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Abstract

Decety (2011) considers the cognitive neuroscience of empathy and, in particular, his three-component model of empathic responding. His position is highly influential with its emotional awareness/understanding and emotional regulation components representing clear extensions of previous theorizing on empathy. In this brief commentary, I will critically consider the third of his components: affective arousal. In particular, I will consider the implications of the literature to the proposed computations, based on perception—action coupling, that underlie this component of his model. I will suggest that perception—action coupling does not underlie affective arousal but rather that this is mediated by far more simple mechanisms of emotional arousal based on conditioning.

Keywords

empathy perception—action coupling

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References

Blair, R.J.R. ( 2005). Responding to the emotions of others: Dissociating forms of empathy through the study of typical and psychiatric populations. Consciousness and Cognition, 14, 698-718.

Decety, J. ( 2011). Dissecting the neural mechanisms mediating empathy. Emotion Review, 3, 92-108.

Murphy, F.C. , Nimmo-Smith, I. , & Lawrence, A.D. (2003). Functional neuroanatomy of emotions: A meta-analysis. Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, 3, 207-233.

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Should Affective Arousal be Grounded in Perception-Action Coupling?

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