Emotion recognition in nonhuman primates: How experimental research can contribute to a better understanding of underlying mechanisms

NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS

卷:123

Review

Nieuwburg, Elisabeth G. I.¹  Ploeger, Annemie²  Kret, Mariska E.^3,4 

[1] Univ Amsterdam, Inst Interdisciplinary Studies IIS, Amsterdam, Netherlands

[2] Univ Amsterdam, Fac Social & Behav Sci, Programme Grp Dev Psychol, Amsterdam, Netherlands

[3] Leiden Univ, Inst Psychol, Cognit Psychol Unit, Leiden, Netherlands

[4] Leiden Univ, Leiden Inst Brain & Cognit LIBC, Leiden, Netherlands

关键词: Nonhuman primates;    Emotion recognition;    Cognitive empathy;    Emotional contagion;    Affect;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.11.029

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Recognising conspecifics' emotional expressions is important for nonhuman primates to navigate their physical and social environment. We address two possible mechanisms underlying emotion recognition: emotional contagion, the automatic matching of the observer's emotions to the emotional state of the observed individual, and cognitive empathy, the ability to understand the meaning and cause of emotional expressions while maintaining a distinction between own and others' emotions. We review experimental research in nonhuman primates to gain insight into the evolution of emotion recognition. Importantly, we focus on how emotional contagion and cognitive empathy can be studied experimentally. Evidence for aspects of cognitive empathy in different nonhuman primate lineages suggests that a wider range of primates than commonly assumed can infer emotional meaning from emotional expressions. Possibly, analogous rather than homologous evolution underlies emotion recognition. However, conclusions regarding its exact evolutionary course require more research in different modalities and species.

【 授权许可】

Free