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• William James and Carl Lange argued that the perception about bodily changes, like rapid breathing, a pounding heart and running legs following an event, – brings forth emotional arousal.
• This theory of emotion holds that body’s reaction to a stimulus produces emotional reaction.
• The theory suggests that environmental stimuli elicit physiological responses from viscera (the internal organs like heart and lungs), which in turn, are associated with muscle movement.
• James-Lange theory argues that your perception about your bodily changes, like rapid breathing, a pounding heart, and running legs, following an event, brings forth emotional arousal.
• The theory can be expressed in the following hierarchy:
Canon and Bard contradicted to the James-Lange theory.
• According to this theory, felt emotion and the bodily reaction in emotion are independent of each other; both get triggered simultaneously.
• This theory of emotion holds that bodily changes and the experience of emotion occurs simultaneously.
• Theory claims that the entire process of emotion is governed by thalamus.
• Thalamus conveys the information simultaneously to the cerebral cortex and to the skeletal muscles and sympathetic nervous system.
• The cerebral cortex then determines the nature of the perceived stimulus. By referring to the past experiences. This determines the subjective experience of emotion. Simultaneously the sympathetic nervous system and the muscles provide physiological arousal and prepare the individual to take action.
• Following diagram shows the CANNON-BARD theory of emotion:
• As proposed by the theory we first perceive potential emotion-producing situation which leads to activity in the lower brain region such as the hypothalamus which in turn sends output in two directions:
(a)To internal body organs, external muscles to produce bodily expressions
(b)To cerebral cortex where the pattern of discharge from the lower brain areas is perceived as felt emotion.