Affected

APPENDIX A A (very) brief history of emotions

The medical definition of emotion traditionally sees them as an instinctive response to external stimuli. Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio states that emotion has the biological function of regulating an organism’s internal state so that it can be prepared for a specific reaction to suit a situation — particularly a dangerous situation. For example, the ‘flight reaction’ provides increased blood flow to the legs, facilitating running and escaping.

Many authorities have investigated different approaches to cognitive interpretation of human behaviour and the role emotions play in such tasks. Their studies firmly posit emotion as central to the cognitive reasoning process. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), it was determined that emotions and cognition are unified and contribute to the control of thought and behaviour conjointly and equally.

Donald Norman is a strong advocate of emotion being a key component of cognition and the experience of the psychological objects around us. He asks why washing and polishing your car seems to make it drive better, and explores why attractive objects provide the sometimes illusory, sometimes real, effect of superior function. Review of the body of research on the topic reveals a general consensus that an individual reacts to the world through his or her emotions, and that stimuli such as arousal, action tendency and subjective feeling (pleasant or unpleasant) evoke emotions in all individuals. ...