Maternal deprivation in Rhesus monkeys

Maternal deprivation in Rhesus monkeys

Steve Sumoi’s laboratory has shown that in Rhesus monkeys that were maternally deprived grow up to be socially anxious in nature and develop reactive temperaments – a tendency to become aggressive, impulsive, fearful and over-aroused. They also tend to go to the...
Thoughts are the shadows of feelings: The primacy of affect

Thoughts are the shadows of feelings: The primacy of affect

Iain McGilChrist argues that feelings are not a reaction to cognitions; it is the other way around: Affect comes first, thinking arrives later. When making choices we make an intuitive assessment and then later use cognition to justify these choices. This is called...
Affect, feeling and emotion

Affect, feeling and emotion

What is an affect? How does it differ from feeling and emotion? Donald Nathanson argues that when an affect has been triggered it means that a stimulus has activated a mechanism that releases a known pattern of biological events. Each affect unfolds according to a...
Attachment: Learning to regulate and relate

Attachment: Learning to regulate and relate

Susan Hart writes that the most important evolutionary function of the human attachment system is to help develop a self-regulating control system within the child. Through interactive affect regulation with the caregiver, the infant learns to self-regulate. This...
Joseph Ledoux and the two emotional systems

Joseph Ledoux and the two emotional systems

Joseph LeDoux highlighted the importance of the amygdala in determining the emotional significance of situations. LeDoux describes two emotional response systems in the brain. The first, originates in the amygdala, is the ‘quick and dirty’ system. Responses here...
Emotions: Regulation, motivation and action

Emotions: Regulation, motivation and action

Emotion theory makes the claim the emotion is adaptive in nature. It helps us to process complex information from the environment quickly in order to help us take action that helps us meet our needs. Emotions give information about the significance of a situation to...