322 Understanding Emotional Decision Making
judging themselves.^149 The emotions associated with one’s own norm violations are among the last
to appear developmentally.^150 Although children experience surprise, joy, anger, sadness, and fear
by the age of six months, they do not experience embarrassment, shame, or guilt until age three.^151
Figure 7.2 represents the audience’s appraisal sequence as a decision tree. Each branch on thetree represents an appraisal in the appraisal sequence. An audience member either likes or dislikes a
surprising stimulus. If she likes it and it seems the stimulus is sure to happen, happiness results. If she
likes it but the stimulus may not happen, hope results. Happiness may transform into gratitude if
someone else is responsible for the stimulus. Happiness may transform into pride if her own efforts
are responsible for the stimulus. The appraisal of a disliked stimulus is parallel to that of a liked
stimulus except that a disliked stimulus may also be appraised for a norm violation.
In an innovative study designed to elicit a wide range of emotional reactions, a high-speed cam-era captured participants’ facial expressions as they played an interactive videogame. Analysis of the
players’ facial expressions supports the idea of a fi xed emotional appraisal sequence. For example,
whenever players encountered an event that made it diffi cult for them to score, they would rapidly
raise their eyebrows, indicating the appraisal of unexpectedness, and then follow that behavior with
an immediate frown, indicating the appraisal of negative valence.^152
Figure 7.3 depicts the sequence of facial reactions of three players to three videogame events.The three events elicited either fear, disappointment, or anger. The fi rst sequence shows a player’s
facial expressions after seeing a threatening videogame “enemy” suddenly appear. The player’s
initial neutral expression is followed by an expression of surprise, then dislike, and fi nally fear. The
second sequence shows a player’s facial expressions after she found out the game would become
much more diffi cult to play than she had realized. Her initial neutral expression is followed by
an expression of surprise, then dislike, and fi nally sadness or disappointment. The third sequence
shows a player’s facial expressions after she was told her video assistant would no longer be there to
help her. Her initial expression of surprise/dislike is followed by an expression of regret and then
anger.^153
Brain Regions Activated. The audience’s appraisal sequence has recently been explored by neu-roscientists. They fi nd that the presentation of an emotionally signifi cant stimulus initially activates
The stimulus
differs from expected
SurprisePromotes attainment of a value Blocks attainment of a value
Like DislikeIs certain Is uncertain Is certain Is uncertain
Happiness/Relief Hope Unhappiness/Regret Fear
[Happy for] [Pity for]Is caused Is caused Is caused Is caused
by another by oneself by someone by no one
Gratitude Pride Anger SadnessIs a norm violation Is a norm violation
by another by oneself
Disgust Guilt/ShameFIGURE 7.2 A Decision Tree Model of the Appraisal Sequence