Emotions

Fear is the easiest emotion to infer from behavior in various species; it plays an important adaptive function in motivating the avoidance of threatening situations and chronic fear induces stress. (Pinel, 2011, P. 443). I will discuss the theories with specific examples in order to make a better connection, more personal connections, with the theories.

Darwin's believed emotions grew from manners that indicated what an animal would do next in a given situation, that when these manners were beneficial to the animal. The simplest example would be apes evolving into what we are today, humans. The James-Lange Theory was the first attempt to explain the physiological bases of emotion' suggests that emotion-inducing incentives are received and understood by the brain, which trigger instinctive changes, organ changes in the thorax or abdomen, that successively trigger the experience of emotion. An example would be when I declined talking in front of a group because I do not like it. The emotion of feeling nervous makes me automatically assume to dislike the situation. Canon-Baird Theory is an alternative theory based on the idea that emotional stimuli suggest instinctive and emotional responses are independent of one another. An example would be when I see a group of people, which I am presenting in front of, I begin to get flushed and sweat. Papez proposed a limbic system that controlled the expression of emotions by connections with the hypothalamus and facilitate the perception of emotions by connections with the cortex. An example would be hearing something smells like Vanilla, your emotions automatically react and know what to expect.

Biopsychologists need these theories in order to successfully understand a patient or study. Research on emotions has concentrated on fear because fear has three important qualities. These theories help to better understand behavior and these qualities.

Biopsychology, Eighth Edition, by John P.J. Pinel. Published by Allyn &...