Four systems for emotion activation: Cognitive and noncognitive processes.

Abstract

The significant role of emotions in evolution and adaptation suggests that there must be more than 1 mechanism for generating them. Nevertheless, much of current emotion theory focuses on cognitive processes (appraisal, attribution, and construal) as the sole, or primary, means of eliciting emotions. As an alternative to this position, the present model describes 4 types of emotion-activating systems, 3 of which involve noncognitive information processing. From an evolutionary-developmental perspective, the systems maybe viewed as a loosely organized hierarchical arrangement, with neural systems, the simplest and most rapid, at the base and cognitive systems, the most complex and versatile, at the top. The emotion-activating systems operate under a number of constraints, including genetically influenced individual differences. The hierarchical organization of the systems for generating emotions provides an adaptive advantage.

Toward an Understanding of the Determinants of Anger.

“…Emotional experiences result from emotion-related muscular actions. James's basic thesis has been taken up in recent years by a number of investigators, most notably by Tomkins (1962Tomkins ( -1963, Izard (1971Izard ( , 1993, Ekman (1984Ekman ( , 1993, and Laird (e.g., Laird & Bresler, 1992). Although these researchers typically devoted most of their attention to the emotion-arousing effects of facial expressions, some of them (e.g., Duclos et al, 1989;Riskind & Gotay, 1982) subsequently extended their research to the consequences of muscular movements in other parts of the body.…”

“…Then too, research into the conditions under which anger is aroused can also touch on the metatheoretical controversy as to whether emotions can be evoked independently of cognitions. Although we do not want to revive the now well-worn argument as to just what is involved in the concept cognition, if one adopts the relatively restricted definition favored by Izard (1993) and Zajonc 1 In their questionnaire study of some 2,900 university students on five continents, Scherer and Wallbott (1994) found that, for the emotions they investigated, the similarities in reported emotion-specific feelings, physiological symptoms, and bodily expressions across countries were much greater than the variations among the countries. And they concluded that "The data reported here do not support an extreme position of cultural relativism with respect to emotional experience" (p. 324).…”

“…Then too, research into the conditions under which anger is aroused can also touch on the metatheoretical controversy as to whether emotions can be evoked independently of cognitions. Although we do not want to revive the now well-worn argument as to just what is involved in the concept cognition, if one adopts the relatively restricted definition favored by Izard (1993) and Zajonc Leonard Berkowitz and Eddie Harmon-Jones, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.We thank the individuals who provided valuable comments on previous versions of this article: Jack Brehm, Brad Bushman, Cindy Harmon-Jones, Tom Johnstone, Linda Levine, Joe Newman, Brian Parkinson, Carien van Reekum, and Piotr Winkielman. We are particularly appreciative of the editors' thoughtful and challenging observations throughout the submission process.…”

“…Then too, research into the conditions under which anger is aroused can also touch on the metatheoretical controversy as to whether emotions can be evoked independently of cognitions. Although we do not want to revive the now well-worn argument as to just what is involved in the concept cognition, if one adopts the relatively restricted definition favored by Izard (1993) and Zajonc Leonard Berkowitz and Eddie Harmon-Jones, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.…”

Exploring the Possibilities of Body Motion Data for Human Computer Interaction Research

“…Results show that even engagement and social interaction are encouraged by controllers that afford movement [26]. Izard et al [27] describes neural, sensorimotor, motivational and cognitive processes that can influence emotions. Body posture and movement can activate emotions by afferent processes.…”