My Oral Presentation of
Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ pp. 13-32
In these pages, Goleman writes mainly about various brain structures and what their roles are in creating, interpreting, and responding to our thoughts and emotions.
2. Anatomy of an "emotional hijacking"
In this section we read about a man named Richard Robles who ends up killing two women. He claims that he had no intention of doing so but while in the act of buglarizing a house he murders its two occupants. This is used as an example of a "neural hijacking". According to Goleman, these "hijackings" originate in the amygdala portion of the brain. As the name suggests it is as if your body is being taken over by someone else, you have no control over yourself. This phenomenon is not exclusive of negative situations though, you can be overcome with happiness.
While reading this section, it looks to me as though there are situations where we can lose control of ourselves. It seems to take some kind of trigger though to set off the "emotional hijacking". It is frightening to me to think we could lose enough control over ourselves to kill someone without meaning to do so. It makes me think I should watch what I say and do so I do not trigger a loss of control in someone else, just to protect myself. These "hijackings" can explain the multitude of times that people can be heard saying, "it just happened". Usually nobody believes them, but could there really be truth to this denial of guilt?
This section spotlights how people need to be careful when they are driving not to trigger these reactions in others or be triggered themselves. A car is a large weapons for an out of control person.
This section describes the amygdala. There are two of them, one on each side of the brain. Some people believe it was part of the primitive brain and thus functions as a center for primtive reactions to stimulai. Removal of the amygdala leaves an entity with no emotion or at least we do not perceive them as experiencing emotion. A neuroscientist named Joseph Ledoux mapped the circuitry of the brain and found that certain information goes to the emotionally driven part of our brain before it goes to the rational part, this is supposed to explain why we sometimes act out emotionally and not logically. This section explains how the amygdala is necessary for experiencing emotion and how the way we process information influences our decision making.
When people have amygdala lesions, I can't comprehend to what extent people lose their emotions. Goleman seems to be saying that these people do not experience emotion at all, but Dr. James pointed out that these people possibly just have a problem expressing their emotions but they still experience them internally. If they do not experience emotions, do they not care if they died? Would they or wouldn't they struggle to save their own life?
This information puts into biological perspective how road rage occurs. Maybe the stimulai that triggered their emotional outburst went directly to the emotional centers of the brain without making a stop in the rational portion.
In this section, it is explained that the amygdala is an alarm that goes off during perceived emotional emergencies. Once it goes off, it tells the rest of the brain and body how to react to the situation. Sometimes we can look back upon our reactions to situations and realize they were irrational, our emotions had gotten the best of us. Once we have had time to reassess the situation we would do it differently if we could.
If we have evolved why hasn't our emotional alarm evolved too, to fit our lifestyles better?
I also don't understand this: driving has been around for a while now, and our sensitive alarm system has been around longer, why does road rage seem to be a newer phenomenon? Is it just being publicised more now? It seems that angry walker, riders, and drivers have been a consistent phenomenon, we just seems to hearing more about it recently.
A scientist named LeDoux claims that the amygdala region can be the first stop for eye and ear signals, so we can react before we even know why we are reacting. This is not the case with all signals but some do pass through this shorter pathway. This finding disproves the prevailing idea that all signals go through the neocortex first. So this is saying that we subconciously make decisions about liking or not liking things.
I am curious about how things are chosen to go through this other pathway. If I take a look at the way I react to things sometimes, this makes sense. Sometimes I find myself in situations and I just know that I don't want to be there, but I don't necessarily know why.
I would think that this would act in our favor when we were driving. We could sense a situation that we didn't like and get out of it before it became too late, which could happen if we sat around and rationalized about it. For example, noting that a nearby driver is swerving around the road, instead of waiting for our brain to rationalize that this driver might be drunk and we should stay away from them, our emotions would instantly make note that something was not right and make us react by doing something like moving away from that car.
6. The Specialist in Emotional Memory
In this section, the different functions of the hippocampus and the amygdala are discussed. The hippocampus is vital to memory but the amygdala is also necessary to know what kinds of emotions should accompany the memory. How do memories become emotionally charged? In situations where the body deems it necessary, "a nerve running from the brain to the adrenal glands atop the kidneys triggers a sevretion of the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, which surge through the body priming it for an emergency. These hormones activate receptors on the vagus nerve; while the vagus nerve carries messages from the brain to regulate the heart, it also carries signals back into the brain, triggered by epinephrine and norepinephrine. The amygdala is the main site in the brain where these signals go; they activate neurons within the amygdala to signal other brain regions to strengthen memory for what is happening"(p. 21). Emotionally charged memories are better remembered.
People do seem to remember stressful moments better, this sounds like a decent theory to me. This would aid a creature in remembering something that was particularly important. This seems like a valuable function. If we put ourselves in a situation where we almost died we would not want to do that again.
When driving we could recognize harmful situations that we had been in before and avoid them.
By bypassing the neocortex and going straight to the amygdala, information may be processed in a way makes us react poorly in a situation. Overreactions. Or we may react a certain way without knowing why. This could stem from the formation of reactions at an early age. We could not express ourselves then, thus we are still unable to express the feelings that we experience.
This makes me think of myself when I scream in horror at being surprised by a family member or friend. Why would I react this way when I already see who it is in front of me? Why do I act this way when I am surprised? I cannot recall a time when something bad happened to me when I was surprised. I don't know if this is the correct explaination but I certainly do have indescribable reactions.
When people drive, why do they feel fear or react aggressively in certain situations? Could these be reactions formed as an infant, having been a passenger in a car?
8. When Emotions are Fast and Sloppy
Sometimes we sacrifice precision for speed when it comes to emotional decision making. This might be more helpful to more primitive species, but for humans it can cause problems. Our world is more complicated and can require more precise decision making.
I see what this section is saying, if you see a woman being cut in half, our first instinct might be to help her, but if we are watching a magic show, it is hardly the correct place to save the woman. So I agree with this line of thinking. I also think that he is becoming repetitive in what he is saying.
When we are driving and see somebody doing something "stupid" our first instinct might be to save other drivers by teaching that person a lesson, but it would not be the correct thing to do. We would then be putting more people in harm's way.
The prefrontal cortex appears to balance out the urges generated by the amygdala. The prefrontal cortex is part of the neocortex where the majority of stimulai usually goes. It does the planning and analyzing. The prefrontal cortex helps to sift through stimulai and judge whether an emotional response is necessary, thus without out it our emotions would be lacking. Labotomies, which seperate the prefrontal lobes, show us how damage to this region leaves people emotionally unresponsive. Left prefrontal cortex, off switch for distressing emotion. Right prefrontal, fear and aggression.
It looks like a system of checks and balances. Finally I am seeing hope that we may be able to control ourselves. So how do we strengthen these balances to keep control over our emotions?
How can we keep from acting out emotionally when we are driving?
10. Harmonizing Emotion and Thought
According to this section, emotion can disrupt thought. A generally intelligent person can have difficulty learning and functioning if their emotions cannot be kept in check. Without healthy emotions, decision making is difficult. A Dr. Damasio finds from data that feelings are necessary for rational decision making. So IQ is not the only important thing, we need emotional intelligence too.
I think that this makes perfect sense. We need our emotions to make rational decisions but emotions out of control can taint our decisions. It is a matter of balance and learning how to achieve this balance.
This makes me think of those drivers that some might call "idiots", these people may be very intelligent and know how to drive but their emotions are out of control and lead them to do things that appear foolish.
I became more informed about how some structures of the brain use stimulai to help create our actions and thoughts. I think this is very interesting and everyone should have a basic understanding of how their bodies work. People learn about their computers and vcrs but it might be time well spent to figure out how their own body works, they are going to have to deal with it for the rest of their lives, might as well find out how to make the most of it. I think we are too complicated to understand completely though. I am not an expert on the parts and functions of the brain so I have to take Goleman's word on the brain structures and studies that back up the claims that he makes in this book. As long as there is good evidence to back up these claims I believe that what he has to say is valid. A lot of what he says makes sense from my non scientific point of view.
I learned that at times we are completely out of control, primitive. I believe it. People like to believe that we are better than animals, but essentially I think that is what we are and sometimes we just move into survival mode. When we get angry at people on the road, it is usually because we felt endangered by them, we want to protect our lives.
I questioned whether we would be able to make better decisions without emotions but these pages showed me that this really is not the answer, we need our emotions too. For example, when we drive we need our emotions to remind us why we should drive carefully. There is fear for ourselves, there would be guilt if we hurt someone else, and so on. There would not be much motivation to drive carefully if that is just what we are supposed to do, it would not register.
I think that my presentation went well. It felt like I was talking quite a long time though and that I was repeating some of the same things many times. My only worry was that I would lose the attention of the class. I was happy with the questions asked and the responsiveness of my listeners. I felt that I had communicated effectively what the reading was about and that I understood it well enough myself to answer their questions with some authority.
Amy Hayashida
1. Why is it that not everyone "loses it"?
I cannot really say that there are those people who do not "lose it" at some point in time. It seems to me that if there are people who react calmly on a more regular basis than others, they must have a more strict criteria in their brain for what stimulai bypasses the the neocortex and goes straight to the amygdala. Also, some people may be able to make better rational decisions than others.
2. If people do things without knowing why, how did the response/reaction become automatic?
It seems that at some level the body knows what it is doing, it is trying to preserve itself. It makes sense to me that somewhere along the line it became important to react quickly to dangerous situations. Those people who were able to react the quickest escaped the most danger and thus went on to live. Now to continue to preserve our safety our bodies react quickly but now these reactions can occur in situations where it is not necessary and can actually be harmful.
3. In the Emotional Sentinal section, Goleman says that the amygdala has the position/power to "hijack" the brain before we fully perceive the situation, while in the Emotional Manager section, he says the neocortex governs everything.
Supposedly the majority of information does go to the neocortex first but there is a small pathway that takes certain stimulai directly to the amygdala. I am not sure how the decision is made about what goes where.
Tomoko Seino
1. Do you think there should be restrictions for those with such tendencies towards "emotional hijacking" to drive?
I think that it would be difficult to set a standard determining who was predisposed to this. I think we all have the capability to be out of control. Where would we draw the line between normal and abnormal? For those who prove highly excitable I think there should be some kind of mandatory emotional management classes.
2. When people say "it just happened", what do you think that means? Do you think it is a simple excuse and denial?
I can't read minds but I think a lot of people truly believe that "things just happened". That they did not necessarily mean to do what they did and would like to go back and change it if they could. A lot of times I think it does have to do with a lack of will power and self control.
3. Do you think when a person who is used to cussing and being agressive while driving is told to change and not to express their anger so much, it would reach to other unnecessary manners?
I think that while a person might feel more comfortable being aggressive while driving, these people are naturally aggressive. I think if people could control themselves while driving it would definitely rub off on to their other activities.
Robby Solmssen
1. Is there a specific correlation between the magnitude of the event and the duration of the "hijacking", or the person's outburst of emotion?
Sorry Robby, I would probably have to perform some kind of experiment to figure out that one. Right now I do not have the knowledge to answer this.
2. Is the amygdala the only mechanism that is controlling emotional outbursts, or is it a combination of other components of the brain?
I think that unchecked the amygdala might interpret stimulai in a way that would create an emotional outburst. Supposedly the prefrontal cortex filters information so that we do not have unnecessary emotional outbursts.
Janice Kamm
1. Do you believe people who have trouble controlling their anger can be trained to control their emotions in an excited state after reading this portion of the book.
I think that reading this information would enlighten people but I think it would take a lot of effort and not just knowledge to help people change.
2. Could it be that the reason why someone would not want to be in a specific situation is because we were brought up a certain way and believing in different values and morals? Thus, the development of your neural system develops accordingly to your beliefs?
I am sure that values and morals contribute greatly to our reactions in situations but I would not go so far as to say these are the only contributing factors.
Lianne Allianic
1. What types of things/situations could trigger someone's emotions? Why do these triggers have such an emotional effect? How can people control it?
Anything extremely happy, sad, enraging could set off an "emotional hijacking". I think that they get to us because we allow them to. I think the best answer to keeping control over ourselves is to be very observant of ourselves. We have to realize what we are doing at that time, in order to change it.
2. Could it be a psychological think that makes people behave irrationally instead of a brain thing?
I think that they work together to create what we do, how we react.
3. Why are emotionally charged memories remembered better than just regular memories?
I think the world of science would say that an extra dose of hormones or neurotransmitters were released because of the emotions and this somehow makes us remember it better. Or maybe we stored it in a more retrieveable portion of our brain. Honestly I'm not sure.
James Yang
1. What are the pros and cons of having this triggering effect in the amygdala?
We can save ourselves from dangerous situations by reacting quickly but we can also react in a way that does not fit the situation and end up with something like road rage.
2. Describe what you meant by checks and balances.
Instead of allowing systems of the brain to run freely, other parts of the brain also contribute. So there is a combined effort to achieve the outcome. Hopefully this will have created the best possible reaction.
Dr. James
1. Are emotions feelings or brain activity? Is there a difference in your view?
I think that emotions are feelings as well as the outcome of brain activity. Without our brains I do not think we are capable of having emotions. I don' think that feeling pop out of nowhere, there had to be some kind of process to create them.
2. You said "the amygdala tells the rest of the brain to ..." but amygdalas don't talk or think, we do. How then do you resolve this logical problem?
While amygdalas might not talk, I do believe that after receiving information it somehow processes it and responds by communicating to other parts of the body. This may be through something like neurotransmitters. This information is a major factor in how we will react.
3. What use is the info about brain pathways to the understanding of our emotional life?
I think that knowing there are different paths that the brain can send information along, shows us that there are different ways to react to situations. If one is not working, we should be able to try another.
Sandee Uyehara
1. A comment made by the woman triggered Robles to murder her. Do you think his emotions could have been controlled if the comment wasn't made by the woman? Or do you feel that he was under pressure that anything could have triggered his emotions?
I think the fact that she was saying she would never forget his face and that he wouldn't get away with it scared him. He thought that his life would be in danger if she were to get away. This triggered a defense mechanism in him that decided the best answer was to kill her. It is hard to say what else he might have reacted to.
Isabel Chang
Where is the amygdala located in the brain?
The amygdala is located in the anterior temporal lobe of the brain. There is one on each side of the brain and they belong to the group of structures called the limbic system.
Some questions have been left out due to the fact that I have already addressed questions that are similar.
There have not been many reports done to compare mine with. With the ones that have been done, they seem similar to mine in content. We all had the same guidelines to follow. I also think that they are similar in approach, no one has gotten too creative yet. Presentation wise, I am going to try and make my report look nice. I have never tried to design web pages before so it is fun to experiment and see what is possible. I think already there is a distinction between pages where the designers have and have not done this before.
14. Suggestions for Future Generations
If you are interested in understanding the way parts of the brain function to help create our emotions, this stuff is for you. I think there is an inexhaustable amount of research that needs to be done to understand completely the biological roots of our emotions. As far as doing the report, give yourself time, espeacially if you are unfamiliar with making web pages. I have been struggling with trying to figure out what will make my paper captivating for a reader from beginning to end. I think it has to do with the way things look, like colors, layout, and font, but it is hard to keep things exciting looking. At least I think it is. I don't really have the knowledge to do all kinds of funky things with my page right now. Hopefully my knowledge base will grow. I think looking at other people's pages is good, they can get you off on the right track if you are stumped for ideas. Also, if you have a great idea and don't know how to make it happen on the screen, ask your class or search the internet.