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Narrative constructions and the life history issue in brain–emotions relations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2012

Zsolt Unoka
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Hungary. unoka.zsolt@med.semmelweis-univ.hu
Eszter Berán
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Péter Pázmány Catholic University, 2087 Piliscsaba, Hungary. beran.eszter@btk.ppke.hu
Csaba Pléh
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, 1111 Budapest, Hungary, and Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary. pleh@cogsci.bme.huwww.plehcsaba.hu

Abstract

Emotional reactions are rather flexible, due to the schema-like organization of complex socio-emotional situations. Some data on emotion development, and on certain pathological conditions such as alexithymia, give further support for the psychological constructivist view put forward by Lindquist et al. Narrative organization is a key component of this schematic organization. The self-related nature of narrative organization provides scaffolding to the contextual dependency of emotions.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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