Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Affective Processing Guides Behavior and Emotions Communicate Feelings: Towards a Guideline for the NeuroIS Community

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Information Systems and Neuroscience

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation ((LNISO,volume 25))

Abstract

Like most researchers from other disciplines the NeuroIS community too faces the problem of interchangeable terminology regarding emotion-related aspects of their work. This article aims at solving this issue by clearly distinguishing between emotion, feeling and affective processing and by offering clear definitions. Numerous prior attempts to agree on only an emotion definition alone have failed, even in the emotion research community itself. A further still widely neglected problem is that language as a cognitive cortical function has no access to subcortical affective processing, which forms the basis for both feelings and emotions. Thus, any survey question about anything emotional cannot be answered properly. This is why it is particularly important to complement self-report data with objective measures whenever emotion-related processes are of interest. While highlighting that cognitive processing (e.g. language) is separate from affective processing, the present paper proposes a brain function model as a basis to understand that subcortical affective processing (i.e. neural activity) guides human behavior, while feelings are consciously felt bodily responses that can arise from suprathreshold affective processing and that are communicated to others via emotions (behavioral output). To provide an exemplary consequence, according to this model fear is not an emotion, but a feeling. The respective emotion is a scared face plus other behavioral responses that show an observer that one feels fear as a result of affective processing. A growing body of literature within and outside the NeuroIS community began to reveal that cognitive, explicit responses (self-report) to emotion stimuli often deviate from implicit affective neural activity that can only be accessed via objective technology. This paper has the potential to facilitate future NeuroIS research as well as to provide an innovative understanding of emotion for the entire science community.

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

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Kallinen, K., Ravaja, N.: Effects of the rate of computer-mediated speech on emotion-related subjective and physiological responses. Behav. Inf. Technol. 24(5), 365–373 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Zorn, T.: The emotionality of information and communication technology implementation. J. Commun. Manag. 7(2), 160–171 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Alonso-Martín, F., Malfaz, M., Sequeira, J., Gorostiza, J., Salichs, M.: A multimodal emotion detection system during human-robot interaction. Sensors 13(11), 15549–15581 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Shaikh, M., Prendinger, H., Ishizuka, M.: Emotion Sensitive News Agent (ESNA): A system for user centric emotion sensing from the news. Web Intell. Agent Syst. 8(4), 377–396 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Zhang, Q., Lee, M.: Emotion development system by interacting with human EEG and natural scene understanding. Cogn. Syst. Res. 14(1), 37–49 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Callejas, Z., López-Cózar, R.: Influence of contextual information in emotion annotation for spoken dialogue systems. Speech Commun. 50(5), 416–433 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Riedl, R., Banker, R., Benbasat, I., Davis, F., Dennis, A., Dimoka, A., Gefen, D., Gupta, A., Ischebeck, A., Kenning, P., Müller-Putz, G., Pavlou, P., Straub, D., Brocke, J., Weber, B.: On the foundations of NeuroIS: reflections on the Gmunden retreat 2009. Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 27, 243–264 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Dimoka, A., Banker, R., Benbasat, I., Davis, F., Dennis, A., Gefen, D., Gupta, A., Ischebeck, A., Kenning, P., Pavlou, P., Müller-Putz, G., Riedl, R., Brocke, J., Weber, B.: On the use of neurophysiological tools in IS research: developing a research agenda for NeuroIS. MIS Q. 36(3), 679–702 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Riedl, R., Davis, F., Hevner, A.: Towards a NeuroIS research methodology: intensifying the discussion on methods, tools, and measurement. J. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 15(10), i–xxxv (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Brocke, J., Liang, T.: Guidelines for neuroscience studies in information systems research. J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 30(4), 211–234 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Tams, S., Hill, K., Guinea, A., Thatcher, J., Grover, V.: NeuroIS—alternative or complement to existing methods? Illustrating the holistic effects of neuroscience and self-reported data in the context of technostress research. J. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 15(10), 723–753 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Léger, P.-M.: Riedl, R., and vom Brocke, J.: Emotions and ERP information sourcing: the moderating role of expertise. Ind. Manag. Data Syst. 114(3), 456–471 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Müller-Putz, G., Riedl, R., Wriessnegger, S.: Electroencephalography (EEG) as a research tool in the information systems discipline: foundations, measurement, and applications. Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 37, 911–948 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Minas, R., Potter, R., Dennis, A., Bartelt, V., Bae, S.: Putting on the thinking cap: using NeuroIS to understand information processing biases in virtual teams. J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 30(4), 49–82 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Astor, P., Adam, M., Jerčić, P., Schaaff, K., Weinhardt, C.: Integrating biosignals into information systems: a NeuroIS tool for improving emotion regulation. J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 30(3), 247–278 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Mühlberger, A., Wieser, M.J., Pauli, P.: Darkness-enhanced startle responses in ecologically valid environments: a virtual tunnel driving experiment. Biol. Psychol. 77(1), 47–52 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Walla, P., Richter, M., Färber, S., Leodolter, U., Bauer, H.: Food evoked changes in humans: startle response modulation and event-related potentials (ERPs). J. Psychophysiol. 24(1), 25–32 (2010). doi:10.1027/0269-8803/a000003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Geiser, M., Walla, P.: Objective measures of emotion during virtual walks through urban neighbourhoods. Appl. Sci. 1(1), 1–11 (2011). doi:10.3390/app1010001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Grahl, A., Greiner, U., Walla, P.: Bottle shape elicits gender-specific emotion: a startle reflex modulation study. Psychology 7, 548–554 (2012). doi:10.4236/psych.2012.37081

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Nesbitt, K., Blackmore, K., Hookham, G., Kay-Lambkin, F., Walla, P.: Using the startle eye-blink to measure affect in players. In: Serious Games Analytics, pp. 401–434. Springer International Publishing (2015). http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05834-4_18

  21. Mavratzakis, A., Molloy, E., Walla, P.: Modulation of the startle reflex during brief and sustained exposure to emotional pictures. Psychology 4, 389–395 (2013). doi:10.4236/psych.2013.44056

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Walla, P., Rosser, L., Scharfenberger, J., Duregger, C., Bosshard, S.: Emotion ownership: different effects on explicit ratings and implicit responses. Psychology 3A, 213–216 (2013). doi:10.4236/psych.2013.43A032

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Walla, P., Koller, M., Brenner, G., Bosshard, S.: Evaluative conditioning of brand attitude—comparing explicit and implicit measures. In: Conference paper accepted for the 2016 European Marketing Academy Conference in Oslo (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Koller, M., Walla, P.: Towards alternative ways to measure attitudes related to consumption: Introducing startle reflex modulation. J. Agric. Food Ind. Org. 13(1), 83–88 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Walla, P., Koller, M., Brenner, G., Bosshard, S.: Evaluative conditioning of established brands: implicit measures reveal other effects than explicit measures. J. Neurosci. Psychol. Econ. (2017) http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/npe0000067 (March 2 online first publication)

  26. Walla, P., Schweiger, M.: Samsung versus Apple: smartphones and their conscious and non-conscious affective impact. In: Full Conference Paper in Information Systems and Neuroscience. Volume 16 of the series Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, pp. 73–82 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Kunaharan, S., Walla, P.: Clinical neuroscience—towards a better understanding of non-conscious versus conscious processes involved in impulsive aggressive behaviours and pornography viewership. Psychology 5, 1963–1966 (2014). doi:10.4236/psych.2014.518199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Koller, M., Walla, P.: Established liked versus disliked brands: brain activity, implicit associations and explicit responses. Cogent Psychol. 3, 1176691 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Lyons, G.S., Walla, P., Arthur-Kelly, M.: Toward improved ways of knowing children with profound multiple disabilities (PMD): introducing startle reflex modulation. Dev. Neurorehabil. 16(5), 340–344 (2013). doi:10.3109/17518423.2012.737039

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Walla, P., Koller, M.: Emotion is not what you think it is: startle reflex modulation (SRM) as a measure of affective processing in NeuroIs. In: NeuroIs Conference Proceedings, Springer (2015) http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978–3-319–18702–0_24

  31. Walla, P., Koller, M., Meier, J.: Consumer neuroscience to inform consumers—physiological methods to identify attitude formation related to over-consumption and environmental damage. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 20 May 2014 (2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00304

  32. Koller, M., Walla, P.: Measuring affective information processing in information systems and consumer research—introducing startle reflex modulation. In: ICIS Proceedings, Breakthrough Ideas, Full Paper in Conference Proceedings, Orlando 2012. http://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2012/proceedings/BreakthroughIdeas/1/

  33. Walla, P., Brenner, G., Koller, M.: Objective measures of emotion related to brand attitude: a new way to quantify emotion-related aspects relevant to marketing. PLoS ONE 6(11), e26782 (2011). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026782

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Mavratzakis, A., Herbert, C., Walla, P.: Emotional facial expressions evoke faster orienting responses, but weaker emotional responses at neural and behavioural levels compared to scenes: a simultaneous EEG and facial EMG study. Neuroimage 124, 931–946 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Rugg, M.D., Mark, R.E., Walla, P., Schloerscheidt, A.M., Birch, C.S., Allan, K.: Dissociation of the neural correlates of implicit and explicit memory. Nature 392(6676), 595–598 (1998). doi:10.1038/33396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Walla, P., Endl, W., Lindinger, G., Deecke, L., Lang, W.: Implicit memory within a word recognition task: an event-related potential study in human subjects. Neurosci. Lett. 269(3), 129–132 (1999) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304–3940(99)00430–9

  37. Gregor, S., Lin, A., Gedeon, T., Riaz, A., Zhu, D.: Neuroscience and a nomological network for the understanding and assessment of emotions in information systems research. J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 30(4), 13–48 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Walla, P., Panksepp, J.: Neuroimaging helps to clarify brain affective processing without necessarily clarifying emotions. In: Fountas, K.N. (eds.) Novel Frontiers of Advanced Neuroimaging. ISBN: 978–953–51–0923–5, InTech (2013) http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/51761

  39. Darwin, C.: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 1st edn. John Murray, London (1859)

    Google Scholar 

  40. James, W.: What is an emotion? Mind 9(34), 188–205 (1884). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2246769

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CanBeLab, Department of Psychology, Webster Vienna Private University, Praterstrasse 23, 1020, Vienna, Austria

    Peter Walla

  2. School of Psychology, Newcastle University, Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia

    Peter Walla

  3. Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Peter Walla

Authors
  1. Peter Walla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Walla .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Information Systems and Quantitative Sciences (ISQS), Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA

    Fred D. Davis

  2. University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Steyr, Oberösterreich, Austria

    René Riedl

  3. Department of Information Systems, University of Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

    Jan vom Brocke

  4. Department of Information Technology, HEC Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Pierre-Majorique Léger

  5. Department of Information Systems, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, USA

    Adriane B. Randolph

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Walla, P. (2018). Affective Processing Guides Behavior and Emotions Communicate Feelings: Towards a Guideline for the NeuroIS Community. In: Davis, F., Riedl, R., vom Brocke, J., Léger, PM., Randolph, A. (eds) Information Systems and Neuroscience. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 25. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67431-5_16

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation