MODULE 3 - theories of emotion and question of dimensions or categories

1. Explain what a categorical model of emotion is, and give examples of

categorical models.

Categorical Model of emotion: (pages 28-31 of the textbook)

- Several distinct pre-packaged emotions
2. Explain what a dimensional model of emotion is, and give examples
of dimensional models.

Dimensional Model of emotion:

- Emotions express themselves in a continuum
3. Describe Plutchik's integrative theory of emotion.
4. Explain the role that the theory of evolution plays in Plutchik's theory.
5. Sketch the cone model that describes Plutchik's theory.

Robert Plutchik - (late) psychoanalyst - PSYCHOEVOTIONARY THEORY

- understood behaviour in terms of emotion
- viewed emotion as evolutionarily adaptive
- Ie. anger is useful for dealing with obstacles (not too much of it though)
- MAJOR POINTS:
a. Accepted all Darwin’s principles (emotions are adaptive, innate, and
antithetical)
b. Basic emotions/antithetical pairs: anger-fear, happiness-sadness,
trust-disgust, boldness-surprise cone
c. More complex emotions are created by mixing the basic emotions (“easy”
thing to do if they are close to each other, makes you feel messy if
opposites mix)
d. Each basic emotion can be expressed at different levels of intensity (ie.
weak disgust is boredom)
- shown via the cone model: ones at the face are strong, weakens
to the tip
e. Emotions reflect other things about people (stimulus, inferred cognition,
subjective language, behavioural language, functional, trait language,
ego-defence language)
- Ie for anger:
- stimulus which promotes anger: an obstacle, something in your
way
- inferred cognition (your thoughts): enemy! problem!
- subjective language (the emotion): anger
- behavioural language (what you do): attack
- functional language: destruction (your survival is insured by the
destruction of obstacles)
- trait language: (you are…) quarrelsome, hostile, aggressive
- ego-defense language: displacement (you express your
aggression against other targets; for example, if you cannot yell at
the boss, you yell at your family).
 - Personality and personality are related
Interpersonal personality traits: things about personality that look at how you
interact with people
6. Outline the approach of Osgood and his colleagues to measuring
meaning with the semantic differential.

Theory of meaning: semantic differential scales

Allowed them to pull conclusions
- E: evaluation, is the pleasentless/desirability of the word or concept (low
scores=unpleasent, low eval.)
- A: activation, the arousal or activation of the word (low scores=passive, inactive)
- There are two layers of meaning to everying:
- P: strong or weak
a. Denotative (literal) meaning: descriptive and points out what is being discussed
i. Ie. ice cream: its coldness, flavour, cones etc
b. Connotative (affective, emotional) meaning: emotional response to the concept
i. Ie. ice cream evokes pleasent emotions
7. Describe Russell's two-dimensional model of emotion.

James Russell conclusions on The Work of Osgood

1. There are two important dimensions of emotion/emotional meaning: E (evaluation) and A
(activation) the other dimensions should be excluded because they are
weaker and more variable
2. The dimensions of E and A are bipolar, and range in extepemes (plays into darwins
opposite emotions)
3. Evaluation and Activation are orthogonal and unrelated, knowing one reflects nothing
about the other
Norms for Osgood's affective meaning (Evaluation, Potency, Activity): Ratings of Logos, Colors,
Products and Services, Names, and Typefaces

8. Describe Whissell's Dictionary of Affect in Language.

9. Describe Whissell's phonoemotional analysis.

Dr. Cynthis Whissell agrees with Russell that

a. There are two important dimensions to emotion Evaluation and Activation
b. They are bipolar
c. They are orthogonal/unrelated
Agrees with Osgood that
a. There is a layer of emotional/connotative meaning to all words/concepts
b. These can be measured using rating scales

Whissell’s two forms of measuring emotion in terms of the dimensions of E and A

** these provide quantitative and objective way of measuring emotion through language
1. Dictionary of Affect in Language
- Words are rated by a large number of individuals in terms of their pleasantness
and activation
 2. Phono-emotional analysis
- Emotion in terms of sounds
Ie. “L” is soft (pleasant, passive) and k (unpleasant, active)
- Sound provides emotional character
- Helps as this can help understand nonsense words

10. Be able to locate the emotional meaning of words in the

two-dimensional E-A space used by Russell and Whissell (see
mini-research activity).

11. Argue that both categorical and dimensional models are useful in
the study of emotion.
a. Emotions = categorical events
i. Emotions are discrete and qualitatively different from one another
ii. Our emotions are prepackaged via one system
b. Emotions = dimensional events
i. Emotions aren’t so different from one another, the difference is quantitative
ii. Can be expressed in dimensions such as Evaluation and Activation

**they are both useful depending on circumstances:

- Categories of facial expressions
- Dimensions for words