Emotions are psychological responses of the whole organism involving an interplay among physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience.
Theories of emotion generally address two major questions: (1) Does physiological arousal come before or after emotional feelings, and (2) how do cognition and feeling interact?
The James-Lange theory maintains that emotional feelings follow our body’s response to emotion-inducing stimuli. (We observe our heart pounding and feel fear.)
The Cannon-Bard theory proposes that our body responds to emotion at the same time that we experience the emotion (one does not cause the other).
The Schachter-Singer two-factor theory holds that our emotions have two ingredients, physical arousal and a cognitive label, and the cognitive labels we put on our states of arousal are an essential ingredient of emotion.
Lazarus agreed that many important emotions arise from our inferences. Zajonc and LeDoux, however, have contended that some simple emotional responses occur instantly, not only outside our conscious awareness but before any cognitive processing occurs. This interplay between emotion and cognition illustrates our two-track mind.
Caroll Izard’s 10 basic emotions are joy, interest/excitement, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shame, and guilt.
The arousal component of emotion is regulated by the autonomic nervous system’s sympathetic (arousing) and parasympathetic (calming) divisions.
In a crisis, the fight-or-flight response automatically mobilizes your body for action.
The large-scale body changes that accompany fear, and anger, and sexual arousal are very similar (increased perspiration, breathing, and heart rate), though they feel different. Emotions may be similarly arousing, but some subtle physiological responses, such as facial muscle movements, distinguish them.
More meaningful differences have been found in activity in some brain pathways and cortical areas.
Polygraphs, which measure several physiological indicators of emotion, are not accurate enough to justify widespread use in business and law enforcement. The use of the Concealed Information Test and new forms of technology may produce better indications of lying.
Multiple-Choice Questions
One night Samar became frightened when she was startled by a noise while walking down the street alone. Which theory of emotion would say that her fear resulted from the startle response alone?
James-Lange
Cannon-Bard
Two-factor
Lazarus’
Schachter-Singer’s
The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion states that
emotional response occurs before cognition.
physiological response occurs before emotional response.
emotional response occurs before physiological response.
cognition occurs before emotional response.
physiological response and emotion occur independently and simultaneously.
Which of the following is an example of cognitive appraisal?
Randall is happy all day because he is savoring the wonderful events of yesterday.
Charles is frightened in a dark alley because he remembers stories of others being attacked in dark alleys.
Sherika labels the arousal she is feeling as attraction because she is in the presence of a good-looking man.
Dora is angry because she cannot figure out how to convince her husband to take her to Hawaii.
Ann is frustrated because traffic has made her late for an important meeting.
Which of the following characterizes the “low road” neural pathway to emotions?
Information travels directly from the thalamus to the amygdala.
The emotional response happens more slowly than it would via the “high road.”
It is an example of top-down processing.
It is more likely to be utilized for complex feelings.
It passes through the brain’s cortex.
Practice FRQs
Lynn’s boyfriend has not replied to her last three texts. Lynn is experiencing anger, increased blood pressure, and rapid breathing. Analyze this situation using the James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, and Lazarus theories of emotion.