Appraisals
The concept of appraisal was introduced in psychology by Arnold. As per Arnold, one immediately, automatically and almost involuntarily evaluate, with respect to themselves, anything that they encounter. This leads them to approach anything they appraise as ‘good’, to avoid what is ‘bad’ and to ignore what is ‘indifferent’, unless some other appraisal intervenes. One might well reappraise objects about which they have already made a judgment. Appraisal is a process that complements perception and produces in them a tendency to do something. If this tendency is strong then it is called emotion. Although from Arnold’s perspective all appraisals have the status of affective experiences. In most new experiences, memory influence people’s appraisals. Anything new is evaluated in terms of past experiences, the new object or situation evoking a memory of the affect associated with the previous experience. Such affective memories are the reliving of our past appraisals, experiences that continually distort people’s judgments.