Astonishment

Astonishment

noun, With., used often

Morphology: (no) what? surprise, what? surprise, (see) what? astonishment, how? surprise, about what? about surprise

1. Surprise is a state, a feeling that is caused by a strong impression from some unusual, unexpected or strange object, event, phenomenon.

Strong, sincere surprise. | Her beautiful voice surprised us: we did not know that she was singing. | Later I was surprised to learn that my neighbor had written a huge novel. | To my great surprise, he was the first to call me and apologize, which I didn’t even expect.

2. If you say that, for example, the night has passed surprisingly calmly, this means that you expected the opposite (i.e. a restless night) and are expressing bewilderment as to why things did not happen as you expected.

Surprisingly smart boy. | The morning was surprisingly fresh, even cold.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Dmitriev. D. V. Dmitriev. 2003.

Synonyms:

See what “surprise” is in other dictionaries:

astonishment- Astonishment …

To surprise, to surprise, to come to surprise, to open your eyes in surprise, to open your mouth in surprise... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and similar expressions. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian Dictionaries, 1999. surprise... ... Synonym dictionary

Astonishment- Surprise ♦ Étonnement In the classical, emphatically deep sense of the word - a feeling of amazement or stupor caused by surprise. In the modern meaning, it is a feeling generated not only by suddenness, but also by the strange or mysterious... ... Sponville's Philosophical Dictionary

SURPRISE, I, Wed. Impression from what n. unexpected and strange, incomprehensible. Beside myself with surprise. Look in surprise. To everyone's surprise (so everyone is surprised). Surprisingly (colloquial) about whom what n. amazing (in 2 meanings). Apples in... ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

SURPRISE, surprise, plural. no, cf. A condition caused by a strong impression of something that amazes with surprise, unusualness, strangeness or incomprehensibility. Look at someone in surprise. Beside myself with surprise. He opened his mouth from... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

astonishment- SURPRISE, bewilderment AMAZING, delightful, unprecedented, implausible, colloquial. wondrous SURPRISED, amazed, stunned, amazed SURPRISE / AMAZE, stun / stun, unraveling. surprise, colloquial, owl. marvel... ... Dictionary-thesaurus of synonyms of Russian speech

Astonishment- Nouns: PUZZLE/NIE, puzzled/concerned. A state of slight surprise, confusion, caused by misunderstanding, ambiguity of something. PASSION/HONESTITY, miracle/honor, decomposition. quirk, colloquial vortex, decomposition speed/k, decompression chudi/nka.… … Dictionary of Russian synonyms

astonishment- immeasurable surprise great surprise great surprise deep surprise extreme surprise considerable surprise extraordinary surprise genuine surprise huge surprise extreme surprise ... Dictionary of Russian Idioms

The request for "Surprise" is redirected here; about the film, see Surprise (film, 2007). Surprise is a cognitive emotion that occurs when an unexpected situation occurs. Adequate reaction to deviation from the norm. If an unexpected situation turns out to be dangerous,... ... Wikipedia

astonishment- cause surprise action, causation express surprise demonstration flashed surprise action, subject, little imagine surprise beginning, knowledge, understanding... Verbal compatibility of non-objective names

Books

• Surprise at life. Memoirs, Victor Rozov. Viktor Rozov is one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century. With its appearance, a new theatrical era began, associated with the names of Anatoly Efros and Oleg Efremov, a new period of the Central...

K. Izard argues that the main function of surprise is to prepare a person to effectively interact with a new, sudden event and its consequences. Surprise frees the nerve pathways, prepares them for new activity, different from the previous one. Izard cites the expression of S. Tomkins (Tomkins, 1962) that surprise is “the emotion of clearing the channels.” A different position is taken by I. A. Vasiliev, who believes that with the help of surprise, something “new” that has value for a person is emotionally colored and highlighted. The emotion of surprise presents to consciousness a still unconscious contradiction between the old and the new and, on this basis, enables a person to realize the unusualness of the situation, forces him to carefully analyze it and, therefore, orients him in the knowledge of external reality. At the same time, this emotion is also the mechanism that stimulates and directs the motives of mental activity and gives impetus to the choice of means to overcome the discovered contradiction.

L.S. Vygotsky (1984) notes that in subjectivist psychology, interests were either identified with mental activity and considered as a purely intellectual phenomenon, or were derived from the nature of human will, or were placed in the sphere of emotional experiences and were defined as the joy of what is happening without difficulties in the functioning of our strength

The emotions (procedural interests) experienced by a person in the process of performing an activity that interests him are called by B. I. Dodonov a feeling of interest. This, as he writes, is the feeling of a successfully satisfied need for desired experiences. It can be different and is sometimes generated by ordinary needs that have not yet formed a special mechanism of interest and inclination. The activities in which interests express themselves through this feeling can be of a different nature; sometimes it can be limited only to cognitive processes, and then it is noted that people watch something with interest, listen to something with interest, or study something with interest. But a person can work with interest, and play with interest, etc. At the same time, Dodonov believes, depending on the specific nature of the activity, interest will be expressed through different emotions and have a different emotional structure. At the same time, he writes that in order to understand the nature of human interests, their essence must be sought not in the specifics of a “feeling of interest,” but in something completely different. He did not reveal what exactly. This may be the need for novelty, or the attractiveness of the unknown, mysterious, or the desire to feel satisfaction from what has been done.

Considerable attention is paid to the interest of K. Izard (2000). It assumes the presence of a certain internal emotion of interest, which provides selective motivation for the processes of attention and perception and stimulates and organizes human cognitive activity. Interest is considered by Izard as a positive emotion that is experienced by a person more often than all other emotions. At the same time, he talks about interest and motivation.

186 Chapter 6. Characteristics of various emotions

According to W. Charlesworth (1968) and K. Izard, interest, like surprise, is innate in nature. However, Izard does not identify interest with the orienting reflex (involuntary attention), although he points out that the latter can trigger and contribute to the emotion of interest. However, then the indicative reaction disappears, but interest remains. The author emphasizes that interest is something more than attention, and proves this by the fact that a two-month-old child retains attention on a mannequin with a painted face longer than on a mannequin without a face, and on a living human face longer than on a mannequin with a face. The emotion of interest differs from the orienting reflex in that it can be activated by processes of imagination and memory that do not depend on external stimulation. He also points out the difference between interest and surprise and amazement, although he does not dwell on the characteristics that differentiate them.

It seems to me that it is necessary to distinguish between short-term and long-term expressions of interest. Izard talks about the first, which might be called the interest reaction. To be interested means to feel (realize) interest in someone or something (S.I. Ozhegov). Long-term interest is already an intellectual feeling, a positive emotional attitude toward knowing some object.

The facial expression of the emotion of interest, as Izard showed, is most often short-lived and lasts from 0.5 to 4-5 seconds, while the neural activity caused by interest and the experience of it last longer. Interest can be shown by only one facial movement in one of the areas of the face or a combination of them - raised or slightly knitted eyebrows, moving the gaze towards the object, slightly open mouth or pursing of the lips.

The manifestation of an emotion of interest is accompanied first by a slight bradycardia (decrease in heart rate), and then by a slight increase in heart rate. The emotion of interest, according to Izard, manifests itself in such experiences as capture, fascination, curiosity.

Curiosity. When considering interest, domestic psychologists, as a rule, deliberately or unintentionally do not say anything about such a psychological phenomenon as curiosity. Meanwhile, according to S.I. Ozhegov, curiosity is the desire to learn, see something new, a manifestation of interest in something (I would add - “here and now”). In particular, a curious fact is an interesting fact that arouses curiosity, interest, and contains some kind of intrigue. Hence, to intrigue - to arouse interest, curiosity with something mysterious, unclear. Curiosity is akin to the concept of “inquisitive”, i.e. prone to acquiring new knowledge.

It should be noted that, as La Rochefoucauld wrote, there are two types of curiosity: selfish - inspired by the hope of acquiring useful information, and selfish - caused by the desire to know what is unknown to others.

All of the above suggests that there is no reason to exclude curiosity from consideration of the question of interest.

It is obvious that curiosity and inquisitiveness are manifestations of cognitive interest, despite the fact that in some cases curiosity can be petty and empty (i.e., interest is shown in all sorts of random or unimportant circumstances, facts, etc.), or, as writes P. A. Rudik, curiosity is the initial stage of the development of interest in the absence of a clear selective attitude towards the objects of knowledge.

A.G. Kovalev (1970) writes that in young children interest initially manifests itself in the form of curiosity. But this focus on the object is temporary and can be called pre-interest. Actually, interest (attitude) arises in preschool age.

Thus, curiosity can, according to Kovalev, be considered as a manifestation of situational interest. But, on the other hand, can’t everyone say to themselves that in certain situations they also show curiosity about new, striking, surprising, intriguing facts and objects? And don’t we, when reading a work of fiction (a novel, a detective story), show the same curiosity: what will happen next, how will it end?

Therefore, N.D. Levitov is right when he says that curiosity has different forms and it would be wrong to think that they are all an expression of superficial, frivolous curiosity. He highlights spontaneous and naive curiosity, which may not contain anything bad. This kind of curiosity is typical of young children. They can ask a variety of questions to a new person: “Why are you so big?”, “Do you have a little daughter?” etc. Direct and naive curiosity, as Levitov notes, also occurs in adults when they have to pay attention to something new and unusual. Such is the curiosity of a person who finds himself in a new environment.

Levitov also speaks of serious curiosity, which indicates a person’s inquisitiveness. This is a kind of short-term concentrate of curiosity. It is no coincidence that the words “curiosity” and “inquisitiveness” have a common root; Through curiosity, inquisitiveness is formed, inquisitiveness is expressed in curiosity. Levitov considers curiosity as one of the indicators of a person’s mental activity, liveliness and breadth of interests. He emphasizes the role of curiosity in science: it is often the impetus for research.

When they talk about curiosity with disdain, they mean its special form - idle curiosity. This means that curiosity is directed towards an object that is not worthy of attention, and that its source is the desire to penetrate into an area into which the person should not penetrate. Levitov includes onlookers as idle curious people, as well as gossipers who want to know something sensational.

Many psychologists understand interest as a relationship, which follows from the translation of the Latin word “interest” - “important”, “matter”. True, this attitude is not always biased and emotional. Thus, in the “Dictionary of Ethics” interest is defined as the purposeful attitude of a person, society as a whole, towards any object of his need; in the Psychological Dictionary, interest is understood as a person’s need-based attitude towards the world. Most often, however, it is emphasized that interest as an attitude has a positive emotional connotation. For S. L. Rubinstein, interest is a selective, emotionally charged attitude of a person to reality; for A. G. Kovalev, it is an emotional and cognitive attitude, etc. At the same time, Kovalev notes that not every emotional attitude constitutes interest. Joy may not express interest. Consequently, as the author believes, only a stable positive emotional attitude of the individual towards the object can be a mandatory sign of interest. But the latter can also be considered as an inclination (the need to carry out an interesting

198 Chapter 6. Characteristics of various emotions

activity), and as a feeling. Hence the ambiguity in understanding interest as a psychological phenomenon, which I discussed in detail in my book “Motivation and Motives” (Ilyin, 2000).

B. I. Dodonov (1973, 1978) tried to resolve the emerging contradiction in the understanding of interest, on the one hand, as a situational psychological phenomenon (need), and on the other hand, as a stable psychological phenomenon (emotional attitude) as follows. He sees the key to understanding the essence of interests in considering the dynamics of the relationship between needs and emotions, which lead to the emergence of interests-relationships, interests-personal properties. Acting primarily as indicators of a person’s needs, emotions themselves gradually become more and more the “subject” of his special psychological needs, acquire a certain intrinsic value, and begin to be anticipated by the individual in advance. The “mechanism” of each interest, according to Dodonov, includes needs that have acquired a service function. Therefore, from his point of view, interest is the need to experience relationships, the thirst for positive emotions. In fact, he shares A.G. Kovalev’s understanding of interest as a stable positive emotional attitude, showing the origins of this attitude.

It is obvious that understanding interest either as an emotion or as a feeling is incorrect, since interest is both together, but not only that. Interest is, first of all, a motivational formation in which, along with the emotional component (the positive emotional tone of the impression - pleasure from the process), there is also another - the need for knowledge, novelty. Therefore, interest is an affective-cognitive complex.

That which causes surprise, miracle

Alternative descriptions

Each of the appearances: Christ - to the people and the Swan Princess - to Prince Guidon

Roman by P. Zagrebelny

Tears icons

A squirrel singing songs and gnawing golden nuts as a natural phenomenon

. “there is something else in the world...” (Pushkin)

Russian folktale

Fabulous beauty

Surprise, miracle

Nevidal

What a miracle

Something extraordinary

Something wonderful, magical

Miracle of miracles

. “This is a miracle! This...!"

Game of nature

Squirrel gnawing nuts

Something that comes as a surprise

Fairytale miracle

Squirrel singing songs like a miracle

Unheard of, a curiosity

Miracle, phenomenon

Astonishment

Something that causes undue surprise

Unprecedented

Wonderful synonym

That which causes amazement

Old Russian miracle

Wonderful something

An unprecedented thing

Miraculous thing

. “that’s it..., that’s it...” (Pushkin)

Wonderful Vision

An extraordinary phenomenon

Beer is not... and honey is not praise

Natural phenomenon

Something extraordinary

Something wonderful

Miracles, and that’s all!

Miraculous phenomenon

Something amazing

Miracle, unprecedented phenomenon

Same as a miracle

Novel by P. Zagrebelny (1968)

. “There is something else in the world...” (Pushkin)

. "That's it..., that's it..." (Pushkin)

. "This is a miracle! This is...!"

Wed. miracle, unheard of, wonder, lower. divledj thing or thing is rare, amazing. I was amazed and amazed. This is one of the most amazing things. A wonderful miracle, a wonderful miracle: from a black cow, and white milk! I was amazed, I was very amazed. My miracle, my miracle. It became amazing, perm. and what a miracle this is: there is a spill at the gate, a song. Divya adv. no wonder, nothing to marvel at; reluctantly. Divya is the one whose grandmother casts spells. Divya would be our calf and catch the wolf. Divya walks around, no matter what. The Mother of God is not surprised if Christ is the son. novg. used pl. divesa, divas, miracles; in Sib. divodezha What a miracle, the pig has a snout like a nickel! It's a wonderful wonder that they don't drink beer. We brewed some beer and made a diva. Drink a lot of wine and be in trouble; drink a lot of beer and be in trouble. Miracles are marvelous, and miracles are miracles unto themselves. Old man. what a miracle. What is not there is surprising. You are amazed, but we were amazed. There is no wedding without divas, without pranks and miracles. Marvelous architect. wondrous, wonderful, wonderful, amazing, amazing, rare; wonderful, excellent. Wonderful is the world, wonderful are the people. A person is marvelous three times: he is born, he marries, and he dies. Marvelousness wonder, miracle, as a property or quality, old. marvel cf. Wonderfully sitting. and east wonderful; a lot, fairly, plentifully, quite; far, long, long ago. Now he has wondrously knocked down, sitting down. worked a lot. How old are you? it's amazing. How far is it? It will still be amazing. Divnyazhno perm. wonderful, meaning a lot of. Marvel Ryaz. all day, in the morning, for a long time, for a long time; or it's distorted. all day? Amaze people, amaze, amaze. To fool people, to amaze people. Don't marvel at us, don't be amazed. Divi would have spoken the point. novg. or divya, sib. Well, let it be, well, if only. Divya would be good. Divitko Ryaz. Thumb. really, really? Marvel Psk., local. pronunciation, but it’s more correct to talk about girls outside the gate with a friend. To marvel at something, to be surprised, to wonder, to marvel. He was amazed and amazed at this. I wouldn't be surprised. Marvel, go. I was astonished and surprised. He who marvels at everything, people marvel at him. The earthly one boasts, and the heavenly one marvels at the boasting. Every master marvels at himself. They marveled at others, but they themselves broke off on the ice. The rich man is amazed that the poor man cannot live (that the poor man cannot live). The rich man wonders how he gets by, but God helped him. There is nothing to marvel at, God forbid everyone, talk. when someone mocks someone else's misfortune. The fool met the fool and marveled at each other. To marvel or marvel at something, to marvel. Don't marvel at him, don't marvel at him. The bird marvels, looks at the dog and lets the hunter approach. Fool and fool jostled each other and marveled at each other. Miracle Wed. prolonged surprise, looking at something with curiosity. Divun m. divunya w. who wonders what? Divulya vol. arch. joker, buffoon, funny man, eccentric, funny man, gayer. Same pronunciation. sometimes a completely different word: girl, a guy who looks more like a girl. Divok m. divachka f. south zap. strange person, eccentric, miracle worker. To be weird, to be weird, to be weird (to do wonders), to play pranks, to be strange. Miracle cf. Why do people marvel, a person or a marvelous thing, at a miracle for people. Div m. old. marvel, wonder, unheard of, wonder. Diva of the sea, sea monster, monster. Ominous Bird; probably a scarecrow, an eagle owl. Divozor, -nitsa, in general, who sees a miracle, a marvel; He who foresees miracles comprehends and sees more than others. Divosil m. plant. Inula helenium, elecampane

Miracles, and that's all

Wonderful miracle

Miracle, unprecedented in one word

Some unprecedented phenomenon, a curiosity

Surprise is the shortest emotion. Surprise comes suddenly. If you have time to think about an event and consider whether it surprised you or not, then you were not surprised. You cannot be surprised for long, unless the event that amazed you opens up for you with its new unexpected facets. Surprise never lasts. When you stop experiencing surprise, it often disappears as quickly as it appeared.
Surprise is caused both by an unexpected event and by an event that can be called pseudo-unexpected. Imagine a situation where a wife shows up at her husband's office. If she regularly comes at this time to bring her husband lunch, then he will not be surprised - her appearance in the office will be neither unexpected nor mistakenly expected. If the wife rarely comes into the office and the secretary, seeing her, says: “I see your wife on the street,” then the husband’s arrival will not surprise the husband, because in this case he will have time to think about this atypical event and his reasons. But if the wife enters the office without prior notice and her appearance is perceived as something unusual, then this event turns out to be unexpected surprise - an unusual event that was not expected. It is called unexpected, not pseudo-unexpected, because at this moment the person experiencing surprise does not expect anything like it. Now suppose that instead of a coffee peddler who always comes to the office at the same time and always knocks on the door in a special way, a wife appears in the office. Such an event is a pseudo-unexpected surprise. Here there is a specific premonition of something else that is about to happen at that moment. In the case of a pseudo-surprise, an event does not need to be truly unexpected to be surprising; it is the contrast with what was expected at the moment that constitutes the object of surprise. If, at the moment when the coffee seller is expected to appear, a secretary enters the office, this may also cause surprise, perhaps a minor one. If an event opposite to what was expected turns out to be unexpected, then the surprise will be even greater. The appearance of a wife at the moment will seem more surprising than the appearance of a secretary.
Almost anything can be surprising, provided that it turns out to be either unexpected or mistakenly expected. It can be a sight, a sound, a smell, a taste or a touch that is surprising. When a person takes a bite of a pie whose filling looks like chocolate cream, the taste of the pork and mushroom filling may come as a surprise to him. This taste was pseudo-unexpected for him. But it’s not just physical sensations that cause surprise. Another person's unforeseen or mistakenly foreseen idea, remark, or suggestion can also be surprising. Your own thoughts or feelings may be the same. The goal of many detective novels is not simply to arouse fear in the reader (this is the task of works describing all kinds of horrors), but also to surprise him with an unexpected ending. For example, many jokes are based on people's misconceptions, which is why the jokes have an effect. The degree to which you enjoy hearing a joke will depend on how intrigued you are by the plot and how surprised you are by the ending.
If you have time to anticipate the event correctly, then you will not experience surprise. Let's return to our example: if a husband could see his wife approaching the office, he would be surprised the moment he noticed her on the street, but by the time she knocked on his door, he would be no longer surprised. trace. He would not have been surprised if he knew that his wife was going to go shopping near the office. The surprise only lasts until you appreciate what has happened. Once you determine the nature of the event that surprised you, you cease to be surprised. There is usually a ready-made explanation: “I went shopping, but I ran out of money; I decided to come to you for them, met a coffee seller on the way and brought you a glass of coffee myself.” If an event is difficult to explain, then the period of surprise is prolonged; you may feel confused, scared, or think you are being hoaxed. Suppose a woman is greeted on her doorstep by her husband, whom she thought had been killed in the war. The woman is surprised. But it disappears when the man explains: “I am your husband’s twin brother” or: “I was included in the list of those killed by mistake, and after being wounded I suffered from amnesia for a long time.” If the interpretation of the event turns out to be even more incredible than the event itself, then this woman may experience surprise again, become frightened, or think that she is being mystified, for example, if a man says: “I am the spirit of your husband. I came to talk to you."
As soon as you appreciate an unexpected or pseudo-unexpected event, a rapid transition from surprise to another emotional state occurs. “I'm pleasantly surprised,” you say, not realizing that surprise itself is neutral in the hedonic sense. Rather, it is the next emotion that imparts a positive or negative tone to your experience, depending on the nature of the original event. Surprise turns into pleasure or joy if the event brings or promises to bring you something that pleases you. Disgust occurs following a noxious or unpleasant event. If an event provokes aggression, then surprise turns into anger. And if an event poses a threat that you are unable to mitigate, then you experience fear. Fear is the most common consequence of surprise, perhaps because unexpected events are often dangerous and many people associate any unexpected event with danger. Next, we will show how people can confuse fear with surprise due to the similarity in the facial expression of these emotions.
Since surprise is short-lived and quickly replaced by another emotion, the face often displays a mixture of surprise and subsequent emotion. Similarly, if a person is already experiencing some emotion when a surprising event occurs, then his face shows a combination of this emotion and surprise. An astute observer who pays attention to fleeting facial expressions can detect pure expressions of surprise. However, most of us are more familiar with the outward manifestations of surprise combined with elements of the second emotion. Thus, eyes wide open in surprise may remain in this position for a moment while a grin spreads across the lower part of the face. Or the eyebrows may immediately rise upward in surprise, and the drawn back corners of the mouth will give the face an expression of fear. In our study of the emotion of fear, we will show how fear and surprise are simultaneously reflected on the face; Next we will show mixed expressions of surprise and disgust, surprise and anger, and surprise and joy.
Surprise in terms of intensity can manifest itself from weak to extreme, depending on the event that caused it. The unexpected appearance of a wife in her husband's office is likely to be less surprising than the appearance of an old childhood friend with whom communication was severed many years ago. The startle response is considered the ultimate form of surprise, but it has specific characteristics that distinguish it from surprise. Fright shows up differently on the face than surprise. The eyes close for a moment, the head leans back, the lips retract and the person “shudders.” A sudden, large change in stimulation, best exemplified by the sound of a gun going off or the screeching of brakes, produces a startle response. Unlike surprise, where correctly anticipating an event prevents the experience from occurring, the fear response can be caused by an event that you are expecting. Successive loud sounds of gunfire do not cease to cause a fear reaction, although this feeling itself and its manifestation weaken. Unlike the experience of surprise, which is neither pleasant nor unpleasant, the experience of fear is usually unpleasant. Nobody likes to be scared. Sometimes people talk about being scared by someone's ideas or words, but these statements should be taken more as colloquialisms. It is unclear whether a person can actually be frightened by anything other than a sudden loud sound, sight, or touch. You may be extremely surprised by someone's words, display an expression of extreme surprise on your face, and describe what happened as frightening you. Thus, the term "startle" is used to describe a reaction of extreme surprise, as well as a reaction related to, but distinct from, surprise. The startle response is also closely related to fear, and in the next part we will look at the difference between fear and surprise, and also go on to explain the connection between startle and surprise, fear.
Each of the emotions we will discuss can be a pleasurable experience. It is clear that joy is a pleasant emotion, but surprise, fear, anger, disgust and even sadness can also be pleasant, although obviously they usually are not. There are people who rarely take pleasure in experiencing joy, but instead feel guilty or ashamed for the pleasures they receive. Enjoyment of emotions or the inability to enjoy them may be the result of education, but very little is known about how this result is achieved.
Of course, there are people who like to be surprised. An amazing party, an amazing gift, an amazing meeting gives them pleasure. They organize their lives in such a way that they have the opportunity to experience surprise more often and look for something new. In the extreme case, a person “addicted” to surprise, enjoying the experience of surprise more than any other emotions, finds himself forced to give up planning his life - he strives to disorganize it so much that the ability to foresee events does not deprive him of the opportunity to experience surprise.
But there are other people who don't like to be surprised. They tell you, “Please never give me surprises,” even though the surprises may be pleasant for them. They don't want to be exposed to surprises. They organize their lives in such a way as to reduce the appearance of new things in it and to avoid situations in which they will not know what event will happen next. In the extreme, a person who cannot stand surprises engages in abnormally detailed planning and consideration of all possible events; he never acknowledges anything unexpected unless he can make the unexpected predictable. Imagine a scientist who is afraid to be surprised: such a scientist can only confirm or refute hypotheses, but he will never be able to discover anything unexpected.

To demonstrate typical facial expressions, we use photographs of two people, Patricia and John. Appendix I describes what our goals were in taking these photographs, how they were obtained, and who these people were.
Each of the three parts of the face expressing surprise has its own external characteristic features. The eyebrows rise, the eyes open wide, the jaw unclenches, and then the lips part.

Brows

The eyebrows arch and rise. In Fig. 1 (above) you see Patricia's surprised eyebrows (B) and her normal or neutral eyebrows (A). The skin under the raised eyebrows stretches and becomes more visible than usual (arrow 1). Raising the eyebrows causes long horizontal wrinkles to appear on the forehead (arrow 2). Not everyone gets these wrinkles. Most young children do not have them, even when the eyebrows are raised, and they are sometimes absent in adults as well. Some people have horizontal wrinkles - furrows that are permanently present on the skin of the face - even when the eyebrows do not move, but such wrinkles usually appear in middle age. If these permanent wrinkles are present on a neutral face, then they become even deeper and more noticeable when the eyebrows rise upward in surprise.
Although a person experiencing surprise typically not only raises their eyebrows, but also opens their eyes wide and drops their jaw, raised eyebrows can also be observed on a neutral face. In such cases, the facial expression no longer reflects the emotion; it takes on other meanings, some of which may have to do with surprise. In Fig. 1 (bottom) you see surprised eyebrows on a neutral face (B) and a completely neutral face (A). When the eyebrows are held in a raised position for a few seconds, this facial expression becomes emblem doubt or question. Often a person does this when listening to what someone else is telling him; in this way he expresses without words a question or doubt about what he is being told. The question or doubt may or may not be serious; often such an emblem expresses ironic doubt, skepticism or surprise of the listener about the words spoken. If this is accompanied by a movement of the head to the side or back, we observe a silent exclamation. If the raised eyebrows are complemented by a mouth twisted in a grimace of disgust, then the emblem takes on a slightly different meaning - skeptical disbelief or, if a person begins to shake his head back and forth, an incredulous silent exclamation.
In Fig. 1 reveals something else that is very important when considering facial expressions. Patricia appears to have doubt all over her face, but this photograph is a composite. The raised eyebrows are just part of a change to the previously neutral face shown in the left photo. If you cover her eyebrows with your hand, you will see for yourself. Although many facial expressions exist, a change in only one area gives the impression that the rest of the facial features have also changed.
If the surprised eyebrows are held raised very briefly, this may indicate other meanings. If the raising of the eyebrows is accompanied by a tilt of the head or a slight movement of the head up and down, then we observe an emblem of greeting called raising the eyebrows; such an emblem, found in Melanesia, was called universal by one researcher. A quick raise of the eyebrows can also be used as conversational punctuation. When a person speaks, he may quickly raise and lower his eyebrows to emphasize a particular word or phrase. Facial expressions emphasize the words being spoken, much like italics do in printed text. Other movements of the eyebrows and movements of other parts of the face are also used as “punctuation marks,” which we will definitely talk about later.

Eyes

Figure 2 In a face expressing surprise, the eyes are wide open, the lower eyelids are relaxed, and the upper eyelids are raised. In Fig. 2 (left) Patricia and John have wide-eyed surprise; for comparison, the right side of the picture shows their eyes with a neutral facial expression. Notice that in a state of surprise, narrow strips of the whites of the eyes - the sclera - become visible between the upper eyelid and the iris (the colored central part of the eye). The sclera may also be visible below the iris, but this depends on how deep-set the eyes are and whether the lower jaw is dropped low enough to stretch the skin under the eyes. Thus, when you see white below the iris, it is not as reliable an indicator of surprise as the appearance of sclera between the upper eyelid and the iris.
Usually surprised eyes are accompanied by surprised eyebrows, a surprised mouth, or both, but sometimes they appear on their own. When the upper eyelids lift, showing the sclera in the absence of corresponding changes in the positions of the eyebrows and mouth, this movement is almost always short-lived and lasts a small fraction of a second. Such open eyes can serve as a reflection of instantaneous interest or as an addition or replacement, for example, for a word such as “Great!” Wide eyes can also be used as conversational "punctuation" to emphasize a specific word being spoken.

Lower face

At the moment of surprise, the lower jaw drops, causing the teeth to unclench and the lips to part. In Fig. 3 shows that the mouth, slightly open in surprise, is relaxed, not tense; the lips are not closed and not pulled back. Instead, the mouth appears as if it has opened naturally. The mouth can be opened only slightly, moderately open, as shown in Fig. 3, or more widely opened, and this degree of opening depends on how strong the surprise is. We will give an example of such variations below.

The jaw may drop without any movement of the rest of the face. In Fig. Figure 3 shows a face in which surprise is reflected only in its lower part in the form of a lowered jaw, and for comparison the same face is shown in a neutral state. The point of dropping the jaw is to express shock. The jaw dropping might have happened if Patricia had actually been stunned by something; it can serve as an emblem if Patricia wants to claim that she was stunned at some point in the past; or it can be used to give a feigned expression to the face when she wants to act stunned. Figures 3 and 1 show how changing one part of the face results in a complete change in the expression of the entire face. Take a look at the eye area in Fig. 3B: There seems to be a little more surprise expressed than in Fig. 8A. But it is also a composite photograph; If you cover the mouth areas in both images with your hand, you will see that the eyes and eyebrows - forehead are the same in both photos.

From slight surprise to extreme

The surprise experienced varies in intensity, and the face reflects these variations. Although there are subtle changes in the eyebrows (raising a little) and eyes (widening and opening a little wider), the main indicator of the intensity of surprise is the lower part of the face. In Fig. 4A shows slight surprise, and Fig. 4B - moderate surprise. The eyebrows and eyes look the same in both photos; Only the level of lowering of the jaw changes. The stronger the surprise, the wider the mouth opens. Expressions of extreme surprise are often accompanied by exclamations such as “Ooh” or “Wow.”

Four types of surprise

Surprise can be expressed through just two areas of the face, while the third area remains neutral. Each face in which surprise appears in two parts has its own somewhat special meaning. In Fig. Figure 5 shows four types of surprise. But before we get into explaining what message we think each of these faces is conveying and how differences in facial appearance shape these different messages, take a look at each of these photos and ask yourself, “What message is this?” and: “How does this face differ in appearance from other faces?”
In Fig. 5A Patricia demonstrates interrogative surprise, which has a rather vague character. This facial expression could be accompanied, for example, by the following words: “Is this so?” or, “Oh, really?” It is exactly the same as shown in Fig. 5D, with the only difference that in Fig. The 5D surprised mouth has been replaced with a neutral one. If you cover the mouth areas of the faces shown in Fig. 5A and 5D, you will see that these faces are identical in everything except the shape of the mouth. Surprise looks interrogative when the expression of surprise on the face is created only by movements of the eyebrows and eyes.
In Fig. 5B Patricia demonstrates surprise, reaching astonishment. This facial expression may be accompanied by words such as "What?" or sounds such as "Ah" made at the same time as a quick breath. If you cover the eyebrows and forehead of the faces shown in Fig. 5B and 5D, you will see that these faces are identical in everything except the closed parts - the eyebrow and forehead areas. Surprise reaches amazement when it is expressed on the face only through movements of the eyes and mouth.
In Fig. 5C Patricia displays surprise that is closer to stupefied, or less interested surprise, or the kind of surprise that might be expressed on the face of someone who is internally devastated or under the influence of drugs. If you close your eyes to fig. 5C and 5D, you will see that everything is the same on them, except for the eyes. Surprise looks similar to surprise when it is expressed only by movements of the eyebrows and mouth.
In Fig. Figure 5D shows the expression of surprise created by elements of all three facial regions. The meaning of the message disseminated by such a person lies in one word - surprise.

Summary

Figure 6
In Fig. Figure 6 shows the expressions of surprise produced by all three parts of the face. Notice each of the hallmarks of surprise.

• The eyebrows are raised and arched.
• The skin under the eyebrows is stretched.
• There are horizontal wrinkles across the forehead.
• The eyelids are open; the upper eyelids are raised, the lower ones are lowered; The white of the eyes - the sclera - can be seen above the iris, and often below it.
• The lower jaw drops so that the lips and teeth are parted and the mouth is relaxed.

"Constructing" facial expressions

You can consolidate your acquired knowledge about facial expressions of surprise by “constructing” the faces that you saw on this page. To do this, take photographs with neutral facial expressions of John and Patricia (click to enlarge, save to your computer, and print). Cut each photo in half along the white lines. Now you have everything you need to create different expressions of surprise on the faces of Patricia and John.

1. Take pieces C and place them on the faces in the pic. 2. What is the facial expression in these photographs?
   You've seen a face like this on Patricia before, but you've never seen a face like this on John. It expresses doubt or distrust (Fig. 1).
2. Place parts B on the faces in fig. 2. What expression did you get now? You saw this expression in Patricia in Fig. 8. John will have the same expression. It's an expression of bewilderment.
3. Overlay pics on the images. 2 parts A, and then layer D. This is a facial expression you haven't seen before, but we'll talk about it later. You use only surprised eyes, and if the expression appears only for a moment, it means interest or a silent exclamation. Leave part D where it is and swap parts A and C. This will give the impression that the eyes are moving back and forth from neutral to surprised, just as they would in life.
4. Leave only parts A. You will get a look of amazement (Figure 1B). Now put parts D back and remove parts A. You will get an expression of questioning surprise. By swapping A and D, you can observe how the meaning of facial expressions changes.

Astonishment

Surprise is an emotional short reaction to a sudden, unexpected event, which has clearly defined facial features: wide open eyes, raised eyebrows, a wrinkled forehead and a half-open round mouth. It is one of the most easily recognized and universal emotional responses. And according to our “ABC of Emotions,” it is not an emotion that can form an emoengram. Surprise can be on a scale from an unpleasant shade to a pleasant one, tending towards joy or fear, depending on the situation, striking in its unexpectedness, unusualness, strangeness or incomprehensibility of a person.

With this feeling, a person experiences a kind of mental shock, or stopper, in which the brain is freed from thoughts for a split second. With a light electric shock, the muscles instantly contract. An analogy can be drawn that also with surprise there is a sensation, as if from an electric shock, something makes a current run through the nerves, which makes you shudder. When surprised, a person does not know “what’s next?”, since suddenness gives him a feeling of uncertainty.

In our context of a table of emotional states from mood to affect, surprise is a feeling, not an emotion, precisely because it is a short-term state that a person experiences when an unexpected situation arises. If an unexpected situation turns out to be dangerous, then surprise can develop into low-tone states such as anxiety, fear, fright. If the situation is assessed as safe or pleasant, then high-tone – interest, happiness, joy. The feeling of surprise is familiar to every person since childhood, which is why this emotional reaction does not receive sufficient description and understanding in humans.

It is generally accepted that most people regard the feeling of surprise as a positive experience. Any person, when recalling a situation with a feeling of surprise, will most often talk about a joyful or pleasant surprise, or further pleasure received.

Surprise, according to psychologists, occupies an intermediate position between positive and negative emotions. In our theory of emoengrams this is not the case; we do not have negative emotions. It is important to note that in general, the high-tone state of interest in the transition further through surprise to excitement from the discovery made has a much higher level of emotional tension than just the emotion of joy from the received gift.

Surprise is characterized by short-termism - quickly, comes suddenly and goes away just as quickly. Unlike other feelings and emotions, surprise cannot motivate human behavior for a long time. Often, psychologists attribute surprise not to emotions in the true meaning of the word, but to emotional reactions. The main function of surprise is to prepare a person to effectively interact with something new or sudden. It's like a flash or a signal to attract attention.

Poems from V.

We are all free until opening,

Until new dreams, peaks of heights!..

But in some there is a hunger for events,

In others, it's the other way around.

Pavel Ivanov. "My Special One."

Human life is, first of all, life through emotional states, which a person always experiences long or short, one or several at once. The duration of an emotion is characterized by the psychological and physiological individualities of a person. Once they arise in connection with a specific situation, they do not seem to fade away for a long time and continue to keep a person in this state. A striking example is sadness or sadness. And just like that, if it weren’t for the emotional reaction of surprise, which is capable of changing the general emotional background of a person, when danger suddenly arises, then the person who is sad at that moment could have died.

Surprise, as it were, shakes the body and clears the channels for other emotional currents, prepares the body for new activity and a new perception of what is happening.

This text is an introductory fragment.