Embodiment in Emotion Processing

目前的研究项目考察了个体处理情绪信息的方式。指导框架认为，情绪加工涉及“具体化”，或激活与情绪相关的感觉-运动状态和个体的身体状态。在这个框架中，具体化不仅发生在引起情感的对象物理上呈现给感知者的时候，也发生在情感对象被内部符号（思想）或外部符号（例如，文字）提及的时候。为了了解感觉-运动状态和躯体状态在情绪加工中的作用，计划中的实验将研究社会心理学中的经典现象。这些现象包括对情绪面部表情的感知和记忆，情绪概念的使用，以及情绪状态对判断的影响。实验将测量体现的行为和生理指标，以评估感觉-运动状态与情绪加工之间的相互影响。预期的研究结果应该为情感信息的感知和操纵中的具体化提供一个连贯的解释基础。推而广之，本研究可以将我们对所有社会概念加工的理解置于一个新的理论基础之上。这项研究还可能产生更广泛的科学影响。例如，体现框架提出了一种定义情绪功能障碍的新方法，并指出了针对情绪过程的感觉-运动和躯体成分的更有效的治疗方法。它还提出了一种科学有效的方法来概念化感性信念和记忆的获得和改变，包括不正常的社会态度，如偏见。最后，该项目有可能通过强调图像、手势和动作的关键作用来改变我们对学习的理解。一旦以这种方式重新概念化，就可以开发出新的教学方法，明确地在情感和非情感知识和技能的建立中涉及感觉-运动经验。

The present program of research examines the means by which individuals process emotional information. The guiding framework holds that emotion processing involves "embodiment", or the activation of emotion-relevant sensory-motor and somatic states in the individual. In that framework, embodiment occurs not only when an emotion-eliciting object is physically present to the perceiver, but also when the emotion object is referred to by internal symbols (thoughts) or external symbols (e.g., words). To understand the role of sensory-motor and somatic states in emotion processing, planned experiments will investigate classic phenomena in social psychology. These phenomena include the perception of and memory for facial expressions of emotion, the use of emotion concepts, and the influence of emotional states on judgment. The experiments will measure both behavioral and physiological indicators of embodiment to assess the mutual influence between the sensory-motor states and emotion processing. The expected findings should provide the basis of a coherent account of embodiment in the perception and manipulation of emotional information. By extension, this research can put our understanding of the processing of all social concepts on a novel theoretical footing. The research is also likely to have broader scientific impact. For instance, the embodiment framework suggests a new way to define emotional dysfunctions, and points to more effective treatments that target the sensory-motor and somatic components of the emotion process. It also suggests a scientifically productive way to conceptualize the acquisition and change of emotionally-charged beliefs and memories, including dysfunctional social attitudes, such as prejudice. Finally, the project has the potential to revise our understanding of learning in general by highlighting the critical role of imagery, gesture, and action. Once re-conceptualized in this way, new methods of teaching can be developed that explicitly involve sensory-motor experience in the building of both emotional and non-emotional knowledge and skills.