<p>It is hard to delineate emotion completely from thoughts or sensations, because emotion can contain both. If you're in a certain emotional state, that means you're reading your bodily state via a series of sensations (so called interoception, as opposed to sensations originating from the world around you). You can also think about the fact that you're feeling a certain way, and having a concept for your emotional state becomes part of the state as well. What makes emotion different from thinking about some other sensations (such as: 'this is green') is that emotions are fueled by an underlying feeling of pleasantness or unpleasantness. However, even this is difficult to completely delineate from some sensations. It is difficult to feel emotionally neutral about the sensation of physical pain, for example. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-15T09:27:21.137Z
Arousal is often considered a second dimension of emotion that's sort of orthogonal to valence (un/pleasantness), differentiating tired from alert, excited (in an enjoyable way) from relaxed, and depressed from anxious (in an apprehensive or uncomfortable way), basically. Some amount of arousal or valence is (or both are) present in essentially every emotion, but need not apply to thoughts more broadly, nor to sensations (or one's responses to them) necessarily.
Nick Stauner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-15T09:20:51.293Z
2014-08-15T09:20:51.293Z
Ana
<p><sup>Right. No need to reinvent the wheel, so <a href="http://lmgtfy.com/" rel="nofollow">let me Google that for you</a>...</sup></p>

<h2><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=emotion+definition" rel="nofollow">Emotion</a></h2>

<blockquote>
  <p>a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.<br>
  "she was attempting to control her emotions"<br>
  <em>synonyms</em>: <a href="https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&amp;q=define%20feeling&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&amp;ved=0CCUQ_SowAA" rel="nofollow">feeling</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&amp;q=define%20sentiment&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&amp;ved=0CCYQ_SowAA" rel="nofollow">sentiment</a>; <a href="https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&amp;q=define%20reaction&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&amp;ved=0CCgQ_SowAA" rel="nofollow">reaction</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&amp;q=define%20response&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&amp;ved=0CCkQ_SowAA" rel="nofollow">response</a><br>
  $\quad\quad\quad\quad$"she was good at hiding her emotions"<br>
  $\quad\quad\quad\ $ <strong>&middot;</strong> <a href="https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&amp;q=define%20passion&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&amp;ved=0CCoQ_SowAA" rel="nofollow">passion</a>, strength of feeling, warmth of feeling<br>
  $\quad\quad\quad\quad$"overcome by emotion, she turned away"</p>
  
  <p><strong>&middot;</strong> instinctive or intuitive feeling as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge.<br>
  $\ \ $"responses have to be based on historical insight, not simply on emotion"<br>
  $\ \ $synonyms:   <a href="https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&amp;q=define%20instinct&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&amp;ved=0CCsQ_SowAA" rel="nofollow">instinct</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&amp;q=define%20intuition&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&amp;ved=0CCwQ_SowAA" rel="nofollow">intuition</a>, gut feeling; <a href="https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&amp;q=define%20sentiment&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&amp;ved=0CC4Q_SowAA" rel="nofollow">sentiment</a>, the heart<br>
  $\quad\quad\quad\quad$"responses based purely on emotion"</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-13T20:12:24.793Z
I've also incorporated this into [the tag wiki](https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/tags/emotion/info).
Nick Stauner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-15T09:28:02.200Z
But is that a definition important within cognitive science? Is it the definition employed by cognitive scientists?
jona
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-15T09:40:19.877Z
@jona: I don't know that cognitive scientists in general understand emotion in any essentially different way from the rest of the population. There is more one could say (e.g., how some might elaborate on this foundation in different ways, or disagree with parts of it), but this definition works well enough for me. If I think of applying it to define "emotion" as I've used that term in my work, I don't feel this definition leaves out or misconstrues anything crucial. That's only my personal/professional opinion FWIW, but I've read definitions in textbooks with which I think this compares well.
Nick Stauner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-13T18:50:51.533Z
2014-08-13T18:50:51.533Z
Nick Stauner
<p>In terms of thoughts vs emotions, from a clinical psychology perspective, I conceptualize an emotion as a single word or an image (e.g. anger or "seeing red") while I conceptualize thoughts as sentences. So, if I ask a client what he was thinking, and he says "I was angry," I would label that an emotion and encourage them to expand on the thought ("I thought she was being mean, and felt angry.") Again, this may be more relevant to clinical settings than from a basic research perspective.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-13T15:07:19.527Z
2014-09-13T15:07:19.527Z
user30295
<p>Technically speaking, an emotion is not different from thought the way it is processed in brain, both involve neurotransmitters. But a thought may not always be an emotion as it may include logical thinking too.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-15T09:26:30.430Z
Digestion "involves neurotransmitters" and is clearly different from cognition. -1.
jona
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-16T08:54:58.733Z
Of course they are different. Cognition (eg. voluntary "thought" process) involves forebrain or specifically the pre-frontal cortex while digestion is function of the part of brain that controls involuntary activities of body i.e. medulla oblongata. He is asking here about emotions which is primarily controlled by limbic system that includes hippocampus, amygdala, basal ganglia etc. It is not a separate system but a collection of parts of different systems that control emotions together. What I meant to say above is emotions are thoughts but all thoughts are not emotions.
Ritu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-16T12:20:14.163Z
You should improve your answer by more clearly explaining what you mean, and by presenting reasonable (e.g. academic) sources for your claims.
jona
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-31T09:26:11.177Z
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbic_system
Ritu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-15T06:43:05.183Z
2014-08-15T06:43:05.183Z
Ritu
<p>I don't know any good definition of emotion. I don't know what they really are, subjectively. 
I don't understand what makes an experience an emotion, as opposed to a thought or a sensation.</p>

<ul>
<li>What is a good definition of emotion?</li>
<li>How is an emotion different from a thought or a sensation?</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-13T16:24:02.447Z
You'll need be more specific about what you want to know here. Is there something in the wikipedia entry, or indeed in the dictionary definition, that you don't understand?
Eoin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-13T16:31:46.953Z
I don't understand what makes an experience an emotion, as opposed to a thought or a sensation.
user107952
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-14T07:34:46.243Z
@user107952 updated question to capture this slightly clearer question.
Jeromy Anglim
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-14T17:52:45.143Z
feeling hunger is emotion.
thinking about food is thought. thought doesn't satisfy hunger; but keep hunger alive.
eating food and satisfying hunger is sensation.
Bala Sankar
<emotion><terminology>
How is an emotion different from a thought or a sensation?
user107952
# How is an emotion different from a thought or a sensation?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-08-13)

I don't know any good definition of emotion. I don't know what they really are, subjectively.
I don't understand what makes an experience an emotion, as opposed to a thought or a sensation.

* What is a good definition of emotion?
* How is an emotion different from a thought or a sensation?

**Tags:** emotion, terminology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You'll need be more specific about what you want to know here. Is there something in the wikipedia entry, or indeed in the dictionary definition, that you don't understand?  
> **username_0**: I don't understand what makes an experience an emotion, as opposed to a thought or a sensation.  
> **username_2**: @username_0 updated question to capture this slightly clearer question.  
> **username_3**: feeling hunger is emotion. thinking about food is thought. thought doesn't satisfy hunger; but keep hunger alive. eating food and satisfying hunger is sensation.  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2014-08-15. Score: 2

It is hard to delineate emotion completely from thoughts or sensations, because emotion can contain both. If you're in a certain emotional state, that means you're reading your bodily state via a series of sensations (so called interoception, as opposed to sensations originating from the world around you). You can also think about the fact that you're feeling a certain way, and having a concept for your emotional state becomes part of the state as well. What makes emotion different from thinking about some other sensations (such as: 'this is green') is that emotions are fueled by an underlying feeling of pleasantness or unpleasantness. However, even this is difficult to completely delineate from some sensations. It is difficult to feel emotionally neutral about the sensation of physical pain, for example.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: Arousal is often considered a second dimension of emotion that's sort of orthogonal to valence (un/pleasantness), differentiating tired from alert, excited (in an enjoyable way) from relaxed, and depressed from anxious (in an apprehensive or uncomfortable way), basically. Some amount of arousal or valence is (or both are) present in essentially every emotion, but need not apply to thoughts more broadly, nor to sensations (or one's responses to them) necessarily.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2014-08-13. Score: 2

Right. No need to reinvent the wheel, so [let me Google that for you](http://lmgtfy.com/)...

## [Emotion](https://www.google.com/search?q=emotion+definition)

> a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.  
> "she was attempting to control her emotions"  
> *synonyms*: [feeling](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&q=define%20feeling&sa=X&ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&ved=0CCUQ_SowAA), [sentiment](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&q=define%20sentiment&sa=X&ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&ved=0CCYQ_SowAA); [reaction](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&q=define%20reaction&sa=X&ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&ved=0CCgQ_SowAA), [response](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&q=define%20response&sa=X&ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&ved=0CCkQ_SowAA)  
> $\quad\quad\quad\quad$"she was good at hiding her emotions"  
> $\quad\quad\quad\ $ **·** [passion](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&q=define%20passion&sa=X&ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&ved=0CCoQ_SowAA), strength of feeling, warmth of feeling  
> $\quad\quad\quad\quad$"overcome by emotion, she turned away"
>
> **·** instinctive or intuitive feeling as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge.  
> $\ \ $"responses have to be based on historical insight, not simply on emotion"  
> $\ \ $synonyms: [instinct](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&q=define%20instinct&sa=X&ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&ved=0CCsQ_SowAA), [intuition](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&q=define%20intuition&sa=X&ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&ved=0CCwQ_SowAA), gut feeling; [sentiment](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&q=define%20sentiment&sa=X&ei=IrLrU5b3MMKbyATCvYCYAw&ved=0CC4Q_SowAA), the heart  
> $\quad\quad\quad\quad$"responses based purely on emotion"

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: I've also incorporated this into [the tag wiki](https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/tags/emotion/info).  
> **username_6**: But is that a definition important within cognitive science? Is it the definition employed by cognitive scientists?  
> **username_5**: @username_6: I don't know that cognitive scientists in general understand emotion in any essentially different way from the rest of the population. There is more one could say (e.g., how some might elaborate on this foundation in different ways, or disagree with parts of it), but this definition works well enough for me. If I think of applying it to define "emotion" as I've used that term in my work, I don't feel this definition leaves out or misconstrues anything crucial. That's only my personal/professional opinion FWIW, but I've read definitions in textbooks with which I think this compares well.  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2014-09-13. Score: 1

In terms of thoughts vs emotions, from a clinical psychology perspective, I conceptualize an emotion as a single word or an image (e.g. anger or "seeing red") while I conceptualize thoughts as sentences. So, if I ask a client what he was thinking, and he says "I was angry," I would label that an emotion and encourage them to expand on the thought ("I thought she was being mean, and felt angry.") Again, this may be more relevant to clinical settings than from a basic research perspective.


---

### Answer by username_8 on 2014-08-15. Score: -1

Technically speaking, an emotion is not different from thought the way it is processed in brain, both involve neurotransmitters. But a thought may not always be an emotion as it may include logical thinking too.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: Digestion "involves neurotransmitters" and is clearly different from cognition. -1.  
> **username_8**: Of course they are different. Cognition (eg. voluntary "thought" process) involves forebrain or specifically the pre-frontal cortex while digestion is function of the part of brain that controls involuntary activities of body i.e. medulla oblongata. He is asking here about emotions which is primarily controlled by limbic system that includes hippocampus, amygdala, basal ganglia etc. It is not a separate system but a collection of parts of different systems that control emotions together. What I meant to say above is emotions are thoughts but all thoughts are not emotions.  
> **username_6**: You should improve your answer by more clearly explaining what you mean, and by presenting reasonable (e.g. academic) sources for your claims.  
> **username_8**: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbic_system  

---

