ABSTRACTThe six basic emotions have long been considered discrete categories that serve as the primary units of the emotion system. Yet recent evidence indicated underlying connections among them. Here we tested the underlying relationships among the six basic emotions using a perceptual learning procedure. This technique has the potential of causally changing participants’ emotion detection ability. We found that training on detecting a facial expression improved the performance not only on the trained expression but also on other expressions. Such a (...) transfer effect was consistently demonstrated between disgust and anger detection as well as between fear and surprise detection in two experiments. Notably, training on any of the six emotions could improve happiness detection, while sadness detection could only be improved by training on sadness itself, suggesting the uniqueness of happiness and sadness.... (shrink)

With the spread and development of English around the world and the trend of globalization, the English language, as the most widely used language around the world, has spread across many different Asian countries and become the key language in Asia. Today, the English language is regarded as a second language (ESL) and has developed its own characteristics in many Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and India. This paper reviews a book named World English in Asian Contexts and focuses (...) on the theory of World Englishes and varieties of English in Asian countries. It is hoped that readers can get a big picture of the use of English in Asia and understand the language profile in these Asian countries. (shrink)