What role do the emotions play in cognition?

Abstract

This paper has two aims: (1) to point the way towards a novel alternative to cognitive theories of emotion, and (2) to delineate a number of different functions that the emotions play in cognition, functions that become visible from outside the framework of cognitive theories. First, I hold that the Higher Order Representational (HOR) theories of consciousness -as generally formulated -are inadequate insofar as they fail to account for selective attention. After posing this dilemma, I resolve it in such a manner that the following thesis arises: the emotions play a key role in shaping selective attention. This thesis is in accord with A. Damasio's (1994) noteworthy neuroscientific work on emotion. I then begin to formulate an alternative to cognitive theories of emotion, and I show how this new account has implications for the following issues: face recognition, two brain disorders (Capgras' and Fregoli syndrome), the frame problem in A. I., and the research program of affective computing.

Construtivismo, psicologia experimental e neurociência

“…Explicar a cognição humana, de acordo com a citada abordagem, é explicar a sintaxe emergente (Megill, 2003). As informações codificadas geram representações que, por sua vez, orientam um processamento seqüencial.…”