ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the physiological reactions and the behavioral/expressive component, particularly the facial expressions of emotion. In a series of experimental studies, the chapter explores whether human subjects react with a response pattern that can be predicted from a biological preparedness perspective. The chapter argues that an expression of threat and anger, for instance, is likely to induce components of a negative emotional reaction, such as fear. It uses two different experimental paradigms to study this phenomenon. The first is the study of learning and Pavlovian conditioning of physiological responses in which pictures of facial expressions are used as conditioned stimuli. The second one is simply to expose subjects to facial expressions. These results as consistent with the proposition that humans have a preprogrammed capacity to react to facial expressions and that facial reactions are automatically evoked and controlled by fast operating facial affect programs.
