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5 - The Concept of an Evolved Fear Module and Cognitive Theories of Anxiety

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Arne Öhman  and
Stefan Wiens
Edited by
Antony S. R. Manstead ,
Nico Frijda  and
Agneta Fischer
Arne Öhman
Affiliation:
Karolinska Institute
Stefan Wiens
Affiliation:
Karolinska Institute
Antony S. R. Manstead
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Nico Frijda
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Amsterdam
Agneta Fischer
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Amsterdam
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Summary

ABSTRACT

Consistent with theories that postulate appraisal as a key mechanism of emotion, the theoretical rationale behind the currently prominent cognitive therapy for disorders of anxiety and depression stresses the role of conscious processing in the generation of fear and anxiety. This emphasis, however, runs counter to recent developments in physiological, cognitive, and social psychology that document the importance of automatic processes in many psychological contexts. The point of departure for this chapter can be summarized in terms of the concept of an evolved fear module: a relatively independent behavioral, mental, and neural system that has evolved as a response to recurrent survival threats in mammalian evolution. The module is postulated to be selective, automatic, encapsulated, and realized in specific neural circuitry centered on the amygdala.

Research using masked stimuli show that the fear module is independent of conscious cognition. From this perspective, consciously accessible cognition has little role in the activation of fear and anxiety but may be important in maintaining the emotion over time.

When we think of emotions, fear is the one that most readily comes to mind. As an experience shared among humans, it is, perhaps more than we like, an integral part of human existence. In the science of emotion, furthermore, all theorists that accept the notion of basic or fundamental emotions agree that fear is one of them.

Type
Chapter
Information
Feelings and Emotions
The Amsterdam Symposium
 , pp. 58 - 80
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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