International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue II, February 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

The Reflex-Cognitive Hypothesis of Emotion

Umeaku, Ndubuisi N. and Anolue, Chima C.
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe Universty, Awka, Nigeria

Abstract:- The Reflex-Cognitive Hypothesis (RCH) states that certain emotions are initiated via reflex action, but triggered by the cognitive system. It believes that involuntary actions are sometimes the roots of our experiencing emotion. The Reflex-Cognitive Hypothesis X-rayed the potentiality of reflex in our daily emotional experience. It posits that a good number of emotional experiences are embedded in our involuntary actions. The Reflex-Cognitive Model postulates that stimulus leads to reflex and reflex activates the cognitive system which in turn triggers emotion. RCH presents seven principles to explain this route of emotional experience and it is believed to be the bridge among the physiological, neurological and cognitive theories of emotion.

Key words: Emotion, Hypothesis, Reflex, Cognitive System, Sensory Impulses

I. PRELIMINARY

Emotion is critical to human existence as well as other organisms. It is part of our everyday life and forms part of our being alive (Cordaro, 2016; Keltner, 2019). Many classical theories have tried to explain emotion via different means, mechanisms and models, but they have not exhaustively dealt with its explanation (McCarty, 2007). In the language of Atkinson etal (1983), emotion as a construct is one of the unresolved matters in Psychology. Emotion is a psychological state associated with nervous system as well as chemical exchanges affecting thoughts, feelings and behaviour. But the truth remains that not all emotional reactions affects thoughts prior to their onset or experience (Dalgleish, 2004). As a result, that definition above can be seen as a blanket definition (because, not all emotions affect the thought process at the initiation stage, though, there are others that do) (Maslach, 1979). According to James-Lang theory of emotion, we experience emotion due to our physiological reactions to emotion provoking events (Lang, 1994; Friedman, 2010).