The influence of affect on higher level cognition: A review of research on interpretation, judgement, decision making and reasoning

Abstract

In this paper, we examine whether affect influences higher level cognitive processes. We review research on the effect of emotion on interpretation, judgement, decision making, and reasoning. In all cases, we ask first whether there is evidence that emotion affects each of these processes, and second what mechanisms might underlie these effects. Our review highlights the fact that interpretive biases are primarily linked with anxiety, while more general mood-congruent effects may be seen in judgement. Risk perception is also affected by negative and positive affect. Research shows complex effects of emotion on decision making and reasoning, with emotion sometimes hindering normatively correct thinking and sometimes promoting it. There are also important effects of emotion on reasoning style. We discuss key differences between the effects of incidental affect (feeling states not related to the semantic contents of the cognitive task) and integral affect (where the feeling state is caused by or linked to the contents of the cognitive task). In the conclusion, we suggest that focusing on some of the constituent mechanisms involved in interpretation, judgement, decision making and reasoning provides a way to link some of the diverse findings in the field. We also highlight important areas for future research.

Keywords:

• Emotion
• Reasoning
• Interpretation
• Judgement
• Decision-making

Acknowledgements

The writing of this review was supported by the BIAL Foundation, grant number 68/04.

Notes

¹The Iowa gambling task was first developed by Damasio (1995) at the University of Iowa to study complex decision making. It is a gambling task where participants are allocated play money and their goal is to maximise their wins and minimise their losses. There are four decks of cards and on each trial participants select from one of the decks. The cards are turned over to reveal a loss or a win. Decks have different odds of winning and loosing, and offer different amounts. “Good decks” are those that maximise gains in the long term, with small losses and small wins. “Bad/risky decks” provide larger amounts of both wins and losses.

²The anchoring effect describes the tendency to rely heavily on initial information that is presented in judgement and decision making and compare other incoming information in relation to that. For instance, a pair of trousers now sold for £35 will seem cheaper if it was initially marked as £50 than if it was initially £36. This effect occurs even when the initial value is arbitrary.

³Thin slice judgements refer to judgements that are based on very limited amounts of data, or very narrow samples, that nevertheless lead to accurate outcomes or evaluations.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anne Richards

Both authors should be considered joint first authors of this paper