Biological And Cognitive Factors Involved In Emotion

Emotion is a psychological or bodily change, interpreted by an individual who then decides on an appropriate behavioural response. There are six main emotions that can be identified- anger, disgust, happiness, sadness, surprise and fear. These are the emotions that are felt as well as recognised universally and have now become a part of most cultures. In this essay, I will demonstrate how biological and cognitive factors are involved in forming and appraising emotions, by using theories and studies to support my answer. I will first consider the biological factors, and then the cognitive factors in order to draw an informed conclusion

The physiological explanation of emotion may be the arousal of the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine

This was the procedure he followed. He first conditioned rats to feel fear when they hear the sound of a bell. He made the assumption that the brain has made a connection between the bell and fear. LeDoux lesioned the rats to find out which part of the brain made the connection between the bell and fear. The lesions were first made in the auditory cortex where the brain processes sound, and the auditory thalamus – which provides most auditory inputs to the cortex. He found that the brain structures of the thalamus and the amygdala play different roles in the generation of

The cognitive explanation of emotion is the way in which we interpret our feelings. Our behavioral explanation of emotion may be shown through our tears or actions of running away when we feel scared/aroused. Lazarus and Folkman theorized that our cognition changes the biology to create an emotion. They suggested that people appraise( interpret the signals being sent to them and then give them meaning) the situation; if the appraisal shows potential harm, then they will have a negative emotion, and if the appraisal shows potential benefit, then they will have a positive emotion. The appraisal theory suggests that when we appraise (cognitive process), it creates an impact on the physiology. The impact would depend on the appraisal.

An experiment that proves this was conducted by Spiesman et al. The aim of the experiment was to prove the Theory of Appraisal can interfere with emotion. First the participants were shown a documentary of an unpleasant traditional ritual (genital