USA Science & Engineering Festival

Emotions Are a Puzzle!, an exhibit by the IASL, will appear in the 2010 USA Science & Engineering Festival in October 2010. We will be in Section PA-13, booth number 1363.

Where do emotions live in the brain?

• Coloring activity showing different brain regions
• Visitors will learn our lab's research on the brain basis of emotion through coloring.

Can you read an emotion in another person's face?

• "Emotions in and out of context" poster
• Visitors will see cropped photos of famous faces (e.g., Serena Williams playing tennis, Jim Webb speaking to congress) and predict the emotion of that person. Afterward, they will see the entire picture in context, which may alter their understanding of the individuals' emotion.
• "Emotions in and out of context" video
• Visitors will see a short clip of presidential candidate Howard Dean's infamous campaign speech, from the documentary Take it Back. The media's removal of context may ultimately have cost Dean the nomination.

Where do emotions live in the body?

• Drawing activity
• Visitors will use pictures of the human body to label where they feel emotion.

World-focused vs. self-focused emotion

• Take a survey about your emotions
• Do you experience the world as dangerous, or do you experience fear as a reaction to the world?
• Do you experience people as mean, or do you get angry with people?