Controversy about Causing Emotion

The fact that we react to certain experiences with “Emotion” is obvious. For example, the feeling of embarrassment, which triggers a physiological response that may cause blushing, is caused by a foolish act committed in the company of friends. Although this description of an embarrassed reaction seems logical, the American psychologist William James, in 1884, believed that the course of an emotional experience follows another sequence of events.

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Following the argument of James, what subjective experience tells us is completely opposite to the sequence of events in an emotional experience. First, he insisted that both physiological excitement and physical reaction are generated by an incident. Only then does the individual perceive or interpret the physical response as an emotion. That is, we associate blushing that caused by physical reaction with embarrassment, such as saying something silly may cause us to blush. In 1890, James went on to claim that “people feel sorry because they cry, furious because they strike, afraid because they shudder.” Simultaneously with James’ proposition, Carl Lange, a Danish physiologist and psychologist, independently formulated virtually similar theory. The James-Lange theory of emotion (Lange and James, 1922) suggests that different patterns of arousal in the autonomic nervous system create the different emotions people feel, and that physiological arousal occurs prior to perceiving the emotion.

In 1927, another early theory of emotion that challenged the James-Lange theory was proposed by Walter Cannon. He claimed that physical changes caused by the diverse emotions are not sufficiently distinct to allow people to distinguish one emotion from another. After Cannon stated his original theory, in 1934, it was further developed by physiologist Philip Bard. The Cannon-Bard theory suggests that the following chain of events takes place when an emotion is felt. Stimuli which trigger emotion are received by the senses and then are relayed simultaneously to the cerebral cortex, which imparts the conscious mental experience of the emotion, and to the sympathetic nervous system, which generates the physiological state of arousal. In other words, the feeling of emotion occurs roughly the same time when the physiological arousal is experienced. One does not cause the other.

In 1962, Schachter and Singer proposed a two-factor theory. Stanley Schachter thought that the early theories of emotion excluded a critical component that the subjective cognitive interpretation of why a state of arousal has occurred. According to this theory, two things must happen in order for a person to feel an emotion. At first, the person must experience physiological arousal. Then, for the person can label it as specific emotion, there must be a cognitive interpretation or explanation. Thus, Schachter delivered the conclusion that a true emotion can appear only if a person is physically aroused and can find the reason for it. When people are in a state of physiological arousal but do not know why they are aroused, they tend to label the state as an emotion that is appropriate to their situation at the time. There were several attempts to replicate the findings of this theory, but they have not been successful.

Richard Lazarus, in the 1990, proposed the emotion theory that most heavily emphasizes the cognitive aspect. According to his theory, the first step in an emotional response is cognitive appraisal, and all other aspects of emotion, including physiological arousal, rely on the cognitive appraisal. This theory is most compatible with the subjective experience of an emotion’s sequence of events-the sequence that William James reversed long ago. People first appraise a stimulus, or an event, when they encounter it. This cognitive appraisal determines whether the person will have an emotional response, and, if so, what type of response. From this appraisal, the physiological arousal and all other aspects of the emotion arise. In brief, Lazarus contends that emotions are roused when cognitive appraisals of events or circumstances are positive or negative-but not neutral. Some critics criticize the Lazarus theory by saying that some emotional reactions are instantaneous, which means they occur too rapidly to pass through a cognitive appraisal. In respond to the criticisms, Lazarus remarks that some mental processing occurs without conscious awareness, meaning that a person should not know what he or she is responding to or what emotion to feel, or else, some form of cognitive realization must manifest but brief.

【Paragraph 1】The fact that we react to certain experiences with “Emotion” is obvious. For example, the feeling of embarrassment, which triggers a physiological response that may cause blushing, is caused by a foolish act committed in the company of friends. Although this description of an embarrassed reaction seems logical, the American psychologist William James, in 1884, believed that the course of an emotional experience follows another sequence of events.

1. The author mentions a foolish act committed in the company of friends in order to 

A. give an idea that most people easily get embarrassed in a social environment

B. show that most experiences activate a physiological reaction

C. insist that an embarrassed reaction is usually unwarranted

D. provide an example of an experience that generates emotion

【Paragraph 2】Following the argument of James, what subjective experience tells us is completely opposite to the sequence of events in an emotional experience. First, he insisted that both physiological excitement and physical reaction are generated by an incident. Only then does the individual perceive or interpret the physical response as an emotion. That is, we associate blushing that caused by physical reaction with embarrassment, such as saying something silly may cause us to blush. In 1890, James went on to claim that “people feel sorry because they cry, furious because they strike, afraid because they shudder.” Simultaneously with James’ proposition, Carl Lange, a Danish physiologist and psychologist, independently formulated virtually similar theory. The James-Lange theory of emotion (Lange and James, 1922) suggests that different patterns of arousal in the autonomic nervous system create the different emotions people feel, and that physiological arousal occurs prior to perceiving the emotion.

2. According to paragraph 2, which of the following is true of what James believed about an emotional experience?

A. Emotions can be caused only when there is a specific response occurs in the body.

B. The sequence of events is not always the same for every emotional experience.

C. We are able to figure out the right sequence of events in an emotional experience through subjective experience. 

D. Both a physical reaction and physiological arousal are triggered by the feeling of an emotion.

3. The word “formulated” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to 

A. published

B. developed

C. revealed

D. duplicated

【Paragraph 3】In 1927, another early theory of emotion that challenged the James-Lange theory was proposed by Walter Cannon. He claimed that physical changes caused by the diverse emotions are not sufficiently distinct to allow people to distinguish one emotion from another. After Cannon stated his original theory, in 1934, it was further developed by physiologist Philip Bard. The Cannon-Bard theory suggests that the following chain of events takes place when an emotion is felt. Stimuli which trigger emotion are received by the senses and then are relayed simultaneously to the cerebral cortex, which imparts the conscious mental experience of the emotion, and to the sympathetic nervous system, which generates the physiological state of arousal. In other words, the feeling of emotion occurs roughly the same time when the physiological arousal is experienced. One does not cause the other.

4. According to paragraph 3, Walter Cannon claimed that the James-Lange theory of emotion is not convincing for which of the following reasons?

A. The body can be affected by different emotions in similar ways.

B. It is often not easy for people to distinguish one emotion from another.

C. It is not significant enough for bodily changes to be perceived.

D. It is often not obvious that bodily changes are caused by emotions or other factors.

【Paragraph 4】In 1962, Schachter and Singer proposed a two-factor theory. Stanley Schachter thought that the early theories of emotion excluded a critical component that the subjective cognitive interpretation of why a state of arousal has occurred. According to this theory, two things must happen in order for a person to feel an emotion. At first, the person must experience physiological arousal. Then, for the person can label it as specific emotion, there must be a cognitive interpretation or explanation. Thus, Schachter delivered the conclusion that a true emotion can appear only if a person is physically aroused and can find the reason for it. When people are in a state of physiological arousal but do not know why they are aroused, they tend to label the state as an emotion that is appropriate to their situation at the time. There were several attempts to replicate the findings of this theory, but they have not been successful.

5. According to paragraph 4, the Schachter-Singer theory is different from earlier theories of emotion in which of the following ways?

A.  It suggests that there are several steps in an emotional experience.

B.  It shows the reason that people do not understand why they are physiologically aroused.

C.  It says that the first step of an emotional experience is physiological arousal.

D.  It explains that people must decide why they are aroused to experience emotion.

6. According to paragraph 4, what can be inferred about an emotion suggested by Schachter-Singer theory? 

A.  It should be occurred just before a person physiologically aroused.

B.  It happens regardless of the fact that people know the reason why they are aroused.

C.  It has to be passed through a stimulation and clarification process, or people can’t experience it.

D.  People can experience several emotions at once.

【Paragraph 5】Richard Lazarus, in the 1990, proposed the emotion theory that most heavily emphasizes the cognitive aspect. According to his theory, the first step in an emotional response is cognitive appraisal, and all other aspects of emotion, including physiological arousal, rely on the cognitive appraisal. This theory is most compatible with the subjective experience of an emotion’s sequence of events-the sequence that William James reversed long ago. People first appraise a stimulus, or an event, when they encounter it. This cognitive appraisal determines whether the person will have an emotional response, and, if so, what type of response. From this appraisal, the physiological arousal and all other aspects of the emotion arise. In brief, Lazarus contends that emotions are roused when cognitive appraisals of events or circumstances are positive or negative-but not neutral.

7. According to paragraph 5, which of the following is NOT true of the Lazarus’ theory

A. Interpretation of experience is more emphasized than any other theory.

B. It indicates that a person first evaluates an event in order to have an emotion.

C. It explains almost identical sequence of events to that of the subjective experience of an emotion.

D. The theory of emotion proposed by William James is generally similar to this theory.

8. Which of the following best describes the organization of this passage?

A. The author draws a comparison among different theories of emotion and claims that the last one is correct.

B. The author chronologically introduces theories of emotion and identifies criticisms of each theory.

C. The author verifies several theories of emotion and argues that each theory is not accurate enough.

D. The author develops his own theory summarizing different theories of an emotional experience.

【Paragraph 3】In 1927, another early theory of emotion that challenged the James-Lange theory was proposed by Walter Cannon. He claimed that physical changes caused by the diverse emotions are not sufficiently distinct to allow people to distinguish one emotion from another. ■After Cannon stated his original theory, in 1934, it was further developed by physiologist Philip Bard. ■The Cannon-Bard theory suggests that the following chain of events takes place when an emotion is felt. ■Stimuli which trigger emotion are received by the senses and then are relayed simultaneously to the cerebral cortex, which imparts the conscious mental experience of the emotion, and to the sympathetic nervous system, which generates the physiological state of arousal. ■In other words, the feeling of emotion occurs roughly the same time when the physiological arousal is experienced. One does not cause the other.

9. Look at the four squares【■】that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

The emotions of rage and fear, for instance, both include a rapid heartbeat, perspiration, and increased energy supplied to the muscles.

Where would the sentence best fit?

10.【Directions】An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

There has been a controversy among researchers about the sequence of events in an emotional experience.

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Answer Choices

A. Cognitive appraisal probably does not play a large role in an emotional experience, evidenced by the very brief span of time between an event and an emotional reaction.

B. Two early theory of emotion both assert that that different emotions result from distinct changes in the body that correspond to particular emotions.

C. There is a disagreement among researchers who emphasize the cognitive aspect of an emotion about whether cognitive interpretation comes before or after physiological arousal.

D. Theories in disagreement with each other about the sequence of events in emotional experience concentrate on the extent to which cognition and interpretation are involved in an emotional experience.

E. Some theories claim that physiological arousal comes either before or at the same time as the feeling of an emotion, and contradict the subjective experience of emotion.

F. The Lazarus theory emphasized that an emotion comes from a positive or negative appraisal of a physiological arousal.