L3: Embodied Sense Making Flashcards
What is enactivism?
➢ A version of theory of mind strongly influenced by phenomenology and existentialism
➢ Alternative for cognitivism, dualism and behaviorism
➢ It emphasis the embeddedness in a body and in an environment of the thinking and experiencing of minded animals like ourselves.
➢ It is an understanding of cognition as being a fundamentally embodied and embedded form of action.
we learn and understand the world not just by thinking about it but by actually doing things and experiencing the world around us
ex: dancing in a group can be regarded as a form of actively thinking by moving together. Rather than in dualism: thinking
on the one side (in the mind) and then moving on the other (in the world)
aka cognition comes from interaction between acting organism & its environment
Why should we study other animals to undersatnd enactivism?
➢ We evolved from common ancestors and share a huge amount of genes with them.
➢ may provide models for what human bodies share w other animals that dont have the kind of symbolic structures we live in.
➢ gives glimpses of non-cultural aspects of humans, although we have to be carefull
➢ Many more types of experiments can be done with
animals than with humans. Even if we are – as we should - strict on ethical boundaries of such experiments
What is embodied sense making?
we need to make sense of our enviornment (for our safety) and we have a certain relationship to our sense making (we have a will to surivve, but also a will to meaning)
your body helps you understand those interactions
Why use art to understand humans?
- its an intepretive experiental basis for understanding
➢ Theater: The self as an actor.
➢ Literature: The self as an author.
➢ Music: The experience of forms of vitality
➢ Dance: The non-verbal experiences of self and self-with-other
What are primary emotional systems of Panksepp?
SEEKING
FEAR
RAGE
LUST
PANIC/GRIEF
CARE
PLAY
what is the SEEKING system?
provides animals w “energy” to explore environment. necessary for survival cause drives exploration & resource acquisition.
aka Brain Reward System. crucial in personality traits like eagerness and ehtusiasism? intertwined w motivtional systems.
Affective experience:
➢ High: interest –→ euphoria
➢ Low: disinterest/lack of motivation → anhedonia and apathy
Possible clinical problems:
➢ High SEEKING -> manic states, drugs of abuse (e.g. cocaïne)
➢ Low SEEKING -> anhedonic, depressed, detached states
SEEKING not same as LIKING. In fact if SEEKING is not complemented by something else it ‘can’t get no satisfaction’.
What is the FEAR system?
promotes avoidance of dangerous situations and to carefully monitor safety of environments.
Affective experience:
- High: Flight (high SEEKING) or Freeze (low SEEKING) → terror
- Low: safe (to explore) → recklessness?
Possible clinical problems:
- High FEAR -> anxiety disorders, cluster C, PTSS, etc.
- Low FEAR -> psychopathy?, Risk-taking
What is the RAGE system?
observed when animals need to defend themselves but also in situations of frustration, when an expected reward is absent or being enclosed in a small space. also visible to solve territorial conflicts in animals.
Affective experience:
- High: irritation → exploding
- Low: trusting → naivety?
Possible clinical problems:
- High RAGE -> intermittent explosive disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, narcistic rage, etc.
- Low RAGE -> lack of assertion (e.g. in depressions or dependent, avoidant PD)
What is the LUST system?
important for procreation & social functions
Affective experience:
- High: feeling some attraction → orgasm
- Low: low interest → asexuality
Possible clinical problems:
- High LUST -> problems concerning problematic sexual behaviors
- Low LUST -> problems concerning impotence, lack of pleasure, etc.
What is the CARE system?
taking CARE of one’s own offspring helps assure that the children grow into adults and themselves can have families. can extend widely. promotes nurturing
Affective experience:
- High: tenderness -→ parental love
- Low: carelessness -→ detachment
Possible clinical problems:
- High CARE -> self-sacrifice?
- Low CARE -> anti-social features?, parental failures?, postnatal depression?
What is the PANIC/GRIEF (or sadness) system (attachment)?
reflects separation distress leading to distress vocalization (crying) to reunion. If reunion does not happen strong feelings of deactivation and grief appear.
Affective experience:
- High: a longing or loneliness –→ PANIC (high SEEKING) or GRIEF(low SEEKING)
- Low: safety (exploring) –> detachment
Possible clinical problems:
- High PANIC/GRIEF -> separation anxiety, trauma, borderline states, etc.
- Low PANIC/GRIEF -> schizoid, detached states, maybe in psychopathy
What is the PLAY system?
social PLAY is inherent, especially in young. important to learn social competencies and motoric skills. helps to get better along in complex social groups when being an adult and friendships emerge. Humans play a lot with symbols, for example in humor.
Affective experience:
- High: friendly joy, comradery, tickling –→ bursting in laughter, playfighting
- Low: satiety or quietness –> boredom, loneliness
Possible clinical problems:
- High PLAY -> difficulty concentrating on routinetasks or overly structured
situations, ADHD?
- Low PLAY -> Obsessive patterns, joylessness, depressed personality?
What are the properties of emotional systems?
- Once activated tend to remain active for some time
- ‘color’ the world as experienced
- ‘shape’ the movements in the world (towards, away from, etc.)
- present strong motivating force
- That is -> they activate certain ‘modes of being in the world’
What is the neural definition of primary emotional systems?
- Intrinsic inputs of each system (US)
- Coordinate physiological and behavioral outputs (UR) (reflexes in response to a stimulus depend on emotional system)
- Gating of inputs (CS and CR)
- Positive feedback (including auto-activation’ of a system)
- Cognitions instigate emotions (top-down influence)
- Emotions control cognitions (bottom-up influence)
- Affect reflects the full operation of such processes
How do emotions relate to personality?
Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS)
- Fear predicts emotional stability
- Rage predicts emotional stability & openness
- Panic/grief predicts emotional stability
- Seeking predicts openness (cause interest & curiosity)
- Care predicts agreeabless
- Play predicts extraversion
