Cognition and Emotion over twenty-five years

In the 25 years since its foundation, Cognition and Emotion has become a leading psychological journal of research on emotion. Here we review some of the ways in which this has occurred. Questions have included how parallel systems of cognition and emotion can operate in emotion regulation and psychological therapies (including the issue of free will), how the cognitive approach to emotion works, how emotion affects attention, memory, and decision making, and how emotion research is moving beyond the individual mind into the space of the interpersonal.     

Cognition and Emotion over twenty-five years

In the 25 years since its foundation, Cognition and Emotion has become a leading psychological journal of research on emotion. Here we review some of the ways in which this has occurred. Questions have included how parallel systems of cognition and emotion can operate in emotion regulation and psychological therapies (including the issue of free will), how the cognitive approach to emotion works, how emotion affects attention, memory, and decision making, and how emotion research is moving beyond the individual mind into the space of the interpersonal.     

Cognition and Emotion Lecture at the 2010 SPSP Emotion Preconference

One of the most fundamental distinctions in the field of emotion is the distinction between emotion generation and emotion regulation. This distinction fits comfortably with folk theories, which view emotions as passions that arise unbidden and then must be controlled. But is it really helpful to distinguish between emotion generation and emotion regulation? In this article, we begin by offering working definitions of emotion generation and emotion regulation. We argue that in some circumstances, the distinction between emotion generation and emotion regulation is indeed useful. We point both to citation patterns, which indicate that researchers from across a number of sub-areas within psychology are making this distinction, and to empirical studies, which indicate the utility of this distinction in many different research contexts. We then consider five ways in which the distinction between emotion generation and emotion regulation can be problematic. We suggest that it is time to move beyond debates about whether this distinction is useful to a more specific consideration of when and in what ways this distinction is useful, and in this spirit, we offer recommendations for future research.     

Cognition and Emotion Lecture at the 2010 SPSP Emotion Preconference

One of the most fundamental distinctions in the field of emotion is the distinction between emotion generation and emotion regulation. This distinction fits comfortably with folk theories, which view emotions as passions that arise unbidden and then must be controlled. But is it really helpful to distinguish between emotion generation and emotion regulation? In this article, we begin by offering working definitions of emotion generation and emotion regulation. We argue that in some circumstances, the distinction between emotion generation and emotion regulation is indeed useful. We point both to citation patterns, which indicate that researchers from across a number of sub-areas within psychology are making this distinction, and to empirical studies, which indicate the utility of this distinction in many different research contexts. We then consider five ways in which the distinction between emotion generation and emotion regulation can be problematic. We suggest that it is time to move beyond debates about whether this distinction is useful to a more specific consideration of when and in what ways this distinction is useful, and in this spirit, we offer recommendations for future research.     

Alcohol Affects Emotion Through Cognition

Determining how cognition and emotion interact is pivotal to an understanding of human behavior and its disorders. Available data suggest that changes in emotional reactivity and behavior associated with drinking are intertwined with alcohol's effects on cognitive processing. In the study reported here, we demonstrated that alcohol dampens anticipatory fear and response inhibition in human participants not by directly suppressing subcortical emotion centers, as posited by traditional tension-reduction theories, but instead by impairing cognitive-processing capacity. During intoxication, reductions in fear response (assessed via startle potentiation) occurred only under dual-stimulus conditions, and coincided with reduced attentional processing of threat cues as evidenced by brain response (assessed via P3 event-related potentials). The results are consistent with higher cortical mediation of alcohol's effects on fear, and illustrate more broadly how disruption of a cognitive process can lead to alterations in emotional reactivity and adaptive behavior.     

幼儿对不同情境中的情绪认知及其归因

考察了90名3~5岁幼儿对4种与情绪关联程度不同的日常情境中,具有积极或是消极行为表现的故事主人公的情绪理解。结果表明：（1）绝大多数幼儿都能理解各情境中具有积极行为的主人公觉得高兴。（2）幼儿对相应的消极情绪认知要相对差一些,并在3~4岁之间获得了较显著的发展进而达到基本能全数理解的水平;尤其是在低关联情境中,幼儿对消极情绪的认知更差一些,且显著低于对高关联情境中的消极情绪认知。（3）60%左右的3岁幼儿能认识到同样情境中具有不同行为表现的个体具有不同的情绪体验,到4、5岁时,幼儿的这一情感观点采择能力获得较大发展并达到成熟水平。（4）幼儿的情绪归因与情绪的性质以及具体的情境有关     

Contributions of the Insula to Cognition and Emotion

Historically, the insula was considered primary gustatory cortex. Now it is known to play a more comprehensive role in the processing of sensory information, including acting as primary cortex for interoceptive information, including autonomic nervous system mediated changes. As such, it is critical for emotional feeling in accord with the James-Lange theory, a role previously ascribed to the limbic system. Neuroimaged abnormal grey matter volumes or activity levels in the insula have been associated with schizophrenia, eating disorders, anxiety and mood disorders, conduct disorder, autism, addiction, and chronic pain. The significance of these abnormal activity patterns remains theoretical. Neuropsychological studies have linked dominant insula injury with various symptoms of aphasia, but its exact role in language processing remains uncertain as most cases involve lesions that extend into perisylvian language zones. Functional neuroimaging studies have found insula hyper-activations, typically in conjunction with anterior cingulate cortex, for all manner of experimental tasks including those involving perception, intentional action, and consciousness. Such neuroimaged activity is unlikely to be task-specific, but rather reflective of generic changes in autonomic activity in response to salience, homeostatic incongruence, or cognitive challenge.     

基础认知与社会认知中内隐过程及其脑机制*

认知过程及其脑机制是心理学研究的重要内容。社会认知是人们在社会生活中对他人行为的意图及情感的认识,是人际互动的重要方面,具有深刻的理论和实践意义。本文全面深入地对社会认知和基础认知中自动加工过程进行了研究综述,对基础认知与社会认知的研究方式进行了比较。自动加工过程是社会认知和基础认知中都存在的重要过程,从脑机制研究角度,相关的电生理学指标(如N400等)都可以作为研究的指标来考察社会认知中的自动加工过程。本文从社会认知与基础认知的比较入手,介绍了各种领域的研究方法,特别是事件相关电位技术等认知神经科学研究方法。     

咀嚼口香糖对认知及情绪的影响

本文系统地综述了近期关于咀嚼口香糖对负性情绪调节和认知功能的影响,以及咀嚼口香糖的脑机制的实验研究.这些研究发现,咀嚼口香糖对人们的负性情绪调节,注意、记忆、学习等认知功能起到了积极的促进作用,咀嚼口香糖所激活的脑区与负责运动、记忆、注意和情绪等高级功能的脑区有一定的重叠.     

Knowledge and Appraisal in the Cognition—Emotion Relationship

Abstract

Recently there has been considerable theoretical and empirical work attempting to identify specific cognitive dimensions that shape the emotional response. However, this work has almost universally neglected an important theoretical distinction between two types of cognition relevant to emotion: knowledge and appraisal. Knowledge has to do with the facts of an adaptational encounter, whereas appraisal defines the personal significance of an encounter for well-being. In the shaping of an emotion, knowledge is a distal variable which requires an additional process of appraisal to produce an emotion; appraisal is a proximal variable which directly influences whether an emotion will be generated, and if so, its kind and intensity.

In this article we examine the distinctions between knowledge and appraisal that are relevant to the emotion process, and how the failure to consider them muddies theoretical and empirical work. We examine a number of putative appraisal dimensions prominent in current theoretical systems, examine why they often constitute knowledge rather than appraisal, and discuss some of the appraisal dimensions in the emotion process. In addition, the major techniques used to study the cognition-emotion relationship are examined and their potential for providing evidence of appraisal rather than knowledge is evaluated.     

中国古代心理学思想中的知情问题

当今心理学有关知和情的概念众说纷纭,莫衷一是。鉴于行文的方便,这里先给知和情作如下界定：“知”的外延包括人类的认识过程、智力水平、知识积累和才能技艺等;“情”的内容包括情感、兴趣、意志、性格,甚至包含道德品质等。两者都是广义的概念。实质上,现在国内外心理学界特别是认知学派均持此种看法。在许多学校的道德教育和课堂教学过程中,对于知情这一对范畴的关系远未处理好：有的是重知轻情,有的是重情轻知,更有甚者把两者对立起来。我国古代许多思想家在其著作和言论中常涉及对知情关系特别是知情统一关系的看法。现拟对此种思想做一个简单的介绍,以期对当前的道德教育与课堂教学工作有所启发。     

幼儿对基于信念的惊奇情绪的认知发展

采用简化的错误信念任务,考察了90名3~5岁幼儿对自己或他人信念证伪引发的惊奇情绪认知及其错误信念理解。结果显示,3~5岁幼儿对自身或是故事主人公信念证伪之后的惊奇情绪理解表现出显著的发展趋势,其归因均以情境定向为主,只有极少数幼儿提到了相应的信念状态。3、4、5幼儿对他人、以及自身错误信念的认知基本是一致的,通过率分别为一半左右、76.7%、93.3%。幼儿对惊奇情绪产生原因的逆向推理能力在3~5岁之间获得了显著的发展,这一能力显著差于其错误信念认知,且略低于其顺向预测能力。这些结果揭示出幼儿很早就发展的心理理论以及心理表征技能在惊奇情绪理解中的作用     

情绪大脑机制研究的进展

文章综述情绪大脑机制研究的最新进展。情绪的脑机制——大脑回路,包括前额皮层、杏仁核、海马、前部扣带回、腹侧纹状体等。前额皮层中的不对称性与趋近和退缩系统有关,左前额皮层与趋近系统和积极感情有关,右前额皮层与消极感情和退缩有关。杏仁核易被消极的感情刺激所激活,尤其是恐惧。海马在情绪的背景调节中起着重要作用。前额皮层和杏仁核激活不对称性的个体差异是情绪个体差异的生理基础。情绪的中枢回路有可塑性。     

时间认知的脑机制研究

从神经心理学和脑成像2个领域综述了有关时间认知脑机制的研究。神经心理学及脑损伤的研究结果表明小脑可能与内部时钟功能有关,前额叶可能调节时间认知中的注意过程。PET和fMRI脑成象研究结果显示,基底神经节、小脑和前额叶在所有的计时作业中都被激活。ERP的研究结果还证实,时间信息加工和非时间信息加工存在时间历程上的差异,并且时间信息加工还存在的显著半球优势效应。因此基底神经节、小脑和前额叶可能是时间认知的主要脑机制,但由于研究材料、方法和程序的不同,大脑皮层的广泛区域都有可能参与时间信息的加工。     

Reflections on 30 years of Cognition & Emotion

ABSTRACT

The publication of the first issue of Cognition & Emotion in 1987 helped open the floodgates to what has become a golden age of emotion research in the social and biological sciences. In this article, I describe the intellectual landscape of that era and trace key developments that helped foster the growth of the field of affective science. Looking back from a present-day perspective, I offer some thoughts on the major changes that have occurred over the past three decades, the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead, and my own personal journey toward becoming an affective scientist (which largely occurred during this period). Finally, I offer three considerations that might be helpful for young researchers who are already in the field of affective science or are considering entering it.