Each interpretation can contain primary, secondary and tertiary affect states. Supporting states are optional. They are three possible feelings, not the three VAD axes and not automatically three moments in time.
| Dimension | Meaning | Canonical representation |
|---|---|---|
| Valence | Unpleasant to pleasant | −1 to +1 |
| Arousal | Low to high activation | −1 to +1 |
| Dominance | Low to high perceived control | −1 to +1 |
These signed ranges are a representation convention adopted by this specification, not a claim that all existing sources use them. Each adapter MUST declare its input scales. A declared unit-interval value is converted using signed = 2 × unit − 1. Scale must never be guessed from the sign of a value. Invalid values must be identified; missing values remain null. Zero is a valid midpoint.
Each affect state MUST carry its own VAD structure and source. Complete VAD values are necessary for a complete coordinate plot; incomplete states can remain available as explicitly incomplete information. No system may invent a secondary or tertiary state to fill a visual slot.
Emotion words support interpretation and calibration. A person's reported or selected word must remain distinguishable from a derived label. A VAD coordinate does not uniquely establish an emotion word. Primary/secondary/tertiary ranking, confidence, intensity, sentiment and activation are different concepts and must not substitute for one another.