Assist. Prof. Dr' Saadoun D'A' lbraheem
Consultant PsYchiatrist
Emotion
The comPonents of emotion
often used interchangeably' a careful analysis
Although the terms emotions and feelings are
have emotional
aspect of emotion' ln fact, lower animals clearly
reveals that feelings are only one
emotions include four integral components: cognitive
states, but little or no feeling at all. Human
physiological arousal, and behavioral responses' Emotions
processes, affect or subjectiie feelings,
The term applies to both physiological and
An individual's subjective feelings and moods.
behavioral responses to specific stimulus situations'
1. Cognitive Processes
Although psychologists differ in the extent to
one component of emotions is cognitive processes'
whichtheyemphasizetheroleofcognitioninemotionalarousalandexpression'thereisageneral
memory are all very much
consensus that perception, learning, and
music, or even just thinking about a favorite song'
lnvolved in experiencing emotions. Listening to
often elicits conditioned or learned emotions'
2. Affect
involving both a general positive or negative
All emotions also include an offective component
person,s
When psychologists attempt to ascertain a
state such as joy, anger, fear, or disgust.
to describe the emotions he or she is
emotional state, the; typically ask the individual
their feelings "l am depressed"; "l am extremely
experiencing. Most peopte respond by describing
,,1
Thus, for most individuals, these subiective feelings
happy,,; feel nervous and apprehensive."
one aspect of them' often these feelings can be
constitute emotion even though they are only
joy"
anger is at a 9 today. or lfeel a 10 in terms of
described on a 1-10 Likert scale. such as my
person
might
in order to chart affective changes that a
These subjective numbers are often asked
feel after counseling.
3. Physiological Arousal
by
arousol' when someone describes their anger
A third component of emotions is physiological
of
form
the
in
"juices"'
is close to the mark' The
saying "the juices were flowing," this account
the arousal of anger' probably were flowing' As
with
epinephrine and other hormones associated
we might guess that for a
a result of this increased endocrine activity'
blood pressure probably increased
few moments at least heart rate increased dramatically,
and uneven' lndeed' emotions are associated
significantly, and breathing may have become rapid
processes occurring within our bodies' ln
with mild to extreme ctranges in the physiological
processes may include metabolic changes' altered
addition to the changes we lust listed, these
and sweat glands, modified digestive processes'
muscle tension, cf,aiges in activity of the salivary
in the brain' (Recall that the autonomic
and changes in the levels of certain neurotransmitters
physiological changes associated with emotional
nervous system is involved in most of the
processes can lead to changes in coloration' facial
arousal.) ln other species these physiological
expression, piloerection, and other signs of emotion'
4. Behavioral ResPonses
Emotions often motivate us to act out or
Finally, emotion also include s behavioro! response.
from crying, screaming, or verbal outbursts to
express our feelings. These expressions may range
other kinds of body language are all common
smiling or laughing. Tone of voice, posture, and
signalsofemotion.lnadditiontobeingexpressive,behavioralreactionstoemotionsmayalso
For example, avoiding a situation that produces
serve to either promote or reduce the emotion'
person are examples of behavior maintained by a
fear or going out of your way to meet a special
change in emotion.
Theories of emotion
process involving cognitions, subjective
we have learned that emotional expression is a complex
reactions. How do these processes interact to
feelings, physiologiJ urourut, and behavioral
Is it necessary to think
responre? What is the usual sequence of events?
produce un
it as fear or happiness?
"*otio'nui
or do we ieel an emotion and then later interpret
before we feel,
Assist. Prof. Dr. Saadoun D'A' lbraheem
Consultant PsYchiatrist
questions, in a controversy that
Psychologists have proposed contradictory answers to these
chicken or the egg came first' we
the
whether
sometimes resembles the well-known debate about
as well as several
perspectives
examine the evidence here as we review several historical
contemporary theories of emotion'
Historical PersPectives
sleeping, you decide to take a midnight
The james-lange theory lmagine that after having trouble
you
hear a rustling in the bushes behind
walk. lt is dark and still; no on" else is in sight. Suddenly,
will probably be one of terror: You
you, followed by rapidiy approaching footsteps. Your response
your fear in this situation? ls it triggered by the
are likely to run for your life. what would activate
or is it more likely that your awareness of
sounds you hear, which in turn induce you to run?
to carry you away' and that these physical
danger causes your heart to beat faster and your legs
Decide which of these interpretations seems
responses trigger your emotional response of fear?
correct, and whY, before reading on'
answer that hearing noises in the dark
when such questions are put to students, the vast majority
"commonsense"
in turn triggers a flood of physical reactions' This
causes fear, which
interpretationoftheactivationofemotionseemsquitelogical.
,,commonsense" View of Emotion. we perceive and interpret a particular stimulus' and these
physiological reactions and body
cognitive processes give rise to an emotion that triggers certain
reactions' and run because
physiological
movements. "l see a bear, feel fear, experience a flood of
stimulus, in this case threatening noises, and
I am afraid.,, We perceive and interpret a particular
(fear), which triggers certain physiological
these cognitive processes give rise to an emotion
that we cry because
and body *ou"t"nt.' Along these lines, we would also conclude
The
responses
we laugh because We are happy'
we feel sad, rather than becoming sad because we cry, and that
rather than being happy because we laugh'
of emotion (terrified) )
Eliciting stimulus (sight of bear) ) Subjective experience
reactions (heart pounds, muscles
lnstrumental response (run) Physiological arousal and muscular
tighten, etc.).
(1884), and the Danish physiologist Carl Lange
However, the American psychologist William James
view' Their
(1885), writing independently of each other, both questioned this common-sense
stimuli trigger
interpretation, referred to as the James-Lange theory, suggests that environmental
and lungs)' For
physiological responses from viscera (the internalorgans such as the heart
may also respond
body
time, the
instance, heart rate and respiration both increase. At the same
visceral and muscular
with muscle movements, as when we jump at an unexpected noise. These
that your fear
argue
would
Lange
responses then activate emotional states. Thus James and
you associate with fear-a pounding
stems from your awareness of specific bodily responses that
your cognitions about noises
heart, rapid breathing, running legs, and so forth-rather than from
in the dark.
physiological responses and bodily
The james-lange theory. Environmental stimuli triggers
his or her visceral and muscular
interprets
and emotion occurs when the individual
movements,
responses.
"l must be afraid because my heart
Eliciting stimulus (sight of bear)
)
is pounding and I am running like crazy'"
lnstrumental response (run) Physiological arousal and
muscular reactions (heart pounds, muscles tighten, .t..)
(terrified) based on interpretation of bodily reactions
)
Subjects experience of emotion
The cannon-bard theorY
cause of emotion' lnstead,
cannon argued that autonomic and muscular changes are not the
This viewpoint, as modified by
emotional experiences and physical changes occur simultaneously.
Philip Bard
the thalamus plays
(1934), is known as the cannon-Bard theory. cannon and Bard theorized that
input to the cerebral cortex'
key role in our emotional responses. lt not only channels sensory
a
lbraheem
Assist. Prof' Dr' Saadoun D'A'
Consultant PsYchiatrist
the peripheral
it sends activation messages through
time
same
the
at
but
trigger the
where it is interpreted,
These activation messages
*ur.t"r.
skeletal
and
nervous system to th;;;ra
emotions" cannon and Bard
,"rponses that typically accompanv
physiological and behavioi.t
in the following manner'
,o l"int approached in the dark
respons"
emotional
your
to your
would explain
in trri oarrt was relayed simultaneously
rr".ro
you
ii.-rouno,
of
perceive fear at
The sensory input
This activity allowed you to
t"ttu''
uni
organs
internal
your
cerebral cortex and
thesametimethatyourinternalorgansandmuscleswerereactingtothestimulus.Cannonand
same time as your
fear the emotion occurs at the
feel
you
*hun
inra
Bard would contend
the noise' More recent research
and trigr,iirorn the source of
pounding heart, ,upij Jr".tr,ing,
the limbic sYstem
.no ..*utn other structures in
.*uro.i.,
hypothalamur,
the
that
has revealed
emotional responses-not the
directly invotvJd in integrating
are the brain center, *""
pointing out the important
theory sr.louri u. ciedited with
cannon-gard
uo*.u.r,ihe
thalamus.
processes in our emotional responses'
t.of . of central brain
ContemPorarY Theories
Amorerecenttheory,knownastheSchachter-Singertheory,presentsaninterestingassessment
correctry identify a variety of
judgment (.oenitions) in our abirity to
or
appraisar
of
rore
the
of
1960s' stanley schachter and
pr,ysiotogical siates' ln the early
oir,in.,
u.ryi"*
tro*
emotions
JeromeSinger(1962)developedthescha-chter-singertheoryofemotions,whichcombined
Schachter and Singer
uni gtt Canrion-Bard theories'
James-Lung.
the
both
from
by James and
elements
tno pttysiorogical reactions' as suggested
behavloral
follows
emotion
to
believed that
l.tO thai cognitive processes are central
."J
cannon
with
agreed
also
Lange, but they
appraisar,
phvsicar reactions and cognitive
as a joint effect of both
iil"..::n;;;;Tffi:T"tion
of double cognitive
,rru, uroitons depend on a kind
schachter and singer maintained
interpretation:Weappraisetheemotion.causingeventwhilealsoevaluatingwhatishappening
feedback from our
emotional aiousal is how we interpret
in
process
key
The
bodies.
with our
situation'
bodies in light of our present
avoid being late to a
just run several blocks across campus to
have
you
suppose
For example,
is pounding' but
and sweating and that your heart
panting
are
you
that
note
class. You probably
physical reactions' lf
umot'.n.t"r.rponr" to these heightened
you are unlikely tJu*p"ri.n.e un
youexperiencethesesamephysical,u,pon,",underdifferentcircumstances,however_for
example,whilerunningacrossafarm.er,sfieldtoescapeanenragedbull_youwouldprobably
interpretyourarousal-asfear.TheSchachter-Singertheoryhasdirectedtheattentionof
'r-nterpretation in emotional experience'
of cognitive
psychologistr,o ,r.l.irportant role
a kind of double cognitive interpretation:
e ,.notioni olp.no upon
The Schachter-singer Theory.
is happening with our bodies'
event whire arso evaruating what
emotion-causing
the
appraise
we
heart is pounding'"
are dangerous and because my
,,r
am afraid because r know bears
Facialfeedback theory
, - ^-:-+^^r
rf the emotions
Theorythatspecificfacialdisplaysareuniversallyassociatedwiththeexpresslon(
A number of
rurfris", interest, disgust, and shame'
of fear, anger, happiness, sadness,
sufficient
with
and
facial muscles respond very rapidly
researchers have argued that
some have
wide range of emotional experience;
differentiation to aclcount for a
our emotionar experiences'
ou, o*n t.1,ar expressions determines
theorized that feedback from
PerhapsthemostinfluentialproponentofthisfacialfeedbacktheoryisSylvanTomkins(1962'
].963).LikeJamesandLange,Tomkinsarguesthatdifferentkindsofphysicalactionsprecede
happiness, sadness, surprise'
to the"emotions of fear, anger,
different brain mechanisms rinked
facial display is universally
Tomkins also argues that a speciiic
shame.
and
disgust,
interest,
is independent of
Emotion, according to Tomkins,
progrr.r.
neutral
these
of
each
associated with
genetic endowment'
cognition and is part of one's