Motivation and emotion part 11 Flashcards
(8 cards)
“Is it really necessary to study emotion as an independent field of study, or is it always linked to cognition?”
This is the core of the cognitive emotion debate:
Cognitivist View: Emotions are born from thoughts, interpretations, or beliefs.
Anti-cognitivist View: Emotions are more primitive and automatic, not needing thought.
We’ll now look at key models and theories, organized below by:
Cognitive Theories (Mandler, new cognitivist model)
Criticism from Emotion-First Theories (Zajonc)
Affect-Cognition Interaction (Clore & Ortony, bottom-up & top-down)
🧠 1. MANDLER’S THEORY OF EMOTION
(Seen in slide: Cognition/emotion predominance → Mandler’s theory)
🔑 Key Terms:
Stimulus (S)
Perception/Interpretation
Physiological Activation
Cognitive Interpretation
Emotional Behavior
Emotional Awareness
Intensity and Quality
🔄 Explanation:
Imagine you’re walking in the woods and hear a rustle (stimulus). You perceive and interpret it (“It might be a snake!”). Your body reacts—heart races, muscles tense (physiological activation). Then, your mind interprets both the sound and your physical response (“I’m scared because I think it’s dangerous”). This cognitive interpretation gives emotional meaning to the situation and creates emotional awareness (“I’m afraid!”).
🧠 = How scared you feel (intensity) and what emotion you feel (quality).
📊 Emotional Behavior then follows—maybe you scream or run.
Mandler says emotions arise from interruptions in thought—when something unexpected occurs, our cognition scrambles to make sense of it, triggering emotion.
🧠 2. THE NEW COGNITIVIST MODEL
(Seen in slide: Assessment is a prior and necessary step)
🔑 Key Terms:
Assessment is a prior and necessary step
Stimulus → Assessment → Emotion
💡 Analogy:
Think of assessment like a security scanner at an airport. Every new “stimulus” (person) has to be scanned before entering the “emotion” zone. The scanner asks: Is this safe? Dangerous? Familiar? Important?
If the scanner finds something meaningful, the emotional alarm goes off.
🔶 Assessment is a prior and necessary step for emotion. Without it, the system doesn’t react emotionally.
This is central in appraisal theories, where emotion depends on how you judge a situation (not just what it is objectively).!!!!!!
⚔️ 3. ZAJONC’S DEFENSE OF EMOTION OVER COGNITION
(Seen in slide: Emotion can occur without cognition)
Zajonc argued against the idea that emotions always follow thoughts.
🔑 Key Points:
Emotion is a basic process
Emotions are inevitable
Difficult to alter once they occur
Difficult to verbalize (non-verbal language)
🐶 Analogy:
Imagine a dog growling at you. You might feel fear instantly—even before thinking “this is dangerous.” That’s what Zajonc means: emotion is fast, automatic, and happens without thinking.
Think of emotion like a smoke alarm—sometimes it goes off before you know why.
Zajonc believes emotions are more primitive, evolved to keep us alive, not to wait for us to think.
🔄 4. AFFECT–COGNITION INTERACTION
(Seen across slides: valuation pathways, bottom-up vs top-down, processing types)
This section explains how thoughts and emotions interact—especially how we evaluate a situation to create an emotion.
💡 Key Terms (with Definitions + Analogies):
Valuation Pathways:
Bottom-up (Computed)
At the moment of the situation
Computed from raw data
Example: You’re handed a bill and instantly feel stressed.
🧠 Analogy: Like solving a math problem from scratch using logic and details.
Top-down (Reinstated)
From prior experience
Emotion is triggered by memory
Example: You see a clown, and remember being scared by “IT” as a kid.
🧠 Analogy: Like opening a saved file on your computer instead of making a new one.
Types of Categorization:
Prototype-based:
Categorizing by comparing to the most typical example.
Analogy: You think “bird” = sparrow, not penguin.
We use common features to match new stimuli to known emotional categories.
Theory-based:
Categorizing by understanding causes, context, and function.
Analogy: A whale is a mammal, even if it looks like a fish—because of what we know.
Forms of Processing:
Rules-based processing:
Follows logic like: “If X, then Y.”
Analogy: Like a flowchart or a courtroom argument—based on symbols, principles.
🧩 Forms of Processing (Associative processing)?
Key Phrase:
Forms of processing (Associative processing)
“This feels like that time when…”
🧠 Explanation:
In associative processing, your brain isn’t applying logic or rules. Instead, it’s using emotional memory patterns—like a mood-based “déjà vu”.
🎞️ Analogy: Think of it like a playlist set on “shuffle by vibe.” A current situation emotionally “feels like” a previous one, so your mind connects them—even if they’re totally different on the surface.
📌 Example:
You see an apple on a plate and suddenly feel uneasy. You’re not consciously thinking it through—your brain is linking it with a past memory (maybe of being forced to eat when sick). It’s the subjective similarity (the look, smell, or situation) that drives the emotional reaction.
This highlights how emotion isn’t just rational—it’s historical and contextual, working off emotional “associations.”
⚡ Behavioral Function: Preparation for Immediate Action
Key Phrase:
Behavioral function (Preparation for immediate action)
🧠 Explanation:
This function is evolution’s emergency response system.
🚨 Analogy: Imagine an emotional “fire drill.” When an emotionally significant situation occurs (like seeing a snake), your brain doesn’t stop to think—it accelerates decision-making to prepare your body to run, fight, or freeze.
You don’t reason; you react fast.
This is crucial for survival, especially in dangerous or threatening contexts.
“Being ready to react quickly to an emotionally significant situation” means that emotion acts like an early-warning system triggering physical readiness (e.g. adrenaline, faster heartbeat).
🔁 Behavioral Function: Adaptive Flexibility or Versatility
Key Phrase:
Behavioral function (Adaptive flexibility or versatility)
🧠 Explanation:
This is the rational twin of the fast-response function.
🧠 Analogy: Think of it like emotional “gear shifting.” You’re not just reacting fast—you’re choosing the right emotion for the context. If you’re in a job interview and feel nervous, adaptive flexibility helps you stay calm, think clearly, and not panic.
It’s about conscious adaptation—like choosing different outfits based on weather. Emotions are adjusted appropriately to suit the social, cultural, or personal context.
This flexibility is a cognitive skill, tied to emotional intelligence.
Contrast this with the previous function:
Preparation for action = fast, automatic, survival
Adaptive flexibility = slow, conscious, strategic
