Cognition And Emotion Analysis
Emotion has come of age in the last decade with theorists worldwide recognising the role of emotion in the development of intelligence. Intelligence is the faculty we all use to engage in ways of knowing. In this essay I will discuss the notion of emotion as used by key theorists and draw links and use comparative examples to show how emotion may enhance and/or undermine reasoning as a way of knowing.
Daniel Goleman outlines the fundamental link between emotion and cognition in his book Emotional Intelligence (1996, page. 44). He suggested that the emotional mind is associative, that it takes elements which help symbolise a reality, we know these as similes and metaphors. Emotions are triggered by perceptions and our senses. For instance …show more content…
Take an example of a friend or relative who is unwell causing them discomfort then leading them to be bad tempered toward you, your emotional reaction is one of sadness and fear as the person you care about is acting in an unfamiliar way than what you would normally expect. If this person is repeating this behaviour or if the person has this type of behaviour repeating within their personality, this may then cause fear which can be carried within your reaction and emotion toward that person. This fear can immobilize you, such as not feeling like engaging in conversation or not wanting to complete a task, you may also begin to feel a lack of energy and motivation. More serious situations like bullying, alienation, harassment and other forms of exclusion, can have a physical and emotionally debilitating effect on the victim. These forms of harassment can lead the person to feel inadequate about them self and have an unstable emotional intelligence, undermining their reasoning and ways of knowing. This self doubt and lack of reasoning which comes from emotion, may cause a person to inflict harm on them self and/or others in the form of self harm, drugs, sexual abuse, assault, eating disorders and other forms of (self) destructive behaviour. Bad experiences such as child abuse can be carried on in our emotional memory and resurface when a memory or experience triggers it.
The acknowledgement of an emotional intelligence as separate from a cognitive intelligence has enabled people to learn to manage and understand their emotional responses. People are now able to know what effects their emotions, how to motivate one self and how to recognise emotions in others. This helps in their ability to handle relationships and other human
Daniel Goleman outlines the fundamental link between emotion and cognition in his book Emotional Intelligence (1996, page. 44). He suggested that the emotional mind is associative, that it takes elements which help symbolise a reality, we know these as similes and metaphors. Emotions are triggered by perceptions and our senses. For instance …show more content…
Take an example of a friend or relative who is unwell causing them discomfort then leading them to be bad tempered toward you, your emotional reaction is one of sadness and fear as the person you care about is acting in an unfamiliar way than what you would normally expect. If this person is repeating this behaviour or if the person has this type of behaviour repeating within their personality, this may then cause fear which can be carried within your reaction and emotion toward that person. This fear can immobilize you, such as not feeling like engaging in conversation or not wanting to complete a task, you may also begin to feel a lack of energy and motivation. More serious situations like bullying, alienation, harassment and other forms of exclusion, can have a physical and emotionally debilitating effect on the victim. These forms of harassment can lead the person to feel inadequate about them self and have an unstable emotional intelligence, undermining their reasoning and ways of knowing. This self doubt and lack of reasoning which comes from emotion, may cause a person to inflict harm on them self and/or others in the form of self harm, drugs, sexual abuse, assault, eating disorders and other forms of (self) destructive behaviour. Bad experiences such as child abuse can be carried on in our emotional memory and resurface when a memory or experience triggers it.
The acknowledgement of an emotional intelligence as separate from a cognitive intelligence has enabled people to learn to manage and understand their emotional responses. People are now able to know what effects their emotions, how to motivate one self and how to recognise emotions in others. This helps in their ability to handle relationships and other human