introduction
“Emotion Timeline,” encourages students to examine how emotions, which may seem to develop “out of the blue,” actually arise from a process occurring along a timeline. By considering the components of one model of an emotion timeline, students gain insight into how emotions develop. Key stages include:
- Stimulus: Something internal or external that prompts a response.
- Context: The internal and external circumstances within which a stimulus is evaluated, such as mood, body
state, or past experiences. - Cognitive Appraisal: The brain’s rapid, often unconscious, judgment of the stimulus as positive or negative,
which heavily influences the resulting emotion.
Exploring these stages helps students recognize crucial moments in the process. This awareness can lead to
the creation of a “gap” between stimulus and response, allowing for more appropriate actions. Students also compare how different reappraisals (the capacity to reassess a situation) of the same stimulus can lead to varying emotional outcomes.