Studies on the emotion - cognition relationship often neglect a variety of emotions' origin, due to different regulative consequences. The article is based on the taxonomy of emotions, distinguishing the automatic (homeostatic and hedonic) vs. reflective (due to cognitive self-standards and axiological concepts) emotions. This taxonomy is based on: (1) the LeDoux's neurobiological model of the low and high roads to amygdala, (2) the hypothesis of primary affects' diffusiveness of Zajonc (1980). It has been assumed that the diffusive and holistic automatic emotions (contrary to reflective emotions specifically connected with a particular stimulus) reduce ability to cognitive control and perceptual selectivity. The hypothesis predicted that manipulation of automatic emotions will lead to the lower level of performance of the antisaccade tasks than manipulation of the reflective emotions. In two studies (with participation of students of Warsaw universities; n1=100, n2=80) participants were requested first to read series of sentences related to a particular category of emotions (or neutral sentences) and then to perform the antisaccade tasks. In both studies the level of performance was lower in conditions of concentration on the automatic emotions than in neutral condition or the reflective emotions activation. Indicators of cognitive control were similar for negative vs. positive emotions.
Empirical studies indicate the high complexity of unconscious semantic information processing. However, results rise numerous questions concerning relationship between early unconscious processing and subsequent conscious assimilation of information. The article presents studies based on the assumption that conscious assimilation of semantic information depends on the affect evoked by words on the unconscious level of processing. In two studies negative, neutral and positive words were suboptimally exposed (for 40msec). Then, targets -- the same words (study 1) or synonyms (study 2) -- were optimally presented on the screen. The hypothesis predicted that the effectiveness of recognition of the suboptimally exposed words will be higher for positive than for negative words. Participants (students of different faculties of the University of Warsaw; study 1: N=71, study 2: N=71), were invited to 'studies on intuition'. They were told in advance that some very short and invisible stimuli will be exposed, and a moment later two words will be visible on the screen. The task is to guess which word is connected with previous invisible stimuli. In both studies the level of the words' recognition was significantly higher than chance. And in coherence with hypothesis, the level of words' or their synonyms' recognition was higher for positive than for negative words.
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