Three Levels of Processing
A useful approximate model of human cognition+emotion (from Norman's Emotional Design). Cognition makes sense of the world; emotion assigns value. The two cannot be separated. Most processing is subconscious; only the reflective level is conscious.
Visceral — the "lizard brain." Fast, automatic, subconscious, biologically fixed. Quick good/bad, safe/dangerous judgments tied to the body's musculature (tense=negative, relaxed=positive). Precursors to emotion. For design: immediate perception / appearance — attraction or repulsion, style, aesthetics. Has nothing to do with usability.
Behavioral — home of learned skills, triggered by matching patterns; largely subconscious. Every action carries an expectation; feedback confirms/disconfirms it → satisfaction/relief or disappointment/frustration. For design: the experience of use, interaction, feedback, sense of control. Lack of feedback → feeling of lost control. This is where expectation-based emotions live (hope, joy, frustration, anger).
Reflective — conscious cognition, deep and slow, often after the fact. Assigns cause/blame → guilt, pride, praise. For design: the most important — produces lasting memories, drives whether you recommend or avoid a product. "Reflective memories are often more important than reality" → "attractive things work better"; a prestigious brand can overwhelm a frustrating experience.
Interactions
- All three work together; all are needed for enjoyment.
- High-level reflective cognition can trigger low-level emotion, and vice versa (settles the "does emotion or cognition come first?" debate — both directions occur).
- Flow (Csikszentmihalyi): full immersion when challenge slightly exceeds skill — a behavioral-level phenomenon driven by expectations.
Mapping to action stages
Visceral ≈ raw perception/motor (perform/perceive); behavioral ≈ specify/interpret (expectations); reflective ≈ goal/plan/compare. See The Seven Stages of Action.
Confidence
1.0 — explicit, with Fig 2.3/2.4.
Sources: ["DOET ch.2 'Human Cognition and Emotion' p.49-56 (from Emotional Design)"]