The Effect of Emotion on Cue Utilization and the Organization of Behavior
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Summary
Theoretical paper proposing the cue-utilization hypothesis: emotional arousal (drive) consistently reduces the range of cues an organism uses, and this narrowing can either organize or disorganize behavior depending on whether the cues being shed are peripheral or central to the task. Easterbrook reviews animal and human evidence (Bahrick et al., Bursill, Callaway, Combs & Taylor, Bruner et al.) showing that high arousal preserves use of central cues while excluding peripheral ones, reconciling apparently contradictory findings on emotion and behavioral organization.
Key finding
As emotional arousal rises, the range of cue utilization narrows: peripheral cues are dropped first while central, task-relevant cues are preserved, which is organizing for simple tasks but disorganizing once central cues are also lost.
Methodology
Theoretical/narrative review. Easterbrook reinterprets prior animal-learning, perceptual-motor, and human-incidental-learning experiments under a single generalization linking drive level to range of cue utilization.
Quality score: 5 / 5