Craig A. Smith
Professor Smith's research centers on the relationships among cognition, emotion, and adaptation, broadly defined. Topics investigated include the role of cognitive appraisal in the differentiation of emotion, the psychophysiology of appraisal and emotion, the cognitive processes underlying appraisal, and the role of emotion and coping in long-term adaptation in stress. Current laboratory efforts focus on the psychophysiological differentiation of emotional experience and the cognitive processes underlying emotion elicitation and differentiation, including the differentiation of positive emotions, whereas more applied collaborative efforts are examining the roles of emotion and coping in long-term adaptation to chronic health conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis and children's recurrent abdominal pain.
Primary Interests:
- Applied Social Psychology
- Causal Attribution
- Emotion, Mood, Affect
- Health Psychology
- Motivation, Goal Setting
- Person Perception
- Social Cognition
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Journal Articles:
- Ellsworth, P. C., & Smith, C. A. (1988). Shades of joy: Patterns of appraisal differentiating pleasant emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 2, 301-331.
- Griner, L. A., & Smith, C. A. (2000). Contributions of motivational orientation to appraisal and emotion. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 727-740.
- McHugo, G. J., & Smith, C. A. (1996). The power of faces: A review of John T. Lanzetta's research on facial expression and emotion. Motivation and Emotion, 20, 85-120.
- Pecchinenda, A., & Smith, C. A. (1996). The affective significance of skin conductance activity during a difficult problem-solving task. Cognition and Emotion, 10, 481-503.
- Smith, C. A. (1989). Dimensions of appraisal and physiological response in emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 339-353.
- Smith, C. A., & Ellsworth, P. C. (1985). Patterns of cognitive appraisal in emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 813-838.
- Smith, C. A., Haynes, K. N., Lazarus, R. S., & Pope, L. K. (1993). In search of the “hot” cognitions: Attributions, appraisals, and their relation to emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 916-929.
- Smith, C. A., & Kirby L. D. (2009). Relational antecedents of appraised problem-focused coping potential and its associated emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 23, 481-503.
- Smith, C. A., & Lazarus, R. S. (1993). Appraisal components, core relational themes, and the emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 7, 233-269.
- Smith, C. A., Wallston, K. A., Dwyer, K. A., & Dowdy, S. W. (1997). Beyond good and bad coping: A multidimensional examination of coping with pain in persons with rheumatoid arthritis. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 19, 11-21.
- Walker, L. S., Smith, C. A., Garber, J., & Van Slyke, D. A. (1997). Development and validation of the Pain Response Inventory for children. Psychological Assessment, 9, 392-405.
- Yih, J., Kirby, L. D., & Smith, C. A. (2020). Profiles of appraisal, motivation, and behavior for positive emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 34(3), 481-497.
Other Publications:
- Smith, C. A., & Kirby, L. D. (2001). Toward delivering on the promise of appraisal theory. In K. R. Scherer, A. Schorr & T. Johnstone (Eds.), Appraisal processes in emotion: Theory, Methods, Research (pp. 121-138). New York: Oxford University Press.
- Smith, C. A., & Lazarus, R. S. (1990). Emotion and adaptation. In L. A. Pervin (Ed.), Handbook of personality theory and research (pp. 609-637). New York: Guilford.
- Smith, C. A., & Pope, L. K. (1992). Appraisal and emotion: The interactional contributions of dispositional and situational factors. In M. S. Clark (Ed.), Review of Personality and Social Psychology, Volume 14: Emotion and Social Behavior (pp. 32-62). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
- Smith, C. A., & Scott, H. S. (1997). A componential approach to the meaning of facial expressions. In J. A. Russell & J. M. Fernandez-Dols (Eds.), The psychology of facial [removed]pp. 229-254). New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Smith, C. A., Tong, E. M. W., & Ellsworth, P. C. (2014). The differentiation of positive emotional experience as viewed through the lens of appraisal theory. In M. Tugade, M. Shiota, & L. D. Kirby (Eds.), The Handbook of Positive Emotions (pp. 11-27). New York: Guilford.
Courses Taught:
- Advanced Seminar: Emotion, Stress, and Coping
- Advanced Seminar: Thinking and Feeling
- Minds, Brains, Contexts, and Cultures
- The Social and Emotional Context of Cognition
- Undergraduate Honors Seminar
Craig A. Smith
Department of Psychology and Human Development
107B Jesup Psychological Building
Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee 37203
United States of America
- Phone: (615) 567-3472
- Fax: (615) 343-9494