To What Extent Does Cognition Control Emotion ?
To what extent does cognition control emotion ? In everyday life there is a constant evidence of interaction between cognition and emotion. If we see something funny we laugh, if we fear we run or hide, if we are distressed we find it hard to concentrate. However we do not need to present any of the emotions to others, we can regulate them, think about situations and consequences and estimate the outcome. We are able to control our emotions. Ochsner and Gross(2005,p.242) argues that capacity to control emotion is important for human adaptation. The question is to what extent does cognition control emotion?
In the next paragraphs I will consider some theories, factors and evidence on cognitive controlling of emotion in terms of bodily reactions-arousals, appraisals, facial expressions, action tendencies. According to James-Lange (Yiend, Mackintosh,2005 ) theory cognition does not influence emotion when behaviour particularly in frightening situations was initiated too rapidly. James says that there is no time for conscious decisions. James (1890,p. 451) argued, “If we fancy some strong emotion, and then try to abstract from our consciousness of it all the feelings of its bodily symptoms, we find we have nothing left behind.” James suggests that experience of emotion depended on the behaviour and bodily reactions- arousal that followed an event and that there is no space for any cognitive processes. However Cannon and Bard (Yiend, Mackintosh,2005) disagreed with James (1890,p.451) approach and they argued that the lower brain receives emotion producing signals and send to the cortex for interpretation and subsequent physiological responses. They say that arousal and specific emotion can occur simultaneously. But neither Cannon and Brad or James looked at cognitive processes as if they controlled emotions but rather then that cognitive processes were used simultaneously with processing emotions.
Both of the above views were challenged by
In the next paragraphs I will consider some theories, factors and evidence on cognitive controlling of emotion in terms of bodily reactions-arousals, appraisals, facial expressions, action tendencies. According to James-Lange (Yiend, Mackintosh,2005 ) theory cognition does not influence emotion when behaviour particularly in frightening situations was initiated too rapidly. James says that there is no time for conscious decisions. James (1890,p. 451) argued, “If we fancy some strong emotion, and then try to abstract from our consciousness of it all the feelings of its bodily symptoms, we find we have nothing left behind.” James suggests that experience of emotion depended on the behaviour and bodily reactions- arousal that followed an event and that there is no space for any cognitive processes. However Cannon and Bard (Yiend, Mackintosh,2005) disagreed with James (1890,p.451) approach and they argued that the lower brain receives emotion producing signals and send to the cortex for interpretation and subsequent physiological responses. They say that arousal and specific emotion can occur simultaneously. But neither Cannon and Brad or James looked at cognitive processes as if they controlled emotions but rather then that cognitive processes were used simultaneously with processing emotions.
Both of the above views were challenged by
References: LeDoux, J.E. (1992). Emotion as memory: Anatomical systems underlying indelible neural traces. In S-A. Christianson (Ed.), The handbook of emotion and memory: Research and theory. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc. LeDoux, J.E. (1996). The emotional brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster. James, W. (1890). Principles of psychology. New York: Holt. Ochsner, K.N. And Gross, J.J. (2005) 'The cognitive control of emotion ', Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 242-9. http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Chbi_WlReJQJ:citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.89.9467%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf+Ochsner,+K.N.+And+Gross,+J.J.+(2005)+ 'The+cognitive+control+of+emotion ',&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESim5g-sm39OnCVcZPICuEZejBq32ecJIyK5ISjYwEy8-ARtcaZLyVkwwfJmvhHliLFulis5l4c3S6dRK1A_h-PfP6CLkH32NjA1K79cEmJNtufLWXyFGsqBnlsHXWzBAg9EG1r3&sig=AHIEtbT17TWAZ2YeGyfhKl2P_iN5_M_2fA( last visited 27/09/2010) Lewis, P.A. And Critchley, H.D. (2003) 'Mood -dependent memory ', Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol.7, no.10, pp. 431-3. in OFFPRINTS BOOKLET (2005), The Open University, Milton Keynes Yiend, J. and Mackintosh, B. (2005) 'Cognition and Emotion ' in Braisby, N. and Gellatly, A. COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, The Open University, Milton Keynes