A cikin shekarar 2009, Docter ya lura da 'yarsa mai shekaru goma sha biyu, Elie, tana nuna irin wannan jin kunya. "Ta fara zama mai nutsuwa da jinkiri, kuma hakan, a gaskiya, ya haifar da yawancin rashin tsaro da tsoro na", in ji shi. Ya yi tunanin abin da ke faruwa a cikin tunanin mutum lokacin da motsin rai ya shiga. Dukkanin ra'ayin da aka nuna ta hanyar motsin rai ya burge Docter, wanda ya ji shi ne mafi kyawun tsari don nuna "mutane masu ƙarfi, masu ra'ayi, masu ra'ayi". Ya fara binciken bayanai game da hankali, tare da Jonas Rivera, mai samarwa, da Ronnie del Carmen, darektan na biyu. Sun tuntubi Paul Ekman Jobs, sanannen masanin halayyar mutum wanda ke nazarin motsin rai, da Dacher Keltner, farfesa a fannin ilimin halayyar kwakwalwa a Jami'ar California.
Shekarar 2011