Résumés
Abstract
Cognitive psychology and cognitive science have only recently come to acknowledge that human beings are not “pure” cognitive systems, and that emotions may be more than simply another form of cognition. This paper presents recent theoretical issues on the interaction of cognition with emotion, drawing on findings from evolutionary, neurobiological and cognitive research. These findings indicate that emotions have a fundamental and, often, universal importance for human cognitive functioning. Advanced cognitive processing, such as the processing required for text comprehension and translation, most of the time follows after a first, primary appraisal of the emotional impact of the information on the reader. This type of appraisal is momentary, non-conscious and non-cognitive, and is carried out by some system in the organism that functions with its own distinctive rules, different from those of the cognitive system. Emotional appraisal of the information sets the mode in which the organism (including its cognitive processes) will operate. Evidence suggests that negative emotions can instantly and non-consciously increase processing effort and time and decrease cognitive capacity, while on the other hand, positive emotions generally increase cognitive resources and expand attention and creativity. This implies that both cognitive processing of textual information, as well as its outcome, are influenced not only by the interpreters cognitive skill or by the emotional features of the text per se (the emotional impact that the writer has attempted to generate), but also (and perhaps most importantly) by the subjective emotional significance that the information has for each individual interpreter.
Keywords/Mots-clés:
- emotion,
- cognition,
- unconscious processing,
- text processing
Résumé
Ce n’est que récemment que la psychologie et la science cognitives se sont rendu compte que les êtres humains ne sont pas des systèmes cognitifs « purs » et que les émotions sont peut-être plus qu’une autre forme de cognition. Dans cet article nous discutons de l’interaction entre la cognition et l’émotion, sur la base de résultats d’études récentes dans les domaines de la psychologie évolutive, de la neurobiologie et de la cognition. Ces résultats montrent que les émotions ont une importance primordiale, souvent universelle, dans le fonctionnement cognitif humain. Le traitement cognitif avancé, tel que celui mis en oeuvre dans les cas de la compréhension de texte et de la traduction, a le plus souvent lieu après une première évaluation de l’impact émotionnel du texte sur le lecteur. Ce type d’évaluation est momentané, non conscient et non cognitif. Il est accompli par un système dans l’organisme ayant ses propres règles, différents de ceux du système cognitif. L’évaluation cognitive de l’information établit le mode dans lequel l’organisme (y compris ses processus cognitifs) va opérer. Il existe des données empiriques qui permettent de supposer que les émotions négatives peuvent – instantanément et non consciemment – augmenter l’effort et le temps nécessaires au traitement et diminuer la capacité cognitive. À l’opposé, les émotions positives augmentent généralement les ressources cognitives et élargissent l’attention et la créativité. Cela implique qu’aussi bien le traitement cognitif de l’information textuelle que son résultat sont influencés non seulement par les capacités cognitives de l’interprète ou par les configurations émotionnelles du texte en soi (l’impact émotionnel voulu par l’auteur) mais aussi (et peut-être même plus) par la signification émotionnelle subjective que l’information a pour chaque interprète pris individuellement.
Parties annexes
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