Thought and Feeling: Cognitive Alteration of Feeling States

This book is divided into five sections, each of which elucidates and extends these theoretical conceptions. Part 1 provides a historical background and analytical framework for the rest of the book. Part 2 presents chapters dealing with the sorts of internal cues which may give rise to a feeling state. Part 3 presents a chapter discussing the evaluative needs aroused by the internal cues. Part 4 is concerned with the process of explanation triggered by the evaluative needs. Part 5 deals with various external cues and how they are used to label the internal feeling state. There is a concluding discussion of the cognitive alteration of feeling states.

The authors deal with aggression, boredom, obesity, the control of pain, and delusional systems. This volume is of continuing importance to clinical and experimental psychologists as well as social psychologists. Each of the authors takes the theoretical concept of cognition and relates it to research in biofeedback, physiology, social psychology, altered states of consciousness, etc. Thus, the book bridges the gap between cognitive theory and the use of that theory in applied research.

Harvey London was associate professor in the Psychology Department at Long Island University. He was previously affiliated with Brandeis University and has been a visiting professor at Emory University and Hunter College. He has done extensive research work on several topics, including persuasion and psychological time.

Richard E. Nisbett is Theodore M. Newcomb Distinguished University Professor in the department of psychology at the University of Michigan. He is on the editorial board of Psychological Review, Cognition, Personality and Social Psychology Review, and Evolution and Human Behavior.