Abstract
Surprise is a syndrome of reactions which is conceived by many authors as a primitive (Descartes, 1649/1911), primary (Plutchik, 1980), or fundamental (Izard, 1977) emotion. It consists of physiological changes, specific behavioral patterns (including a distinct facial expression), and subjective experience. Surprise is assumed to interrupt other ongoing processes, to direct attention to the eliciting stimulus, and thus to enable the organism to respond adaptively to sudden changes in its environment.
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Niepel, M., Rudolph, U., Schützwohl, A., Meyer, WU. (1994). Two Characteristics of Surprise: Action Delay and Attentional Focus. In: Keller, H., Schneider, K., Henderson, B. (eds) Curiosity and Exploration. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77132-3_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77132-3_5
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