CAP Theorists

Question 1

Plato

Answer 1

More interest in COGNITION- believed emotions got in the way

-believed that mental functions were caused by the brain

Question 2

Aristotle

Answer 2

Thought mental functions were controlled by the HEART

• Values emotions
• 2 levels of emotions (high cognition and sensuality- lower level)

Question 3

Descartes

Answer 3

Thought emotions were unique to humans, involve psychological change, perception, and memory

Question 4

James-Lange

Answer 4

Theorized that the emotion we experience is based on the PHYSIOLOGICAL AROUSAL (the interpretation of the physiological arousal is the emotion)
-Arousal is necessary for appropriate interpretation of emotions
-Physical or bodily responses to experiences trigger emotions
- Event –> Arousal –> Interpretation –> Emotion
(E.g., You see a bear –> Your heart races and hands sweat –> Then you feel scared)

Question 5

Cannon-Bard

Answer 5

Challenged James-Lange theory, said emotions and physiological arousal CO-OCCUR or can be independent; Sensory information is sent for physiological arousal and interpretation SIMULTANEOUSLY

• Introduced the thalamus’ role in emotion (critical in emotional expression)
• Cannon- Coined the term “fight or flight,” popularized the concept of homeostasis

Question 6

Zajonc

Answer 6

Argued that emotion is stronger than cognition and that it would come first
-Believed in primacy of affect (believed we could experience emotion without cognition)

Question 7

Lazarus

Answer 7

Did not believe in the primacy of affect as Zajonc did; believed we needed cognition to occur before experiencing an emotion (cognition precedes affect)

(Debate between Zajonc and Lazarus comes back to- What is cognition??)

Question 8

LeDoux

Answer 8

Studied the amygdala, gave rise to the notion of 2 sensory roads to the amygdala (the “low road” being a quick and dirty subcortical pathway for rapid behavioral responses to threats, and the “high road” providing slower but highly process cortical information

• *Proposed that fear shortcuts the thalamus and goes to the amygdala (where fear is processed/felt)
• i.e. If someone is in a dangerous situation, it allows them to react more quickly without too much cognition to figure out what to do (See bear –> Run)

Question 9

Ekman

Answer 9

Studied facial expressions, and found that facial expressions are not culturally determined, but biologically based

• Developed a list of universal emotions based on cross-cultural research (Anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise…later added to the list)
• Believed that triggers for the emotions varied based on culture, but that the emotions themselves were universal

Question 10

Schacter & Singer

Answer 10

2 factor theory of emotion: emotions are based on 2 factors: physiological arousal and cognitive appraisal, so a person experiences a physiological arousal and then uses emotional cues to give meaning to that arousal
- Believed has to be some type of understand got the arousal before it leads to emotion

Question 11

Papez

Answer 11

Proposed the “Paper Circuit” (expanded on the earlier work of Cannon and Bard)- Suggests parts of the limbic system, such as the cingulum, thalamus, hypothalamus, are responsible for emotion (i.e. links emotion to the brain)

• Cingulate gyrus –> Emotions and attention
• Expressive of emotion is not necessarily the same as someone’s experience of emotion

Question 12

Wundt

Answer 12

1st cognitive psychology lab, studied introspection (self examination of conscious experience by objective observation of one’s consciousness)