(9)") (t-,r^r) 1,,R .9-L^*. 1\ L'x)J-"1 t UnconsciousEmotio7n9 7 AJed--qJ"-lq-t'L tf L*'nh"-' |3 C-7,e"'< Emotions are meansd esignedt o regulateb ehaviori n relation to agendass et 0U''<-u'> f r-aa ^fr> Yt-lL " D<A'-J by biological evolution.T hus, emotion pervadedt he critical ecologicalp roblems L that our distanta ncestorsh ad to solve if their genesw ere to be representeidn the UnconsciousE motion: nextg enerationT. hesep roblemsin cludedf indinga nd consumingfo od andd rink, finding shelterss, eekingp rotectiona nd supportf rom conspecificsa, ssertingo neself Evoul tionaryP erspectives, socially, satisfyingc uriosity,g etringa ccesst o and engagingw ith sexualp artners, caring for offspring,a nd avoiding and escapingli fe-threateninge vents.T hesea re PsychophysiologicDaal ta,a nd all activitiess tructuredb y emotions( seeT ooby & Cosmides,1 990).I n a biological perspectivet,h erefore,e motionsc an be understooda s clever meanss hapedb y evo- NeuropsychologicMale chanisms lution to make us want to do what our ancestorhsa d to do successfulltyo pass geneso n to comingg eneration(se .g.,O hman,1 993a,1 996). ConceptuaIlm plications A R N E O H M A N , A N D E R SF L Y K T , A N D D A N I E L I - U N D Q V I S T The evolutionary-functionapl erspectiveo n the psychologyo f emotion shifts the emphasisf rom the unique phenomenologyo f human feeling to action tendencies and responsep attemst hat we sharew ith fellow inhabitantso f the animalk ingdom, Rathert han conceptualizinge motiona s a centralf eelings tatem ore or lessi mper- fectly minored in verbalr eports,p hysiologicarl esponsesa,n d expressiveb ehavior, (hee volutionaryp erspectivev iews emotiona s complexr esponsetsh at includes ev- eral partly independenct omponents( seeO hman & Birbaumer,1 993,f or a more An EvolutionaryP erspectiveo n Emotion thoroughd iscussiono f somek ey conceptuails suesin the studyo f emotion)., ,Emo- tional phenomena"( Frijda, 1986) occur in situationst hat are significantt o the J CJI The Function of Emotion person for phylogenetico r ontogeneticr easons.T hey are related to verbal re- 1984)p repar- f)Emotions can be understooda s actions ets( e.g.,F rijda, 1986;L ang, sponsesim plying affectivea ppraisaal nd evaluationo f the situation.A t the behav- ing the organismt o act in somew aysr athert hani n othersF. rom this Perspective, ioral level, emotional phenomenaa re manifested,f or example, as approacho r therei s no clearb oundaryb etweene motiona ndm otivationT. raditionallym, otiva- avoidancet endencies(e .g.,L ang et al., 1990),e xpressivefa cial gestures(e .g.,F rid- "overflow") tion has been more related to action tendenciesin ducedf rom internals tatess uch lund, 1994), or noninstrumental( e,g,, characteristicso f behavior as hunger,w herease motion mosto ften has beenr elatedt o statese licited by exter- (Frijda, 1986).F inally, becausee motionsi nvolveo ften vigorousa ctiont endencies, nal stimuli.A fundamentadl imensionin both emotiona nd motivationi s that of they recruit metabolics upportf rom bodily mechanismrse latedt o behaviorael ner- approach-avoidancer,a ngingf rom a readinessto stay in a situationa nd engagei n geticsa nd arousalp rocessesw, hich becomea ccessibleto scientifics tudy through its potentialitiest o abandoningi t becauseo f the threatsa nd dangersi t implies psychophysiologicaml easures( e.g.,e lectrodermaal ctivity and heart rate).I n rhis (Lang.eta l., 1990).T he functionaal dvantagoef thesep rocesseis thatt hey allow perspective,t he verbal, behavioral,a nd physiologicalc omponentso f emotions for flexibility in the interactionb etweeno rganisma nd environmentI.n effect,a should not be understooda s alternativea venuest o unitary internals tatesp resum- primary function of emotion has beend escribeda s the decouplingo f stimuli and ably isomorphic with phenomenologicael xperienceb, ut as loosely coupled and response(sS cherer,1 994).R athert hant be rigid stimulus-responrseel ationshipo f dissociablec omponentso f a complexe motionalr esponse(L ang, 1993). signals timuli and fixed actionp attemsd escribedb y ethologist(se .g.,T inbergen, 1951),e motionsi n many contextsa llow flexibleu seo f environmentaslu pporti o A Perspectivoen UnconsciouEsm otion achieved esiredo utcomes( e.g.,A rcher,1 979;D amasio,1 994)F. or examplew, hen distressedc, hildren seek the supporta nd comfort of their parentsw hetherb y their Conceptualizinegm otiona sc omposedo f dissociablceo mponentism pliest hat.,un- own locomotion( crawling,w alking,o r running)o r by vocalb ehaviorp romptjng conscioues rnotion"s implyi s a specificc aseo f a dissociation----evideonf cpeh ysio- parentala pproach,H owever,t he decouplingo f stimulusa nd responseis by no logical or behaviorael motionala ctivationi n the absenceo f verbalr eportso f emo- meansa bsoluteb, ecauseti me for deliberatioins not alwaysa n advantageA. preda- tion or emotionallyr elevanrs timulation( Lang, 1993).F rom the evolutionary tor, for example, strikes fast and hard, and the quicker defensivem aneuversa re perspectiveit follows that activationo f basic emotionals ystemsi s more or less initiated by the potentialp rey, the betteri ts chancest o survivet he encounter.P ar- independenotf consciousa warenesosf whati s goingo n (seeL eDoux,1 996;O h- ticularly in defensivec ircumstancest,h erefore,t ime is a critical issue,a nd then man, I 999). This is a consequencoef the assumptionth at the evolutiono f emotion emotionala ctivationa nd reflexivee scapea ctionm ay be virtuallyi nstantaneous' by far precededt he emergenceo f linguisticallyc ompetenot rganismsF. or humans, 796 298 CognitiveN eurosciencoef Emotion however,o nceb asic emotionasl ystemsa rea ctivatedb, oth and aspecrs thee ricitingc onditions UnconsciorrsEmotion2 99 of rhe emotionarr esionse. ;;;;;;;;'t;;;r;;;;;;o!rl",i"'", ."0 ';.:'ji.::: consciouse laborationt hen is likely ;#lu l,:"ij to rhe to shapet ne? urrherf ate of the emotional i: :"*.".:r'ignincance orsanism'su rvivaar nd as well as its consequences srate, to lzard( 1991),t his t"nti,irution for aciion. ousrys eeni n ,h" rii.ij"""t, ,nor," ort- unconscious ,r"ng but emotion_becomae ss erious and-reser it is alsoc oupledto probremo nryi f onec raimst hatf eer- funcrion" 1""j'.":.-"l^"tl trest, a powerfudl isrupt- ,n:i*.ssary condiriono f l:q^,r .,notion,U .iurr* ,fr.n it impliesa conrradicrion rn terms( Clore,1 994)'T he notion jili!:tt:liff of emoiiono s"xp"ri.n.e is typicalryp arr ;,#;:;t*;J:3::: :;ffff f fl ffi}i;:ij ,lit ;q:!::",?:";f;Ti;'i;:T:lltilXT.#oyf th;e:y::;tffi ^._. 141"i l .:{.;l.Hf?1:,T*:i#i:J:ii :,,,,'ffli mentalistic s-"k"i; ;;;;,",," perspectivec,l aimso f un.onr.iour'r.otion ;;:"n : ffi :Tf 11] e8l' ": ;; ;;; rhrougrhhea utomaric comrnon breakw ith psychorogical fi i:ili?ll ares ignificant caprreuo r sensea nd require special is srrifreO ro rheo r expranationsa s in the pr.roiun iil"o'"r hom,.;; ;nr, unconscious'T he broader-evorutionary ,n" p"rrp..i;*, rn to address contrasr,r eadsr esearchers issuess ucha s, which .onoi,ionr .-..#lxL#i:T, i.i.*,n. ,nu, becomes an episodeo f emorron il::.ffif i?:eHn ass:ociia;tetdwi it"h fo*cu.se d ffi ,,:";,il,,,iIj consciousrya ccessiblew?t rat man, 1979, attentionr J errectsio ., ,ti, havef or furthere motionar l9g7). *""r'.r*r#, ror,- processing?a nd Does the neural circuitry differ between The signal scious unconsciousa nd con_ functi implies emorion?( see ohman, lggg, rhe environmen, that we atend ro for; ;; rhorought heoreticaar nalysis *n.noLo0,|r"l?fleorteionnt differenta spectso f unconscioues motionalp rocesses). of emotionasl tates..when may concenrra,u. ,,.n'.'n l";;;;;n15o0, *" In this chapter* " udd.'".,u nconscious emotioni n thes enseth ate motion be activatedw ithout conscious can j:tifr recognitiono f itre pen e"trcitinsgr imurusT. his may hap- r:ilffi when an emotionally #.;irjTiri!"i,,lH::#n::T*:*i:i**#,H relevantJ timulus*, ti.i,,, presented avoid*er,d.". '"i""l ii'ii,,J''i*," attentiona, uromaricalrv outsidec onscrous i" -"#lni;f::: o, iedirectsa ttention; ;;;;;" soundst hat ll.'5;:s: :a't:te.n.:riro nm ay that its focus,o r whena srimulus indicare,t.,.,u-;;-r;:"'-j:':_.:nuo be focusedo n is preventedf rom reachingc onscious crr u**"n"r, throughb ackwardm askrng *d'"h.;;,;;F;,",Ajfdrf*ftiX l t{ nonethelesesr icitso svchophysiorogical..rponr", rnr ne 5 F iuggesrrnge motionaar ctivation. surroundiwnogr ld _,.T#:,.il_:lf,f[i: :l*:l In both instanc"r *" Lnui tirat tv.,rr"*r,isgoi.onrni,"n, nr"f. \-I an-importa"ii ."L."o.,."rining whether tional stimurusb ecomes-consciousry rhe emo_ perceivedis tirne.I n the rapid responding interesto f promotrng The Arrenrional to biologicatty siinincunr il;il perceprual Spotlighr cesses and energericp ro- may respond to emotional stimuli Focused rheseli nes before th, spatiala ttentiot or."ioin."lrssesr haer motio.n.;s; : :::,;:,:'o',xllJ."rt,il,',,l'"'; il^l; ;;" ;il.':,';t'j'Jfirrfi .ytin gth roguhrh e d ark mucha si nZ ajonc('1s9 80) ,p..f.**.r15"'""'i,ir., J:o:,n.nI1s:t' o,:n i# 1u_r a'Iln ltem sloga,tnr , & Dark, I9g6t.H n.*o.,-,-w, e;.v-,e:,_r:':'-;'l'";s'r rl in memory f ;H::**tt, ours idteh e )' ;; ;#;i:"":"il.ffiTi,l .ffiT"il,f;t; spoisrhr, . nocc omposeodf homoger sf,orfoU . en;ffJ ": Emorion jJ#r:[i:# and Attention ililili:"#*l,lT,y.", s,1ril:t1:*rliii;'"1"'"1;ffre they are located, on the and *..an easily The SignalF uncriono f Emotion objectsw e need focus the flashlight Even thought he functional focuso f thise volutionarpy erspecttve the organization on emotioni s on jli of action, emotions mli.*:*":*'''."# havep ervasive I efrectso n iii.'',"ff alr types '.