Carroll Ellis Izard (October 8, 1923 – February 5, 2017) was an American research

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

known for his contributions to differential emotions theory (DET), and the Maximally Discriminative Affect Coding System (MAX) on which he worked with

Paul Ekman Paul Ekman (born February 15, 1934) is an American psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco who is a pioneer in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions. He was ranked 59th out of ...

. Izard also undertook empirical studies into the

facial feedback hypothesis The facial feedback hypothesis, rooted in the conjectures of Charles Darwin and William James, is that one's facial expression directly affects their emotional experience. Specifically, physiological activation of the facial regions associated with ...

according to which emotions which have different functions also cause

facial expression A facial expression is one or more motions or positions of the muscles beneath the skin of the face. According to one set of controversial theories, these movements convey the emotional state of an individual to observers. Facial expressions are a ...

s which in turn provide us with cues about what emotion a person is feeling. In addition, Izard constructed a multidimensional self-report measure – the ''

Differential Emotions Scale The Differential Emotions Scale (DES) ( Izard, 1997s) is a multidimensional self-report device for assessment of an individual's emotions (whether fundamental emotions or patterns of emotions). The DES helps measure mood based on Carroll Izard's ...

'' – currently in its 4th edition (DES-IV). His later research focused on

emotional development Social emotional development represents a specific domain of child development. It is a gradual, integrative process through which children acquire the capacity to understand, experience, express, and manage emotions and to develop meaningful relat ...

in young children and the development and testing of his Emotions Course for Young Children.

Academic career

Izard earned his PhD from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in 1952 and served initially as a psychology professor at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, where he carried out pioneering research into human emotions. In 1976, he joined the Department of Psychology at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

, where he remained active as Unidel Foundation Professor of Psychology in the McKinly Lab until his retirement in 2014. A ''

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' was held at the University of Delaware on October 22, 2012, to celebrate Izard's lifelong contributions to the understanding of human emotional development.

Works

Izard is noted for contributions to the developmental research on emotion. In 1971, Izard - along with colleagues - conducted groundbreaking research on this subject, which challenged the then established theory that emotions were undifferentiated and also validated universally recognizable expressions. He also defined personality as an interrelated system and that emotion is one of the core components that also include homoeostatic, motor, perceptual, and cognitive systems. As many experts maintain that emotions unfold gradually alongside the development of the nervous system, Izard maintained that even infants who are 10 weeks old are capable of several basic emotions. Izard's 1977 theory of emotion identified ten primary and discrete emotions: fear, anger, shame, contempt, disgust, guilt, distress, interest, surprise, and joy. One of Izard's major theoretical competitors,

Robert Plutchik Robert Plutchik (21 October 1927 – 29 April 2006) was a professor emeritus at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and adjunct professor at the University of South Florida. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University and he was also a ps ...

, proposed that all the distinctive emotions Izard put forth were primary except shame and guilt. Izard postulated that these ten fundamental emotions cannot be reduced to more basic emotions but can be combined to produce other emotions, just like primary colors could be combined to create different colors. He theorized that each emotion was an intra-individual process or a conscious feeling state marked by its neurobiological activity and expression pattern like distinct

facial expressions A facial expression is one or more motions or positions of the muscles beneath the skin of the face. According to one set of controversial theories, these movements convey the emotional state of an individual to observers. Facial expressions are a ...

. Izard's theory of emotion is also called differential emotions theory. Izard proposed that these specific emotions would emerge in a child not because of social learning but as adaptive behavior.Izard CE, Malatesta CZ. Perspectives on emotional development: Differential emotions theory of early emotional development. In: Osofsky JD, editor. Handbook of Infant Development. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley Intersci.; 1987. pp. 494–554.

Books

* ''Face of Emotion''. (1993). Irvington Publishers. * ''The Psychology of Emotions''. (1991). New York: Plenum. * ''Human Emotions''. (1977). New York: Plenum. * ''Patterns of Emotions: A New Analysis of Anxiety and Depression''. (1972). New York: Academic. * ''The Face of Emotion''. (1971). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. * ''Depression in Young People: Developmental and Clinical Perspectives''. (1985). Guilford. (with Michael Rutter) * ''Emotions, Cognition and Behavior''. (1984). Cambridge University Press. (with Jerome Kagan) * ''Measuring Emotions in Infants and Children: Vol. 1''. (1982). Cambridge University Press.

References

Sources

*Cicchetti, D. (2015). Reflections on Carroll Izard's contributions: Influences on diverse scientific disciplines and personal reflections. ''Emotion Review, 7''(2), 104-109. doi: 10.1177/1754073914554781 *Hope, D. A. (1996). (Ed.), Perspectives on Anxiety, Panic, and Fear. ''Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Current Theory and Research in Motivation'' (Vol. 43). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. *Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). ''Intrinsic Motivation and Self-determination in Human Behavior''. New York: Plenum.

External links