Affect and cognition :

How Feelings Shape Thought and

Thought Shapes Feelings

Affect and Cognition

Affect

Expression of mood

Feeling state

Cognition

Thinking

Decision making

Mood Mood is seen as a

mediatory mechanism that influences

cognition

Mood influences our memory, judgments,

perceptions and many other aspects of

cognition.

Influence of Affect on

Cognition • Everything seems to be brighter

than usual.

• Happy moods can increase creativity.

• Eg: situations, other people, ideas even new inventions

Good mood

(positive affect)

• Everything looks gloomy

• Eg: interviewer being influenced by their current mood. They assign lower ratings to the people they interview when they are in a bad mood.

Negative mood

The Effects of Mood on

Memory MOOD CONGRUENCE EFFECTS

CURRENT MOOD :

POSITIVE

NOTICE AND REMEMBER

POSITIVE INFORMATION

CURRENT MOOD :

NEGATIVE

NOTICE AND REMEMBER NEGATIVE

INFORMATION

The Effects of Mood on

Memory MOOD DEPENDENT MEMORY

INFORMATION LEARNED WHILE

IN A POSITIVE MOOD

MORE EASILY RECALLED WHEN IN A

POSITIVE MOOD

INFORMATION LEARNED WHILE IN A NEGATIVE

MOOD

MORE EASILY RECALLED WHEN IN A

NEGATIVE MOOD

THE INFLUENCE OF

COGNITION ON AFFECT

Cognition can also influences mood.

Two-factor theory of emotion

(Schachter,1964).

States that emotion is based on two

factors:

◦ physiological arousal and

◦ cognitive label

According to the theory when an emotion is felt, a physiological arousal occurs and the person uses the immediate environment to search for emotional cues to label the physiological arousal.

This can sometimes cause misinterpretations of emotions based on the body’s physiological state.

When the brain does not know why it feels an emotion it relies on external stimulation for cues on how to label the emotion.

Imagine you are alone in a dark

parking lot walking toward your car. A

strange man suddenly emerges from a

nearby row of trees and rapidly

approaches.

The sequence that follows,

according to the two-factor

theory, would be much like this:

I. See a strange man walking toward

me.

2. My heart is racing and I am

trembling.

3. My rapid heart rate and trembling

are caused by fear.

4. I am frightened!

Conscious experience of the emotion

Fear

The cognitive label

Physical reactions to fear

Physical arousal

Rapid heartbeat and trembling

The process begins with the stimulus

The strange man

Affect and Cognition: Social

Neuroscience Evidence

Human brain

Cognition Affect

Prefrontal

cortex Limbic system

Game theory

Ultimatum game

2 people are given a sum of money.

Offer:

• One person suggest amount

• Another person reject/accept

Delayed and immediate

Rewards

Offer:

• An immediate gain

• A larger one in two weeks.