The First, Second and Third Person Emotions: Grounding Adaptation in a Biological and Social World

We consider the interpretation of emotions and simil-iar phenomena as support for survival and coping in the world. Grounded in the experience of an emotional agent, certain such emotions, drives or experiences are self-oriented (homeostasis, intake, outtow: hunger, pain, irritation), while others suggest a generalized or speciic recognition of other agents or objects (curiosity , fear; or hatred, envy, yearning, greed). Other, more complex emotions are involved in relations to a second person (sympathy) or social regulation (shame, guilt, feelings of loyalty) or aaective episodic structure (regret). Considering complex emotions in relation to other`persons' yields insight into the roles and possible design of various emotions in behavioral regulation in biological, software, and social contexts. AAective coloring of episodic memories of sequences of actions and experiences may suggest a mechanism for grounding of behavioral adaptation. We outline how such coloring of episodic memories might provide a mechanism for emergent spatial and social navigation.