A Discrete Event Calculus Implementation of the OCC Theory of Emotion

Characters are a critical part of storytelling and emotion is a vital part of character. Readers generally credit characters with human emotions, and it is these emotions which bring meaning to stories. To computationally construct interesting and meaningful stories we need a model of emotion which allows us to predict characters’ reactions to events in the world. There are many different psychological theories of emotion; the most popular to date for computational applications is the OCC theory. This paper describes a Discrete Event Calculus implementation of the OCC Theory of Emotion. To evaluate our system, we apply it to a selection of Aesop’s fables, and compare the output to the emotions readers expect in the same situations based on a survey.