Theories of Emotion - AP Psychology

The Cannon-Bard theory states that the brain cannot rely on bodily responses to know which emotions it is experiencing. This is supported by the observation that a racing heart can indicate excitement, fear, or anger.

Selye's outline of the GAS holds that the first stage is alarm reaction, in which the body readies itself by activating the sympathetic nervous system. The second stage is resistance, in which the body remains in a state of readiness, but gradually becomes weaker. The third, and final, stage is exhaustion, in which the parasympathetic nervous system returns the body to a normal state.

A theory developed by William James and Carl Lange in the 19th century, this hypothesis explores the idea that emotion does NOT precede physiological changes. Instead, a person experiences an event, has an instinctual physiological response to the event, and the brain, sensing the physiological change through the nervous system, prompts an emotion.

For example: A person sees a bear. Their heart rate rises, their perspiration increases, and their mouth becomes dry. Based on these responses, the brain decides fear is an appropriate emotion for the environmental stimuli.

The reasoning behind this theory is that emotions help a person figure out the best course of action. In this example, the brain picks fear as the emotion, and the person picks "flight" as course of action in order to get away from the source of fear.

The Schachter-Singer Theory, also known as the Two-Factor Theory, is a cognitive theory of emotion. It states that physiological arousal occurs, and then one must appraise the reason for that arousal and assign an emotion to it.

Achievement motivation is a social motivation wherein we are driven to achieve complex goals and attain knowledge or skils. This need to achieve varies and is inconsistent amongst people.

Unlike the James-Lange theory of emotion, the Cannon-Bard theory indicates that a specific physiological state and cognitive awareness occur simultaneously.

The James-Lange theory of emotion suggests that our emotional experiences occur because we are aware of our physiological responses to emotionally-charged stimuli. For example, if we witness an emotional moment in a movie and begin to feel our eyes tear up and our cheeks get hot, our brain processes this physiological state and determines that we are feeling sad.

The cognitive appraisal theory holds that one's emotional experience depends on one's interpretation of the situation. This was the first theory of emotion to consider the person's appraisal of a situation, in addition to physiology and behavior.

The evolutionary theory of emotion believes that emotions developed in order to help facilitate human survival, in order to allow for reproduction. An evolutionary theory looks at emotions in the context of an evolutionary framework.

Charles Darwin posited that emotions evolved because they had an adaptive value to the human species. For instance, fear allows us to act in ways that avoids a potential danger, which makes it a very useful emotion for our basic survival. This core idea is generally accepted by evolutionary psychologists who have since expanded the tenets of this claim.

Amongst evolutionary psychologists who have expanded on Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, it is generally accepted there are seven core emotions that have evolved due to their adaptive value. These are contempt, happiness, anger, surprise, sadness, disgust, and fear. They argue that any other emotion is a blend of these core emotions, or a variation of intensity within these emotions basic emotions (for example, feeling ecstatic would not be another basic emotion, but rather a variation in the intensity of happiness).

The James-Lange theory of emotion posits that emotions reflect physiological states in the body. The James-Lange theory holds that human bodies FIRST experience physical sensations, and that humans will think, act, then feel afterwards. One of the Cannon-Bard's counter-arguments to this is that one can experience an emotion simultaneously with a physical reaction and prior to an action. For instance, I see a bear holding a knife, I feel fear (and possibly bewilderment) and my body tenses up immediately, then I run away. By the time I am running away, I have definitely already felt afraid of the knife-wielding bear.

The James-Lange Theory is based on the idea that physical changes elicit emotion. William James and Carl Lange developed the theory independently, but formulated a cohesive theory. The James-Lange Theory, in its initial formation, held that if physical sensation were completely removed emotional response would also be removed. Modern theorists have since revised the theory to soften this stance, and hold rather that physical sensation significantly affects emotional response, but the relationship is not total. Support for this comes from studies of spinal cord injuries in which emotions are experienced less intensely.

In Schachter's Two-Factor Theory of emotion, the two factors are physiological arousal and cognitive label. First a person will experience a physiological sensation, and will then try to place a label on the context surrounding this response, in an effort to explain it. According to Schachter both factors are needed, and are mutually reinforcing.

The physical muscles of the face are connected to perception of emotion, and placing one's face into a "smile" by biting a pencil can lead people to perceive happiness. The key to this question was understanding the terminology used in the question. In this case, the "physical symptoms" are actually positive, they are the muscles of the face being stimulated into the shape of a smile.

Schacter-Singer's two-factor theory of emotion poses that in order for an emotion to be considered as such, a person must experience physical arousal and be able to cognitively recognize and label this.

According to Schacter and Singer, an essential component of the way we experience emotion is the labeling of physical sensations and feelings. The way we label emotions influence how we are able to cope with them and, depending on the label, it may even prolong the emotion.

The James-Lange theory of emotion states that an event causes physical arousal in the body. The brain interprets this arousal. Afterwards, based on the specific reactions, the brain identifies the arousal as a certain emotion (i.e. fear, happiness, sadness, or anger). In this case, the correct answer follows this theory because it states that the physiological reaction will occur first and then the brain will alert the man indicating he is experiencing fear.

"Display rules" are norms for the expression of emotion that differ from culture to culture. Examples of display rules include neutralizing (feeling an emotion but showing no emotion), masking (feeling an emotion but showing a different emotion), and intensification (feeling an emotion but showing it more intensely than it is felt). Exaggerating is not a key term associated with display rules.