Making Sense Out of Emotion: The Representation and Use of Goal ...

Making Sense Out of Emotion:
The Representation and Use of
Goal-structured Knowledge
Nancy L. Stein
&
Linda J. Levine

Main points of Stein’s Model
• Model based on a goal-directed, problemsolving
approach
• Believed that behavior is carried out for the
purpose of achieving and maintaining goal
states that ensure survival
• People prefer to be in certain states and
prefer to avoid others

Emotions and learning
• A distinguishing characteristic of emotional
experience is an effort to assimilate some type of
information into current knowledge schemes
• Thus, emotional experience is almost always
associated with attending to and making sense
out of new information
• Because of this, learning almost always occurs
during an emotional episode

Representational System
• The representational system monitors subjective
states and bodily reactions
• The primary function of this system is to access
knowledge that allows the evaluation of an event,
action, object, or state in regard to its value
• This system must include information about
states that are pleasurable and states that are to be
avoided
• The formation of a representation always
precedes the evaluation process

Value system
• Three characteristics:
– Hierarchical in nature
– Preference trees can be constructed such that
certain goals are considered more valuable
than others
– System is dynamic in nature – some parts of
the goal hierarchy can be changed

Precipitating Events
• Four baseline activities that occur before the
onset are:
– The type of ongoing cognitive activity
– The level of physiological arousal
– The emotional state of the participant
– They type of ongoing overt activity
• These variables are important because the model
assumes that an emotional reaction always causes
a change in the first three processes and often
causes a change in overt actions

Precipitating Events (cont.)
• Precipitating events emerge from three
different sources
– The environment
– One’s own actions
– Memory retrieval of past events
• For an emotional response to occur, the
precipitating event must be encoded and
accessed during the evaluation process

Meaning analysis
• The meaning analysis is an evaluative
process that facilitates the integration of
incoming information into current
knowledge structures
– If information is congruent with information
and existing knowledge stores then it is readily
assimilated into current knowledge schemes
– If a mismatch occurs information cannot be
assimilated into current working schemes

Meaning analysis (Cont.)
• When a mismatch occurs an interruption of
ongoing thinking occurs giving rise to
subsequent evaluation processes and
changes in ANS arousal
• When ANS arousal and cognitive
evaluation occur an emotional reaction
occurs

Emotion research problems
• Three problematic issues associated with
the study of emotions
– The belief that some type of novel information
must be detected for any emotion to be
experienced
– The focus on the disruption of thought as a
function of experiencing an emotion
– The differential effects that positive and
negative emotions have on thinking, planning,
and decision making

Happiness
• Four dimensions must be detected from a
precipitating event
– Event must be novel
– Inference must be made that a valued state has
been achieved
– Person must believe that goal attainment is
certain
– Person must believe that enjoyment of the goal
state will follow the outcome

Happiness (Cont.)
• Happiness does not require that people
initially be in a negative emotion state
• Situations also exist where the experience
of happiness intensifies

Happiness vs. Sadness vs. Anger
Happiness
Has a goal state
been achieved?
Yes No
Can the goal state
be reinstated?
Yes No
Anger Sadness