Emotion
• The experience of feelings
• Can activate and affect behavior but it is more
difficult to predict the behavior prompted by a
motivation
Basic Emotions
• Plutchik proposed that there are eight
basic emotions
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Fear
Surprise
Sadness
Disgust
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Anger
Anticipation
Joy
Acceptance
Plutchik’s Basic Emotions
Basic Emotions
• Some have criticized Plutchik’s model as applying only
to English-speakers
• Primary vs. Secondary Emotions
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–
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Be evident in all cultures
Contribute to survival
Distinct facial expression
Evident in Nonhuman primates
• Revised model of basic emotions includes:
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Happiness
Surprise
Sadness
Fear
Disgust
Anger
Theories of Emotion
Emotions are a mix of 1) physiological
activation, 2) expressive behaviors, and 3)
conscious experience.
Controversy
1) Does physiological arousal precede or follow
your emotional experience?
2) Does cognition (thinking) precede emotion
(feeling)?
Theories
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
James-Lange Theory
Cannon-Bard Theory
Schachter-Singer Theory
Opponent Process Theory
Cognitive-Appraisal Theory
James-Lange Theory
William James and Carl
Lange proposed an
idea that was
diametrically opposed
to the common-sense
view. The James-Lange
Theory proposes that
physiological activity
precedes the emotional
experience.
2. James-Lange theory
Body = emotion
“Without the bodily states following on the perception, the
latter would be purely cognitive in form; pale, colorless,
destitute of emotional warmth. We might then see the
bear, and judge it best to run... But we should not actually
feel afraid.” (William James, 1890)
James, 1890, v. 2, p. 449 (Gleitman)
2. James-Lange theory
• Situation
 bodily reaction  emotion


FEAR
or
LOVE?
Cannon-Bard Theory
Walter Cannon and
Phillip Bard
questioned the JamesLange Theory and
proposed that an
emotion-triggering
stimulus and the
body's arousal take
place simultaneously.
Cannon-Bard Theory
• See snake, run and fear simultaneous
• Stimulus to thalamus -- sends simultaneous
messages to:
– Lymbic system (arousal)
– Cortex (fear)
Schachter-Singer Theory
Two-Factor Theory
Stanley Schachter and
Jerome Singer
proposed yet another
theory which suggests
our physiology and
cognitions create
emotions. Emotions
have two factors–
physical arousal and
cognitive label.
3. The Schachter theory
• Situation
 bodily reaction  emotion
+ cognitive appraisal
FEAR


LOVE
The Schachter theory assumes that the
body cannot tell us exactly what we are
or should be feeling. Instead, even if
we have a fast bodily reaction to
something, it is our mind that decides
what the emotion will be.
FEAR
LOVE
3. The Schachter theory
• Testing the theory:
• Schachter & Singer 1962:
(didn’t take pill)
(know what
pill does)
VERY ANGRY!
Medium angry!
Least angry
VERY EXCITED!
Medium excited!
Least excited
Opponent Process Theory
• Opponent process theory suggests that
any given emotion also has an opposed
emotion. (Fear/Relief or
Sadness/Happiness)
• Activation of one member of the pair
automatically suppresses the opposite
emotion
• But the opposing emotion can serve to
diminish the intensity of the initial emotion.
Opponent-Process Theory
• Solomon and Corbit (1974)
– The opponent-process theory states that
when one emotion is experienced, the other is
suppressed. For example, if you are
frightened by a mean dog, the emotion of fear
is expressed and relief is suppressed. If the
fear-causing stimulus continues to be present,
after a while the fear decreases and the relief
intensifies.
Opponent Process Theory
Cognitive-Appraisal Theory
• Sequence
– Stimulus (object, event, or thought)
– Appraisal of how this affects your well-being
(consciously or unconsciously)
– Emotion (fear, anger, happiness, …)
– Physiological responses and behavior
• For an emotion to occur, it is necessary to
first think about the situation.
Cognition Can Define Emotion
An arousal response to one event spills over into
our response to the next event. Spill over effect
Reuters/ Corbis
AP Photo/ Nati Harnik
Arousal from a soccer match can fuel anger, which
may lead to rioting.
Arousal fuels emotion, cognition channels it.
Cognition and Emotion
What is the connection between how we think
(cognition) and how we feel (emotion)?
Can we change our emotions by changing our
thinking?
8
SEE…
YOU REACTED BECAUSE YOU KNOW