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Neuroscience findings are consistent with appraisal theories of emotion; but does the brain “respect” constructionism?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2012

Klaus R. Scherer
Klaus R. Scherer
Affiliation:
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences (SCAS), University of Geneva, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland. Klaus.Scherer@unige.chhttp://www.affective-sciences.org/user/scherer
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Abstract

I reject Lindquist et al.'s implicit claim that all emotion theories other than constructionist ones subscribe to a “brain locationist” approach. The neural mechanisms underlying relevance detection, reward, attention, conceptualization, or language use are consistent with many theories of emotion, in particular componential appraisal theories. I also question the authors' claim that the meta-analysis they report provides support for the specific assumptions of constructionist theories.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , June 2012 , pp. 163 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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