An Explanation of “Emotional” Phenomena without the use of the Concept “Emotion”

Duffy, Elizabeth

doi:10.1080/00221309.1941.10544400

Cited by 151 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…It is simple, easily understood by participants in experiments, and highly reliable. From a theoretical point of view one can argue that activation or arousal variation is one of the major distinctive features of emotion (indeed, Duffy (1941) suggested emotions are just different degrees of arousal), and the valence dimension, the pervasive pleasant-unpleasant quality of experience, maps directly into the classic approach-avoidance action tendencies that have direct relevance for behavior. Recently, Russell (2003) even went as far as claiming that valence and arousal are the "core processes" of affect, constituting the raw material or primitive of emotional experience.…”

Section: Dimensional Models Of Emotion Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Which Emotions Can be Induced by Music? What Are the Underlying Mechanisms? And How Can We Measure Them?

Scherer

2004

Journal of New Music Research

355

322

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The study of emotional effects of music is handicapped by a lack of appropriate research paradigms and methods, due to a dearth of conceptual-theoretical analyses of the process underlying emotion production via music. It is shown that none of the three major assessment methods for emotion induction -lists of basic emotions, valence-arousal dimensions, and eclectic emotion inventories -is well suited to the task. By focusing on a small number of evolutionarily continuous basic emotions one downplays the more complex forms of emotional processes in humans, especially affective feeling states produced by music which do not serve adaptive behavioral functions. Similarly, a description of emotional effects of music limited to valence and arousal gradations precludes assessment of the kind of qualitative differentiation required by the study of the subtle emotional effects of music. Finally, eclectic lists of emotions generated by researchers to suit the needs of a particular study may lack validity and reliability and render a comparison of research results difficult. A second problem consists in the tendency to assume that "emotions" and "feelings" are synonyms. It is suggested that "feelings" can be profitably conceptualized as a central component of emotion, which integrates all other components and serves as the basis for the conscious representation of emotional processes and for affect regulation. It is proposed that a radical paradigm change is required to free research on the emotional effects of music from the excessive constraints imposed by these two common misconceptions. Concretely, it is suggested that affect produced by music should be studied as (more or less conscious) feelings that integrate cognitive and physiological effects, which may be accounted for by widely different production rules. Suggestions for new ways of measuring affective states induced by music are made.

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Section: Dimensional Models Of Emotion Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Which Emotions Can be Induced by Music? What Are the Underlying Mechanisms? And How Can We Measure Them?

Scherer

2004

Journal of New Music Research

355

322

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“…Some of the earliest investigations have described emotional experience as comprising two dimensionsvalence and intensity (e.g., Duffy, 1934Duffy, , 1941Dunlap, 1932). Others have extended this model to emotional memory for images, facial expressions, language, and experiences (Bradley, Codispoti, Cuthbert, & Lang, 2001;Osgood, 1966;Robinson, 1980;Russell, 1980).…”

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confidence: 99%

Emotional intensity predicts autobiographical memory experience

2004

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College students generated autobiographical memories from distinct emotional categories that varied in valence (positive vs. negative) and intensity (high vs. low). They then rated various perceptual, cognitive, and emotional properties for each memory. The distribution of these emotional memories favored a vector model over a circumplex model. For memories of all specific emotions, intensity accounted for significantly more variance in autobiographical memory characteristics than did valence or age of the memory. In two additional experiments, we examined multiple memories of emotions of high intensity and positive or negative valence and of positive valence and high or low intensity. Intensity was a more consistent predictor of autobiographical memory properties than was valence or the age of the memory in these experiments as well. The general effects of emotion on autobiographical memory properties are due primarily to intensity differences in emotional experience, not to benefits or detriments associated with a specific valence.

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“…Although the particular feature of conflict and S-aversiveness that is responsible for contrast is not well known, we suggest that it may be diffuse arousal (cf. Duffy, 1941Duffy, , 1957. The type ofrelationship imagined here among conflict, aversive stimulation, and arousal has been skillfully noted elsewhere (cf.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An experimental study of by-products of successive discrimination learning in the pigeon

Damron

Burstein

1981

Bull. Psychon. Soc.

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Four experimental groups and a control group, of five pigeons each, were trained to successively discriminate a vertical amber line from one oriented either 30 or 60 deg to the right. Depending on group, pecks were intermittently reinforced by either 2.5 or 5.0 sec access to the food hopper. During discrimination, the subjects were provided a second response key, a peck upon which provided a 5-sec time-out (TO) from either the positive or the negative stimulus. Frequency of response on both the TO key and the discrimination key was monitored throughout. After the discrimination training, all subjects were given a postdiscrimination generalization test. Although peak shift was not obtained, the results support the hypothesis that byproducts of successive discrimination learning are functions of magnitude of S+ reinforcement and degree of S+/S-separation. It was concluded that the results are consistent with a conflict theory of by-products of discrimination learning.In successive discrimination training, a subject is alternately presented two stimuli: S+, which is correlated with reinforcement, and S-, which is correlated with nonreinforcement or extinction. Three well-known "by-products" usually accompany the development of differential stimulus control in this procedure. These are peak shift, positive behavioral contrast, and S-aversiveness. 1 According to Terrace, each of these by-products disappears with extended discrimination training (Terrace, 1966(Terrace, , 1971, and none develops if the discrimination is acquired without "errors," that is, responses to S- (Terrace, 1966).According to Terrace (1971, 1972), by-products of discrimination learning originate in the occurrence of frustration-producing responses in the S-condition. However, this view has not held up well to experimental test (see, e.g., Rilling, 1977, pp. 469-470). Moreover, Terrace's theory cannot readily account for by-products occurring in the context of aversive conditioning procedures wherein S-is correlated with the nonaversive condition (Hearst, 1969, p. 36).In noting the foregoing problems, Hearst (1969) has questioned the parsimony of the S-aversiveness concept and, in the same stroke, made the case for a more general gradient-interaction model of discrimination learning such as the one developed by Spence (1937). Such a model is not without convincing empirical support (see, e.g., Hearst, 1968Hearst, , 1969 Terrace, 1971), it would seem to be incumbent upon proponents of gradient-interaction theory to show how the theory might be expanded to account for the foregoing byproducts.In this spirit, the purpose of this study was to investigate aspects of a general gradient-interaction theory, wherein it is proposed that S-aversiveness and related by-products of discrimination learning are functions of dispositional conflict at S-between inhibitory and generalized excitatory tendencies accruing to that stimulus as a result of discrimination training.The experiment below specifically examines two conflict-affecting variables: degree of S...

show abstract

An Explanation of “Emotional” Phenomena without the use of the Concept “Emotion”

Cited by 151 publications

References 7 publications

Which Emotions Can be Induced by Music? What Are the Underlying Mechanisms? And How Can We Measure Them?

Which Emotions Can be Induced by Music? What Are the Underlying Mechanisms? And How Can We Measure Them?

Emotional intensity predicts autobiographical memory experience

An experimental study of by-products of successive discrimination learning in the pigeon

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