The Cognitive Science Speaker Series continues on Feb. 3 with a talk featuring Maria Gendron, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Yale University, on the topic of “Sources of Diversity in Emotion Perception.”
Maria Gendron (image: Yale University)
York University's Department of Philosophy, in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, presents the Cognitive Science Speaker Series. All talks take place on Wednesdays from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. via Zoom. Prior to each talk, the Zoom link will be emailed to all students and faculty from Cognitive Science and Philosophy. Those not affiliated with these groups can join by emailing jbeck@yorku.ca to receive the Zoom links.
Unpacking the nature of emotions is critical to a scientific understanding of the human condition. Recent evidence reveals that emotion categories contain considerable neural, physiological and behavioural variation, challenging long-held views of emotion in psychology and neuroscience. Consistent with these broad patterns, Gendron will present research highlighting diversity in perceptions of emotion across societies and individuals. She will suggest that the functioning of the conceptual system (what we "know" about emotions) serves as a source of both variation and consistency across levels. This research is informed by the constructionist proposal that culturally learned knowledge may account for the discrete and functional nature of emotions.