Emotion:
More Than a Feeling
A feeling state involving a pattern of
facial and bodily changes, cognitive
appraisals, and beliefs.
Physiological
Changes (in
body and
facial
muscles)
Emotion
Cultural Influences
(shape experience
and expression of
emotion)
Cognitive Processes (interpreting
the emotional situation)
Theories of Emotion
Common Sense
An emotion-provoking stimulus produces the feeling
of an emotion, and then this feeling produces
physiological changes and behavior.
Fear
Theories of Emotion
James-Lange Theory
An emotion-provoking stimulus directly produces
physiological changes and behavior, and then these
events produce the feeling of an emotion.
Fear
Theories of Emotion
Cannon-Bard Theory
An emotion-provoking stimulus activates a brain center
called the “thalamus”, which simultaneously sends
messages to the cortex, producing the feeling of an
emotion, to the viscera, producing arousal, and to the
skeletal muscles, producing behavior.
Fear
Theories of Emotion
Schacter-Singer 2-Factor Theory
We have the feeling of an emotion when two factors are
present: we are physiologically aroused, and we
interpret that arousal in terms of a specific emotion
based on the situation we are in.
“Scary dog”
Fear
Theories of Emotion
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Facial muscles send messages to the brain
that both identify the emotion we are
feeling and intensify it.
Lazarus’ Cognitive Theory
Based on a “cognitive appraisal”, we decide if
the situation is positive, negative, or neutral.
A positive or negative appraisal triggers both
physiological arousal and the feeling of an
emotion.