It implies as well that most people react to things in a certain way because they want to repeat behaviors that worked well for them in the past (i.e. there was a positive experience created).
Emotions are not too fast (or too mindless, for that matter) for cognitive appraisals. Emotions, no matter how small, lead to cognitive appraisals that help individuals make sense of certain events. Take breaking up with someone, for example. If someone is broken up with, this person could feel a certain amount of sadness and this emotion is elicited by the cognitive appraisal that something good or worthwhile has been lost and cannot be recovered (Scherer, Schorr & Johnstone, 2001). It has been suggested even that emotions can be elicited with an evaluation having taken place by an event in and of itself, physiological processes (e.g. brain activity), facial expressions (or other types of expressions), behaviors like fight or flight, and/or motivational process (e.g. A baby crying because it is hungry) (2001)....
Looking at an example of something smaller (or perhaps more "mindless) than a break-up, one could feel a sudden sense of anxiety or apprehension -- something fleeting -- and then cognitively appraise the situation and realize that it was the sound of an airplane passing overhead, reminding the individual of the family trip they won't be able to take because of work commitments. Appraisals thus are not just perceptual, situational or cognitive, but they actually are all of the above. They all work hand-in-hand, that is -- one affecting the other.
References
Scherer, K.R., Schorr, a., & Johnstone, T. (2001). Appraisal processes in emotion:
Theory, methods, research. (1st ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Wessler, R.L., Hankin, S., & Stern, J. (2001). Succeeding with difficult clients:
Applications of cognitive appraisal therapy (Practical resources for the mental health professional). (1st ed.). Salt Lake City, UT: Academic Press.
