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Fearfulness: An important addition to the starter kit for distinctively human minds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 May 2023

Dominic M. Dwyer Open the ORCID record for Dominic M. Dwyer [Opens in a new window]  and
Cecilia Heyes Open the ORCID record for Cecilia Heyes [Opens in a new window]
Dominic M. Dwyer
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK DwyerDM@cardiff.ac.uk; https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/356849-dwyer-dominic
Cecilia Heyes
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, All Souls College, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 4AL, UK cecilia.heyes@all-souls.ox.ac.uk; https://users.ox.ac.uk/~ascch/
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Abstract

Grossmann's impressive article indicates that – along with attentional biases, expansion of domain-general processes of learning and memory, and other temperamental tweaks – heightened fearfulness is part of the genetic starter kit for distinctively human minds. The learned matching account of emotional contagion explains how heightened fearfulness could have promoted the development of caring and cooperation in our species.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 46 , 2023 , e62
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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