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T FIGHT OR
BP & RESPIRATION FLIGHT!
James and Lange felt that the perception of a stimulus, such as a snarling bear, led to changes in the body.
These changes are then fed back to the brain, indicating a “changed state” and prompting a change in the
subjective experience of emotion. James and Lange felt that the perception of changes in bodily sensations
led to emotional experience. James and Lange would argue that you do not run because you are afraid of the
bear, but rather you are afraid because you run.
The Cannon–Bard Theory
The James–Lange model of emotional response was popular for quite some time, until W. B. Cannon came
along about 1930 and criticized the James–Lange model on different grounds:
1. Cannon felt that bodily changes that were supposed to provide feedback to the brain and thus
provide “emotional quality” to experiences could be eliminated without disturbing the emotions.
He proceeded to denervate cats so that no bodily change could occur. The cats still displayed
“normal” emotion (fear) in the presence of a barking dog.
2. Cannon noted that bodily changes that occur during varied emotional states are nearly the same,
regardless of the emotion felt. For example, in both fear and anger, heart rate and blood pressure
increase, eyes dilate, and hair stands erect. Similar changes are observed in response to extreme
heat or cold.
3. Cannon felt that changes occurring in the body, changes in the autonomic nervous system, were too
slow to provide the experience of emotion.
4. Cannon felt that if the James–Lange theory were correct, then exercise, which increases heart rate
and leads to other bodily changes, should produce an emotional response.
Cannon believed emotion to be associated with activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which, among
other functions, prepares an organism for fight or flight by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and other
bodily functions. Cannon argued that control of emotion was based in the thalamus, which receives
information from various senses and that emotional response patterns were activated by the thalamus
when external sensory information was received, via activation of the sympathetic nervous system. He felt
emotion occurred at the same time as activation of the body. His model looks like this:
PERCEPTION T BODILY CHANGES & EMOTION T BEHAVIOR
As an example of how this might look in real life, imagine meeting an angry bear in the woods:
SNARLING BEAR T INCREASE HEART RATE & FEAR T FIGHT OR FLIGHT!
The Schachter—Singer Theory
The Cognitive–Physiological Theory of Emotion, proposed by Schachter and Singer, suggests that emotional
experience involves both cognitive attributions and physiological arousal. This theory assumes that both
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CHAPTER 13: EMOTION, STRESS, AND HEALTH
physiological arousal and a cognitive label are necessary for the full experience of emotion. If either
component is missing, the subjective state experienced would be incomplete. In some ways, this model
combines and modifies the James–Lange and Cannon–Bard theories. Like James and Lange, this theory
proposed that bodily changes are a part of the emotional experience, and, like Cannon and Bard, it posits
that interpretation of the event is important for full experience. However, this model goes beyond previous
theories in the position that both physiological and cognitive labeling are required for the full experience of
emotion. This theory has been quite popular since its introduction in 1963. Support for the theory, however,
has been modest; it has been criticized on both methodological and empirical grounds. Attempts to replicate
Schachter’s work have been unsuccessful. In diagram form, this theory would look like this:
PERCEPTION T BODILY CHANGES & T EMOTION T BEHAVIOR
COGNITIVE LABEL
As an example of how this might look in real life, imagine meeting an angry bear in the woods:
SNARLING BEAR T INCREASED HEART RATE, T FEAR!