Human behavior emotion

I think McDougall was right and we should return to comparisons with naturalistic animal behavior, and to the emotions, in our search for the roots of human behavior. That is, we should ground our research in ethological theory and methods. These whole-body movement patterns are the basic units of behavior for our species, the human ethogram. 

Advantages of a Model of Human Behavior Based on the Emotions... 

I would suggest that this emotions model or a similar one with an ethological basis could be used not only as a framework for organizing research on human behavior, but also as a heuristic device for identifying potential areas for future research. To illustrate the breadth of the emotions model, I will try to fit some examples of recent sociobiologi-cal research into it. 

Reproductive success measured where there is effective contraception is, of course, of limited value in assessing the evolutionary utility of a given human behavior. Under these modem conditions it may be better to measure mate value, i.e., sexual attractiveness, as a proxy for reproductive success (e.g., Dong et al., 1996 Weisfeld et al., 1992). Sexual attractiveness, of course, refers to an emotion and as such is a proximate cause of ultimate biological success. 

A variety of kinds of evidence have linked emotional behavior to hormones. Two conditions, the menstrual cycle and menopause, have been the focus of a great deal of research on human behavior. In addition, gender differences in the prevalence of mental illnesses have been used as indirect evidence for possible hormonal effects on emotional disorders. For example, depression is more common in women than in men. In contrast, a pubertal onset of schizophrenia is more common in males than females (Hafner, et al., 1993), although the lifetime occurrence of schizophrenia is approximately equal in men and women (Seeman, 1996). Effects of hormones on emotional lability in men are described above in the context of aggression. 

Dementia is a general term for loss of cognitive functions and behavioral impairment. It may arise from several etiologies and may present with a large variety of manifestations. The financial cost in health care engendered by dementia is enormous, because individuals with dementia require progressive amounts of supervision, eventually needing total care. The human and emotional costs are unquantifiable. Several forms of dementia exist, which will be briefly classified and described here. 

In the human CNS, glutamate is the most important excitatory neurotransmitter. Glycine is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the human CNS. Thus, these two amino acids, basic constituents of proteins, also function in other very important ways in behavior, emotion, learning, memory, and sensory perception. Nature uses its molecular constructs for more than one purpose. Among other neurotransmitters, dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin are derivatives of protein amino acids and are synthesized from them. 

Elster, Jon. 1999. Strong Feelings Emotion, Addiction, and Human Behavior. Bradford, Mass. Press. 

There are Limits to what animal studies can tell us about human behavior. There are also limits on what we can learn from laboratory experiments with human subjects. Because of financial constraints one may not be able to create high-stake situations in the laboratory/ unless one uses first-world research grants to study third-world subjects (Cameron 1995). Because of ethical constraints that were set up in the wake of Stanley Milgram s (1974) work, one cannot place subjects in situations that will induce strong negative emotions. Also, many of these studies rely on self-reports, which are a pretty fragile instrument. I believe, therefore, that to understand the subtler human emotions one has to turn to the last four sources, which is not to say that the first three have no value. 

Risk issues are often emotional. They are contentious. Disagreement is often deep and fierce. This is not surprising, given that how we perceive and respond to risk is, at its core, nothing less than survival. The perception of and response to danger is a powerful and fundamental driver of human behavior, thought, and emotion. [22]... 

Manganese is an essential trace element in the human diet. Overexposure, however, can lead to numerous neurological effects including hallucinations, abhorrent behavior, emotional instability, and Parkinsonism. 15 ... 

In his book On Aggression (Lorenz, 1966), Konrad Lorenz says that a visitor from another planet would not conclude that human behavior is dictated by reason, intelligence, or moral responsibility. He would think that human emotions overrule reason and cultural forces. Human behavior is primarily the result of instinctive behavior. 

Religion arose thousands of years after the fundamentals of morality evolved in animals. F. B. states, The profound irony is that our noblest achievement - morality - has evolutionary ties to our most base behavior - warfare. Immanuel Kant believed that morality is based on reason, whereas David Hume argued that moral judgments proceed from emotions. DeWaal believes that, Human behavior derives above all from fast, automated, emotional judgments, and only secondarily from slower conscious processes. Emotions are our compass, shaped by evolution. Natural selection favors organisms that survive and reproduce. 

It is becoming clear that certain trace elements are very important in determining human behavior. For example, lithium (administered as lithium carbonate) has been a miracle drug for some people afflicted with bipolar disorder, a disease that produces oscillatory behavior between inappropriate "highs" and the blackest of depressions. Although its exact function remains unknown, lithium seems to moderate the levels of neurotransmitters (compounds that are essential to nerve function), thus relieving some of the extreme emotions in sufferers of bipolar disorder. 

The aroma of fmit, the taste of candy, and the texture of bread are examples of flavor perception. In each case, physical and chemical stmctures ia these foods stimulate receptors ia the nose and mouth. Impulses from these receptors are then processed iato perceptions of flavor by the brain. Attention, emotion, memory, cognition, and other brain functions combine with these perceptions to cause behavior, eg, a sense of pleasure, a memory, an idea, a fantasy, a purchase. These are psychological processes and as such have all the complexities of the human mind. Flavor characterization attempts to define what causes flavor and to determine if human response to flavor can be predicted. The ways ia which simple flavor active substances, flavorants, produce perceptions are described both ia terms of the physiology, ie, transduction, and psychophysics, ie, dose-response relationships, of flavor (1,2). Progress has been made ia understanding how perceptions of simple flavorants are processed iato hedonic behavior, ie, degree of liking, or concept formation, eg, crispy or umami (savory) (3,4). However, it is unclear how complex mixtures of flavorants are perceived or what behavior they cause. Flavor characterization involves the chemical measurement of iadividual flavorants and the use of sensory tests to determine their impact on behavior. 

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