Emotional Categorization Errors

The Paradox of Categorization was identified by Lisa F. Barrett (2006) as the paradox which occurs because people believe that they know an emotion when they see it and, consequently, tend to assume that emotions are nothing more than discrete events that can be recognized with some degree of accuracy. Scientists have yet to produce, said Barrett (2006), a set of clear and (most significantly, perhaps) consistent criteria for indicating when an emotion is present and when it is not. However, in reality, emotions often are somewhat blurred; observations of emotions are often categorized as revealing anger, sadness, joy, fear, and so forth, but in actuality emotions are elusive and tend to defy clear definition. The categorization of affect, therefore, is often guided by knowledge about emotion acquired from prior experience, then tailored to the presenting situation, and designed as Barrett (2006) commented, for action. Categorizing affect places a

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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 677
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page)

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