Logic of Emotions

A tantárgy neve magyarul / Name of the subject in Hungarian: Érzelmek logikája

Last updated: 2024. március 21.

Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics

BSc training programmes in

Electrical Engineering

Computer Engineering

Compulsory optional subject
Economic and humanities block

Course ID Semester Assessment Credit Tantárgyfélév
VITMAK48   2/0/0/f 2  
3. Course coordinator and department Dr. Sallai Gyula Antal,
4. Instructors Dr. Mérő, László, Professor of Institute of Psychology, ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary
5. Required knowledge Basic statistical knowledge
6. Pre-requisites
Ajánlott:
No compulsory pre-requisites
7. Objectives, learning outcomes and obtained knowledge

Students will be introduced to the basic mechanisms of emotions and their impact on thinking (including pure rational thinking). In addition, the course aims to provide basic "psychological literacy".
The major themes of the course are:

  • Basic psychological knowledge. Basic psychological principles.
  • The role of emotions in thinking.   Concepts and measurement of intelligence and emotional intelligence (IQ, EQ). Creativity.
  • The role of emotions in business. Behavioural economics. Business skills and professional business decision makers.
8. Synopsis 1. Psychology as a science and as a humanities. The difficulties and usefulness of psychological experimentation. The concept of expectancy characteristics.

2. Introduction to some classic experiments - how psychology became an experimental science.

3. Replication of classical experiments to control mood. The effect of good and bad mood on thinking.

4. Evidence and limitations of the James-Lange theory.

5. Damasio's experiments. The concept of the somatic marker and its mechanisms of action.

6. Learned emotions. Learned inertia, learned optimism. The positive psychology approach.

7. The structure of motivations. Rat demand curves and Giffen's laws. Human-specific and non-human-specific motivations.

8. Structure of purely human motivations. Relationship to Gödel's theorem. Manifestations of Gödel's theorem in different sciences.

9. Gödelian mechanisms in psychology. The concept of second-order change.

10. The notion of emotional intelligence - and the notion of intelligence in general.

11. The concept, measurement and mechanisms of creativity.

12. The role of emotions in the economy. Predictable irrationality.

13. The structure of economic motivations. Money as a motivator. Work motivations.

14. The logic of emotions: the logic of evolution. Evolution, unlike the engineer, does not plan, but gags. The lovable mess.
9. Method of instruction Lecture
10. Assessment

During the study period:

Successful completion of 2 midterms. The midterm consists of multiple-choice test problems where an incorrect answer is assessed less favourably than no answer. The pass mark is one quarter of the maximum mark.

During the examination period:

no examination, the subject concludes with a mid-term grade.
Preliminary examination: none
Method of awarding the grade: based on the sum of the two successful midterm scores.

11. Recaps During the term both midterms are subject to improvement but only one of them can be improved. There is an additional opportunity to improve the substitutable paper during the week of repeats. In the case of an improvement midterm written for the purpose of correction, the result of the improvement midterm will overwrite the result of the midterm to be improved.
12. Consultations After lectures and by prior arrangement by e-mail.
13. References, textbooks and resources

There is no compulsory literature. The lectures are based on the lecturer's book of the same title:

Mérő László: Az érzelmek logikája, p. 341. Tericum Kiadó, 2010.

 

Recommended literature:

  1. Mérő László: Észjárások. Akadémiai Kiadó, Typotex. 1989.
  2. Mérő László: Mindenki másként egyforma. Tericum, 1996
  3. Mérő László: A pénz evolúciója. Tericum. 2007.
  4. Mérő László: Észjárások-Remix. Tericum. 2008.
  5. Mérő László: Az elvek csapodár természete. Tericum. 2008.

 

14. Required learning hours and assignment
Lectures 28
Preparation for lectures during study period 12
Preparation for midterms 20
Homework -
Projects -
Preparation for exam
 -
Total 60
15. Syllabus prepared by

Dr. Mérő, László, Professor of Institute of Psychology, ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary

Dr. Sallai, Gyula, Professor of Department of Telecommunication and MediaInformatics, BME, Budapest, Hungary