16. Mental processes . Emotions

Summary

Types of emotions and their general characteristics. Sensual tone of sensation. The ratio of the concepts of "emotions" and "feelings." The main characteristics of emotions. The main types of emotions. The classification of emotions. Ambivalence of emotions. Higher feelings. The main characteristics of moods.

Physiological basis and psychological theory of emotions. The problem of emotions in the XVIII-XIX century. Concepts I. F. Herbart, V. Wundt. The concept of the origin of emotions Charles Darwin. James's Theory of Emotion — Lange. The theory of emotions W. Cannon. Lindsay-Hebba activation theory. Theory of cognitive dissonance by L. Festinger. Informational concept of emotions P. V. Simonov. The physiological basis of emotions. The role of the second signal system in the formation of emotions.

The development of emotions and their importance in human life. Organic needs as primary stimulators of emotional manifestations in children, factors causing the formation of positive and negative emotions, frustration as a mechanism for the formation of emotions. The role of adults in the formation of emotions and emotional states in children. Patterns of formation of higher feelings. The role of emotions in the regulation of behavior. The main functions of emotions. Individual differences in emotional manifestations .

Emotion pathology

16.1. Types of emotions and their general characteristics

Everything that we encounter in everyday life causes us a certain attitude. Some objects and phenomena make us sympathetic, others, on the contrary, disgust. Some cause interest and curiosity, others - indifference. Even those individual properties of objects, information about which we receive through sensations, such as color, taste, smell, are not indifferent to us. Feeling them, we feel pleasure or displeasure, sometimes distinctly expressed, sometimes barely noticeable. This peculiar coloring of sensations, which characterizes our attitude to the individual qualities of the object, is called the sensual tone of sensations.

A more complex attitude towards oneself is caused by life facts, taken in their entirety, in the whole diversity of their properties and characteristics. Relationships to them are expressed in such complex sensory experiences, as joy, grief, sympathy, neglect, anger, pride, shame, and fear. All these experiences are feelings or emotions.

Emotions characterize human needs and the objects to which they are directed. In the process of evolution, emotional feelings and states were biologically fixed as a way to maintain the life process in its optimal boundaries. Their importance to the body is a warning about the destructive nature of any factors. Thus, emotions are one of the main mechanisms of regulation of the functional state of the body and human activity.

However, you should pay attention to the fact that we use two concepts:

"feelings and emotions". And how identical are these concepts? Is not one of them derived from the other?

The fact is that emotions are a broader concept, but feelings are one of the manifestations of emotional experiences. In practical life, by emotions we usually understand the most diverse reactions of a person - from the violent explosions of passion to subtle shades of moods. In psychology, under the emotions understand the mental processes occurring in the form of experiences and reflecting the personal significance and assessment of external and internal situations for human life. Consequently, the most essential characteristic of emotions is their subjectivity.

Due to emotions, a person is aware of his needs and the objects to which they are directed. Another universal feature of emotions that needs to be said is their assistance in fulfilling needs and achieving certain goals. Since any emotion is positive or negative, a person can judge the achievement of a goal. Thus, a positive emotion is always associated with obtaining the desired result, and a negative one, on the contrary, with failure to achieve a goal. Thus, we can conclude that emotions are directly related to the regulation of human activity.

Most emotional states affect the characteristics of human behavior, and therefore they can be studied using not only subjective, but also objective methods. For example, reddening or blanching of a person’s skin in a certain situation may indicate his emotional state. Changes in the level of adrenaline in the blood and much more can also indicate an emotional state.

Emotions are very complex mental phenomena. The following types of emotional experiences are usually attributed to the most significant emotions: affects, emotions, feelings, moods, emotional stress.

Affect is the most powerful type of emotional reaction. Affects are intense, violently flowing and short-term emotional flashes. Examples of passion can be strong anger, rage, horror, violent joy, deep grief, despair. This emotional reaction completely captures the human psyche, connecting the main stimuli with all adjacent, forming a single affective complex that predetermines a single reaction to the situation as a whole.

One of the main features of the affect is that this emotional reaction imposes on the person the need to perform an action, but at the same time the person loses a sense of reality. He ceases to control himself and may not even be aware of what he is doing. This is due to the fact that, in the heat of passion, there is an extremely strong emotional arousal, which, affecting the motor centers of the cerebral cortex, turns into motor excitation. Under the influence of this excitement, a person makes abundant and often erratic movements and actions. It also happens that in the heat of passion a person becomes numb, his movements and actions completely stop, he seems to be deprived of speech.

Similar phenomena can be observed in various natural disasters and technological disasters. For example, one of the victims of the earthquake in Armenia described this event as follows: “I never felt so helpless in my life ... People were petrified and did not move ... Then people ran without a goal. Those in the park fled in the direction of the buildings, although it was absolutely impractical. They fled to save their lives and screamed like crazy. Those who were in the houses fled to the parks. Everyone was in a panic. ”

In the state of affect, the functioning of all mental processes changes. In particular, the indicators of attention change dramatically. Its switchability decreases, and only those objects that are directly related to the experience fall into the field of perception. The attention is focused on them so much that they are unable to switch to something else. All other stimuli that are not related to the experience are not in the field of a person’s attention, they are not sufficiently aware of this, and this is one of the reasons for the uncontrollability of human behavior in the heat of passion. In the state of affect, it is difficult for a person to foresee the results of his actions, since the nature of the processes of thinking changes. The ability to predict the consequences of their actions is sharply reduced, as a result of which expedient behavior becomes impossible.

It would be wrong to think that in the state of affect a person is not at all aware of his actions, he cannot correctly evaluate everything that is happening. Even with the strongest affect, a person is more or less aware of what is happening to him, but at the same time some people can master their thoughts and actions, while others cannot. This is due to various reasons, but primarily because of the level of emotional-volitional stability, that is, because of the peculiarities of the emotional sphere and the level of development of the volitional characteristics of a person. It should be noted that this characteristic is very indicative of the behavioral regulation of people. It is connected, on the one hand, with the genetic characteristics of the organism of a particular person, and, on the other hand, with the characteristics of his upbringing.

The next group of emotional phenomena are actually emotions. Emotions are different from affects by duration. If the affects are mostly of a short-term nature (for example, a flash of anger), then emotions are more lasting states. Another distinctive feature of emotions is that they represent a reaction not only to current events, but also to probable or recalled ones.

In order to understand the essence of emotions, it is necessary to proceed from the fact that most of the objects and phenomena of the external environment, acting on the senses, cause us complex, multifaceted emotional sensations and feelings, which can include both pleasure and displeasure at the same time. For example, the memory of something unpleasant for us may simultaneously with a heavy feeling and cause joy from the consciousness that this unpleasant is left somewhere in the past. The combination of positive and negative tinges of emotional experiences is very vividly observed when overcoming the difficulties that we have to deal with. The actions themselves, which are performed in these cases, often cause unpleasant, heavy,

sometimes painful feelings, but the success we achieve is inextricably linked with positive emotional experiences.

In addition to pleasure and displeasure in many situations, there is a feeling of some kind of tension, on the one hand, permission or relief, on the other. At critical moments of activity, at crucial moments of decision making, in overcoming difficulties, in all cases when we do something important that affects us, we experience stress. Very often, this tension has a pronounced active character, accompanied by increased attention to the object of activity, a peculiar tide of mental and physical strength, a thirst for action, and special excitement that embraces us. Sometimes, when we are poorly mastered our actions, it is expressed in a kind of constraint, retarded movements, in the narrowness of perception, in an inadequate distribution of attention.

Another manifestation of emotional processes is the excitement of pushing. An excited emotional state is usually active, associated with an activity or preparation for it. Excessive arousal can, however, upset expedient activity, making it erratic, chaotic. Calm is associated with a decrease in activity, but also serves as the basis for its expedient use.

From the point of view of influence on human activity, emotions are divided into sthenic and asthenic. Stenicial emotions stimulate activity, increase the energy and tension of a person’s forces, induce him to act, say. In this case, the person is ready "mountains turned upside down." And vice versa, sometimes experiences lead to stiffness, passivity, then they talk about asthenic emotions. Therefore, depending on the situation and individual characteristics, emotions can influence behavior differently. Thus, a person experiencing a feeling of fear may have increased muscular strength, and he may rush into danger. The same feeling of fear can cause a complete breakdown, for fear he can "bend his knees."

It should be noted that attempts were repeatedly made to highlight the main, “fundamental” emotions. In particular, it is customary to single out the following emotions:

Joy is a positive emotional state associated with the ability to adequately satisfy an actual need.

Surprise - an emotional reaction that does not have a clearly expressed positive or negative sign to circumstances that have suddenly arisen.

Suffering is a negative emotional state associated with the received reliable or seemingly such information about the impossibility of satisfying the most important vital needs.

Anger is an emotional state, negative in sign, usually occurring in the form of affect and caused by the sudden appearance of a serious obstacle to the satisfaction of an extremely important need for the subject.

Disgust - a negative emotional state caused by objects (objects, people, circumstances, etc.), contact with which comes into sharp contradiction with the ideological, moral or aesthetic principles and attitudes of the subject.

Contempt is a negative emotional state that arises in interpersonal relationships and is generated by the disagreement of life attitudes, attitudes and behavior of a subject with attitudes, attitudes and behavior of the object of feeling.

Fear is a negative emotional state that appears when a subject receives information about a real or imaginary danger.

Shame is a negative state, expressed in the awareness of the inconsistency of one's own thoughts, actions and appearance, not only with the expectations of others, but also with one's own ideas about the proper behavior and appearance.

It should be noted that emotional experiences are ambiguous. The same object can cause an inconsistent, contradictory emotional relationship. This phenomenon is called ambivalence (duality) of feelings. Ambivalence is usually caused by the fact that certain features of a complex object affect the needs and values ​​of a person in different ways.

Feelings are another kind of emotional state. The main difference between emotions and feelings is that emotions, as a rule, have the character of an orienting reaction, i.e. they carry primary information about the lack or excess of something, so they are often vague and not sufficiently conscious (for example, a vague sense of something or). Feelings, on the contrary, are in most cases objective and specific. The phenomenon of “vague feeling” (for example, “vague torment”) speaks of the ambiguity of feelings and can be viewed as a process of transition from emotional sensations to feelings. Another difference in emotions and feelings is that emotions are more associated with biological processes, and feelings with the social sphere. Another significant difference in emotions and feelings that you need to pay attention to is that emotions are more connected with the unconscious, and feelings are most represented in our consciousness. In addition, the feelings of a person always have a certain external manifestation, and emotions often do not have.

Feelings are even longer than emotions, mental standing, having a clearly expressed subject character. They reflect a steady relationship to any specific objects (real or imagined). A person cannot experience feelings at all if they are not related to anyone or anything. For example, a person is not able to experience a feeling of love if he does not have an object of affection. In the same way, he cannot feel hatred if he does not have what he hates.

Feelings arose and were formed in the process of cultural and historical development of man. Ways of expressing feelings varied depending on the historical epoch. In the individual human development, feelings act as a significant factor in the formation of the motivational sphere. A person always seeks to engage in the type of activity and the work that he likes and causes him positive feelings.

Feelings play a significant role in building contacts with other people. A person always prefers to be in a comfortable environment, rather than

in conditions that cause him negative feelings. In addition, it should be noted that feelings are always individual. What one likes may cause negative feelings to another. This is explained by the fact that feelings are mediated by the value system of a particular person.

A special form of experience is the higher feelings, which embody all the wealth of truly human relationships. Depending on the subject area to which they relate, feelings are divided into moral, aesthetic, intellectual.

Moral, or moral, are feelings that people experience when they perceive the phenomena of reality and compare these phenomena with the norms developed by society. The manifestation of these feelings suggests that the person has learned moral norms and rules of behavior in the society in which he lives. Moral norms are formed and changed in the process of the historical development of society depending on its traditions, customs, religion, dominant ideology, etc. The actions and actions of people, corresponding to the views on morality in a given society, are considered moral, moral; acts that do not correspond to these views are considered immoral, immoral. К нравственным чувствам относят чувство долга, гуманность, доброжелательность, любовь, дружбу, патриотизм, сочувствие и т. д. К аморальным можно отнести жадность, эгоизм, жестокость и т. д. Следует отметить, что в различных обществах эти чувства могут иметь некоторые различия в содержательном наполнении.

Отдельно можно выделить так называемые морально-политические чувства. Эта группа чувств проявляется в эмоциональных отношениях к различным общественным учреждениям и организациям, а также к государству в целом. Одной из важнейших особенностей морально-политических чувств является их действенный характер. Они могут выступать как побудительные силы героических дел и поступков. Поэтому одной из задач любого государственного строя всегда было и остается формирование таких морально-политических чувств, как патриотизм, любовь к Родине и др.

Следующая группа чувств — это интеллектуальные чувства. Интеллектуальными чувствами называют переживания, возникающие в процессе познавательной деятельности человека. Наиболее типичной ситуацией, порождающей интеллектуальные чувства, является проблемная ситуация. Успешность или неуспешность, легкость или трудность умственной деятельности вызывают в человеке целую гамму переживаний. Интеллектуальные чувства не только сопровождают познавательную деятельность человека, но и стимулируют, усиливают ее, влияют на скорость и продуктивность мышления, на содержательность и точность полученных знаний. Существование интеллектуальных чувств — удивления, любопытства, любознательности, чувства радости по поводу сделанного открытия, чувства сомнения в правильности решения, чувства уверенности в правильности доказательства — является ярким свидетельством взаимосвязи интеллектуальных и эмоциональных процессов. При этом чувства выступают как своеобразный регулятор умственной деятельности.

Эстетические чувства представляют собой эмоциональное отношение человека к прекрасному в природе, в жизни людей и в искусстве. Наблюдая окружающие

нас предметы и явления действительности, человек может испытывать особое чувство восхищения их красотой. Особенно глубокие переживания человек испытывает при восприятии произведений художественной литературы, музыкального, изобразительного, драматического и других видов искусства. Это вызвано тем, что в них специфически переплетаются и моральные, и интеллектуальные чувства. Эстетическое отношение проявляется через разные чувства — восторг, радость, презрение, отвращение, тоску, страдание и др.

Следует отметить, что рассмотренное деление чувств является достаточно условным. Обычно чувства, испытываемые человеком, так сложны и многогранны, что их трудно отнести к какой-либо одной категории.

К высшим проявлением чувств многие авторы относят страсть — еще один вид сложных, качественно своеобразных и встречающихся только у человека эмоциональных состояний. Страсть представляет собой сплав эмоций, мотивов, чувств, сконцентрированных вокруг определенного вида деятельности или предмета. С. Л. Рубинштейн писал, что «страсть всегда выражается в сосредоточенности, собранности помыслов и сил, их направленности на единую цель... Страсть означает порыв, увлечение, ориентацию всех устремлений и сил личности в едином направлении, сосредоточение их на единой цели» (Рубинштейн С. Л., 1998).

Другую группу эмоциональных состояний составляют настроения человека. Настроение — самое длительное, или «хроническое», эмоциональное состояние, окрашивающее все поведение. Настроение отличают от эмоций меньшая интенсивность и меньшая предметность. Оно отражает бессознательную обобщенную оценку того, как на данный момент складываются обстоятельства. Настроение может быть радостным или печальным, веселым или угнетенным, бодрым или подавленным, спокойным или раздраженным и т. д.

Настроение существенно зависит от общего состояния здоровья, от работы желез внутренней секреции и особенно от тонуса нервной системы. Причины того или иного настроения не всегда ясны человеку, а тем более окружающим его людям. Недаром говорят о безотчетной грусти, беспричинной радости, и в этом смысле настроение — это бессознательная оценка личностью того, насколько благоприятно для нее складываются обстоятельства. В этом настроения похожи на собственно эмоции и близки к сфере бессознательного. Но причина настроения всегда существует и в той или иной степени может быть осознана. Ею могут быть окружающая природа, события, выполняемая деятельность и, конечно, люди.

Настроения могут различаться по продолжительности. Устойчивость настроения зависит от многих причин — возраста человека, индивидуальных особенностей его характера и темперамента, силы воли, уровня развития ведущих мотивов поведения. Настроение может окрашивать поведение человека в течение нескольких дней и даже недель. Более того, настроение может стать устойчивой чертой личности. Именно эту особенность настроения подразумевают, когда делят людей на оптимистов и пессимистов.

Настроения имеют огромное значение для эффективности деятельности, которой занимается человек. Например, известно, что одна и та же работа при одном настроении может казаться легкой и приятной, а при другом —тяжелой и удручающей. Естественно, что при хорошем настроении человек в состоянии выполнить гораздо больший объем работы, чем при плохом.

Настроение тесно связано с соотношением между самооценкой человека и уровнем его притязаний. У лиц с высокой самооценкой чаще наблюдается повышенное настроение, у лиц же с заниженной самооценкой выраженное склонность к пассивно-отрицательным эмоциональным состояниям, связанным с ожиданием не***агоприятных исходов. Поэтому настроение может стать причиной отказа от действий и дальнейшего снижения притязаний, что может привести к отказу от удовлетворения данной потребности.

Представленные характеристики видов эмоциональных состояний являются достаточно общими. Каждый из перечисленных видов имеет свои подвиды, которые будут различаться по интенсивности, продолжительности, глубине, осознанности, происхождению, условиям возникновения и исчезновения, воздействию на организм, динамике развития, направленности и др.

Говоря о классификации эмоциональных состояний, мы не отметили тот факт, что неоднократно предпринимались попытки выделить общие для всех эмоциональных состояний признаки. Одна из таких попыток принадлежит В. Вундту. По мнению Вундта, всю систему чувств можно определить как многообразие трех измерений, в котором каждое измерение имеет два противоположных направления, исключающих друг друга. Эту систему координат можно представить графически (рис. 16.1). Она характеризует знак эмоций, степень возбуждения и напряжения, но данный подход уже не соответствует информации, накопленной в процессе исследования эмоций. Например, в системе координат, предложенной В. Вундтом, отсутствует такая характеристика, как длительность эмоциональной реакции.

Существует еще один особый вид эмоциональных состояний — эмоциональный стресс. Мы рассмотрим его в разделе «Психические состояния».

Fig. 16.1. Основные измерения эмоциональных процессов и состояний (по В. Вундту).

16.2. Физиологические основы и психологические теории эмоций

Данный пункт главы не случайно объединяет в своем названии два аспекта:

физиологические основы и психологические теории эмоций. Исторически сложилось так, что стремление найти первопричину эмоциональных состояний обусловливало появление различных точек зрения, которые находили отражение в соответствующих теориях. В течение длительного времени психологи пытались решить вопрос о природе эмоций. В ХУШ-Х1Х вв. не было единой точки зрения на данную проблему. Самой распространенной была интеллектуалистическая позиция, которая строилась на утверждении о том, что органические проявления эмоций — это следствие психических явлений. Наиболее четкую формулировку этой теории дал И. Ф. Гербарт, считавший, что фундаментальным психологическим фактом является представление, а испытываемые нами чувства соответствуют связи, которая устанавливается между различными представлениями, и могут рассматриваться как реакция на конфликт между представлениями. Так, образ умершего знакомого, сравниваемый с образом этого знакомого как еще живого, порождает печаль. В свою очередь, это аффективное состояние непроизвольно, почти рефлекторно вызывает слезы и органические изменения, характеризующие скорбь.

Этой же позиции придерживался и В. Вундт. По его мнению, эмоции — это прежде всего изменения, характеризующиеся непосредственным влиянием чувств на течение представлений и, в некоторой степени, влиянием последних на чувства, а органические процессы являются лишь следствием эмоций.

Таким образом, первоначально в исследовании эмоций утвердилось мнение о субъективной, т. е. психической, природе эмоций. Согласно этой точке зрения, психические процессы вызывают определенные органические изменения. Однако в 1872 г . Ч. Дарвин опубликовал книгу «Выражение эмоций у человека и животных», которая явилась поворотным пунктом в понимании связи биологических и психологических явлений, в том числе и в отношении эмоций.

В этой работе Дарвин доказывал, что эволюционный принцип применим не только к биологическому, но также к психическому и поведенческому развитию животных. Так, по его мнению, между поведением животного и человека много общего. Свою позицию он обосновывал исходя из наблюдений за внешним выражением разных эмоциональных состояний у животных и людей. Например, он обнаружил большое сходство в экспрессивно-телесных движениях у антропоидов и слепорожденных детей. Данные наблюдения легли в основу теории эмоций, которая получила название эволюционной. Согласно этой теории, эмоции появились в процессе эволюции живых существ как жизненно важные приспособительные механизмы, способствующие адаптации организма к условиям и ситуациям его существования. Телесные изменения, сопровождающие различные эмоциональные состояния (например, движения), по Дарвину, есть не что иное, как рудименты реальных приспособительных реакций организма, целесообразных на преды-

дущей стадии эволюции. Так, если руки становятся влажными при страхе, то это значит, что некогда у наших обезьяноподобных предков эта реакция при опасности облегчала схватывание за ветви деревьев. Забегая несколько вперед, необходимо сказать, что позднее к этой теории вернулся Э. Клапаред, который писал:

«Эмоции возникают лишь тогда, когда по той или иной причине затрудняется адаптация. Если человек может убежать, он не испытывает эмоции страха». Однако воспроизведенная Э. Клапаредом точка зрения уже не соответствовала накопленному к тому времени экспериментальному и теоретическому материалу.

Современная история эмоций начинается с появления в 1884 г . статьи У. Джемса «Что такое эмоция?». Джеме и независимо от него Г. Ланге сформулировали теорию, согласно которой возникновение эмоций обусловлено вызываемыми внешними воздействиями изменениями как в произвольной двигательной сфере, так и в сфере непроизвольных актов, например деятельности сердечно-сосудистой системы. Ощущения, связанные с этими изменениями, и есть эмоциональные переживания. По Джемсу, «мы печальны потому, что плачем; боимся потому, что дрожим; радуемся потому, что смеемся».

It is organic changes according to the theory of James-Lange that are the root causes of emotions. Reflecting in the human psyche through a system of feedbacks, they generate emotional experience of the corresponding modality. According to this point of view, the changes in the body characteristic of emotions first occur under the influence of external stimuli and only then, as a consequence of them, the emotion itself occurs. Thus, peripheral organic changes, which until the emergence of the James – Lange theory, were considered as consequences of emotions, became their root cause. It should be noted that the emergence of this theory has led to a simplified understanding of the mechanisms of arbitrary regulation. For example, it was believed that unwanted emotions, such as grief or anger, can be suppressed if you deliberately commit actions that usually result in positive emotions.

However, the concept of James — Lange raised a number of objections. An alternative point of view on the relationship between organic and emotional processes was expressed by W. Cannon. He found that the bodily changes observed in the onset of various emotional states are very similar to each other and are not so diverse as to quite satisfactorily explain the qualitative differences in higher emotional experiences of a person. At the same time, the internal organs, with changes in the states of which Jam and Lange attributed the emergence of emotional states, are rather insensitive structures. They very slowly come to a state of arousal, and emotions usually arise and develop fairly quickly. Moreover, Cannon discovered that organic changes artificially induced in humans are not always accompanied by emotional experiences. The strongest argument of Cannon against the theory of James-Lange was an experiment conducted by him, as a result of which it was found that artificially caused by stopping the flow of organic signals to the brain does not prevent the occurrence of emotions. The main provisions of the discussed theories are presented in Fig. 16.2.

Cannon believed that bodily processes with emotions are biologically expedient, since they serve as a preliminary adjustment of the whole organism to the situation when it will require an increased expenditure of energy resources. At the same time, emotional experiences and corresponding organic changes, in his opinion, arise in the same brain center - the thalamus.

Later P. Bard showed that in fact both bodily changes and emotional experiences associated with them arise almost simultaneously, and of all the brain structures, not even the thalamus itself, but the hypothalamus and the central parts of the limbic system. Later in the experiments conducted on animals, X. Delgado found that with the help of electrical influences on these structures one can control such emotional states as anger and fear.

The psychoorganic theory of emotions (this is how the concepts of James — Lange and Cannon — Bard have been called) have been further developed under the influence of electrophysiological studies of the brain. As a result of the ongoing experiments

Fig. 16.2. The main provisions in the theories of James-Lange and Cannon-Bard

mental research arose Lindsay-Hebb's activation theory. According to this theory, emotional states are determined by the influence of the reticular formation of the lower part of the brain stem, since this structure is responsible for the level of activity of the organism. And the emotional manifestations, as shown by electrophysiological studies of the brain, are nothing more than a change in the level of activity of the nervous system in response to any stimulus. Therefore, it is the reticular formation that determines the dynamic parameters of emotional states: their strength, duration, variability and a number of others. Emotions, however, arise as a result of a disturbance or restoration of balance in the corresponding structures of the central nervous system as a result of the action of an irritant.

Following the theories explaining the relationship of emotional and organic processes, theories have appeared that describe the effect of emotions on the psyche and human behavior. Emotions, as it turned out, regulate human activity, revealing a well-defined influence on it, depending on the nature and intensity of emotional experience. D. O. Hebb managed to experimentally obtain a curve expressing the relationship between the level of a person’s emotional arousal and the success of his practical activity. In his studies, it was found that the relationship between emotional arousal and the effectiveness of human activity is graphically expressed in the form of a normal distribution curve. So, to achieve the highest result in the activity, both too weak and too strong emotional arousal are undesirable. The most effective activity with an average of emotional arousal. At the same time, it was found that for each particular person a certain optimal interval of emotional excitability is characteristic, which ensures maximum efficiency in work. In turn, the optimal level of emotional arousal depends on many factors, for example, on the characteristics of the activity performed and the conditions in which it occurs, on the individual characteristics of the person who performs it, and on many other things.

A separate group of theories consists of views that reveal the nature of emotions through cognitive factors, that is, thinking and consciousness.

First of all, among them should be noted L. Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance. Its basic concept is dissonance. Dissonance is a negative emotional state that arises in a situation where the subject has psychologically contradictory information about the object. According to this theory, a positive emotional experience arises in a person when his expectations are confirmed, that is, when the actual results of the activity correspond to the intended ones and are consistent with them. At the same time, the resulting positive emotional state can be characterized as consonance. Negative emotions arise when there is a discrepancy or discord between the expected and actual results of the activity.

Subjectively, the state of cognitive dissonance is usually experienced by a person as discomfort, and he seeks to get rid of him as soon as possible. He has two ways to do this: first, change his expectations so that they

404 • Part II. Mental processes

corresponded to reality; secondly, to try to obtain new information that would be consistent with previous expectations. Thus, from the point of view of this theory, the emerging emotional states are considered as the main reason for the corresponding actions and actions.

In modern psychology, the theory of cognitive dissonance is most often used to explain a person’s actions and actions in a wide variety of situations. Moreover, in the determination of behavior and the emergence of emotional states of a person, cognitive factors are given much greater importance than organic changes. Many representatives of this direction believe that cognitive assessments of the situation directly affect the nature of emotional experience.

The views of S. Schechter are close to this point of view, which has revealed the role of human memory and motivation in emotional processes. The concept of emotions proposed by S. Schechter was called cognitive-physiological (Fig. 16.3). According to this theory, the emerged emotional state, in addition to perceived stimuli and the bodily changes they engender, is influenced by a person’s past experience and his subjective assessment of the current situation. In this case, the assessment is based on the interests and needs that are relevant to him. An indirect confirmation of the validity of the cognitive theory of emotions is the influence on the person’s experiences of verbal instructions, as well as additional information, on the basis of which a person changes his assessment of the situation.

In one of the experiments aimed at proving the provisions of the cognitive theory of emotions, people were given physiologically “medicine”

Fig. 16.3. Factors of emotion in the cognitive-physiological concept

S. Schechter

Chapter 16. Emotions • 405

neutral solution (placebo) accompanied by various instructions. In one case, they were told that this medicine would cause them to be in a state of euphoria, in the other, they would be in a state of anger. After taking the “medicine” of the subjects after some time, when, according to the instructions, it was supposed to take effect, they asked what they felt. It turned out that the emotional experiences they experienced in most cases corresponded to the instructions given to them.

The informational concept of emotions by P. V. Simonov can also be classified as cognitive. In accordance with this theory, the emotional states are determined by the quality and intensity of the actual need of the individual and the assessment he gives to the probability of its satisfaction. A person evaluates this probability on the basis of congenital and previously acquired individual experience, involuntarily comparing information about the means, time, and resources that are supposedly necessary to satisfy the need with the information received at the moment. For example, the emotion of fear develops with a lack of information about the means necessary for protection.

The approach of V.P. Simonov was implemented in the formula

E = P (And n - And s),

Where:

E - emotion, its strength and quality;

P - size and specificity of the actual need;

And n - the information needed to meet current needs;

And with - the existing information, ie, the information that a person has at the moment.

The consequences arising from the formula are as follows: if a person has no need (P = 0), then he does not feel emotions (E = 0); emotion does not arise in the case when a person in need has a full opportunity to realize it. If the subjective assessment of the probability of satisfying a need is large, positive feelings are manifested. Negative emotions arise if the subject negatively assesses the possibility of satisfying the need. Thus, conscious or unaware of it, a person constantly compares information about what is required to satisfy a need with what he has, and, depending on the results of the comparison, experiences different emotions.

The results of experimental studies suggest that the cerebral cortex plays a leading role in the regulation of emotional states. IP Pavlov showed that it is the cortex that regulates the flow and expression of emotions, controls all phenomena in the body, has an inhibiting effect on the subcortical centers, controls them. If the cerebral cortex enters a state of excessive excitation (when overworked, intoxicated, etc.), then the centers lying below the cortex will also be overexcited, as a result of which the usual restraint disappears. In the case of the spread of widespread inhibition, depression, weakening or stiffness of muscular movements, decay of cardiovascular activity and respiration, etc. are observed.

Chapter 16. Emotions - 407