.

As was stated earlier in this chapter there are internal as well as external sense organs. These are connected with the central nervous system and organic disturbances serve as stimuli in much the same way as external stimuli. There is an important addition to the action of the central nervous system, namely, the action of the autonomic nervous system. The nerves of this system are connected with motor neurones of the central nervous system. By means of these connections the nerves of the autonomic nervous systems receive impulses from the cen

tral nervous system and so in a large measure effect the organic changes which cause what we have named sensations. Sensations, such as some form of indigestion, suffocation, hunger, thirst, or muscular fatigue are more subject to relatively definite localization and analysis. An emotion is more diffuse and more complex than any sensation and may be defined as a combination of sensations producing a pronounced positive or negative reaction. An external stimulus, such as the sight of a rat, may produce a violent physical reaction. This reaction is sent through bodily organisms and glands by means of the autonomic nervous system producing changes which cause a flood of sensations. In the case of seeing a rat, the combinations of sensations result in a reaction which we may call fear or loathing. This general activity is called an emotion. Positive and negative reactions are illustrated by joy and sorrow, enthusiasm and melancholy, or excitement and languor respectively.

The autonomic system is separated into three divisions-the cranial, the sacral, and the sympathetic connected with the upper part of the spinal cord and the midbrain, the lower part of the spinal cord and the intermediate part of the spinal cord respectively. The functions of the cranial and sacral divisions work in opposition to the sympathetic division. These opposing functions cause different organic and glandular activity and so produce different accompanying emotional states. Fear or anger, particularly strong emotions, are associated with the sympathetic system; pleasurable bodily states accompany the action of the cranial and part of the sacral systems; and sex reactions are involved with the action of part of the sacral system.

Emotions are varied in kind and intensity. Some people are very excitable and others in their reactions to unusual stimuli approach stolidity. All degrees of emotionality range between these two extremes. Very frequently the extremely sensitive individual is unstable emotionally, that is, if easily moved to excessive laughter he may be equally easily moved to tears, and the like. Such a condition of extreme emotional sensitivity presents a difficult problem to the teachers as such extreme states closely resemble mental instability. The unemotional individual is much less a problem than the hypersensitive one because adjustments to new and complex situations are less difficult of realization. In school work the highly emotional child finds difficulty in conforming to monotonous routine work and hence. many skills such as are developed through drill work are often

neglected. Special attention, shorter practice periods, and the like must be provided for the emotionally sensitive if creditable work is consistently apparent in all educational activities.

Every one must be familiar with visible expressions of strong emotionality. Facial expressions which register fear, anger, disgust, horror, anguish, joy, doubt, tolerance, and so on are perhaps the best known forms of emotional expression. Sudden paleness, flushing, clenched fists, smiling, "gritting" the teeth, scowling or frowning, squinting, unusual opening of the eyelids, and various forms of muscular tension are each indicative of some form of emotional activity.

The educational difficulties of excessive emotionality have already been indicated with reference to the processes of learning. The teacher must be eternally vigilant for the emotional child and ever ready with a generous variety of devices and changes to meet emotionality in its various forms. Another hazard besides the educational hazards in thinking and doing is that of endangered health conditions. Strong emotional behavior causes irregular organic and glandular activities which may result in serious bodily disorders. It is a common argument that worry, fear, anger, excessive excitement, and the like have more serious effects upon one's physical self than excessive hard work. There is undoubtedly enough truth in the statement to warrant caution in exposing a highly emotional child to strong external stimuli which too frequently cause excessive emotional reactions.

There are, then, at least two strong arguments, the dangerous effects on health and the unwholesome effect on intellectual effort and results, either of which should be sufficiently convincing that control of emotional behavior is highly desirable. The exercises of such control is the problem of the individual afflicted and of the teacher. Our emotional behavior like instinctive reactions is valuable if properly directed in their development or thwarting. Many emotions, even anger or grief, can produce pleasant reactions. Satisfaction and annoyance are again controlling factors. Undesirable emotional habits are as unfortunate as undesirable habits founded primarily on inborn tendencies. Emotionality, therefore, can be a force assisting in the development of the child or it can be an individual and a social menace. The teacher needs to be constantly alert for all evidences of emotional behavior. It is one of the most important factors in educational procedure.

2. Importance of the Emotional Element

[WOODWORTH, Robert S., Dynamic Psychology, pp. 51-80. New York, Columbia University Press, 1918.] (Adapted.)

The emotional element, rather than the cognitive and the conative elements, plays the leading rôle in the perpetuation, elimination, and the redirection of the unlearned tendencies. The reason for this undoubtedly is that "emotion

represents or is correlative with the drive towards . . . consummatory reaction. . . . The emotions do not arise in the individual as the result of training. He learns to be afraid of certain objects, but he does not learn how to be afraid. All he needs in order to be afraid is to receive the proper stimulus, and then he is afraid by force of nature. . . . The stimuli that evoke these reactions change with experience, and their connections with the reactions are learned or acquired by the individual." In other words, the feelings, emotions, or driving forces in any individual are inborn and unchangeable.

3. Emotion as a Drive

[JASTROW, Joseph, Character and Temperament, p. 109. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1916.}

Emotion applies the spur to the mental gait; it is an obstruction-meeting device reserved not for the run but for the jump in the hurdle-race of life.

4. The Myth-Making Tendency of Strong Collective

Emotion

[RUSSELL, Bertrand, Justice in War-Time, pp. 4-6. London, Open Court Publishing Co., 1916.]

Every powerful passion brings with it an impulse to an attendant system of false beliefs. A man in love will attribute innumerable non-existent perfections to the object of his devotion; a jealous man will attribute equally non-existent crimes to the object of his jealousy. But in ordinary life, this tendency is continually held in check by intercourse with people who do not share our private passions, and who therefore, are critical of our irrational beliefs. In national questions, this corrective is absent. Most men meet few foreigners, especially in time of

war, and beliefs inspired by passion can be communicated to others without fear of an unsympathetic response. The supposed facts intensify the passion which they embody, and are magnified still further by those to whom they are told. Individual passions, except in lunatics, produce only the germs of myths, perpetually neutralized by the indifference of others; but collective passions escape this corrective, and generate in time what appears like overwhelming evidence for wholly false beliefs.

Men of learning, who are acquainted with the part played by collective error in the history of religion, ought to have been on their guard against assaults upon their credulity. They ought to have realized, from the obvious falsehood of the correlative opposite beliefs in enemy countries, that the mythmaking impulse was unusually active, and could only be repelled by an unusual intellectual vigour. But I do not find that they were appreciably less credulous than the multitude.

5. Experimental Studies on the Growth of the Emotions [WATSON, J. B., "Experimental Studies of the Growth of the Emotions" (Powell Lecture in Psychological Theory at Clark University, January 17, 1925), Pedagogical Seminary, June, 1925, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 328-348.]

The complicated nature of all these adult [social] responses makes it hopeless for the behaviorist to begin his study of emotion upon adults. He has to study emotional behavior genetically.

Suppose we start with three-year-olds-we will go out into the highways and byways and collect them and then let us go to the mansions of the rich. We bring them into our laboratory. We put them face to face with certain situations. Suppose we first let a boy go alone into a well lighted playroom and begin to play with his toys. Suddenly we release a boa constrictor or some other animal. Next we may take him to a dark room and suddenly start a miniature bonfire with newspapers. As you can see we can set the stage so that we can duplicate almost any kind of life situation.

But after testing him alone in all these situations we must test him again when an adult, possibly father or mother, is with him-when another child of his own age and sex is nearby, when another child of the opposite sex accompanies him, when groups of children are present.

In order to get a picture of his emotional behavior, we have