The Why of Cognition: Emotion and the Writing Process
Brief Summary
Brand discusses how emotions, as a subject of study, have been ignored in the field of psychology in writing. So far, writing has been considered an act of logic rather than emotion, but Brand disagrees with this notion. She feels that emotions are a key component of the writing experience and explains her reasoning behind her belief. She also critiques the work of Flower and Hayes and their lack of acknowledgement towards emotion’s involvement in writing.
Emotion, Memory, Motivation, Values
- Our minds break down concepts until we are left with a single utterance that is closest to “pure meaning” or sense (437).
- Sense- all psychological events associated with a single word.
- Goes against Flower & Hayes because they have yet to pinpoint how Long Term Memory and Language interact.
- Emotion is not fully explored in theory
- Flower & Hayes skirt around the issue of emotion and motivation
- Morality: Age has been linked to the degree of one’s reasoning
- Critical thinking-morals-beliefs-attitude-preferences-good v. bad-emotion.
- Critical thinking is affected by emotion
Limitations of Cognitive Models of Writing
- Flower & Hayes helped solidify the psychology of writing
- Critique:
- Limitations of protocols
- Editing of experiment’s results
- No terminology for emotions
- Accused of using Jargon
- Monitor is too ambiguous
- ***Only good writers follow the model
Potential Studies into the Emotions
- Students should be aware of the impact of emotions
- How emotions affect writing
- Different emotions/personalities result in different writing
- Need to understand the relationship between cognition and emotion
Connection to Article
- I can honestly say that I agree with Brand’s reasoning. There has never been a time where my writing hasn’t been interrupted by frustration or sped along because of my positive mood. The pure euphoria that I feel when I’ve completed an extremely difficult piece of work is a clear indicator that Brand is onto something. Flower and Hayes’ model needs to be adapted to incorporate emotions, otherwise it should be scrapped entirely.
Discussion Questions
- Do you agree with Brand’s critique of Flower and Hayes’ research? Why or why not? Do you think the Flower and Hayes cognitive model is practical?
- How often do you think emotions play a role in your own writing? Can you think of a specific example?
Citations:
Beaman, Marian. “Extreme-emotions.” Photograph. Plainandfancygirl. 11 Jan. 2014. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.
Brand, Alice G. “The Why of Cognition: Emotion and the Writing Process.” College Composition and Communication” 38. No. 4 (1987): 436-443. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.
Flower, and Hayes. “Cognitive Process Model.” Photograph. Wikipedia. 5 Apr. 2011. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.
