The added value of affective processes for models of human cognition and learning

Yoann Stussi; Daniel Dukes; David Sander

doi:10.1017/S0140525X24000207

The added value of affective processes for models of human cognition and learning

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 September 2024

and

Yoann Stussi*: Affiliation:
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, Campus Biotech, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland yoann.stussi@unige.ch daniel.dukes@unige.ch david.sander@unige.ch https://www.unige.ch/fapse/e3lab/members1/senior-researchers-and-lecturers/dr-yoann-stussi https://dukes.space/ https://www.unige.ch/fapse/e3lab/director/ Department of Psychology, FPSE, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Daniel Dukes: Affiliation:
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, Campus Biotech, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland yoann.stussi@unige.ch daniel.dukes@unige.ch david.sander@unige.ch https://www.unige.ch/fapse/e3lab/members1/senior-researchers-and-lecturers/dr-yoann-stussi https://dukes.space/ https://www.unige.ch/fapse/e3lab/director/
David Sander: Affiliation:
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, Campus Biotech, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland yoann.stussi@unige.ch daniel.dukes@unige.ch david.sander@unige.ch https://www.unige.ch/fapse/e3lab/members1/senior-researchers-and-lecturers/dr-yoann-stussi https://dukes.space/ https://www.unige.ch/fapse/e3lab/director/ Department of Psychology, FPSE, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
*: *Corresponding author.

Article contents

Abstract
References

Get access

Rights & Permissions

Abstract

Building on the affectivism approach, we expand on Binz et al.'s meta-learning research program by highlighting that emotion and other affective phenomena should be key to the modeling of human learning. We illustrate the added value of affective processes for models of learning across multiple domains with a focus on reinforcement learning, knowledge acquisition, and social learning.

Information

Type: Open Peer Commentary
Information: Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 47 , 2024 , e165

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X24000207 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Chevrier, M., Muis, K. R., Trevors, G. J., Pekrun, R., & Sinatra, G. M. (2019). Exploring the antecedents and consequences of epistemic emotions. Learning and Instruction, 63, Article 101209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.05.006CrossRef Google Scholar

Dorfman, H. M., Bhui, R., Hughes, B. L., & Gershman, S. J. (2019). Causal inference about good and bad outcomes. Psychological Science, 30(4), 516–525. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619828724CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Dukes, D., Abrams, K., Adolphs, R., Ahmed, M. E., Beatty, A., Berridge, K. C., … …Sander, D. (2021). The rise of affectivism. Nature Human Behaviour, 5, 816–820. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01130-8CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Dukes, D., & Clément, F. (2017). Author reply: Clarifying the importance of ostensive communication in long-life, affective social learning. Emotion Review, 9(3), 267–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073916679006CrossRef Google Scholar

Dukes, D., & Clément, F. (Eds.). (2019). Foundations of affective social learning: Conceptualizing the social transmission of value. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108661362CrossRef Google Scholar

Egyed, K., Király, I., & Gergely, G. (2013). Communicating shared knowledge in infancy. Psychological Science, 24(7), 1348–1353. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612471952CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Gruber, T., Bazhydai, M., Sievers, C., Clément, F., & Dukes, D. (2022). The ABC of social learning: Affect, behavior, and cognition. Psychological Review, 129(6), 1296–1318. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000311CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Harris, P. L. (2012). Trusting what you're told: How children learn from others. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674065192Google Scholar

Harris, P. L., & Koenig, M. A. (2006). Trust in testimony: How children learn about science and religion. Child Development, 77(3), 505–524. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00886.xCrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Kang, M. J., Hsu, M., Krajbich, I. M., Loewenstein, G., McClure, S. M., Wang, J. T., & Camerer, C. F. (2009). The wick in the candle of learning: Epistemic curiosity activates reward circuitry and enhanced memory. Psychological Science, 20(8), 963–973. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02402.xCrossRef Google Scholar

LaBar, K. S., & Cabeza, R. (2006). Cognitive neuroscience of emotional memory. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 7, 54–64. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1825CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Lefebvre, G., Lebreton, M., Meyniel, F., Bourgeois-Gironde, S., & Palminteri, S. (2017). Behavioural and neural characterization of optimistic reinforcement learning. Nature Human Behaviour, 1, Article 0067. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0067CrossRef Google Scholar

Lerner, J. S., Li, Y., Valdesolo, P., & Kassam, K. S. (2015). Emotion and decision making. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 799–823. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115043CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Levine, L. J., & Pizarro, D. A. (2004). Emotion and memory research: A grumpy overview. Social Cognition, 22(5), 530–554. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.22.5.530.50767CrossRef Google Scholar

Levy, I., & Schiller, D. (2021). Neural computations of threat. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 25(2), 151–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2020.11.007CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Marvin, C. B., & Shohamy, D. (2016). Curiosity and reward: Valence predicts choice and information prediction errors enhance learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145(3), 266–272. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000140CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Muis, K. R., Chevrier, M., & Singh, C. A. (2018). The role of epistemic emotions in personal epistemology and self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 53(3), 165–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2017.1421465CrossRef Google Scholar

Murayama, K. (2022). A reward-learning framework of knowledge acquisition: An integrated account of curiosity, interest, and intrinsic-extrinsic rewards. Psychological Review, 129(1), 175–198. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000349CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Öhman, A., & Mineka, S. (2001). Fears, phobias, and preparedness: Toward an evolved module of fear and fear learning. Psychological Review, 108(3), 483–522. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.108.3.483CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Palminteri, S., & Lebreton, M. (2022). The computational roots of positivity and confirmation biases in reinforcement learning. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 26(7), 607–621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.04.005CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Pekrun, R., & Linnenbrink-Garcia, L. (Eds.). (2014). International handbook of emotion in education. Routledge.CrossRef Google Scholar

Phelps, E. A. (2006). Emotion and cognition: Insights from studies of the human amygdala. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 27–53. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.56.091103.070234CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Pool, E., Brosch, T., Delplanque, S., & Sander, D. (2016). Attentional bias for positive emotional stimuli: A meta-analytic investigation. Psychological Bulletin, 142(1), 79–106. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000026CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Scherer, K. R., & Moors, A. (2019). The emotion process: Event appraisal and component differentiation. Annual Review of Psychology, 70, 719–745. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011854CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Sorce, J. F., Emde, R. N., Campos, J. J., & Klinnert, M. D. (1985). Maternal emotional signaling: Its effect on the visual cliff behavior of 1-year-olds. Developmental Psychology, 21(1), 195–200. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.21.1.195CrossRef Google Scholar

Stussi, Y., & Pool, E. R. (2022). Multicomponential affective processes modulating food-seeking behaviors. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 48, Article 101226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101226CrossRef Google Scholar

Stussi, Y., Pourtois, G., Olsson, A., & Sander, D. (2021). Learning biases to angry and happy faces during Pavlovian aversive conditioning. Emotion, 21(4), 742–756. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000733CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Stussi, Y., Pourtois, G., & Sander, D. (2018). Enhanced Pavlovian aversive conditioning to positive emotional stimuli. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147(6), 905–923. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000424CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Vogl, E., Pekrun, R., Murayama, K., & Loderer, K. (2020). Surprised-curious-confused: Epistemic emotions and knowledge exploration. Emotion, 20(4), 625–641. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000578CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Vollberg, M. C., & Sander, D. (2024). Hidden reward: Affect and its prediction errors as windows into subjective value. Current Directions in Psychological Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214231217678CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Wuensch, L., Pool, E. R., & Sander, D. (2021). Individual differences in learning positive affective value. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 39, 19–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.11.001CrossRef Google Scholar