the script, she will focus on the inconsistent information. That is, the mood-
and-general-knowledge theory suggests that students working on a task in a
positive mood will use general knowledge structures when they are adaptive,
but that they can be flexible in their thinking and focus on the details of the
situation when necessary.
Another theory, which makes similar predictions regarding the potential
benefits of positive mood, is Fiedler’s (2000) dual-process model. Fiedler
based this model on Piaget’s notions of accommodation or assimilation; with
accommodation processes focusing more attention on the external environ-
ment and information available there and assimilation giving priority to the
use of internal knowledge structures to understand new information. In
terms of the dual-process model, accommodation is associated with negative
moods and a general aversive or avoidance set while assimilation is associ-
ated with positive moods and a more appetitive or approach set. The basis for
this distinction parallels the original affect-as-information model (Schwarz,
1990) as well as a revised mood-and-general-knowledge account (Bless,
2000), in that accommodation is associated with a focus on the specific details
of the current structure (i.e., stimulus driven) while assimilation is associated
with general knowledge structures (i.e., knowledge driven).
Fiedler (2000) suggested that every cognitive process can be described as in-
volving accommodation, assimilation, or both. With accommodation, the fo-
cus is on the stimulus input from the environment. In this case, it is more im-
portant to attend to the external stimulus information in order to adapt
appropriately. Negative moods signal that adaptation or regulation is not pro-
gressing appropriately and that there may be a need to attend to the environ-
mental stimulus or external information more carefully in order to adapt ap-
propriately. In other words, the internal knowledge structures may not be
sufficient to guide adaptation and that some change is needed based on exter-
nal information. Assimilation, on the other hand, focuses on applying internal
prior knowledge structures to the world. In this sense, the individual moves be-
yond the stimulus provided by the environment by applying prior knowledge
and actively generating new ideas based on the prior knowledge. In this case, a
positive mood signals that adaptation is proceeding smoothly and that internal
knowledge is appropriate for generating action. In order to understand how
positive versus negative moods might impact performance on a particular task,
it is important to understand whether accommodation or assimilation pro-
cesses are needed to complete the task. A negative mood should be beneficial
for tasks requiring more accommodation processes while a positive mood
should be beneficial for tasks requiring more assimilation processes.
Within the field of social psychology, there has been a large emphasis on
the role of negative affect in cognitive processing. And, while current theories
consider the role of both positive and negative affect on cognitive processing,
64 LINNENBRINK AND PINTRICH