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You are hereby invited to a seminar in our fourth interdisciplinary series on *Evolution, Complexity and Cognition* <http://ecco.vub.ac.be/> *When?* Next Thursday, June 17, 2008, 2-4 pm. *Where?* The seminar room is exceptionally 3C214 (building C, at the psychology faculty), on the VUB Campus Etterbeek.Free entrance: everybody welcome! *Cognition and Emotion:* *The effect of emotional arousal on problem-solving ability* * * *Shwetambara Sabharwa* <http://www.shwetambara.com/AboutPsychologists.htm>*l * (ECCO & Mumbai University) * * *ABSTRACT*: Attention and focus have been reported to be compromised during emotional arousal, leading to less available cognitive and emotional resources. While we draw on such resources to efficiently solve problems and make decisions, we are often faced with arousal during our attempts of doing so. The paradox is that the process of problem solving often leads to emotional arousal, which in turn appears as a problem in problem solving! This research proposal aims to study the effects of emotional arousal on Emotional Intelligence and Problem solving abilities, implying that timely management of emotional arousal, by using "prior knowledge" of experience during arousal, may make our emotional and cognitive resources more readily available. Married couples in particular experience difficulty in managing emotions during conflicts. This may be attributed to emotional interplay and an inability to appreciate each other's perceptions. Our study also aims to recommend empathy as an important step towards effective problem solving amongst couples. "Reasoning, decision making and emotions intersect in the brain. Feelings and emotions have a truly privileged status and exert a powerful influence on reasoning". Antonio R Damasio (1994). *About the speaker:* Shwetambara Sabharwal has a Post graduate in Clinical Psychology from Mumbai University, India. She has been a topper in her BA and MA programmes and has been awarded the Govt. of India National Scholarship for Academics. She has taught psychology at Mithibhai College, Juhu-Vile Parle and Guru Nanak Nursing College (Mumbai University). She is a practicing consultant at Dr. V. Kulkarni's Clinic, Mahim and Guru Nanak Hospital, Bandra(E) and practices psychotherapy at her private clinic. She has started to prepare a PhD within ECCO on the topic of this seminar. * More information about the ECCO seminars:* See http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/28 for the full program. Best regards, Clément Vidal. ________________________________________ http://clement.vidal.philosophons.com Centrum Leo Apostel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Krijgskundestraat 33. B-1160 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2 640 67 37 | Fax: +32 2 644 07 44
