Towards the Simulation of a Multi-Level Model of Human Emotions

Recent psychological theories of emotion have explicitly focused on modeling the multiplicity of levels of the human emotion system. This increased interest in creating multi-level theories of emotion matches similar efforts in the area of cognitive architectures. In this paper we report our initial work toward integrating a psychological multi-level model of emotions with Brahms, a multi-agent system that is used to model and simulate work practice. The Multi-Level Appraisal Theories The main postulate of the multi-level appraisal theory is that emotions arise from an evaluation, or appraisal, of a situation from the perspective of an agent’s goals, needs, and motivations Almost all appraisal theorists conceive of appraisal as a process that is not just rational and conscious but one that involves other processing modes (associative/schematic and sensorymotor) in addition to deliberative conscious processing. However, only a few of the theories focus explicitly on the multiplicity of levels of the appraisal process. Currently, several different multi-level appraisal theories exist (e.g. Leventhal & Scherer, 1987; Power & Dalgleish 1997; Scherer, 2001). We follow the multilevel, process model offered by Smith & Kirby (2000, 2001), because it gives a more computational account of emotion generation. Figure 1, illustrates the multilevel model of emotion generation by Smith & Kirby (2001). As seen in the figure, the model makes an explicit distinction between the cognitive mode (represented by the Focal Awareness box) and associative mode of appraisal. The appraisal information generated from different modes of processing is captured by appraisal detectors, which combine this information into an integrated appraisal that initiates processes to generate the various elements of the emotional response: the subjective feeling, the action tendency, and the physiological arousal.