92 4 Brief Survey of Cognitive Architectures
arousal
resolution level
selection threshold (i.e. degree of dominance of the leading motive) level of background checks (the rate of the securing behavior)
level of goal-directed behavior
Figure 4.16 shows how the latter 5 of these dimensions are derived from underlying urges and modulators. Note that these dimensions are not orthogonal; for instance resolution is mainly in- versely related to arousal. Additional dimensions are also discussed, for instance it is postulated that to deal with social emotions one may wish to introduce two more demands corresponding to inner and outer obedience to social norms, and then define dimensions in terms of these.
-| Resolution = Level
Importance:
leading Motive )_ } leading Motive all Motives \ / all Motives
Goal a Directedness
Competence:
specific to current task | 7
general
Fig. 4.16: Five Proto-Emotional Dimensions Implicit in the Psi Model
Specific emotions are then characterized in terms of these dimensions. According to [Bac09], for instance, “Anger ... is characterized by high arousal, low resolution, strong motive dominance, few background checks and strong goal-orientedness; sadness by low arousal, high resolution, strong dominance, few background-checks and low goal-orientedness.”
I’m a bit skeptical of the contention that these dimensions fully characterize the relevant emotions. Anger for instance seems to have some particular characteristics not implied by the above list of dimensional values. The list of dimensional values associated with anger doesn’t tell us that an angry person is more likely to punch someone than to bounce up and down, for example. However, it does seem that the dimensional values associated with an emotion are
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