共情的毕生发展:一个双过程的视角

The Development of Empathy Across the Lifespan: A Perspective of Double Processes

共情中包含情绪和认知两种加工过程,二者有着不同的发展轨迹和机制。其中情绪共情是一种与生俱来的能力,从婴儿期直到成年期呈现下降趋势,到老年阶段有所上升,呈现出U形发展轨迹。其发展可能是由于镜像神经元储存的共享表征日益丰富和精细。认知共情发展相对较晚,从出生直到成年期呈现上升趋势,在老年阶段逐渐下降,呈现倒U形的发展轨迹。其发展是随着颞顶联合区和前额叶皮层成熟、个体区分自我他人和抑制自我中心能力增强而逐渐发展的。只有分别考察两个成分的发展才能了解共情发展的本质和机制。

Empathy contains both the bottom-up emotional process and the up-down cognitive process, and the two processes have distinct developmental trajectories and mechanism. Emotional empathy is inherent, and shows a tendency to decrease from infancy to adulthood, and then increase with aging. The developmental trajectory of emotional process takes on a continuous shape of U. The shared representation between self and other in the Mirror Neuron System may be the potential factor affecting the development of emotional empathy. Cognitive empathy increases from infancy to adulthood and decrease gradually from then on. The developmental trajectory of cognitive empathy is like a convert U. The development of cognitive empathy is due to the ability to distinguish self and other, and the ability to inhibit the proneness of self center. The brain network involving the development of cognitive empathy is Temporal-parietal association area and the frontal cortex. To catch a whole picture of the development of empathy, both processes of empathy should be investigated.