Theories and their applications in research

Physiology of Emotions

Varying Theories on the Physiology of Emotions

In their theory, "How Emotion Shapes Behavior: Feedback, Anticipation, and Reflection, Rather Than Direct Causation," Baumeister, Vohs, DeWall and Zhang show how the secondary function of emotions is much more important to humans than their initial response to an emotion. Emotions in response to stimuli provoke actions that usually begin too late to effectively react to the stimuli. Thus, it makes more sense to consider the function of emotions as part of a learning process than it does to imagine their value rests with the initial human response. Human emotion is studied as a feedback system that shapes current and future behaviors based on processing prior actions and reactions motivated by emotions. We need this feedback system to successfully function in such complex social and cultural systems. For example, if one is in a public place and moved to anger by another to the point of violence. The subject punches the stimulus; the stimulus punches back, people in the surrounding environment react to the violence with disapproval, fear, disappointment and attempts to restore order. The subject may be thrown in jail where he will reflect upon all that occurred. In his reflection, he will consider all of the consequences of his reaction to his emotions. Through such experiences and considerations, he will both unconsciously and consciously learn how to better respond to similar emotional stimulus in the future.

In their theory, "On the Automaticity of Emotions," Barrett, Ochsner, and Gross discuss a constraint-satisfaction approach that involves dual processing of emotions. They explain how our emotional reactions involve an integration of direct responses to stimuli and conscious, controlled processing of those stimuli. They discuss the limitations of the "modal model" which focuses on how discrete emotions are generated automatically by different situations. Barret, Ochsner, and Gross show how a constraint-satisfaction approach better represents the spectrum of emotional phenomena observed. In reaction to stimuli, a human subject responds with constraint matching to create patterns and constraint interpretation to shape the emotional reaction. This theory shows how different parts of the brain engage throughout the process creating more flexible responses to emotional stimuli involving as much conscious processing and automatic reactions as necessary from remembered prior similar events.

In their theory, "Affect and Proto-Affect in Effective Functioning," Ortony, Norman, and Revelle look at the function of emotions on four domains (affect, motivation, cognition, and behavior) in three levels (reactive, routine, and reflective). The reactive level is more automatic and can even interrupt higher-level processing in immediate responses to the surroundings. The routine level involves learned responses that come with focused motor activity and skills used every day. Both levels deal directly with what is perceived from external stimuli; whereas, the reflective level processes information from the reactive and routine levels. At this level, conscious processing of emotions can be interrupted by the other levels, but cannot control, only intensify or dampen those responses. Affect includes what a person feels including emotions and moods; it transforms from proto-affect at the reactive level to "primitive" emotions on the routine level & full-blown emotions on the reflective level. Motivation involves tendencies to react certain ways to avoid undesirable conditions and pursue desired ones. Cognition involves determining meaning, and behavior refers to actions. The processing between these domains and levels fits with physiological interactions between the "spine/midbrain basal ganglia, cortex, cerebellum, and prefrontal cortex," (Ortony, Norman, Revelle 1995, p177).