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    Theories

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    Rochen Ang
    The James-Lange theory proposes that emotions arise from our physiological response to stressful events, not from perceiving the events themselves. In contrast, the Cannon-Bard theory argues that emotional and physiological responses occur simultaneously in response to stress. This theory was supported by experiments showing emotional behaviors in decorticated cats in response to stressors. The Schachter-Singer theory posits that both cognitive processing and physiological arousal are needed to experience an emotion, and we seek environmental cues to identify the cause of our emotional state.

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    Theories

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    Rochen Ang
    27 views2 pages
    The James-Lange theory proposes that emotions arise from our physiological response to stressful events, not from perceiving the events themselves. In contrast, the Cannon-Bard theory argues that emotional and physiological responses occur simultaneously in response to stress. This theory was supported by experiments showing emotional behaviors in decorticated cats in response to stressors. The Schachter-Singer theory posits that both cognitive processing and physiological arousal are needed to experience an emotion, and we seek environmental cues to identify the cause of our emotional state.

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    The James-Lange theory proposes that emotions arise from our physiological response to stressful events, not from perceiving the events themselves. In contrast, the Cannon-Bard theory argues that emotional and physiological responses occur simultaneously in response to stress. This theory was supported by experiments showing emotional behaviors in decorticated cats in response to stressors. The Schachter-Singer theory posits that both cognitive processing and physiological arousal are needed to experience an emotion, and we seek environmental cues to identify the cause of our emotional state.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    27 views2 pages

    Theories

    Uploaded by

    Rochen Ang
    The James-Lange theory proposes that emotions arise from our physiological response to stressful events, not from perceiving the events themselves. In contrast, the Cannon-Bard theory argues that emotional and physiological responses occur simultaneously in response to stress. This theory was supported by experiments showing emotional behaviors in decorticated cats in response to stressors. The Schachter-Singer theory posits that both cognitive processing and physiological arousal are needed to experience an emotion, and we seek environmental cues to identify the cause of our emotional state.

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    James-Lange: Theory of Emotion

    In 1884 and in 1885, theorists William James and Carl Lange might have separately proposed their
    respective theories on the correlation of stress and emotion, but they had a unified idea on this
    relationship - emotions do not immediately succeed the perception of the stressor or the stressful
    event; they become present after the body’s response to the stress. For instance, when you see a
    growling dog, your heart starts to race, your breath begins to go faster, then your eyes become wide
    open. According to James and Lange, the feeling of fear or any other emotion only begins after you
    experience these bodily changes. This means that the emotional behavior is not possible to occur
    unless it is connected to one’s brain.

    Cannon-Bard: The Emergency Theory

    This theory is quite the opposite of what James and Lange proposed. According to theorist Walter
    Cannon, emotion in response to stress can actually occur even when the bodily changes are not
    present. Cannon said that the visceral or internal physiologic response of one’s body is more slowly
    recognized by the brain as compared with its function to release emotional response. He attempted
    to prove his theory by means of creating the so-called “decorticated cats”, wherein the neural
    connections of the body are separated from the cortex in the brain of the cats. When faced with a
    stressful response, the decorticated cats showed emotional behavior which meant feelings of
    aggression and rage. This emotion was then manifested by bodily changes such as baring of teeth,
    growling and erect hair.

    To further enhance Cannon’s theory, theorist Philip Bard expanded the ideals of Cannon by arguing
    that a lower brain stem structure called the thalamus is important in the production of emotional
    responses. According to Bard, the emotional response is released first, and then sent as signals by
    the thalamus to the brain cortex for the interpretation alongside with the sending of signals to the
    sympathetic nervous system or SNS to begin the physiologic response to stress. Therefore, this
    theory argues that emotional response to stress is not a product of the physiologic response; rather,
    they occur simultaneously.
    The Schachter-Singer Theory

    Theorists Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer argued that the appropriate identification of the
    emotion requires both cognitive activity and emotional arousal in order to experience an emotion.
    Attribution or the process wherein the brain can identify the stress stimulus producing an emotion is
    also proposed by Schachter and Singer. The theory explains that we become aware of the reason
    behind the emotional response, and when the reason is not obvious, we start to look for
    environmental clues for the proper interpretation of the emotion to occur.

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