Cognitive Appraisals in the Context of Affect Engineering

This is the third article in a series designed for the layperson that will explain the basics of Affect Engineering as a theory of emotions. Each article will begin with a list of questions that it will aim to address. The sections that follow will be in two parts each. The first part will be a short statement that answers each question as succinctly as possible. The second part will either be an explanation that goes into more detail where needed or explain some of the implications of the short answer.

QUESTIONS

1. What is a cognitive appraisal towards the restoration of equilibrium between a purpose and its complementary purpose in Affect Engineering?
2. What are Positive Anxiety and Negative Anxiety in Affect Engineering?
3. Why are there two sets of functions in Affect Engineering?
4. What happens when equilibrium between a purpose and its complementary purpose are not sought, and when might this occur?

What is a cognitive appraisal towards the restoration of equilibrium between a purpose and its complementary purpose in Affect Engineering?

SHORT ANSWER

A cognitive appraisal, or Appraisal for short, in Affect Engineering concerns whether the acquisition of an entity is deemed to lead towards balancing the success to failure rate between fulfilling a purpose versus fulfilling its complementary purpose (i.e., two opposing goals), bringing it closer to the ideal for the individual, or towards unbalancing the success to failure rate between the purpose and its complementary purpose.

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

The survival related need to assess whether or not objects and events in an environment will help or hinder the individual’s effort to balance the fulfillment of opposing objectives is what Appraisals address in Affect Engineering’s framework. If, for example, a glass of water is considered by an individual for the fulfillment of the purpose of hydrating versus not hydrating or dehydrating, then there are two things that are taken into consideration in Affect Engineering.

First, the glass of water is given a valuation by the individual for both the purpose of hydrating and also for the purpose of not hydrating (i.e., dehydrating). This upholds the 1:1:1:1 Ratio established in the second article of this series. In most cases, the individual would recognize (i.e., from past learning) that the glass of water is more valuable for helping the individual to hydrate if it is consumed than it is for helping the individual to not hydrate if consumed. For instance, based upon the glass of water’s Sufficiency for the fulfillment of the purpose of not hydrating, at bare minimum another entity would be required for the glass of water to be sufficient for dehydrating, (e.g., heat to vaporize it). The two valuations of the glass of water by the individual are separate because they are for two different and opposing purposes. An individual who has learned that water alleviates thirst would be expected to give the glass of water a higher valuation for the purpose of hydrating, while giving the glass a water a valuation closer to its existential value (i.e., base valuation for existing) for the purpose of not hydrating.

Secondly, the individual’s current state of being and where it is relative to their ideal success-to-failure rate for the two purposes (e.g., striking a balance or maintaining homeostasis) will need to be determined. If the individual is very thirsty, then the glass of water’s acquisition would be expected to lead towards a restoration of equilibrium. As stated in the previous paragraph and image, the glass of water would still have a valuation for the purpose of not hydrating (dehydrating), but this valuation would be dwarfed and offset by the valuation of the glass of water for the fulfillment of the purpose of hydrating. This would persist as long as the individual considers water to be more useful for hydrating than dehydrating oneself.

Alternatively, if the individual was overly hydrated with liquid already, to the point that consuming more water would lead away from equilibrium, then the Appraisals would flip. The glass of water would be given a negative Appraisal for the fulfillment of the purpose of hydrating, as drinking the water would lead to the individual feeling waterlogged and move them away from equilibrium/homeostasis. For the complementary purpose of not hydrating, the glass of water would have a positive Appraisal, as dehydrating oneself in this case would lead towards a restoration of equilibrium between the purpose and complementary purpose.

Appraisals are incorporated into Affect Engineering as a discrete variable (equaling +1 or -1), and their use means that Anxiety is of two types in its framework: Positive Anxiety and Negative Anxiety). Positive Anxiety, in this case, means the Anxiety invested in an entity has a positive Appraisal, and the individual expects that fulfillment of the purpose in consideration will lead towards restoring equilibrium or balancing fulfillment of the purpose against fulfillment of its complementary purpose (i.e., opposing purpose).

Negative Anxiety is in contrast to this, and means the Anxiety invested in an entity has a negative Appraisal; the individual expects that fulfillment of the purpose in consideration will lead away from restoring equilibrium, and will unbalance fulfillment of the purpose against fulfillment of its complementary purpose (i.e., opposing purpose).

To summarize, in Affect Engineering Appraisals concern the individual’s assessment of whether or not fulfilling the purpose at hand will lead towards its fulfillment being balanced or unbalanced against fulfillment of its opposing purpose. What makes Appraisals somewhat tricky to grasp in Affect Engineering’s framework is the notion that an entity or object is always considered to be valuable both for doing and not doing the same action, but to different degrees (e.g., water cannot be highly useful for both hydrating and dehydrating oneself). This is necessary to adhere to its 1:1:1:1 Ratio. On another note, Primary Appraisals (e.g., concerning evaluations and threats or harm) and Secondary Appraisals (e.g., concerning efficacy and coping mechanisms) as proposed by Richard S. Lazarus, are incorporated in a different manner as separate variables within Affect Engineering’s framework, as mentioned in the second article of this series, and they will be examined in more depth later in this series as other variables and concepts are introduced.

What are Positive Anxiety and Negative Anxiety in Affect Engineering?

SHORT ANSWER

Positive Anxiety in Affect Engineering concerns increases and decreases to negative affect with respect to a single purpose for the individual. Negative Anxiety in Affect Engineering concerns increases and decreases to positive affect with respect to a single purpose for the individual.

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

Due to Affect Engineering’s adherence to its 1:1:1:1 ratio as a principle, Positive Anxiety and Negative Anxiety are concerned with different types of affect.

Positive Anxiety in Affect Engineering is concerned with increases and reductions to negative affect (e.g., generally corresponding to negative feelings and emotions). In the case of Positive Anxiety, positive here is in reference to whether fulfillment of the purpose will lead towards a restoration of equilibrium between the purpose at hand and its complementary purpose (i.e., yes, for the purpose at hand in this case).

In contrast, Negative Anxiety in Affect Engineering is concerned with increases and reductions to positive affect (e.g., generally corresponding to positive feelings and emotions). In the case of Negative Anxiety, negative here is in reference to whether fulfillment of the purpose will lead towards a restoration of equilibrium between the purpose at hand and its complementary purpose (i.e., no, for the purpose at hand in this case).

The example of the glass of water being valued by an individual for the purpose of hydrating will be considered again. For an individual who is extremely thirsty, any threat of harm to the glass of water (e.g., a rival who wants to drink it first) would be expected to raise the individual’s investment of Positive Anxiety into it for the purpose of hydrating, and subsequently raise negative affect felt if they are unable to procure the glass of water, especially if no other water sources are available nearby. If, however, the individual is able to acquire the glass of water despite the threat of harm, a reduction in the Positive Anxiety invested into it for the purpose of hydrating would be expected, as well as a reduction in negative affect felt. Both of these valuations of the glass of water would be for the specific purpose at hand, hydrating, as its value for the complementary purpose (i.e., not hydrating), would be smaller and negligible due to being offset.

Alternatively, if the individual is overly hydrated (i.e., drinking the glass of water would lead away from homeostasis), then any specific threat of harm to the glass of water would reduce the Negative Anxiety invested into it for the purpose of hydrating, and lower the positive affect felt at the prospect of having extra water in their system, with respect to this single purpose of hydrating. However, if the individual expects they will be able to successfully acquire the water despite the threat of harm posed by a rival who intends to drink it first, an increase in Negative Anxiety invested into the entity for this single purpose of hydrating, as well as positive affect felt, would be modeled in the framework of Affect Engineering.

It bears mentioning that in Affect Engineering’s framework, the successful fulfillment of one purpose always comes at the expense of fulfillment of the complementary purpose, and these two purposes are both mutually exclusive and exhaustive. For example, an individual cannot hydrate and dehydrate themselves at the same time, but they are always doing one or the other. For an overly hydrated individual, continuing to hydrate will normally increase the sense of urgency held for the complementary purpose, as maintaining equilibrium and homeostasis becomes jeopardized the more that one purpose is held above its opposite. This would happen if the individual intends to continue living by maintaining homeostasis, as most goals held by an individual also require the individual to be alive in order to successfully achieve them. There are exceptions to this, nonetheless.

Why are there two sets of functions in Affect Engineering?

SHORT ANSWER

Two sets of functions are needed to help model and classify emotions depending upon the Appraisal of the entity towards the restoration of equilibrium between fulfilling a purpose and fulfilling the complementary purpose or opposing goal.

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

The Appraisal variable in Affect Engineering is used to determine which function type is used to model a valuation for an entity as it relates to the fulfillment of a purpose held by an individual. The two function types in Affect Engineering’s framework are the Pursuit of Pleasure functions, and the Avoidance of Pain functions.

Functions with a positive Appraisal in Affect Engineering concern changes to negative affect and are used when the individual determines that fulfillment of the purpose at hand would lead toward restoring equilibrium between it and its complementary purpose. These are referred to as the Avoidance of Pain Functions.

Functions with a negative Appraisal in Affect Engineering concern changes to positive affect and are used when the individual determines that fulfillment of the purpose at hand would lead away from restoring equilibrium between it and its complementary purpose. These are referred to as the Pursuit of Pleasure Functions.

There are of courses parallels and contrasts between the two functions that are worth examining based upon the classification methods for different emotions in Affect Engineering, such as between guilt and sadness, or between anger and happiness. Moreover, where equilibrium is believed to be, that is to say, what the idealized failure to success rate is between a purpose and its opposing purpose, is not assumed to be constant between individuals.

What happens when equilibrium between a purpose and its complementary purpose are not sought, and when might this occur?

SHORT ANSWER

When equilibrium between the fulfillment of a purpose and its complementary purpose is not sought, the individual is in danger of perishing if a primary drive is involved. This could occur if an individual seeks to fulfill a purpose and the successful fulfillment of the purpose can only come at the expense of the individual’s own life.

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

An individual might choose to hold the fulfillment of one purpose above its complementary purpose, even at the risk of death, if they possess a high degree of resolve to achieve a certain aim or perform a specific action. This could happen in cases of martyrdom (i.e., sacrificing oneself for a cause), or altruistic sacrifice, as in the case of an individual putting their own life in jeopardy or even in the line of fire in order to save someone else, a group of people, or even inanimate objects.

Preview:

The next article will address emotional regulation in Affect Engineering. Though the classifications and descriptions for specific emotions have not been covered yet — they will be in the second half of this article series — the mechanisms proposed to influence them can be addressed before then.

Previous: Article 2 of 12 Reframing Anxiety as a Resource

Next: Article 4 of 12 Emotional Regulation in Affect Engineering

Reframing Anxiety as a Resource

This is the second article in a series designed for the layperson that will explain the basics of Affect Engineering as a theory of emotions. Each article will begin with a list of questions that it will aim to address. The sections that follow will be in two parts each. The first part will be a short statement that answers each question as succinctly as possible. The second part will either be an explanation that goes into more detail where needed or explain some of the implications of the short answer.

QUESTIONS

1. What does reframing Anxiety as a resource entail for Affect Engineering and what are its implications?
2. How are primary and secondary drives incorporated into Affect Engineering?
3. How are the concepts of will, willpower, and free will addressed in Affect Engineering?
4. What is the 1:1:1:1 Ratio in Affect Engineering and what are its implications?
5. What do maintaining and breaking a double bind mean in the context of Affect Engineering?

What does reframing Anxiety as a resource entail for Affect Engineering and what are its implications??

SHORT ANSWER

Within the context of Affect Engineering, to value an entity with respect to the fulfillment of a purpose entails an investment of Anxiety or energy. In short, to value something is to have Anxiety invested into it.

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

In the first article of this series, entities were described as possessing a value comprised of two parts: an existential part and a utility part with respect to a particular purpose. To mark an entity with both an existential value and a utility value requires requires an investment of energy from the individual. Entities that have more energy invested in them than other entities are seen in Affect Engineering as having a high value, while entities that have less energy invested in them are seen as having a low value. This energy is labeled Anxiety in Affect Engineering, and is measured in Emotional Units within its framework.

To give an example using the sport of golf, five different balls and holes for courses will be considered for an individual. The individual has five separate goals, but they are all identical, that is to say, the goal is to make par for each hole. Each course has a different par, ranging from par 1 to par 5. The size of the flag above each hole is representative of how much Anxiety is invested into making each shot for each hole. A larger flag means more Anxiety is invested in each stroke.

Each ball is the same distance from their respective hole as all of the other balls. The par 1 hole will have the most Anxiety invested into each stroke because there is only one chance to get the ball in the course; that is to say, the Uniqueness of the stroke is 1/1 for the par one hole. The par 5 hold will have the least amount of Anxiety invested into each stroke because the Uniqueness of each stroke is 1/5. Hypothetically speaking, if an individual had 100 units of Anxiety (i.e., Emotional Units) invested into landing the ball into the hole in one stroke for the Par 1 course, then they might be expected to have approximately 20 units of Anxiety (i.e., Emotional Units) invested into each stroke for the par 5 course. A similar estimate could be made for the par 2 (i.e., 50 E.U.), par 3 (i.e., 33.3 E.U.), and par 4 (i.e., 25 E.U.) courses.

The overall Anxiety invested for making par on each course is the same. However, all of the Anxiety is invested into the single stroke permitted for the par 1 course. For the other courses, the Anxiety invested is split between the number of strokes available to make par. To say that an individual values something, in Affect Engineering, is to say that the individual has Anxiety is invested in it.

How are primary and secondary drives incorporated into Affect Engineering?

SHORT ANSWER

Both primary or biological drives (e.g., those related to survival such as the impulse to eliminate hunger, or thirst) and secondary or non-biological drives (e.g., those that are learned or associated, such as the impulse to seek social connections or work towards achieving a particular feat) are construed as motivation to do a single action and are one-directional in Affect Engineering. The impulse behind an action related to a specific drive is held in check or balanced by its opposing impulse (e.g., the impulse to eat food to acquire nutrients vs. the impulse to not eat food).

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

An impulse can generally be described as an inclination to act that arises as a reaction to either internal stimuli (e.g., seeking food in response to physical sensations of hunger) or external stimuli (e.g., moving one’s hand away from a hot stove). In Affect Engineering, the impulse behind a drive is perhaps best thought of as a vector, possessing both force (e.g., motivational force) and a single direction, while the drive itself is perhaps best thought of as a ray, that is, a half-line extending in one direction towards infinity but with no specific magnitude. The force behind a drive may fluctuate, increasing or alternatively diminishing, but its direction does not change. What this entails for Affect Engineering is that the impulse behind an action related to a primary drive, such as the motivation to eat food to acquire nutrients and energy, is considered to persist even after eating and the physical sensations of hunger have near diminished to the individual. It is at this point that the impulse behind the action (i.e., acquiring food to eat) would be held in check or balanced by an opposing impulse behind the opposite action, motivation to not acquiring food in order to not eat, or fasting in this case. Both impulses on their own, if left unchecked by one another, would lead to death, from either starvation or overeating (e.g., choking, or gastric rupture). For the primary drives, life is sustained by striking a balance between the two impulses behind the mutually exclusive actions, as one cannot eat and not eat at the same time.

This holds true for impulses behind actions related to the other primary drives (drinking water to hydrate vs. not drinking water to not hydrate; sleeping to rest vs. not sleeping to not rest). If either impulse is taken to an extreme over the other, then death would be the end result. In the case of reproduction, either sexual (two parents) or asexual (single parent like sea stars, Komodo Dragons, and many plants species), while not engaging in it does not necessarily lead to the death of the individual, if the impulse were taken to an extreme (i.e., held above its opposing impulse 100% of the time), it would lead to the extinction of the species if every member of the species took the impulse to not engage in reproduction to that same extremity. In the framework of Affect Engineering, it bears more resemblance to secondary drives in that sense for the individual, which will be discussed next.

For impulses behind actions related to secondary drives, death would only be the result in half of the instances, when the impulse behind a specific action is held above the impulse to not do that same action 100% of the time and this interferes with any of the aforementioned primary drives that keep the individual alive. For instance, an individual who holds a particular impulse behind an action related to a secondary drive above its counterpart 100% of the time would very likely have to forgo sleeping, eating, drinking, resting, or in some cases all of the above if the impulse to do the specific action is held above its counterpart at any cost. Some examples include running without stopping (or any other endurance feat to set a world record for that matter) vs. not running, acquiring as much wealth indefinitely vs. not acquiring wealth, or acquiring fame indefinitely vs. not acquiring fame. Excessive ambition in any endeavor comes with its own risks. A popular phrase in mountain climbing sums up this point up clearly, “Every dead body on Mount Everest was once a highly motivated person.”

Any impulse to act, if taken to the extreme over not doing that same action, will lead to death. For impulses related to primary drives, the distinguishing feature is that the impulse and its opposing impulse must both be balanced against one another, so that the individual does not die or so that the species persists in the case of reproduction. For impulses related to secondary drives that are non-biological and learned or associated, the impulse only needs to be balanced on one side of the spectrum to ensure that death does not happen for the individual. Notwithstanding, there are notable instances where this could occur that would still need to be accounted for and explained in Affect Engineering or any theory of emotions, such as in cases of altruistic suicide, and political or religious martyrdom to name a few.

How are the concepts of will, willpower, and free will addressed in Affect Engineering?

SHORT ANSWER

Closely related to drives, the will in Affect Engineering refers to the resolve to do a particular action in Affect Engineering. Willpower refers to an individual’s capacity to continue doing an action, oftentimes in the face of obstacles from external pressures in the environment or internal pressures within the individual. Free will refers to an individual’s capacity to decide to change or not change what they are doing at whim.

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

Defining the will as the resolve to do an action means that the individual has reached a firm decision about what action they plan to take at any given moment. This will oftentimes be influenced by a deadline for action, where the window for opportunity to acquire certain entities is limited. The variables that will influence the resolve to do an action and a deadline for action will typically be those that threaten the entity, benefit the entity, or are related to the individual’s ability to do anything about the situation. The concepts of threat components (e.g., threat severity and threat susceptibility) along with efficacy components (response efficacy and self-efficacy), are borrowed from communication and psychology literature on the subject, but they are implemented differently within Affect Engineering’s Framework, (i.e., as contingencies within larger functions). Threat severity in Affect Engineering is understood as the degree to which an event in the future or a second entity is expected to damage, destroy, or deny access to the original entity the individual is valuing for a purpose, while threat susceptibility refers to the chance the threat of harm will take place. Response efficacy in Affect Engineering, is understood as the expected effectiveness of an action the individual can take to prevent the threat of harm to the original entity, while self efficacy refers to the likeliness the individual believes they can perform the response. For those interested on more information on the concepts outside of this framework:

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215.

Rogers, R. W. (1975). A Protection Motivation Theory of Fear Appeals and Attitude Change1. The Journal of Psychology, 91(1), 93–114.

Witte, K. (1992). Putting the fear back into fear appeals: The extended parallel process model. Communication Monographs, 59(4), 329–349.

The distinction between an expectation of benefit and a threat of harm is largely one of interpretation in Affect Engineering, as the absence of a threat of harm may be viewed as an expected benefit, just as the absence of an expected benefit may be viewed as a threat of harm. A benefit is the counterpart to threat, and in Affect Engineering is the degree to which an event in the future or second entity might repair, create, or enable access to the original entity being valued. Threats of harm and expected benefits are used in different setups of the functions as one may have more salience to an individual than the other for any number of reasons (e.g., environment, culture, language, social factors in one’s upbringing, etc.). For instance, if an individual is more oriented towards pursuing rewards than avoiding costs, or vice versa, different emotional responses could result from the same scenario depending on how information is presented to the individual. If costs resonate more to an individual, then threats of harm would be expected to lead to emotions that have a greater intensity. Alternatively, if rewards resonate more to an individual, then expectations of benefits would be expected to lead to emotions that have a greater intensity for the individual.

In Affect Engineering, threats of harm, expectations of benefit, and efficacy with respect to an individual’s ability to do anything about the situation are expressed as expected contingencies (e.g., positive contingencies, such as event A always happens whenever event B happens; or negative contingencies, such as event C never happens whenever D happens). The implementation of these concepts (i.e., threat, benefit, efficacy) in Affect Engineering is more nuanced as they are variables that make up part of larger functions, are affected by other variables in the function, and their influence is not always readily apparent. Generally, these variables further raise or lower an individual’s valuation of an entity with respect to a purpose even more. If an individual has a particular threshold for action, that is to say, a point at which the energy invested into entity being valued for a purpose becomes too great for the individual to ignore (i.e., a powerful call to action), then the individual will resolve themselves to do something about it and take action of some sort if possible.

To explain this, an individual’s desire to eat an ice cream cake later in the day will be considered as an example. The entity in question is the ice cream cake, it is being valued for the purpose of eating, and it has a high value to the individual. The ice cream cake was delivered and left on the individual’s porch, but they were not at home to receive it. Upon learning that the ice cream cake was delivered, they check the weather forecast and discover that an extreme heat advisory is in place all day, with temperatures forecast to be at or above 115 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat wave is a threat to the ice cream cake, and would be expected to elevate the individual’s valuation of the cake and the Anxiety invested in it, as the heat threatens to melt and spoil the cake. However, if the individual knows that they can successfully perform an effective action to safeguard the ice cream cake against the heat, such as returning home and placing it in a refrigerator or freezer before it becomes ruined, then the valuation of the cake will lower, as excess Anxiety no longer needs to be invested into protecting the cake’s edibility.

Defining willpower as an individual’s capacity to continue doing an action concerns an individual’s ability to maintain a certain sense of urgency in a situation. For most forms of the functions, the variables that influence willpower in Affect Engineering are those related to attentional control, the spotlight of attention, and reasoning. This concerns the individual’s ability to maintain the spotlight of attention over certain aspects of a situation while permitting other aspects to fall into attentional decay. For example, if faced with a seemingly near impossible task to complete, an individual with a strong sense of will power might delegate all of their attentional resources to what they can do about the situation while ignoring the threat of harm or impending danger to themselves (i.e., permitting it to fall into attentional decay). This would help with managing available Anxiety resources, so as to not overinvest them and feel overwhelmed by the task at hand. One example of this would be a firefighter attempting to save people from a burning building who devotes less attention to the risks posed to their own life from the fire in order to stay calm while they focus on finding and rescuing trapped individuals.

Defining free will as an individual’s capacity to decide to change or not change what they are doing at whim concerns whether or not one wishes to construct a function that is more indeterministic in its outlook and where free will is permitted, or a function that is more deterministic and/or fatalistic in its outlook. As mentioned in the first article of this series, the Sentiment variable is generally modeled as an individual’s capacity for free will, but the efforts taken by the individual and their capacity to regulate their own emotions and valuations (i.e., willpower above), also contribute to this.

What is the 1:1:1:1 Ratio in Affect Engineering and what are its implications?

SHORT ANSWER

The 1:1:1:1 Ratio is one of the principles that Affect Engineering follows. It holds that one person may give one value (i.e., feel one emotion) for one entity as it relates to the fulfillment of one purpose.

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

The 1:1:1:1 Ratio, holds that one person may give one value for one entity as it relates to the fulfillment of one purpose to avoid premature or erroneous conflation in Affect Engineering. One example of premature conflation would be in assuming that a single entity elicits the same value and the same emotion to an individual for every purpose that it is being considered. For example, a cell phone may be valuable to an individual for the purpose of making phone calls, but if it has a low quality camera, then it may be less valuable to the individual for the purpose of taking pictures; if it has an ideal design and interfacing for texting then it may be valuable to the individual for the purpose of texting, but if it cannot be used to browse the internet or run a navigation app, then its value for the purpose of browsing the internet and the purpose of navigating to find a restaurant will be less.

What this entails for Affect Engineering is that each entity an individual cognizes has a single value, and subsequently a single emotion, mapped onto every purpose for which it is being considered. An individual would feel multiple emotions for a single entity, the cell phone in the above case, but each would be for a different purpose that is being considered. For example, if a knife is being considered by an individual for three different purposes, then it would have at least three valuations and there would be at least three emotions felt for the knife by the individual.

These valuations may be combined or averaged thereafter if one wishes, but they are first calculated separately. This also applies in the case of a purpose and its complementary purpose or opposite purpose. For instance, returning to the entity of the ice cream cake, it would be given a value by an individual for the purpose of eating food and a separate value for the purpose of not eating food. The valuation of the entity will tend to be higher for one purpose or the other, while the lesser valuation will approach its existential value. The ice cream cake cannot be highly useful for both the purpose of eating and the purpose of not eating, as that would be a contradiction.

What does maintaining a double bind mean in the context of Affect Engineering?

SHORT ANSWER

In Affect Engineering, maintaining a double bind means balancing the success to failure rate between a purpose and its opposing purpose that are both related to a primary drive in such a way that the individual’s life can be sustained. Breaking a double bind means unbalancing the success to failure rate between a purpose and its opposing purpose that are both related to a primary drive by holding the priority of one purpose above its opposite to the point where the individual’s life cannot be sustained. For purposes related to secondary drives there is no double bind and this does not apply directly, but a balance between purposes still must be maintained for at least one of the purposes if the individual is to continue living.

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

A double bind is, in short, a dilemma where conflicting messages leave the individual with no satisfactory choice due to both courses of actions leading to undesirable results. Affect Engineering’s adherence to the 1:1:1:1 Ratio necessitates a specificity of word choice that admittedly borders on pedantic, but it is nevertheless crucial in order to avoid premature conflation, that is, erroneously combining two emotions for a single entity into one, or even two purposes into one purpose when there should be two separate purposes considered.

For example, to hold the statement, “I will eat until I am full,” as a single purpose would be a violation of the 1:1:1:1 Ratio in Affect Engineering, as there are two purposes in this statement being considered, and not one. The first purpose the individual is considering is to eat. The second purpose is to not eat or to fast at some point, however one wishes to phrase it. If taken to the extreme and fulfilled indefinitely (e.g., at the maximum rate and without stopping, such as a pie eating contest, or alternatively a politically minded hunger strike), each of these objectives — to eat, and to not eat — would lead to the individual’s death if left unchecked. Both end results, from the two mutually exclusive purposes of eating and fasting, are generally considered undesirable to someone who wants to continue living, as most of an individual’s goals depend upon them being alive in order to achieve them.

In Affect Engineering, to say that an individual is “Maintaining a double bind” is another way of saying the individual is striking a balance between fulfilling two purposes that would each lead to the individual’s death if the fulfillment of one was taken to an extreme level above the other. The individual swings back and forth between fulfilling the two purposes in order to sustain their life. In the framework of Affect Engineering, maintaining a double bind of this sort is a necessary condition for survival; it is the equivalent of maintaining homeostasis; this will be the topic of the third article in this series.

It follows then that breaking a double bind entails upholding one of these purposes over the other to such a degree that life can no longer be maintained. An individual who takes a hunger strike the full distance, or an individual who in their ambition to win the pie eating contest chokes or dies from a rupture of the stomach, is said to have broken a double bind in Affect Engineering. In the framework of Affect Engineering, breaking a double bind of this sort always leads to death, and it is the equivalent of not maintaining homeostasis.

Because purposes and their opposing purposes that concern secondary drives (e.g., learned or associated ones, such as the acquisition of fame or wealth) do not lead to death for both purposes, they are not considered double binds. However, purposes that concern secondary drives typically will lead to death on one end if their fulfillment is pursued incessantly and indefinitely over their opposing purpose, albeit it indirectly, as this would likely cause a primary drive to be neglected in the process. The success to failure rate only needs to be balanced on one side if it concerns a secondary drive, as performing the action (e.g., the acquisition of fame) indefinitely without rest or stopping would also make it impossible to balance the primary drives, but not performing the action (e.g., not seeking the acquisition of fame) is not necessarily fatal.

Preview: Appraisals in the Context of Affect Engineering

Appraisals in the context of Affect Engineering concern the maintenance of homeostasis, and will be covered in the next article.

Previous: Article 1 of 12 An Introduction to the Framework of Affect Engineering

A permanent link of this post is listed here… On the Nature of Emotions: Article 1 of 12

An Introduction to the Framework of Affect Engineering

This is the first article in a series designed for the layperson that will explain the basics of Affect Engineering as a theory of emotions. Each article will begin with a list of questions that it will aim to address. The sections that follow will be in two parts each. The first part will be a short statement that answers each question as succinctly as possible. The second part will either be an explanation that goes into more detail where needed or explain some of the implications of the short answer.

At least twelve articles are planned in this series. The first three articles will cover the basic framework of Affect Engineering along with some of the principles to which it adheres. The next two articles will explain some of the additional variables in the functions of Affect Engineering. The seven articles thereafter will cover the classification of different emotions, the properties of those emotions, and the rationale behind their organization into four categories within Affect Engineering.

QUESTIONS

1. What is an emotion considered to be in Affect Engineering?
2. What role do emotions serve in Affect Engineering?
3. How are emotions quantified within the framework of Affect Engineering?
4. How are different emotions distinguished from one another in Affect Engineering?
5. What is emotional arousal in Affect Engineering?

What Is an Emotion Considered to Be in Affect Engineering?

SHORT ANSWER

Emotions are tools that serve as a call to action to the individual and sometimes to others who are witnessing it as well.

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

Given the vastness and scope of this topic, the psychology of emotions, this approach will move from the general to the specific for the most part, but will also draw insights from specific examples at times. For better and for worse, throughout the whole of human history there has been no shortage of discussions on emotions, almost to the point where any attempt at synthesizing the multitude of different viewpoints into a cohesive whole might sound like a fool’s errand. Nonetheless, a common criticism of emotions is that they are often said to be subjective, fickle, biased, and they are frequently given perhaps the most derogatory label of all, irrational. However, instead of thinking of reason and emotion as polar opposites, it is perhaps more useful to think of them as two sides of the same coin. A person’s logical and emotional faculties do, after all, arise from the same human body.

Broadly speaking, in Affect Engineering emotions are considered to be tools. In a stricter sense, emotions are considered to be adaptations that serve as a call to action delivered from the self and to the self. Sometimes they also serve as a call to action to others around who may witness physiological expressions of the emotion in the individual, such as changes in their facial expressions, their rate of breathing, their tone of voice, or even their physical movement such as tremors or fleeing to name a few.

Emotions are not merely processes that exaggerate or distort an individual’s perceived value of an entity in an irrational fashion. These amplifications and deamplifications of the perceived value of an entity — an entity that is being assessed for its ability to fulfill of a purpose harbored by the individual — are indicative of the emotion itself, and have their own logic to them. The importance of linking affect (i.e., a feeling) to a purpose the individual holds cannot be understated. Within Affect Engineering, attachment of affect to a purpose harbored by the individual transforms affect into an emotion for the individual. Affect that is unattached to a purpose harbored by an individual can be likened to white noise, much like static interference in a radio transmission, or even lost heat energy that is unavailable to do work in an electrical system (i.e., entropy).

Change in an individual’s perceived value of an entity as the entity relates to the fulfillment of a purpose is the criterion by which different emotions are classified and measured in Affect Engineering. This can be demonstrated with an example of a homeowner facing an imminent natural disaster (e.g., wildfire, tornado, hurricane, flooding, etc.). The entity in jeopardy in this case is the home, and the purpose that it is being valued for is the home’s ability to provide shelter. If it is assumed that the home in question is the individual’s only home, then anything that threatens to damage, destroy, or prevent access to it would be expected to worry the individual and elevate their valuation of the home with respect to the purpose at hand, the acquisition or maintenance of shelter in this case. A wide range of emotions could of course be expected to result depending on the context of any particular scenario, but in most cases an initial sense of panic or fear would likely be among the first things that someone would feel. A natural disaster would threaten to destroy the integrity of the home completely, and compel the individual to reassess their home with respect to the purpose of possessing shelter. Additionally, every other purpose for which the home is being valued would also be brought to forefront of attention. The degree to which the individual’s valuation of the home rises would correspond to the magnitude of the emotion felt, fear in the case of this example.

That being said, within the framework of Affect Engineering, a single entity will also elicit several different valuations, and subsequently give rise to several different emotions, depending upon the many different purposes for which the entity is being considered.

What Role Do Emotions Serve in Affect Engineering?

SHORT ANSWER

Emotions help an individual to organize, and subsequently optimize, purpose-directed behavior and expectations by signaling which entities should be given the most priority.

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

To understand how emotions help an individual organize purpose-directed behavior and expectations in Affect Engineering, the four variables in the base of the function will need to be explained. The first is Existence, and it is followed by the three utility variables of Sufficiency, Uniqueness, and Sentiment.

Existence

The variable of Existence answers the question, “Has the individual ever thought about the entity’s existence?” Cognizance of an entity’s existence is generally modeled as an all or nothing affair (i.e., it is a discrete variable in the functions equaling either zero or one), and as a variable holds sway over the three utility components in most setups.

The entity in question does not need to be an animate object, such as a rock or a tree, to be considered to exist by an individual. It may be an intangible concept like freedom, an imaginary creature like a unicorn, or even a designated unknown object, such as a known unknown, to borrow from Donald Rumsfeld’s Rumsfeld Matrix. People discover the existence of new things every day of course, and they may first come to the conclusion that there is something out in the world of which they know nothing about, thus creating the spark for curiosity and investigation.

Sufficiency

The Sufficiency variable answers the question, “Is the entity enough to fulfill the purpose at hand?” If other objects are needed, then this value diminishes. Sufficiency is expressed as a fraction in the functions of Affect Engineering, or more specifically, as one divided by one plus the number of additional entities required.  

Uniqueness

The Uniqueness variable answers the question, “Is the entity the only one of its kind?” If other objects can match the entity on all levels, or if pairs of other objects can match the entity on all levels, then this value diminishes. Uniqueness is expressed as a fraction in the functions, or more specifically, as one divided by one plus the number of alternatives that can match the entity on all levels.

Sentiment

The Sentiment variable answers the question, “How important is the purpose at hand with respect to the purpose with the utmost priority?” This variable is modeled as being under the direct influence of the individual itself. In essence, Sentiment also represents the individual’s capacity for free will, but it can be held constant to look at the influence of other variables in the function or to build a function more in line with Behaviorism or other deterministic approaches to decision making. With indeterministic approaches (e.g., ones where free will is present, or causality is not presumed), emotions can be modeled with the functions in Affect Engineering but not predicted as the Sentiment variable would not be held constant.

Like Sufficiency and Uniqueness, Sentiment is modeled as a fraction in the functions, or more specifically, as one divided by one plus the Absolute Rank of the purpose. The Absolute Rank refers to the displacement of the importance of the purpose at hand from the importance of the purpose with the utmost priority to the individual, and it can be thought of as signal strength. The purpose with the utmost priority will have an Absolute Rank of zero (i.e., it has no displacement with its rank against the purpose with the utmost importance, much like absolute value and displacement from the origin). A purpose with an Absolute Rank of one would have one-half the signal strength for Sentiment. A purpose with an Absolute Rank of two would have one-third the signal strength for Sentiment, and so on.

Summation

Entities that exist to an individual, (i.e., meaning the individual has thought about them at one point in time), that have a high degree of Sufficiency and Uniqueness for a purpose that has a high level of importance to the individual (i.e., has a high degree of Sentiment), will also have a high value attributed to them. More energy will be directed towards those entities to mark them with value, and the individual will be called to give priority to their acquisition or protection. If a box of chocolate chip cookies is the only food around to eat, is sufficient as a food source by itself, and the individual is extremely hungry, then the box of cookies would be expected to receive a high valuation and the individual would feel a strong call to action to give priority to the acquisition of the box of cookies.

Conversely, entities that have a low degree of Sufficiency and Uniqueness for a purpose that also has a low level of importance to the individual (i.e., a low degree of Sentiment), they will have a low value attributed to them. Less energy will be directed towards these entities, and the call to action will be weaker for these entities. Their priority will be lower to the individual as well. If a chocolate chip cookie baking mix were one of dozens of other brands of cookie options on a store shelf, and it requires several other ingredients to make it edible (e.g., liquid, binding agents, an oven, cooking time, etc.), and the individual is not hungry at the moment, then it would not be given a high valuation. The individual would feel a weak call to action and less priority would be given to the acquisition of the chocolate chip cookie baking mix.

Lastly, if an individual has never cognized the existence of an entity, then no priority will be given to it whatsoever, as no energy is being directed towards it. If an individual has never fathomed what a chocolate chip cookie is or is not, and is completely unaware of the existence of cookies, then no emotions would be associated with them.

How Are Emotions Quantified within the Framework of Affect Engineering?

SHORT ANSWER

Emotions are quantified or measured in Affect Engineering by observing the physiological and affective responses that correspond to changes in an individual’s valuation of an entity with respect to the fulfillment of a single purpose that the individual holds. Affect Engineering uses a unit of measurement labeled the Emotional Unit.

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

The outward expression of emotions is oftentimes given to be an indicator of what lies beneath the surface, such as a smile to indicate happiness, or crying to indicate sadness. However, a look at the ambiguity and sheer variety of outward manifestations of emotions across history and different cultures will reveal that simply relying on physical observations alone will not suffice in the effort to create a comprehensive theory of emotions. The above two examples might even have the emotions to which they correspond flipped, with someone crying tears of joy or alternatively putting on a smile when they are feeling sad and depressed. The outward manifestations of emotions (e.g., facial expressions), will be likened to three jigsaw puzzles here. Each puzzle is cut in exactly the same manner, so that all of the pieces are interchangeable between the three puzzles; metaphorically speaking, they all represent the same underlying emotion. However, they each have different images superimposed upon them, with the image representing the outward manifestation of the emotion. This could happen for a number or reasons, for instance, due to different display rules, that is to say, culturally specific expectations regarding how certain emotions should be expressed, or even due to there being no expectation of an outward manifestation of the emotion at all.

To relate the metaphor to the task at hand, the primary aim then would be to find out the underlying structure of how the jigsaw puzzle pieces arrange themselves to become locked together, or discover the underlying relationships that cause specific emotions arise. The focus would then be more on how the pieces fit together, or in a less metaphorical sense, it would be on uncovering the underlying structure of specific emotions. Less time would be spent dwelling on the images superimposed upon the jigsaw puzzle pieces themselves, which would parallel the display rules or the outward manifestation of of emotions, which may be similar in some parts of the image but different in others.

Affect Engineering primarily focuses on the underlying structures and relationships that lead to specific emotions arising, and approaches the study of emotions primarily from a cognitive approach that emphasizes neural relationships, but it is not necessarily limited to this. For instance, returning to the example above of the jigsaw puzzle metaphor, the two puzzles could instead have the same image superimposed upon them (i.e., an identical display rule or outward manifestation), but both puzzles might have different jigsaw cuts and represent two different underlying emotions (e.g., happiness vs. sadness) despite having the same outward manifestation (e.g., smiling).

Similarly, the theory would also need to be able to account for how a different underlying structure for a different emotions might arrive at the same display rule across two unconnected populations or how certain display rules for an emotion may trigger the emotion in the individual itself, such as in the case of people smiling to make themselves happy, a reversal of the route. To account for the valid truths that different approaches to the study of emotions possess, and moreover, to reconcile some of the more seemingly contradictory theories of emotion with one another (e.g., physiological ones, with cognitive appraisal based ones), a flexible approach is needed that can accommodate all of the main approaches to the study of emotions.

Any approach that is going to use math or calculus as its basis is going to need a unit of measurement. For Affect Engineering, this unit of measure is a term that, for lack of a better name, is called the Emotional Unit. The Emotional Unit refers to the minimum number of activated neurons to cognize or acknowledge that an entity exists, even if the entity is merely an intangible thought and does not correspond to an actual physical object in the world. The precise minimum number of activated neurons or neural connections in a time frame does not necessarily need to be specifically known to make use of this; the important concept to grasp here is that whatever amount it may be, the Emotional Unit represents an amount of energy. Every activation of a neuron or neural transmission requires energy (i.e., Joules of energy), and a group of neurons firing also requires energy. As mentioned earlier, the cognition of an entity’s Existence is also the first variable that needs to be known before an individual can assign a value to it with respect to a particular purpose. This unit, the Emotional Unit is essentially the building block with which all other variables can be built, compared, and have their relationships constructed in Affect Engineering.

To quantify emotions in Affect Engineering, simply observing physiological and affective responses is not enough, because the underlying emotions and their structures may be different despite possessing the same outward manifestation. Likewise, simply figuring out an underlying structure alone is also not enough as well, because different underlying structures for different emotions might may lead to the same display rules in two different people. It is necessary to consider both the changes in an individual’s valuation of an entity with respect to the fulfillment of a single purpose that the individual holds, and the physiological and affective responses that correspond to them. Affect Engineering primarily focuses on the former, but the latter is not ignored or omitted. The unit of measurement for measuring valuations of entities in Affect Engineering is the Emotional Unit.

How Are Different Emotions Distinguished from One Another in Affect Engineering?

SHORT ANSWER

Different emotions are primarily distinguished from one another by the magnitude and the rate of change in an individual’s valuation of an entity with respect to the fulfillment of a single purpose.

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

The statement, “Different emotions are primarily distinguished from one another by the magnitude and the rate of change in an individual’s valuation of an entity with respect to the fulfillment of a single purpose,” carries with it two implications. One of the implications is evident in the statement “rate of change,” and implies that an individual’s conception of the passage of time is a variable in the function. Time is a variable, but it has not been implemented yet in this series; it will eventually be introduced later, in article four of this series. Additionally, if a function is changing over time, then it will have a slope. In Affect Engineering, trends in the slope of a function across different time intervals are used to classify and identify different types of emotions. Derivatives of the functions are used to assess the magnitude, or intensity, of most emotions at a particular instance in time.

The second implication can be inferred from the two words, “primarily distinguished,” in the above statement regarding how emotions are distinguished from one another. In Affect Engineering, Emotions are secondarily distinguished in Affect Engineering by whether acquiring a specific entity will lead toward a restoration of equilibrium between a purpose and its opposite purpose or complementary purpose, or away from a restoration of equilibrium between the two. This leads to the need to use at least two separate functions to model emotions in Affect Engineering and will be explained in article three of this series.

Additionally, emotions can tertiarily be distinguished by whether or not they involve empathy and vicarious affect in Affect Engineering. Empathy is involved in all Category II and Category III emotions. Empathy will be explained in article five of this series. Category II and Category III emotions will be explained in articles eight through eleven of this series. Category I emotions will be explained in article seven, and Category IV emotions in article twelve.

What Is Emotional Arousal in Affect Engineering?

SHORT ANSWER

Emotional arousal in Affect Engineering concerns the physiological and affective responses corresponding to changes in an individual’s valuation of an entity as the entity relates to the fulfillment of a single purpose harbored by the individual and looks at the amount of energy invested into a specific entity for a specific purpose relative to the total amount of energy available to the individual value other entities for other purposes.

IN DEPTH EXPLANATION

Having designated a unit of measurement for quantifying the magnitude of emotions, the Emotional Unit, the next step is to look at the implications of this choice. As no individual’s energy resources have ever been found to be limitless, the need to manage emotional energy, or Emotional Units in the case of Affect Engineering, then becomes apparent for every individual. If too much energy is invested into one entity for the fulfillment of a particular purpose, emotionally arousing the individual to the point that all of their emotional energy has gone into valuing a single entity, then there will be little or no energy left to value other entities as they relate to the fulfillment of other purposes. It would all be tied up in a single entity, resulting in extreme tunnel vision. On the opposite end, if too little energy is put into valuing an entity, then the call to action will subsequently be weak and it will be ignored due to their being a lack of a sense of urgency. A balance of some sort then must be struck between all the entities being valued for all the purposes held by the individual.

Within Affect Engineering, the Emotional Unit is also a measure for another well mapped concept throughout psychology: anxiety. However, instead of treating anxiety as an emotion in and of itself, Anxiety (capitalized to highlight its distinction here) is reframed within Affect Engineering as a resource to be managed across all of the entities and purposes that an individual harbors. For example, what might traditionally be considered an anxiety attack would, in Affect Engineering, instead be reframed as an inability to demobilize Anxiety that has suddenly been invested into an entity being valued for the fulfillment of a purpose harbored by the individual. A significant portion of the individual’s Anxiety resources are, in essence, bound to the entity, and cannot be used elsewhere.

From a mathematical standpoint, Anxiety is represented by the derivative of functions used within Affect Engineering to assess the value of an entity as the entity relates to the fulfillment of a purpose, and it is measured in Emotional Units. Value, the Emotional Unit, and Anxiety are in essence interchangeable concepts within Affect Engineering. The reframing of Anxiety as a resource in Affect Engineering will be examined in the next article of this series.