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Emotion Paper

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Emotion
Suzanne Gilbert, Della Lonkar, Karmyla Lopez, Joy Schatz
Psych 355
April 18, 2011
Stefanie Krasner

Theories of Emotion
Researchers have debated about the phenomenon with emotions. Debates on this topic have and will continue to for many more years. Researchers have attempted to understand why one has emotions and came up with the five different theories. The first theory is the James-Lange theory, which argues that an event can cause physiological arousal first and, it can be interpret this as an arousal. Second theory is the Cannon-Bard theory that argues that all humans experience a physiological arousal and an emotional one at the same time. It still does not give any attention to the role of the thoughts or an outward …show more content…

This theory states that one cannot learn unless there is a drive that forces one into action to produce some kind of reward. This satisfies the drive and reduces the psychological or physiological need. (Drive Reduction Theory, 2011). An example of a psychological need is a desire for love. One will seek out others to be a part of one’s life. An example of a physiological need is hunger. One will look for food when hungry.
Uncovering Basic Emotions Analyzing research methods used for uncovering basic emotions applied to the Cannon-Bard emotion theory and Drive reduction arousal theory. The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion is a stimulating event takes place, emotional, and physiological changes occur (Changing Minds, 2010). A person may feel muscular tension as well as sweating to the situation. A research method associated with the Cannon-Bard emotion theory would be the evolution theory. This method is an idea where emotion aids species survival (Decker, 2010). An example: A person is hiking through the woods approaches a snake. The appearance of the snake evokes fear, which in return causes the emotional experience. Fear produces behavior and emotion to run, muscular tension, or possibly cry. The emotion evoked by the predator or event causes the survival. The Drive reduction arousal theory is an approach to motivation that assumes behavior arises. Arousal is the source of emotions. Second, arousal is the impetus for attending to

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