My Emotional Spin Cycle—

The Four Options and the Two Bridges:

Annotated Bibliography

 

By:  Jujubee

12 March 2002

See the Instructions for this Report

 

 

 

::Introduction::

 

 

This report is an introduction to the terms that are vital in understanding our daily emotional spin cycle, as coined by Dr. Leon James.  The emotional spin cycle consists of the "Three-fold self" and "The Four Options", which are linked together by two bridges.  The red bridge links our negative views of others to our positive views of others, while the blue bridge links the negative views of ourselves to the positive views of ourselves.  Through successful crossing of the bridge, one can go from feeling negative to positive; pessimistic to optimistic.   To further elaborate on the four possible options and the two bridges, here is a diagram taken from the general instructions:

 

 

 

We will soon see that the “Three-Fold Self” and the “Four Options” are interlinked with the following four terms that I have tried to define after gathering many sources from the internet.  In addition, the following four terms, cognitive scripts, behavioral routines, cognitive appraisal, and emotional intelligence, are all closely linked together and in certain ways overlap.

 

 

My definitions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

::Annotated Bibliography::

 

In this section I will briefly summarize the sources that helped me come to my conclusions about the definitions above.

 

 

[COGNITIVE SCRIPTS]

 

1A.      This website consists of Dr. Richard W. Scholl’s lecture notes on social cognition and cognitive schema.  Dr. Scholl is a professor at the University of Rhode Island.  In his class notes, he discusses the different types of schemas, development of schemas, culture, and the decision-making process in relation to schemas.              

 

B.        This is relevant to the project because it deals with the scripts that are learned throughout our lives.  The emotional spin cycle is based on these scripts that tell us how to act, therefore it is vital to learn the different types of schemas and scripts that exist and how they are developed.

 

C.        Dr. Scholl’s notes on Cognitive Schema

-Begin excerpt-

Cognitive Schema- the organization of knowledge about a particular concept. The schema contains the features or attributes that are associated with a category membership. Types of schema include:

Person schemas- Schemas about the attributes (skills, competencies, values) of a particular individual. This often takes the form the personality we attribute to that person.

Event schemas (cognitive scripts)- These are processes, practices, or ways in which we typically approach tasks and problems. They are the programs we call upon when faced with a certain stimulus. These are behaviorally oriented

Role schemas- These schema contain sets of role expectations, that is, how we expect an individual occupying a certain role to behavior. They are used frequently for the following:

Evaluation- When we evaluate individuals occupying a certain role (e.g., doctor, accountant, actor, artist), we compare their behavior to our culturally derived role schema for that role.

Role playing- In assuming a certain role, the role schema often becomes our scripts as to how to behave.

Identification- We often identify and categorize individuals by the role they assume. We use these role schema to help us place individuals into a certain category by matching their observed behavior with our role schema.

Prediction- Once an individual is placed into a category (role) we tend to assume he or she will behave in accordance with the role schema and use this as basis to predict future behavior of this person.

-End Excerpt-

 

 

2A.      This slideshow is Dr. Claire Lawrence’s lecture on anger, aggression, and cognition.  She briefly describes how cognitive scripts are examples of what can cause anger.  Cognitive scripts may cause anger because there are certain cues that trigger us to get angry or aggressive, and we just follow that sequence into acting out on our aggression.     

 

B.        This site is relevant to the project because it is helpful to know what kinds of things may trigger anger in order to control our levels of aggression, especially if our angry emotions are unnecessary.  Knowing what may cause anger can take us one step closer to crossing the red bridge from the negative zone to the positive zone.

 

C.        Anger, Aggression, and Cognition:  Personality and Individual Differences

-Begin excerpt-

Cognitive scripts

 

· Mental representation of a sequence of events, for example, restaurant script

• Rule and Dobbs (1986) suggest that aggressive scripts exist

• If there are salient cues for aggressive behaviour, scripts can set the individual on the aggressive behaviour sequence.

Consider driving behaviour:

Cues in road layout

                                                                                                Behaviour patterns                         

Media representations                   

-End Excerpt-

 

 

3A.      This site focuses on the “generic knowledge” that one uses in daily situations, such as the sequence of events that occur when entering a restaurant.  For every person there is a certain set of tasks that corresponds with a particular environment that are acted out each time.  For example, when one goes to class, one scans the room for an open seat, goes to the seat to sit down, puts down his/her bag and takes out a pen and paper in order to prepare for taking notes.  This usually happens in a sequence, so it is unlikely that one would get out a pen and paper before looking for a seat (for example).  This site also discusses the work of Schank & Abelson in relation to this idea of scripts for events.

 

B.        Although this site does not directly pertain to cognitive scripts in terms of motivation, it does help us understand the concept of what scripts are and how they help us perform in certain situations.  With this information it is easier to understand how cognitive scripts function in relation to motivation because scripts in relation to motivation and affect are specific forms of regular scripts. 

 

C.        The Cognitive Psychology Website:  Memory IV:  Schemas and Scripts

-Begin excerpt-

3. SCRIPTS
We've already said that a script is a particular type of schema that describes the kind of knowledge people can abstract from a common, frequently occurring event - attending a party, visiting the pub, attending a lecture, etc.  Scripts are not memories for specific events, such as your last visit to the pub, instead they contain generic knowledge about what usually happens when you go to the pub e.g. order a drink, pay for it, drink it, chat to friends, play the machines etc.  The most commonly cited example of a script is the 'going to a restaurant script'.

Schank & Abelson (1977) proposed a very detailed description of a script for this event.  It involves expectations about what happens when one enters a restaurant (e.g. looking for a table, sitting down); what happens during ordering (e.g. reading a menu, selecting from a menu, giving the order), eating (the waiter/ waitress brings the food, you eat it) and leaving (paying the bill, leaving a tip).

Someone possessing such a script can make sense of what to do next in a restaurant.  They can also understand statements about restaurants that they might otherwise not e.g. "I caught her eye and finally got the bill" - might be meaningless to someone without the script.

Following the work of Schank & Abelson, Nelson & Gruendel (1986) identified 5 features that define a script:
1. They are organised sequentially
2. They are organised around a central goal
3. They are generalised and include slots for variable elements
4. They are similar across individuals who share the same experience.
5. They are consistent across repeated experiences.

-End excerpt-

 

4A.      This site consists of Shannon Costigan’s and Kathy Lewis’ course slides for Psychology 230.3 at Duke University.  They discuss what aggression is and cognitive scripts in relation to aggression.  These scripts tell us not only how to react in certain situations but what the likely outcome would be if we act in a certain way.  Cognitive scripts also allow us to compare the actual outcome with the internalized prediction of the outcome.  They also point out that, according to Zillmann, the amount of arousal one is experiencing is a crucial factor in how well we handle anger-producing situations because high arousal will likely result in impulsive reactions, which come from our scripts.   

 

B.        This site is very relevant to the project because it points out how much scripts have to do with out aggressive urges and the impact that high arousal has on our ability to problem-solve.  This tells us that in order to cross the bridge successfully, we must cool down when we are highly aroused so we do not make irrational decisions that may result in violence.

 

C.         Aggression and Violence  

-Begin excerpt-

 Cognitive scripts—Rowell Huesmann (1988)

·        Behaviour is controlled through cognitive scripts that we have learned and memorized

·        Scripts list what should happen, how the person should respond, what the outcome is likely to be

·        Each script is different and unique to each person

·        Scripts are resistant to change

·        The individual "evaluation" of the appropriateness of a script helps to determine which scripts are stored and used

·        Evaluation includes confidence that the person has in predicting the outcomes of the script, the extent that the person thinks he can execute the script, and extent that script is congruent with the person’s internal standards

-End Excerpt-

 

5A.      This article written by Andrew Reaves is about how parenting styles influence children's levels of aggression.  He starts the article with homicide statistics and the aggressive African-American male.  He then goes into how aggression is learned through observation and enactment, which turn into cognitive scripts.   Reaves then discusses the different parenting styles, which include authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive.  Authoritarian parents are correlated with aggressive children.  Parental occupation and socioeconomic status are also variables that affect a child's aggression.

 

B.        This article is particularly relevant to the emotional spin cycle project because by learning the different kinds of parenting styles and which seem to correlate with aggression can help us as future parents to prevent aggression as much as possible.  This article also gives insight into the idea that aggression is learned, and parenting has a lot to do with the cognitive scripts that are developed because a child can easily observe his/her parent's behavior and imitate it, therefore perpetuating the aggressive behavior that should be prevented.  We can question our own levels of aggression and the amount of influence our parents have on us as we continue to interact with them.

 

C.        Parental Practices, Parental Occupation and Children’s Aggression

-Begin excerpt-

Social behavior is controlled to a great extent by cognitive scripts that are stored in a person's memory and are used as guides for behavior and social problem solving. A script suggests what events are to happen in the environment, how the person should behave in response to these events, and what the likely outcome of those behaviors would be. People appraise situations and decide which scripts are appropriate for the situation. Antisocial behavior is largely determined by the cognitive scripts which are retrieved in response to frustrating situations (Berkowitz, 1988; Huesmann, 1988). It seems reasonable to infer that children learn cognitive schemas and scripts of interpersonal relations from parental behavior in parent-child interactions; parental behavior is also an important role model for children's future interactions.

-End excerpt-

 

****************************************************************************

 

[BEHAVIORAL ROUTINES]

 

 

1A.      Chapter 15 in R. J. Rummel's book, Understanding Conflict and War:  Vol. 1:  The Dynamic Psychological Field is about "Situation, Expectations, and Triggers."  Rummel largely writes about the expectations that we have in life and how we handle the conflict between these expectations and the outcomes.  Many times these outcomes do not result in the way that we expect, which is why we settle into routines.   Without routines, we would have to think through every situation instead of already knowing what to expect.  Trigger events disrupt our routines and challenge us to deal with change.

 

B.        This chapter is important in helping us understand the conflict between what we think is going to happen and what actually happens.  It also helps us understand the different routines that we settle into as mechanisms to deal with what comes our way with a familiarity and comfort that we would not have if we had to think everything out each time we're faced with a similar situation.  This applies to the behavioral routines that we have that may prevent us from or help us in crossing the bridge whenever we're faced with a situation that makes us angry or depressed.

 

C.        UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT AND WAR: VOL. 1:  THE DYNAMIC PSYCHOLOGICAL FIELD

 

-Begin excerpt-

 

First, consider that one's daily life consists of a variety of behavioral roles and patterns, such as those of son, father, husband, professional, and golfer, and patterns of behavior associated with superiors and subordinates, with driving the car home, with eating, or with reading the newspaper. Each of these behaviors is a routine associating our personality, situation, behavioral dispositions, expectations, and behavioral choices. As with perception, the routine is a dialectical balance between ourselves and external reality.

Moreover, our abilities limit us, and we must compromise with the actual physical powers and dispositions governing nature. What routines we do settle into are then the results of behavioral conflicts between ourselves and the external world, an interactive working out of our behavior in a specific situation until a routine that we can live with is established.3 A routine is then a not wholly happy or unhappy behavioral accommodation of ourselves to the external world through conflict with it.

. . .

 

Once established, a routine involves a cluster of habits relieving us of the burden of thinking through each act, of choosing the behavior appropriate to each set of expectations and dispositions in each of the multitude of daily situations that confront us. Routines free our minds for creative thought and clear our mental decks of the emotional engagement that deciding each act de novo entails. They provide us with predictable order and are a locking together of our personality, situation, behavioral dispositions, and expectations. Routines therefore constitute a behavioral and dialectical balance between us and our world.

 

-End excerpt-

 

 

2A.      This journal article focuses on the decision-making process and the role of behavioral routines within it.  An experiment was implemented in order to see the effects of low time pressure and high time pressure on one's ability to make decisions.  They found that the lesser the pressure placed on the individual, the less likely the participant is to choose the option of going with routines.  However when there was high pressure, the individual opted to go with the behavioral routine since it requires less thinking.

 

B.        This is relevant to the project because it tells us that the more time we have in making decisions, the more time we will place into these decisions instead of reaching for routines.  If we have less time to think when we are placed in a demanding situation then it is more likely that we will behave according to our routines, which may not always be the best choice, especially if these routines tell us to be aggressive.

 

C. When prior knowledge overrules new evidence: Adaptive use of decision strategies and the role of behavioral routines

-Begin excerpt-

This paper focuses on behavioral routines in adaptive decision making…In the first phase, routines were induced by relying upon the human ability to adapt to situational changes by changing decision strategies. To induce strategy change, time pressure was varied as a within factor. Payoffs were manipulated so that an adaptive change in strategy led participants to maximize choice frequency for one out of three options (routine acquisition). After a one week time lapse, participants worked on similar problems, containing the previously preferred routine option. In this second phase, payoffs favored deviation from the routine option. Results showed that choices were almost perfectly calibrated to payoffs under low time pressure. However, if time pressure increased, participants were more likely to prefer the routine option, even though search strategies were still used adaptively and evidence discouraged routine selection. Results are discussed with reference to the model of adaptive decision making (Payne, Bettman & Johnson, 1993), and the MODE model of attitude-behavior relation (Fazio, 1990).     

-End excerpt-

 

 

3A.      This site shows us the importance of creating a balance between stability and flexibility, routine and change.  Too much change can create chaos and disorder, but it is through a healthy amount of change that we continue to grow as individuals.  In order to cope with these sometimes unpleasant changes is to have the stability of behavioral routines.  That way, there is some sort of order in our lives that help us deal with the disorder that may be at hand.

 

B.        Robert Dilt's advice on coping with transition is especially relevant to the project because it shows us how to have a healthy balance between our routines and occasional changes.  Oftentimes people cannot handle such changes and react in a negative manner.  If we know that depending on our familiar routines can help us with these changes, it can make us more successful in crossing the bridge.

 

C.   Crisis Transition and Transformation (The Skills of Coaching Through Stages)   

-Begin excerpt-

 

When a person is in a changing environment, for example, it can be helpful to establish stability through behavioral routines and habits. Behavioral changes, however, are best managed through establishing consistent mental strategies and plans.

 

-Robert Dilts

-End excerpt-

 

 

4A.      In this report, Paolo claims that organizational learning is largely path dependent and based on behavioral routines.  I honestly did not completely understand the experiment he conducted but I did manage to find a few varying definitions of what routines are.  The passage by Giddens is especially interesting because he argues that (with the help of Goffman) that routines are not mindless behaviors, in fact they are social activities that we must work at on a day-to-day basis.

 

B.        I am not quite sure if this is relevant to the project because it actually complicates my idea of what routines are.  I suppose one could say that routines are not mindless because we do in fact engage in these supposedly mindless activities on a regular basis, therefore what may seem like is mindless is actually something that is embedded in our system due to what culture and society tells us to do.  In any case, I found this passage very interesting and forced me to really question what routines are.

 

C.  Do Incentives Affect Routinized Behavior?

 

Definitions of routines:

-Begin excerpt-

"We will regard a set of activities as routinized, then, to the degree that the choice has been simplified by the development of a fixed response to defined stimuli. If search has been eliminated, but a choice remains in the form of a clearly defined and systematic computing routine, we still say that the activities are routinized.’ March and Simon [page 163]

 

".. a relatively complex pattern of behavior (or the theoretical representation of such a pattern) triggered by a relatively small number of initiating signals or choices and functioning as a recognizable unit in a relatively automatic fashion...’ Winter 86 [page 165]

"The regular or routine features of encounters, in time as well as in space, represent institutionalized features of social systems. Routine is founded in tradition, custom, or habit, but it is a major error to suppose that these phenomena need no explanation, that they are simply repetitive forms of behavior carried out ‘mindlessly’. On the contrary, as Goffman (together with ethnomethodology) has helped to demonstrate, the routinized character of most social activity is something that has to be worked at continually by those who sustain it in their day-to-day conduct."

Giddens 84 [page 60]

-End Excerpt-

 

 

5A.      This article discusses the relationship between children with behavior problems and their ability to empathize and feel concern for others.  According to this article, aggressive children have a tendency to act on impulse, which is usually governed by behavioral routines.  It is this lack of self-regulation from an early age that may have an effect on the same children’s social behavior in the future.

 

B.        This article is relevant to the project because it tells us that behavioral routines learned from an early age can affect how we behave in the future.  Aggressive behavioral routines do not necessarily predict a lack of empathy, rather poor self-regulation of one’s behavior that was learned at a young age. 

 

C.        The Development of Concern for Others in Children With Behavior Problems

-Begin excerpt-

 

Oppositional, aggressive children are characterized by a tendency to act on their negative impulses, often without apparent attention to any effects upon the well-being of others. Deficits in empathy and remorse are recognized as common in children with disruptive behavior disorders ( American Psychiatric Association, 1994 ). Perspective-taking and affective arousal in response to others in distress can promote interpersonal responsibility and inhibit harmful acts ( Eisenberg & Mussen, 1989 ; Feshbach, 1975 ; Hoffman, 1982 ). Perhaps owing to the marked stability of externalizing problems over the life span ( Mealey, 1995 ; Olweus, 1979 ), it has even been suggested that lowered empathy is an inherent part of antisocial individuals ( Schacter & Latane, 1964 ). However, it is not clear when such deficits in concern for others first become evident, or what role deficits play in the development of externalizing behaviors.

. . .

 

The lack of concern for others in many antisocial adolescents has been well documented ( Chandler & Moran, 1990 ; Cohen & Strayer, 1996 ; Ellis, 1982 ). The few studies done with younger children do not mirror these results. Examinations of the children in the present sample ( Zahn-Waxler, Cole, Welsh, & Fox, 1995 ) and in an independent study ( MacQuiddy, Maise, & Hamilton, 1987 ) have shown that, at preschool age, children with and without disruptive behavior problems do not differ in their concern for others. However, Kochanska (1991) found that more disobedient toddlers were less likely, 6 to 8 years later, to report prosocial responses to vignettes depicting transgressions against others than were less disobedient toddlers. She suggested that early poor behavioral self-regulation, as indexed by disobedience, might predict future problems in conscience development through either biological or environmental pathways.

 

-End excerpt-

 

 

 

********************************************************************************

 

[COGNITIVE APPRAISAL]

 

 

1A.      This site offers a general explanation of what cognitive appraisal is and the importance of the role of cognition in the way we behave.  Cognitive appraisal allows us to recognize whatever emotions that we are experiencing in order to adapt to these emotions and hopefully behave in a rational manner.  Cognitive appraisal distinguishes our raw emotions from our thought-out emotions.

 

B.        This site is relevant to the project because it tells us the significance in recognizing our emotions in order to react in a positive way.  This is very much like crossing the bridge, because what enables us to cross the bridge is recognizing what we are feeling, then thinking about it, and finally reacting.

 

C.        Emotion Research:  Cognitive and Experimental Psychology

-Begin excerpt-

Cognitive appraisal theories represent a dominant force in emotion research in cognitive psychology. A number of researchers have developed variations on the basic theme of cognitive appraisal theories and the primacy of cognition, including Lazarus (1991; 1984), Ortony and colleagues (1988), Frijda (1986), Scherer (1984), Mandler (1984). The underlying thesis of the cognitive appraisal theories is as follows. Emotional responses represent undifferentiated physiological states and cognition is therefore necessary to provide an interpretation which a) provides the basis for the conscious experience of a particular emotion, and b) can be used by the organism in an adaptive manner to initiate or alter a particular behavior. Cognition is necessary to disambiguate the vague emotional states and cognitive constructs such as perceptions, thoughts, beliefs, and goals are brought to bear on this process. The sequence of events involved in an emotional response is thought to be as follows. A stimulus is detected, causing a state of bodily arousal, which in turn is interpreted by the cognitive apparatus to generate an appraisal, which takes into account the organism's goals, plans, and beliefs. This appraisal has certain physiological consequences (e.g., autonomous system reactions), which in turn have dispositional consequence (e.g., motivation for particular behavior) (Frijda, 1986). Within the general framework acknowledging the centrality of cognition in the emotional experience, different researchers make distinctions among the cognitive processes involved. Thus Lazarus distinguishes between conscious and "primitive evaluative" processes (1991), and between knowledge and appraisal. Such subtle distinctions provide the basis for a synthesis of these theories with recent findings from neurophysiology.

-End excerpt-

 

2A.      The Abnormal Psychology site is an interesting site about social phobias, anxiety, and how to prevent ourselves from having anxiety and distress.  One step in the process is cognitive appraisal, which is basically described as “thought-challenging.”  Thought-challenging involves challenging our own negative thoughts and preventing these thoughts from allowing us to make bad decisions or behave negatively.  These thoughts are often so automatic that we rarely notice them, which is why we must recognize and challenge them.

 

B.        This site is very relevant to the project because it is essentially telling us how we can effectively cross the bridge from feeling distressed to feeling calm and rational.  Challenging one’s thoughts and dissolving anxiety are key in producing a positive mental state and in turn, positive behavior.

 

C.        Abnormal Psychology

 

Figure 1:  The Cycle of Anxiety model

 

 

 

-Begin excerpt-

 

Thought-Challenging

 

A person's thoughts can set the self-perpetuating cycle of anxiety into motion. Being able to challenge one's thoughts to be more productive and enable desired behaviour, is a useful skill to be taught for sufferers of social phobia. It can be a technique useful when any intense emotions (such as anger, depression, guilt - not just anxiety) are experienced, even in everyday situations.

…

Despite their familiarity these thoughts may be the cause of our anxiety or depression. Thought-challenging teaches individuals how to identify distorted thinking habits, and to replace these ideas with more rational interpretations. It is not simply 'positive' thinking, it is identifying those thoughts which are not helpful to our lives because they are erroneous

-End excerpt-

 

3A.      A study was conducted on a sample of 116 women to see the “effects of coping styles and strategies, perceived social support, and primary and secondary cognitive appraisal on immediate outcome…” (Hudek-Knezevic and Kardum, 2000)  The results indicated that cognitive appraisal was crucial in the coping process and adaptation.

 

B.        This site is relevant to the project because it does not reject the idea that cognitive appraisal is necessary for effective coping strategies.  By knowing this, we may be able to handle situations optimally and keep our emotions in check.

 

C.        European Journal of Psychological Assessment:  The Effects of Dispositional and Situational Coping, Perceived Social Support, and Cognitive Appraisal on Immediate Outcome    

 

-Begin excerpt-

The effects of coping styles and strategies, perceived social support, and primary and secondary cognitive appraisal on immediate outcome were examined in this study. Two theoretical models were tested via linear structural equation modelling (LISREL VI) on a sample of 116 women. The first model was derived from the structural approach to stress and coping, while the second was based primarily on a theoretical position of the transactional approach to stress and coping process. Both models were tested twice, by taking into account appraisal of threat and appraisal of controllability. The results indicate the importance of cognitive appraisals and their effects on adaptational outcomes, situational coping efforts as well as their mediating role between some coping resources and adaptational outcomes. The main differences obtained in the models tested account for the type of cognitive appraisal included in the analyses. The appraisal of threat proved to be a more central component of stressful experience than appraisal of controllability. The results also show that dispositional as well as situational coping strategies exert relatively weak effects on immediate outcome.

-End excerpt-

 

4A.      In this site, I learned what primary appraisal and secondary appraisal are according to Lazarus.  Primary appraisal is the initial process where we recognize and question the situation, and secondary appraisal is where we actually begin to cope with the situation at hand.  Another important point is the idea that, just as much as emotions are dependent on appraisal, that appraisal patterns are dependent on emotions.  By that Lazarus means that if someone does not care about the situation at hand, it will not affect that person’s emotions.  But if it were the other way around and if that person did care about the situation, then it would affect appraisal patterns, which would in turn affect the emotions that depend on the appraisal.

 

B.        This site is relevant to the project because it goes through Lazarus’ appraisal theory and its steps toward coping.  These steps include recognizing the situation, questioning whether it has relevance for well-being, and finally taking action by dealing/coping with it.  This is very much like Dr. Leon’s “Three-fold self,” in which we feel, think, then act.

 

C.        Emotion:  Appraisal, Activation, Expression                    

-Begin excerpt-

 

Lazarus's appraisal theory

1.                  Primary appraisal refers to the issue of whether the situation has relevance for personal well-being. During primary appraisal, individuals implicitly ask themselves the question: "Am I in trouble or being benefited, now or in the future, and in what way?"

2.                  Secondary appraisal focuses on the possible ways of coping with the situation, and evaluates the extent of available personal and environmental resources for dealing with it. The secondary appraisal process can be translated into the implicit question: "What if anything can be done about the situation (or about the way it will make me feel)?"

 

"Secondary interpretations of coping options and primary appraisals of what is at stake interact with each other in shaping the degree of stress and the strength and quality (or content) of the emotional reaction" (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, p. 35).

…

 

Appraisal and emotional differentiation

 

According to appraisal theory, not only is emotion in general dependent on appraisal, but also particular emotions imply characteristic appraisal patterns. For example, Smith and Lazarus (1993) suggested that differences in profiles along just six basic appraisal dimensions account for the differentiation of the full range of human emotions. In Smith and Lazarus's view, all emotions are characterized by primary appraisals of motivational relevance. This means that unless the individual cares about the situation, it will have no emotional significance for them. A second primary appraisal relating to motivational congruence differentiates positive from negative emotional states. If the situation is beneficial to the individual's current goals and concerns, the experienced emotion is pleasant, whereas if what is happening interferes with ongoing projects, then the emotional experience will be a negative one.

 

Secondary appraisals further distinguish positive and negative emotions according to evaluated coping potential (problem-focused or emotion-focused), accountability, and future expectancy. For example, the emotion of sadness is thought to be related to a secondary appraisal pattern where the individual feels unable to cope with a motivationally incongruent situation, and has low expectations about possible future improvements in this situation.

-End excerpt-

 

 

 

5A.      This page describes Nathan Williams’ study with coping styles and their role in reducing anxiety.  Williams believes in coping flexibility in order to achieve optimal results in appraisal and coping.

 

B.        This is relevant to the project because it deals with coping with situations in order to reduce anxiety.  By doing this we prevent ourselves from getting too down on ourselves, which would be the negative-blue zone according to the four options model. 

 

C.        The Cognitive Interactional Model of Appraisal and Coping      

-Begin excerpt-

 

Over the past four years, we have developed the Cognitive Interactional Model of Appraisal and Coping to emphasize the role of cognitive styles and schemas in providing a dispositional basis for coping.  This model was developed specifically to examine coping styles in individuals with anxiety and depression, based on the assumption that such individuals should not only evidence characteristic patterns of appraisal, but also characteristic patterns of coping in response to perceived threats. Moreover, we contend that individuals should differ in the extent to which they are flexible in their employment of coping styles (i.e., coping flexibility) as a function of these patterns of appraisal. 

 

-End excerpt-

 

 

 

 

**************************************************************

 

[EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE]

 

 

1A.      This site is an introduction to the hot topic of emotional intelligence in the workplace.  The author, Bridget Murray, discusses several points that famous psychologist Daniel Goleman, PhD makes in his book about emotional intelligence being something that be learned.  According to Goleman, emotional intelligence is a signifier of success in life, therefore one should be tested on one’s emotional intelligence.  Many critics say that emotional intelligence cannot be learned, and have varying opinions of what emotional intelligence is.

 

B.        This site is relevant to the project because it attempts to define emotional intelligence and also relates it to the workplace, which is an area that many people are interested in, especially to get ahead in life.  If one is emotionally intelligent, it is thought that the chance for success is likely.

 

C.        Does "Emotional Intelligence" Matter in the Workplace?            

-Begin excerpt-

 

In other words, it takes more than traditional cognitive intelligence to be successful at work. It also takes 'emotional intelligence,' the ability to restrain negative feelings such as anger and self-doubt, and instead focus on positive ones such as confidence and congeniality, claims an emerging school of behavioral thought. The theory first captured the public imagination three years ago with the release of 'Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More than IQ,' (Bantam, 1995) by psychologist Daniel Goleman, PhD. In the book, Goleman stirred controversy with his claim that people endowed with emotional skill excel in life, perhaps more so than those with a high IQ. Goleman drew his propositions from behavioral, brain and personality research by such psychologists as Peter Salovey, PhD, and John Mayer, PhD, who first proposed the model of emotional intelligence.

. . .

The definition question

At issue for many of the theory’s critics is the way Goleman defines emotional intelligence. John Mayer, PhD, a University of New Hampshire psychologist, who was one of the first to coin the term defines it more narrowly than Goleman. For Mayer, emotional intelligence is the ability to understand how others’ emotions work and to control one’s own emotions. By comparison, Goleman defines emotional intelligence more broadly, also including such competencies as optimism, conscientiousness, motivation, empathy and social competence.

According to Mayer, these broader traits that Goleman relates to emotional intelligence are considered personality traits by other theorists. For example, psychologist Edward Gordon, PhD, says that emotional intelligence deals largely with personality and mood, aspects of the individual that cannot be changed. Gordon, president of a Chicago-based employee-training company, claims that improving employees’ literacy and analytical skills, not their emotional skills, is the best way to boost job performance. 'Work success is mostly cognitively driven,' says Gordon. 'Emotion by itself won’t get you very far.'

-End excerpt-

 

2A.      This website, called, “Steve Hein’s Emotional Intelligence Site” is dedicated to informing us about anything and everything to do with

Emotional Intelligence, and how it applies to many facets of life.  It also has a search engine, reviews of EI-related sites, and information about Hein’s own work. 

 

B.        This website is relevant to the spin cycle project because it has general information about EI, critiques on books about it, and especially the history and definition of EI as according to Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso.  By supplying such information it can help us as readers become more aware of what certain people believe EI is and how we can achieve it.

 

C.        Definition and History of “Emotional Intelligence”

 

A definition that is offered:

 

-Begin excerpt-

MSC [Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso] suggest that EI is a true form of intelligence which has not been scientifically measured until they began their research work. One definition they propose is "the ability to process emotional information, particularly as it involves the perception, assimilation, understanding, and management of emotion."

-End excerpt-

 

Elaborating on the definition:

 

-Begin excerpt-

 

The Four branches of EI:

1. Perception Appraisal and Expression of Emotion
2. Emotional Facilitation of Thinking
3. Understanding and Analyzing Emotions; Employing Emotional Knowledge
4. Reflective Regulation of Emotions to Promote Emotional and Intellectual Growth

Perception, Appraisal and Expression of Emotion

Ability to identify emotion in one's physical states, feelings, and thoughts.

Ability to identify emotions in other people, designs, artwork, etc. through language, sound, appearance, and behavior.

Ability to express emotions accurately, and to express needs related to those feelings.

Ability to discriminate between accurate and inaccurate, or honest vs. dishonest expressions of feeling.

Emotional Facilitation of Thinking

Emotions prioritize thinking by directing attention to important information.

Emotions are sufficiently vivid and available that they can be generated as aids to judgment and memory concerning feelings.

Emotional mood swings change the individual's perspective from optimistic to pessimistic, encouraging consideration of multiple points of view.

Emotional states differentially encourage specific problem-solving approaches such as when happiness facilitates inductive reasoning and creativity.

Understanding and Analyzing Emotions; Employing Emotional Knowledge

Ability to label emotions and recognize relations among the words and the emotions themselves, such as the relation between liking and loving.

Ability to interpret the meanings that emotions convey regarding relationships, such as that sadness often accompanies a loss.

Ability to understand complex feelings: simultaneous feelings of love and hate or blends such as awe as a combination of fear and surprise.

Ability to recognize likely transitions among emotions, such as the transition from anger to satisfaction or from anger to shame.

Reflective Regulation of Emotion to Promote Emotional and Intellectual Growth

Ability to stay open to feelings, both those that are pleasant and those that are unpleasant.

Ability to reflectively engage or detach from an emotion depending upon its judged informativeness or utility.

Ability to reflectively monitor emotions in relation to oneself and others, such as recognizing how clear, typical, influential or reasonable they are.

Ability to manage emotion in oneself and others by moderating negative emotions and enhancing pleasant ones, without repressing or exaggerating information they may convey.

 

-End excerpt-

 

 

3A.      This site about emotional intelligence provides a brief overview of what it is and the history of how it first came about.  It also talks about the two types of social intelligences within emotional intelligence, as proposed by Thorndike, which are interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence.  Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to understand people and intrapersonal intelligence is the ability to understand oneself.  These intelligences are used in order to succeed in life.

 

B.        This is relevant to the project because emotional intelligence is in fact what we are seeking as we try to cross the bridge from negative to positive.  If we are emotionally intelligent, crossing the bridge would be second nature to us.  It is important to have interpersonal intelligence because we must understand others in social situations so that we do not behave in an unpleasant manner.  The same thing goes with intrapersonal intelligence, which helps us to understand ourselves, therefore handle our emotions and the situations we are in in an effective way.

 

C.        Emotions and Emotional Intelligence

-Begin excerpt-

What is emotional intelligence?

Recent discussions of EI proliferate across the American landscape -- from the cover of Time, to a best selling book by Daniel Goleman, to an episode of the Oprah Winfrey show. But EI is not some easily dismissed "neopsycho-babble." EI has its roots in the concept of "social intelligence," first identified by E.L. Thorndike in 1920. Psychologists have been uncovering other intelligences for some time now, and grouping them mainly into three clusters: abstract intelligence (the ability to understand and manipulate with verbal and mathematic symbols), concrete intelligence (the ability to understand and manipulate with objects), and social intelligence (the ability to understand and relate to people) (Ruisel, 1992). Thorndike (1920: 228), defined social intelligence as "the ability to understand and manage men and women, boys and girls -- to act wisely in human relations." And (1983) includes inter- and intrapersonal intelligences in his theory of multiple intelligences (see Gardner for an interesting interview with the Harvard University professor). These two intelligences comprise social intelligence. He defines them as follows:

Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to understand other people: what motivates them, how they work, how to work cooperatively with them. Successful salespeople, politicians, teachers, clinicians, and religious leaders are all likely to be individuals with high degrees of interpersonal intelligence. Intrapersonal intelligence ... is a correlative ability, turned inward. It is a capacity to form an accurate, veridical model of oneself and to be able to use that model to operate effectively in life.

Emotional intelligence, on the other hand, "is a type of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and others' emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information to guide one's thinking and actions" (Mayer & Salovey, 1993: 433). According to Salovey & Mayer (1990), EI subsumes Gardner's inter- and intrapersonal intelligences, and involves abilities that may be categorized into five domains:

Self-awareness:

Observing yourself and recognizing a feeling as it happens.

Managing emotions:

Handling feelings so that they are appropriate; realizing what is behind a feeling; finding ways to handle fears and anxieties, anger, and sadness.

Motivating oneself:

Channeling emotions in the service of a goal; emotional self control; delaying gratification and stifling impulses.

Empathy:

Sensitivity to others' feelings and concerns and taking their perspective; appreciating the differences in how people feel about things.

Handling relationships:

Managing emotions in others; social competence and social skills.

 

-End excerpt-

 

 

4A.      Chapter three of Daniel Goleman’s The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace is about the emotionally intelligent skills that can be learned.  Upon learning these skills, one may become emotionally intelligent and function better in the workplace and in life in general.

 

B.        This site is relevant to the project because it teaches us how to become emotionally intelligent and what qualities that an emotionally intelligent person would possess.  The table below is a quick guide to show us what Goleman believes is what we need to become emotionally intelligent.

 

C.        An EI-Based Theory of Performance

 

-Begin excerpt-

Figure 3.1 A FRAMEWORK OF EMOTIONAL COMPETENCIES

 

Self
Personal Competence

Other
Social competence

Recognition

Self-Awareness

- Emotional self-awareness
- Accurate self-assessment
- Self-confidence


Social Awareness

- Empathy
- Service orientation
- Organizational
awareness

Regulation

 

Self-Management

· Self-control
· Trustworthiness
· Conscientiousness
· Adaptability
· Achievement drive
· Initiative

 

 

Relationship Management

· Developing others
· Influence
· Communication
· Conflict management
· Leadership
· Change catalyst
· Building bonds
· Teamwork & collaboration

 

-End excerpt-

 

 

5A.      This site shows us the statistics of how our emotions indeed affect our lives.  This information seems to imply that emotional intelligence is needed in order to succeed in life, given how the statistics of people who are impulsive, chronically sad or depressed seem to be more prone to bad health. 

 

B.        This site is relevant to our project because it shows us the positive outcomes of having emotional intelligence and the possible negative outcomes of having low emotionally intelligence.  Hopefully this information would give incentive to others to be emotionally intelligent since statistics seem to show the considerable difference between low and high EQ and what those implications are.

 

C.        Benefits of EQ -- A Compelling Compilation of Research

-Begin excerpt-

 

Life

-End excerpt-

 

 

 

::References::

 

Cognitive Scripts:

 

Costigan, Shannon and Lewis, Kathy.  Aggression and Violence.  Homepage for Psychology 230.3.  Internet.  Jan. 2001,

Available.  <http://duke.usask.ca/~kal224/week4.html>

 

Lawrence, Claire.  Anger, Aggression, and Cognition:  Personality and Individual Differences.  Internet.  Available.                                                       <http://www.psychology.nottingham.ac.uk/staff/cl/c81hpe/handout10.pdf>

 

Reaves, Andrew L.  "Parental Practice, Parental Occupation and Children’s Aggression."  African American Research

Perspectives Journal.  Internet. 1995, Available.  

<http://www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/prba/persp/spring1995/areaves.pdf>

 

Scholl, Richard W.  Social Cognition and Cognitive Schema.  Dr. Richard W. Scholl’s Webpage.  Internet. 

Available.  <http://www.cba.uri.edu/Scholl/Notes/Cognitive_Schema.htm>

 

Smith, Chris.  Memory IV:  Schemas and Scripts.  The Cognitive Psychology Website.  Internet.  Jan. 02, 1999,

Available.  <http://www.uclan.ac.uk/facs/science/psychol/cog/hewmem4.htm>

 

 

Behavioral Routines:

 

Betsch, Tilmann et al.  When Prior Knowledge Overrules New Evidence:  Adaptive Use of Decision Strategies

and the Role of Behavioral Routines.  Swiss Journal of Psychology Nr. 3.  Internet.  1999, Available. <http://verlag.hanshuber.com/Zeitschriften/SJP/99/sp9903.html>

 

Dilts, Robert.  Crisis Transition and Transformation (the skills of coaching through changes).  Internet. 

Available.  <http://www.ppdpd.co.uk/seminars/shortCrisis.htm>

 

Hastings, Paul D. et al. “The Development of Concern for Others in Children With Behavior Problems.”

Developmental Psychology, Vol. 36, No. 5. Internet. 2000, Available.

<http://www.apa.org/journals/dev/dev365531.html>

Paolo, Patelli.  Do Incentives Affect Routinized Behavior?  Internet.  April 1999, Available.               <http://www.santafe.edu/~paolo/documents/sfi1.pdf>

Rummel, R.J.  "Chapter 15:  Situation, Expectations And Triggers."  Understanding Conflict and War: 

Vol. 1:  The Dynamic Psychological Field.  Internet.  Sept. 21, 2001, Available. 

<http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/DPF.CHAP15.HTM>

 

 

Cognitive Appraisal:

 

Abnormal Psychology.  Internet.  Available. 

<http://www.psych.usyd.edu.au/teach2002/psyc1/abnormal_tutorial/CA1.html>

 

Emotion Research:  Cognitive and Experimental Psychology.  The Emotion Site.  Ed. Hudlicka, Eva. 

Internet.  Available.  <http://emotion.salk.edu/Emotion/EmoRes/Psych/CogExp/Cog.html>

 

Hudek-Knezevik, Jasna and Kardum, Igor.  "The Effects of Dispositional and Situational Coping, Perceived

Social Support, and Cognitive Appraisal on Immediate Outcome."  European Journal of Psychological

Assessment, Vol. 16, No. 3.  Internet.  2000, Available.

<http://www.hhpub.com/journals/ejpa/20001603.html - 20001603_5>

 

Parkinson, Brian.  Emotion:  Appraisal, Activation, Expression.  Internet.  Dec. 7, 1999, Available.                                                                         

<http://www.brunel.ac.uk/~hsstbbp/emotlec5.htm>

 

Williams, Nathan L.  The Cognitive Interactional Model of Appraisal and Coping.  International Association of Cognitive

Psychotherapy Student Organization.  Internet.  2001, Available.  <http://www.internationalacp.org/Williams.htm> 

 

 

Emotional Intelligence:

 

Benefits of EQ:  A Compelling Compilation of Research.  Six Seconds.  Internet.  2001, Available.

            <http://www.6seconds.org/main.php3?TN=f/dynamic.html&id=269>

 

Goleman, Daniel.  “An EI-Based Theory of Performance.”  The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace.  Ed. Cherniss, Cary

            And Goleman, Daniel.  Internet.  Available.  <http://www.eiconsortium.org/research/ei_theory_performance.htm>

 

Hein, Steve.  Emotional Intelligence Home Page.  Internet.  Feb. 2, 2002, Available. 

<http://eqi.org/history.htm - Definition%20and%20History%20of%20>

 

 

Murray, Bridget.  "Does ‘emotional intelligence’ matter in the workplace?"  American Psychological Association,

Vol. 29, No. 7. Internet.  July 1998, Available.  <http://www.apa.org/monitor/jul98/emot.html>

 

 

Young, Cheri A.  Emotions and Emotional Intelligence.  Internet.  1996, Available.

<http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/gallery/young/emotion.htm>

 

 

 

 

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