Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Role of Emotions in Reinforcement: Response Selection in Humans

  • Sketch
  • Published:
The Psychological Record Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Historically, researchers have never quite been able to agree as to the role of emotions, if any, when behavior is selected by its consequences. A brief review of findings from several fields suggests that in contingency-shaped behavior, motivating events, often unconscious, seem needed for reinforcement to select behavior. In rule-governed behavior, on the other hand, conscious feelings may be necessary for reinforcement to affect behavior. I conclude that the relevant literature broadly supports Skinner’s (1986) claim that reinforcing stimuli have both a “pleasing” and a “strengthening” effect, and that pleasure resulting from a reinforcer does not necessarily reinforce behavior.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • ALLMAN, J. M., HAKEEM, A., ERWIN, J. M., NIMCHINSKY, E., & HOF, P. (2001). The anterior cingulate cortex: The evolution of an interface between emotion and cognition. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 935, 107–117.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • BARGH, J., & MORSELLA, E. (2008). The unconscious mind. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 73–79. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2008.00064.x

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • BARON, J. (2008). Thinking and deciding (4th ed.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • BAUMANN, A. A., ABREU-RODRIGUES, J., & SOUZA, A. D. (2009). Rules and self-rules: Effects of variation upon behavioral sensitivity to change. The Psychological Record, 59, 641–670.

    Google Scholar 

  • BECHARA, A., & DAMASIO, A. R. (2005). The somatic marker hypothesis: A neural theory of economic decision. Games and Economic Behavior, 52, 336–372. doi:10.1016/j.geb.2004.06.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BERRIDGE, K. C. (2007). The debate over dopamine’s role in reward: The case for incentive salience. Psychopharmacology, 191, 391–431. doi:10.1007/s00213-006-0578-x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • BERRIDGE, K. C., & WINKIELMAN, P. (2003). What is an unconscious emotion? (The case for unconscious “liking”). Cognition and Emotion, 17, 181–211. doi:10.1080/02699930302289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BURGDORF, J., & PANKSEPP, J. (2006). The neurobiology of positive emotions. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 30, 173–187. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2005.06.001

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • CACIOPPO, J., BERNTSON, G., LARSEN, J., POEHLMANN, K., & ITO, T. (2000). The psychophysiology of emotion. In M. Lewis & J. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), The handbook of emotion (pp. 173–191). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • CANNON, C. M., & BSEIKRI, M. R. (2004). Is dopamine required for natural reward? Physiology & Behavior, 81, 741–748. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2004.04.020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CANNON, C. M., & PALMITER, R. D. (2003). Reward without dopamine. The Journal of Neuroscience, 23, 10827–10831.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • CARLSON, J. M., REINKE, K. S., & HABIB, R. (2009). A left amygdala mediated network for rapid orienting to masked fearful faces. Neuropsychologia, 47, 1386–1389. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.01.026

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DAMASIO, A. R. (1994). Descartes’ error: Emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • DAMASIO, A. R. (2003). Looking for Spinoza: Joy, sorrow, and the feeling brain. Orlando, FL: Harcourt.

    Google Scholar 

  • DAMASIO, A. R. (2004). William James and the modern neurobiology of emotion. In D. Evans & P. Cruse (Eds.), Emotion, evolution, and rationality (pp. 3–14). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • DAWKINS, R. (2006). The selfish gene (30th anniversary ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • DOYA, K. (2008). Modulators of decision making. Nature Neuroscience, 11, 410–416. doi:10.1038/nn2077

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • FERSTER, C. B., & SKINNER, B. F. (1957). Schedules of reinforcement. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • FIELDS, H. L., HJELMSTAD, G. O., MARGOLIS, E. B., & NICOLA, S. M. (2007). Ventral tegmental area neurons in learned appetitive behavior and positive reinforcement. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 30, 289–316. doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.30.051606.094341

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • GRANDA, A. M., & HAMMACK, J. T. (1961). Operant behavior during sleep. Science, 133, 1485–1486. doi:10.1126/science.133.3463.1485

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • HERGENHAHN, B. R. (1982). An introduction to theories of learning (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • JOLIJ, J., & LAMME, V. A. F. (2005). Repression of unconscious information by conscious processing: Evidence from affective blindsight induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102, 10747–10751. doi:10.1073/pnas.0500834102

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • LAMB, R. J., PRESTON, K. L., SCHINDLER, C. W., MEISCH, R. A., DAVIS, F., KATZ, J. L., Et al. (1991). The reinforcing and subjective effects of morphine in post-addicts: A dose-response study. The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 259, 1165–1173.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • LAMING, D. R. J. (2000). On the behavioural interpretation of neurophysiological observation. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23, 209. doi:10.1017/S0140525X00392421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MAYR, E. (1976). Evolution and the diversity of life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • MONTAGUE, R. (2006). Why choose this book? How we make decisions. New York: Dutton.

    Google Scholar 

  • NESSE, R. M. (1991). What is mood for? Psycoloquy, 2. Retrieved December 11, 1991, from ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/harnad/Psycoloquy/1991.volume.2/psyc.91.mood.1.nesse

  • NETTLE, D. (2005). Happiness: The science behind your smile. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • OVERSKEID, G. (1994). Knowledge, consciousness, terminology, and therapy. Scandinavian Journal of Behaviour Therapy, 23, 65–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OVERSKEID, G. (1995). Thinking is a difficult habit to break. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 18, 138–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OVERSKEID, G. (2000). The slave of the passions: Experiencing problems and selecting solutions. Review of General Psychology, 4, 284–309. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.4.3.284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PESSIGLIONE, M., PETROVIC, P., DAUNIZEAU, J., PALMINTERI, S., DOLAN, R. J., & FRITH, C. D. (2008). Subliminal instrumental conditioning demonstrated in the human brain. Neuron, 59, 561–567. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2008.07.005

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • PODLESNIK, C. A., & CHASE, P. N. (2006). Sensitivity and strength: Effects of instructions on resistance to change. The Psychological Record, 56, 303–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ROETS, A., & VAN HIEL, A. (2011). An integrative process approach on judgment and decision making: The impact of arousal, affect, motivation, and cognitive ability. The Psychological Record, 61, 497–520.

    Google Scholar 

  • SCHOENBAUM, G., ROESCH, M. R., STALNAKER, T. A., & TAKAHASHI, Y. K. (2009). A new perspective on the role of the orbitofrontal cortex in adaptive behaviour. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10, 885–892. doi:10.1038/nrn2753

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • SCHULTZ, W. (2007). Reward. Scholarpedia. Retrieved May 21, 2010, from http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Reward. doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.1652

    Google Scholar 

  • SHAROT, T., SHINER, T., BROWN, A. C., FAN, J., & DOLAN, R. J. (2009). Dopamine enhances expectation of pleasure in humans. Current Biology, 19, 2077–2080. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2009.10.025

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • SKINNER, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. New York: Appleton-Century.

    Google Scholar 

  • SKINNER, B. F. (1969). Contingencies of reinforcement: A theoretical analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • SKINNER, B. F. (1986). What is wrong with daily life in the Western world? American Psychologist, 41, 568–574. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.41.5.568

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SMITH, A. (1761). The theory of moral sentiments (2nd ed.). London: A. Millar; Edinburgh, Scotland: A. Kincaid and J. Bell.

    Google Scholar 

  • SVARTDAL, F. (1991). Operant modulation of low-level attributes of rule-governed behavior by nonverbal contingencies. Learning and Motivation, 22, 406–420. doi:10.1016/0023-9690(91)90004-R

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • TODA, M. (1980). Emotion and decision making. Acta Psychologica, 45, 133–155. doi:10.1016/0001-6918(80)90026-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • VERDEJO-GARCÍA, A., & BECHARA, A. (2009). A somatic marker theory of addiction. Neuropharmacology, 56, 48–62. doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2008.07.035

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • WISE, R. A. (2004). Dopamine, learning and motivation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5, 483–494. doi:10.1038/nrn1406

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • ZAJONC, R. B. (1980). Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences. American Psychologist, 35, 151–175. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.35.2.151

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1094, Blindern, 0317, Oslo, Norway

    Geir Overskeid

Authors
  1. Geir Overskeid
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Geir Overskeid.

Additional information

I thank Geir Kirkebøen and Frode Svartdal for helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Overskeid, G. The Role of Emotions in Reinforcement: Response Selection in Humans. Psychol Rec 62, 125–131 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395792

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395792

Key words

Search

Navigation