Niedenthal, P.M., (2007)
Embodying Emotion
Science, 316, 1002-1005.
Embodied cognition:
P1003 ‘ High level processes ( such as thought and language) use partial reactivations of states in sensory, motor and affective systems to do their jobs. Put another way , the grounding for knowledge – what it refers to –is the original neural state that occurred when the information was initially acquired’……. ‘Populations of neurons in the modality-specific sensory, motor and affective systems are highly interconnected and their activation supports the integrated, multimodal experience……… ‘Critically for such an account one reason that only parts of the original neural system are activated is that attention is selectively focused on the aspects of the experience that are most salient and important for the individual.’
suggests that perceiving and thinking about emotion involve
- perceptual
- somatovisceral
- motoric (KRO new element when compared with other theories)
reexperiencing of the relevant emotion in one’s self.
Provides experimental evidence to show that when emotion is induced in human participants by manipulations of facial expression, posture in the lab, it effects how emotional information is processed. ( KRO but the induced emotion was rather nebulous e.g. choice of pen, ‘good news’ not least because only the receiver can realistically judge whether news is personally good or bad. However in the 2005 paper this evidence is described in the section about attitudes and in particular the part that behavioral action plays in manifesting an attitude ).
Quotes some evidence for the effects of emotion on cognition
Priortizes attention (ref 6)
Access to word meaning ( ref 7)
Organisation of material in memory ( ref 8).
What would be the mechanism behind embodied cognition?
Ref 19 for a range of accounts., including mirror neuron system
Perceiving emotion
? due to an overlap of brain areas involved in expression & recognition.
Adolphs (21) recognising a facial expression of emotion involves embodiment of the implied emotion.
Evidence ( which doesn’t actually convince me, it seems to be describing a correlation between site of expression and site of recognition rather than providing and explanation) p1004 ‘ researchers had partipants inhale odors that generated feelings of disgust (22). The same participants then watched videos of other individuals expressing disgust. Results showed that areas of the anterior insula and, to some extent, the anterior cingulated cortex were activated when individuals observed disgust in others and when they experienced disgust themselves
Has Implications of theories of embodied cognition for imitation & observational learning.
Provides an explanation as to why emotional expressions and gestures of others are imitated by observers. When emotional imitation goes smoothly there is a strong foundation for empathy.
Also some evidence that observational learning is supported by reenactment of the emotional experience of the model in the observer. Published comparisons of amygdala activation during conditioned observational, and instructed fear learning in humans are consistent with just such a view. ( Phelps, 31).
Thinking about emotion
Niedenthal Recorded face muscles whilst participants were making judgements about emotional associations of concrete and then abstract words. Results for both types of stimuli ( concrete, abstract) p1004 ‘ showed that in making their judgements, individuals embodied the relevant discrete emotion as indicated by their facial expression. When asked to make a non emotional judgement ie whether words are in upper or lower case, findings showed no systematic activation of facial muscles.
Comprehending emotional language.
P1005 ‘ claim that language comprehension relies in part on embodied conceptualisations of the situations that language describes ( ref 38). The first step …… to index words or phrases to embodied states that refer to these objects. Next, the observer simulates possible interactions with the objects. Finally, the message is understood when a coherent set of actions is created.’
Evidence - Ref 40 ‘if the comprehension of sentences with emotional meaning requires the partial reenactment of emotional bodily states then the reenactment of congruent ( or incongruent) emotions should faciliate or inhibit ( kro -how does the inihibition pattern work from a neural point of view?) language comprehension. Task – to judge whether a sentence describes a pleasant or an unpleasant event , while holding a pen between the teeth ( to induce smiling) or between the lips ( inhibit smiling). Sentences that described unpleasant events were understood faster when participants were prevented from smiling.
