Emotion Model for a Robot

Philosophical Understanding Of Emotion

As ‘Emotion’ is considered from view point of state of feeling of emotion in an individual, as a result of situation and event occurred in environment, or with virtual realization of situation and event based on memory from past, and also a realization due to thoughtful consideration of its prospective occurrence in future. An analytical discussion regarding feeling of emotion in an individual becomes more subjective. Griffiths (2002) explained that ‘Emotions’ is not the ‘natural kind’, and by that he want to explain that different kind of emotions cannot be explained with single and unified theory. Further, the normative behavior of emotion(s), is detailed by Griffiths (2004) and elaborated that an objective analysis is not capable of explaining adequately due to its incomplete view point for human emotion. In a contemporary definition by Prinz (2004) explained that there is common basis of embodied phenomenon for emotion, which explains the common nature and phenomenal occurrence of emotion. In the review paper, ‘current emotion research in philosophy’ Griffiths (2013) discussed the view of memory based arousal of emotion, as it happens due to recall of event or object between long term memory, or procedural and episodic memory to working memory, and this eventual phenomenon of memory recall shows the different way the feeling of emotion occurs, which not be the same all the time.

With the advancement scientific understanding of human brain and mind, the purpose of both scientific and philosophical argument for emotion and nature of emotion(s) is to find the diverse but wholesome view. This wholesome view is helpful to propose a phenomenal model of emotion, representing feeling of emotion in human, in a real time environment of object and event. Recent philosophical argument also based on the affective neuroscience, and explains the process of arousal of emotion, Barrett (2009). Figure 1 explains the real-time environment phenomenon of emotion based on memory of emotion related to event and object.

Figure 1.

Figure explaining memory of emotion and event/object relation in real-time environment

Neuroscience Of Emotion

Attention towards object and event driven by feeling of emotion attached to object and event, which further decide our action in the environment. An integrated sensory response system of emotion, attention, and action defines the overall behavior. Charles Darwin (1872) explained that emotion of fear to escape and aggression to attack are important for the drive action of survival and thus evolution of species. Darwin further emphasized the presence of basic emotion across species and cultures, which became a broad basis for neuroscientific findings by doing research on animal brains. However, at the same time it was also considered that the emotions are result of physiological changes in body, experienced by object or event based stimulus that causes these bodily changes to happen, William James (1884), Carl Lange (1885). With a detailed historical development ground, Dalgleish (2004) review paper “The emotional brain”, explained about the Cannon-Bards (1927) theory which counters the James (1884) idea of emotion being merely experience of bodily changes, and further explained Papez (1937) circuit with top-down and bottom-up emotion circuit of brain, the theory further strengthened by limbic system proposed by Kluver & Bucy (1937) brain and MacLean (1949) anatomy based theory of emotion.