Part of the confusion is, they are both verbs and both nouns. The most common intended meanings, however, are: affect is a verb and effect is a noun. You affect something when you want to bring about an effect. The less common usages are: You effect (bring about) a change and bring about a difference in affect (not even really sure what this version of "affect" means, only that it's probably related to "affectation.") I lectured my lab students on this during the second session, after having to grade my very first lab reports.
You effect (bring about) a change and bring about a difference in affect (not even really sure what this version of "affect" means, only that it's probably related to "affectation.")
I'm not sure on the etymology, but "affect" in this sentence means "emotional state and outlook." So someone with a positive affect is upbeat, optimistic, hopeful, etc. Someone with a negative affect is pessimistic, depressed, sad, etc. A "flat affect" is a situation in which the person's emotional state cannot be determined - e.g. a "perfect poker face." Also some people with mental or emotional illnesses such as Asperger's project a flat affect that makes them hard to read/interpret.
Part of the confusion is that 'affect' in this sense refers generally to the external expression of emotional state, but also to the emotional state itself. So a person might have a "false affect" such as projecting an outwardly positive manner while inside feeling sad or depressed.
And "affect" as a noun is kind of jargony. Mental health professionals toss the word about with abandon, but it's not a meaning that most ordinary people know, even well-educated ordinary people.
Another of my pet peeves is "accept" and "except." Lately, I've seen the excrescence "axcept."
I think the cause of the problem in most people is a lack of reading; people don't know how words are spelled if they only hear them and never see them. I would love to make it as if TV had never been invented, but I guess that's a pet peeve for a separate topic. :-)
Back when I was a professor, I had a student thank me at the end of the semester for making him read a book. I had to wonder what his other professors were doing, if reading a book were a novel experience for him while in college. *shudder*
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
affect and effect
Date: 2007-05-08 03:06 am (UTC)Re: affect and effect
Date: 2007-05-08 01:41 pm (UTC)I'm not sure on the etymology, but "affect" in this sentence means "emotional state and outlook." So someone with a positive affect is upbeat, optimistic, hopeful, etc. Someone with a negative affect is pessimistic, depressed, sad, etc. A "flat affect" is a situation in which the person's emotional state cannot be determined - e.g. a "perfect poker face." Also some people with mental or emotional illnesses such as Asperger's project a flat affect that makes them hard to read/interpret.
Part of the confusion is that 'affect' in this sense refers generally to the external expression of emotional state, but also to the emotional state itself. So a person might have a "false affect" such as projecting an outwardly positive manner while inside feeling sad or depressed.
Re: affect and effect
Date: 2007-05-08 04:20 pm (UTC)Another of my pet peeves is "accept" and "except." Lately, I've seen the excrescence "axcept."
I think the cause of the problem in most people is a lack of reading; people don't know how words are spelled if they only hear them and never see them. I would love to make it as if TV had never been invented, but I guess that's a pet peeve for a separate topic. :-)
Back when I was a professor, I had a student thank me at the end of the semester for making him read a book. I had to wonder what his other professors were doing, if reading a book were a novel experience for him while in college. *shudder*