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Association of Emotion and Cognition over
centuries of philosophy
Mind v. Brain debate
Emotion and Cognition
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Magda Arnold (1960) Emotion and Personality
– appraisal theory of emotions
Richard Lazarus (1991) Language and
Adaptation - theory of cognitive-mediational
theory within emotion
Cornelius (2000: 2.3) The Cognitive Approach
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Emotion and Cognition (or Reason) have been
associated over the centuries
Reason = master
Emotion = slave
‘Good’ emotions > virtues > support
relationship to cognition
‘Bad’ emotions > sins > the ‘bestial’ part of
human nature
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“The central assumption of the cognitive
perspective and its associated tradition of
research is that thought and emotion are
inseparable. More specifically, all emotions
are seen within this perspective as being
dependent on what Arnold (1960) called
appraisal, the process by which events in the
environment are judged as good or bad for
us”.
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Arnold challenged James’ "bodily changes follow
directly the PERCEPTION of the exciting fact"
(James, 1884, p. 189) .
How does that perception take place?
How does perception lead to the bodily changes
described?
For Arnold and others the missing link is the
process of appraisal.
James could not conceive of an emotion without
a body
Arnold could not conceive of an emotion without
an appraisal.
A (James)
1. Emotion producing event
2. Individual’s resulting phu
3. Individual's perception of event and
consequent emotion
B (Arnold)
1. Emotion producing event
2. Individual's perception of event and
consequent emotion
3. Individual’s resulting behaviour
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Man sees tiger
Does he
◦ Take evasive action
◦ Shake
◦ Attribute his reaction to fear?
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OR
Does he
◦ Appraise the dangerous situation
◦ Take evasive action
◦ Shake?
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John dislikes a person
John attributes this dislike to this person’s
unpleasant behaviour
John observes behaviour of unpleasant
person at a party
John dislikes this person
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Do we experience emotion and then reason
about it?
How ‘instinctive’/’unconscious’ is our
reaction?
Is there time – in the ‘Fear’ example – to
reason?
Do we appraise a situation and then react
emotionally?
Do we ‘instinctively’ dislike someone – or
does dislike result from cognitive
appreciation?
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Theories of Perception
◦ Bibliography used drew attention to physical
processing by the brain
◦ Little reference to influence of psychological
influence or the ‘mind’
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Yet – the lexicon of light effects often
associated with observation of emotion
Is emotion physical or psychological?
Does it involve Mind or Brain?
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Emotion is "a mental feeling or affection (e.g. of
pain, desire, hope, etc.) as dist(inct) from
cognitions or volitions”
Mind is "the seat of consciousness, thoughts,
volitions, and feelings", or "memory”
Brain is "taken as the seat of sensation, the
organ of thought, memory, or imagination”.
Mental is "concerned with the phenomena of
mind”
Physical is "of or pertaining to material nature;
pertaining to or connected with matter; material;
opp(osite) to psychical, mental, spiritual”
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Definitions by S.O.E.D – tended to be circular
and not very helpful!
Further basic research found very confusing
references
◦ E.g. Entry in Encyclopedia Britannica on ’Emotion’
clearly 1960’s Behaviourist
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SO ….. My reading took me in several
different directions
The result – although now rather out-of-date
- was the first chapter of my thesis
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“Emotion – a Controversial Subject”
◦ Mind v. Brain debate
◦ Follows argument 1950s > 1990s
◦ Ryle’s (1949) – negation of the “ghost in the
machine” > ‘mind’ + ‘brain’ = BRAIN!
◦ Bunge (1977) - “Any notion of Mind unexplainable
by science”.
◦ Idea of brain as ‘black box’
◦ Neuroscience and technology - study of the Brain
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What is hard-wired – what is learnt?
Communication in non-human species
◦ Lorenz (1952) – birds; Frisch (1967) – bees; Goodall
and Hussey and primates
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Human brain’s capacity for language Broca’s and Wernicke's areas, have little or no
counterpart in the brains of other species
Chomsky (1947) – Language and Mind – yet
language structures in the brain?
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Brain has its centre of emotion in limbic
system – evolutionarily most primitive part
But sensory perception - except smell - is
processed between limbic system and prefrontal lobes in complex interaction
If brain is damaged – or malformed or
develops abnormally – this will affect normal
interaction – e.g. certain types of autism
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Used neurological evidence to argue that
Descartes’ theory of dualism of mind and
brain > essentially flawed
The brain + the sensory information fed in by
every fibre of our bodies contributes to the
way we function
If emotion process in the brain is damaged –
as in the example he uses – the individual
loses ability to interact successfully in society
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What is the relationship between
physiological reactions and cognitive
identification of emotion?
Arguments in favour of independent ‘mind’
based on theories of interval of time in
situation of emotion
◦ Some neurologists argue that it is not possible for
the brain to process so fast
◦ Others argue that the whole body conveys
messages
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Compare:
◦ Learner driver v. expert driver
◦ Beginners v. champions of fast moving games like
tennis, ping pong
◦ Learning to play the piano v. a concert pianist
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Consider:
◦ Fear of – spiders, snakes, lions, dogs, people we
know, strangers, the dark ….
◦ Love of – God, parents, children, partners, dogs,
swimming, coffee …..
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Are intuitions results of instinct or learning?
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Darwin and James – Interested in evolution
1930-60 influence of Freud
1950-60s - Behaviourists – interested in
making Psychology a scientific discipline
based on observable phenomena esp. Skinner
(1953)
1970s a move away from simple stimulus >
response to stimulus > organism > response
Idea of brain as ‘black box’
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Fridja (1986) and others – interested
Universals and behaviour
Plutchik (1990) - interested in Universals and
categories of emotions
Lazarus (1991: 39) – offers “a theory of
emotion that is cognitive, motivational and
relational”…
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Gradual ‘Retreat from Radical Behaviorism
and the Rise of Cognitivism’ (Lazarus (1991:
8-15)
Lazarus (1991: 15-29) Perspectives on
Emotion:
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The
The
The
The
Individual
Observer
Society
Species
1.
2.
How should the construct of emotion be
defined? What should a theory of emotion
do?
Which reactions are emotions, which are
not, and by what reasoning should we make
the decision? Is startle an emotion? What
about surprise? Pain and pleasure? How
about empathy and aesthetic emotions? Are
frustration, threat, challenge and hope
emotions or are the best regarded as types
of appraisal?
3.
Are emotions best thought of as discrete
categories – for example, anger, frightanxiety, guilt, shame, envy, jealousy,
sadness, happiness, love, pride, relief, hope,
compassion - or a small set of factor
dimensions such as pleasantness and
unpleasantness, tension or relaxation or the
like?
4.
5.
What, if any, is the role of action tendencies
and physiological activity in emotion? …..
Should physiological activity be a defining
attribute of emotion?
What are the functional interdependencies
among emotions such as anger, guilt,
sadness, relief and so on? … hate (anger)
and love (affection? …. Depression >
anxiety, guilt and sadness?
6.
What are the functional relations among
what Hilgard (1980) called the trilogy of
mind – namely, cognition, motivation and
emotion? … What role, for example, does
cognition play in the generation of an
emotion? What kinds of cognition are there
and do they all influence the emotion
process and in the same way?
7.
8.
9.
How can we reconcile biological universals
in emotion (biological scientists) with sociocultural sources of variability (social
scientists)?
How should we relate the concept of
cognitive appraisal to depth psychology and
unconscious mental activity?
How does each emotion differ in the way it
is generated?
10.
How should we understand emotional
development? What are the sources of
influence? What is the role of biological
factors such as temperament? What is the
role of learning and personality?.....
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What does language usage tell us about
emotion?