Emotion is, like motivation, a construct, a process that is hypothesized to explain unseen connections between observable stimuli and responses. Emotions are subjective experiences, feelings that accompany motivational states. Several theories have sought to explain emotional processes, development and expression.
1. Yerkes-Dodson Law
(a) Arousal
One approach to emotion emphasizes the role of arousal and its effects on behaviour. The Yerkes-Dodson Law, named for its developers, explains that every task involves an optimal level of arousal. When arousal is too low or too high for a particular task, performance suffers.
In general, an increase in one's arousal leads to improved performance on simple tasks but reduced performance on complex tasks. The Yerkes-Dodson law suggests that the effects of emotional arousal will vary with the nature of the task and performance in question. This explains why mild fear, such as of an approaching deadline, might arouse one individual to do a better job than otherwise on a familar(simple) assignment, while causing another to work more slowly and make more mistakes on a novel and ill-prepared(complex) task.
(b) Lie Detection
The relationship of general arousal to emotion is central to assumptions about the usefulness of polygraphy, the general term for measurements such as so-called lie detection. Subjects in such tests respond to verbal questions while ongoing measurements are made of various physiological arousal effects, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and sweat gland activity (hence the term polygraph from poly, 'many' and graph 'written record'). The assumption of polography is that lying requires effort and causes measurable arousal.
Polygraphy is more a business than a science, and while many employers rely on lie detectors for tests of workers' honesty, there is no consistent scientific evidence to support its use for such purposes.
2. James-Lange Theory
In the late 19th century, William James formulated a theory of emotion similiar to that proposed about the same time by Danish psychologist Carl Lange. The so-called James-Lange theory of emotion proposes that emotions are experienced in the following sequence: (a) an emotional stimulus is presented, causing one to experience (b) physiological reactions, which are (c) consciously experienced as an emotion.
For example, when one encouters a growling wild animal(emotional stimulus), one feels a faster heartbeat, widening eyes, and a physical urge to flee(physiological reactions). As one becomes aware of these changes, one experiences the feeling of fear(emotion).
3. Cannon-Bard Theory
Walter Cannon and Philip Bard disputed the James-Lange theory, arguing that the brain plays a more important role in producing emotion than simply experiencing it.
The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion asserted that an emotional stimulus simultaneously triggered both the bodily changes and the conscious awareness of the emotion being experienced.
To use the above example, accordign to the Cannon-Bard theory, an encounter with a snarling wild animal(emotional stimulus) would simultaneously lead one to feel the heart punding and muscular tension(bodily changes) and to realize that one was experiencing fear(emotion).
4. Schachter-Singer Theory
In 1962 Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer conducted classic research identifying a cognitive process in emotional response. In their experiment, subjects received injections of eitherepinepnrine, an arousing drug, or an inert saline solutions. Subjects were then taken to a room where a confederate acted either extremely angry or euphoric. Subjects were observed and later asked to describe their emotional state. Results indicated that subjects who were aroused by the drug but unaware of its effects were most likely to adopt the emotional label of their angry or euphoric companionss, and to behave likewise.
Schachter and Singer concluded that emotional experience requires two factors; (a) a state of physiological arousal, and (b) a cognitive interpretation or labelling of that state as an emotion. Arousal without a label is not an emotion; a label without arousal does not lead to emotional behaviour.
Despite some problems with Schachter and Singer's cognitive theory of emotion, it is an influential approach in both research and application.
1. Yerkes-Dodson Law
(a) Arousal
One approach to emotion emphasizes the role of arousal and its effects on behaviour. The Yerkes-Dodson Law, named for its developers, explains that every task involves an optimal level of arousal. When arousal is too low or too high for a particular task, performance suffers.
In general, an increase in one's arousal leads to improved performance on simple tasks but reduced performance on complex tasks. The Yerkes-Dodson law suggests that the effects of emotional arousal will vary with the nature of the task and performance in question. This explains why mild fear, such as of an approaching deadline, might arouse one individual to do a better job than otherwise on a familar(simple) assignment, while causing another to work more slowly and make more mistakes on a novel and ill-prepared(complex) task.
(b) Lie Detection
The relationship of general arousal to emotion is central to assumptions about the usefulness of polygraphy, the general term for measurements such as so-called lie detection. Subjects in such tests respond to verbal questions while ongoing measurements are made of various physiological arousal effects, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and sweat gland activity (hence the term polygraph from poly, 'many' and graph 'written record'). The assumption of polography is that lying requires effort and causes measurable arousal.
Polygraphy is more a business than a science, and while many employers rely on lie detectors for tests of workers' honesty, there is no consistent scientific evidence to support its use for such purposes.
2. James-Lange Theory
In the late 19th century, William James formulated a theory of emotion similiar to that proposed about the same time by Danish psychologist Carl Lange. The so-called James-Lange theory of emotion proposes that emotions are experienced in the following sequence: (a) an emotional stimulus is presented, causing one to experience (b) physiological reactions, which are (c) consciously experienced as an emotion.
For example, when one encouters a growling wild animal(emotional stimulus), one feels a faster heartbeat, widening eyes, and a physical urge to flee(physiological reactions). As one becomes aware of these changes, one experiences the feeling of fear(emotion).
3. Cannon-Bard Theory
Walter Cannon and Philip Bard disputed the James-Lange theory, arguing that the brain plays a more important role in producing emotion than simply experiencing it.
The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion asserted that an emotional stimulus simultaneously triggered both the bodily changes and the conscious awareness of the emotion being experienced.
To use the above example, accordign to the Cannon-Bard theory, an encounter with a snarling wild animal(emotional stimulus) would simultaneously lead one to feel the heart punding and muscular tension(bodily changes) and to realize that one was experiencing fear(emotion).
4. Schachter-Singer Theory
In 1962 Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer conducted classic research identifying a cognitive process in emotional response. In their experiment, subjects received injections of eitherepinepnrine, an arousing drug, or an inert saline solutions. Subjects were then taken to a room where a confederate acted either extremely angry or euphoric. Subjects were observed and later asked to describe their emotional state. Results indicated that subjects who were aroused by the drug but unaware of its effects were most likely to adopt the emotional label of their angry or euphoric companionss, and to behave likewise.
Schachter and Singer concluded that emotional experience requires two factors; (a) a state of physiological arousal, and (b) a cognitive interpretation or labelling of that state as an emotion. Arousal without a label is not an emotion; a label without arousal does not lead to emotional behaviour.
Despite some problems with Schachter and Singer's cognitive theory of emotion, it is an influential approach in both research and application.
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