Russells Model for Construction of Emotion

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Russells Model for Construction of Emotion

• A Two-dimensional Description of Core Affect

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Summary of Model

• Two primitives of conceptual framework
• Core Affect
• Perception of affective quality
• Attributed affect
• Components of emotional episodes
• Traditional vs. alternative view of emotional
  episodes

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Core affect

• Definition neuropsychological state
  consciously accessible as the simplest raw
  feelings evident in moods and emotions
• Two dimensions
• Pleasant to Unpleasant
• Activation to Deactivation

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Core affect (cont.)

• Emotional or non-emotional
• Primitive, universal, and simple
• Not cognitive or reflective and need not be
  attributed to an Object (stimulus)
• Mood prolonged core affect without an Object
• A persons core affect is always present
• We are most conscious of affect when it is
  undergoing a change
• Can disappear completely from consciousness

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Core affect Illustration
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Causes of Core Affect Changes

• External stimuli
• Internal biological changes
• Caused by natural events, or
• Drugs such as stimulants, depressants, etc.
• Usually change is due to a combination of causes

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Perception of Affective Quality

• Affective Quality a property of the stimulus
  its capacity to change core affect
• Every object and event has an AQ
• The perception of the AQ influences the reactions
  to any Object/event
• Although AQ changes core affect, a stimulus with
  a certain AQ can cause no affect change and core
  affect can change in the absence of any external
  stimulus

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Attributed Affect

• Three features
• Change in core affect
• Object
• Attribution of core affect to the Object
• Two functions beyond core affect
• Guides attention and behavior toward Object
• The main route to the affective quality of the
  Object

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Components of Emotional Episodes

• Antecedent Event
• Affective Quality
• Core Affect
• Attribution
• Appraisal Involves judgments of the Object
• Instrumental Action Object is a problem that
  requires a behavioral solution

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Components of Emotional Episodes (cont.)

• Physiological and Expressive Changes
• Subjective Conscious Experience metacognitive
  judgments
• Emotional Meta-Experience
• Person experiences an emotion
• Not introspective
• A categorization of ones state
• Emotion Regulation (self-control)

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Traditional view of Emotion
Subjective Feeling e.g., afraid
Nonverbal Signal e.g., face, voice
Event e.g., danger
Emotion
Autonomic Pattern
Instrumental Action e.g., flight
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Alternative View of Emotion
Core Affect
Perception of Affective Quality
Attribution to Object
Prototype of a Specific Emotion
Appraisal
Action
Emotional Meta-Experience
Emotion Regulation