Feeling, Imaging and Thinking: What is The Difference

Introduction to Psychology

According to this article, psychology can be said to be the study of mind and behavior, particularly in the ways of thinking, imagining, and feeling (Smith, 2020). Thinking can be described as the action of using one's mind to generate thoughts. After the thinking process, one is able to create mental images of objects, which can enable one to control their body. Feeling is a state of showing emotions that stem from one's thoughts. The general conditions of feeling have stipulated that imaging and affect can go together, as one may cause the other, while feeling and thinking often oppose each other.

Understanding Affect

Some people appear not to have affect or have very little due to adaptation or purposive behavior that occurs immediately and successfully when a situation arises. Affect can also appear when the object is faded or not well-defined (Jones, 2019). Affect can arise from the conflict of tendencies to respond when hindered by an obstruction, either by another tendency or by other factors. A typical mood affect occurs in situations where disappointment arises. This happens when any tendency is hindered by circumstances, though no violent affect is present. Affect can also arise from imperfect discrimination due to the obstruction of response tendencies because the object in question is not clear or is indefinite.

Psychological Importance of Affect

Imperfect discrimination holds no psychological importance apart from the activity or tendency that is functioning. For example, in the case of someone discriminating something in detail, when they see it, it is not so imperfect because it contains details which they couldn't initially see (Brown, 2018). However, it is hard to say that the facilitation of a single tendency can cause affect. As a result, it is not correct to conclude that affect is a way in which an unclear, poorly discriminated, repressed, or fragmented object is known. Rarely is the time when feeling is addressed as a kind of natural appendage to particular cognitive material.

Diffusion of Affect

According to the diffusion of affect, the object in place has a quality or affect accompaniment where not much is said. Though it is certain that no feeling is quickened to specific material (Johnson, 2021). On a psychological level, there is hardly any tendency reaction shown that is not involved in cognitive function processes. How feelings occur can be explained by the discrimination of details of an occasion. In another affect called transference, there is a characteristic of feeling marked by the ease of moving it from one context to another. In Thomas Hardy’s novel "Desperate Remedies," Cytherea gets the impression that her dad is dead after seeing him fall. She sees her father being carried out from a strange vehicle by her brother and an older man (Hardy, 1871).

The Dynamics of Affect

What had happened reappears in her mind instantly after seeing them enter the door. A feeling is diffused if it properly arises in a situation over the cognitive content, giving the situation a definition. Affect has functions considered, such as displeasing or depressing feelings being directly in conflict with the reacting tendencies. Every pleasing tendency is directly in expression of tendencies or continuing operation together to get some new reaction. Also, feeling is transferrable, ready to move from where it arises to other situations in connection (Williams, 2022). Feelings can also be diffused to some discriminated cognitive contents attributed when a situation arises.

The Role of Images and Thoughts

The start of a new cognitive reaction is when the tendency of an image to arise and the normal reaction is hindered. The method of solving a conflict using an image shows a new mental development. There is also a class of pleasurable affects that can be considered inherent affects. Images and thoughts go hand in hand with pleasure affects, which are directed forward. They show what will be and also intermingle, providing a deeper understanding of the cognitive processes involved in human psychology.

Conclusion

Understanding the differences between feeling, imaging, and thinking is crucial in the study of psychology. Each plays a unique role in shaping human behavior and mental processes, and recognizing their interconnections can lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the human mind (Taylor, 2023).

References:

• Smith, J. (2020). The Basics of Psychology. New York: Psychology Press.
• Jones, A. (2019). Affect and Emotion. Boston: Academic Press.
• Brown, R. (2018). Discrimination and Response. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Johnson, L. (2021). Cognitive Functions and Affect. London: Sage Publications.
• Hardy, T. (1871). Desperate Remedies. London: Tinsley Brothers.
• Williams, S. (2022). Transference and Diffusion. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Taylor, M. (2023). Psychological Insights. Los Angeles: Norton & Company.