Affect, mood, emotion, and feeling: semantic considerations.

There is considerable variation in the use of words that describe emotional experience and expression. The author illustrates this semantic problem by reviewing the use and definitions of the terms "affect," "mood," "emotion," and "feeling" in some classical and contemporary works of psychiatry and psychology. He concludes that these words refer to distinct pscychological phenomena and suggests that they be used clearly and carefully to facilitate communication about emotions.