The circuit of cognition : operational closure and the interpenetration of views. Comment on “The affective grounds of the mind. The affective pertinentization (APER) model” by Salvatore et al.

Abstract

In proposing APER, Salvatore and colleagues pose three premises based on the primacy of affect in human experience as a fundamental and elementary form of interpretation (p. 148). We agree that cognition involves cold and hot elements, loosely distinguishable as thoughts and emotions respectively, but we claim that these operate in parallel rather than in series. Consequently, no single process in human cognition can be deemed primary, as these processes operate in tandem to facilitate or inhibit action. Social psychological models that have been proposed on the basis of the distinction between hot and cold cognition (i.e. Elaboration- Likelihood Model and Heuristic-Systematic Model) have required revision to cater for parallel processing when hot and cold routes are activated simultaneously [extract]