Affect and cognition :

How Feelings Shape Thought and

Thought Shapes Feelings

Affect and Cognition

Affect

Cognition

Expression of
mood

Thinking

Feeling state

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
Good
mood
(positive
affect)

Negative
mood

Everything seems to be
brighter than usual.
Happy moods can
increase creativity.
Eg: situations, other
people, ideas even new
inventions
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.

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 bodys 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.

The process begins with the stimulus

The strange man

Physical arousal

Rapid heartbeat and trembling

The cognitive label

Physical reactions to fear

Conscious experience of the emotion

Fear

Affect and Cognition: Social

Neuroscience Evidence
Human
brain
Cogniti
on

Prefrontal
cortex

Affect

Limbic
system

Game theory
Ultimatu
m game
2 people are
given a sum of
money.

Delayed
and
immediat
e
Rewards

Offer:

Offer:

One person suggest

amount
Another person
reject/accept

An immediate gain
A larger one in two
weeks.