In the late 1920s, Walter Cannon and Philip Bard proposed their own theory in refutation of the James-Lange Theory of Emotion. According to the Cannon-Bard Theory of emotion, emotions and bodily changes do not share a cause-and-effect relationship. Rather, they occur simultaneously, following a stimulating event.
During the time of Cannon, the James-Lange theory was one of the most prominent theories of emotion. To test the theory, Cannon experimented on cats by severing the afferent nerves of the ANS’ sympathetic branch. He believed that doing this would test whether emotion expression could emerge without a visceral afferent feedback (through the afferent nerves), as what the James-Lange theory implied. The results of his experiments in 1915 challenged the James-Lange theory by proposing that arousal and emotions emerge at the same time after the perception of a stimulating occurrence.
The above sequence summarizes the Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion. In essence, the theory is backed up by neurobiological science. In a stimulating event, sensory signals are transmitted to the brain’s relay center, the thalamus. Once the thalamus receives the signal, it relays the information to two structures: the amygdala and the brain cortex. The amygdala is responsible for the instantaneous response in the form of emotions, whereas the brain cortex is for the slower response. At the same time, the autonomic nervous system or ANS sends signals to muscles and other parts of the body, causing them to tense, increase in rate, change in rhythm, and more. Therefore, this theory views stimulation/arousal and emotion as a combined response to a stimulating event.
For instance, when a person sees a venomous snake, he feels afraid and his muscles get tensed at the same time, preparing to run away from the dangerous animal. One can observe the person’s emotion based on the physiological signals that his body displays.
As mentioned, the theory by Cannon and Bard emerged from their refutation of the concepts under the James-Lange Theory. Based on their experiments, the theorists came up with seven concepts that negate the James-Lange Theory. These include:
Sarah Mae Sincero (Oct 19, 2012). Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion. Retrieved Nov 03, 2024 from Explorable.com: https://explorable.com/cannon-bard-theory-of-emotion
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