The Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotions

One of the most influential theories of emotion in psychology.

Emotions are psychophysiological reactions that we all experience in our daily lives: joy, sadness, anger... To a large extent, they govern our decisions and lead us to choose paths and discard others. They also influence our behavior and thoughts.

The genesis of emotions has been explained from many points of view: biological, physiological, psychological... Here we will learn about Cannon-Bnon's theory. we will learn about the Cannon-Bard theorya psychophysiological theory that proposes that emotion prepares the individual to act and adapt to the environment.

Bradford Cannon and Philip Bard

In the early 1900s, Walter Bradford Cannon (1871-1945), a physiologist and scientist at Harvard University, proposed a theory explaining the origin of emotions. In addition, he made a series of criticisms of the preceding and dominant theory of the time, the peripheral theory of James-Lange (1871-1945)..

On the other hand, Philip Bard (1898 - 1977), an American physiologist, also joined Cannon's theory, and together they formulated the Cannon-Bard theory.

Cannon-Bard theory: characteristics

The theory of Cannon (1927) and Bard (1938) is based on a psychophysiological approach. According to the authors, emotion precedes behaviors and prepares the organism for a fight or flight response. to carry out a fight or flight response in the face of emergency environmental situations. For example, "we cry because we feel sad".

In other words, emotion occurs before physiological responses. After the emotion and thereafter, an alarm reaction is triggered in the face of such limit situations.

On the other hand, Cannon and Bard state that the subject will always tend to seek equilibrium and to adapt will always tend to seek equilibrium and to adapt to the environment and to the situations in which they find themselves..

Cannon and Bard, through their experiments, emphasized the role of the brain in the production of physiological responses and feelings. Such experiments substantially supported their theory of emotion.

In addition, they considered emotion as a cognitive event. They posited that all physical reactions are the same for different emotions, and therefore, that on the basis of physiological signals (alone) we could not distinguish one emotion from another.

Precedents: James-Lange's peripheral theory.

Before the Cannon-Bard theory, the James-Lange theory prevailed. This is the James-Lange peripheral theory. According to this theory the perception of bodily changes generates the emotional experience (i.e., following the above example, it would be "to be sad because we cry". (i.e., following the previous example, it would be "to be sad because we cry".

According to James-Lange, the sequence would be as follows: we observe a stimulus (e.g., a sad face), this information is sent to the cortex, then the visceral and motor physiological responses appear (we cry). Then the cortex perceives the sensations of crying and generates the feeling (in this case, sadness).

Cannon-Bard's experiments

Through their experiments, Cannon and Bard determined that the perception of the emotion aroused by stimuli gives rise to two phenomenaThe conscious experience of emotion and general physiological changes. All this originates because the thalamus sends its impulses to the cerebral cortex and the hypothalamus.

Effects of emotions

On the other hand, the Cannon-Bard theory states that conscious emotional experiences, physiological reactions and behavior are relatively independent events.

Thus, according to the authors, emotional stimuli have two independent excitatory effects: on the one hand they elicit the feeling of emotion in the brain, and on the other, the expression of emotion in the autonomic and somatic nervous systems..

Cannon and Bard's criticisms of James-Lange

The Cannon-Bard theory makes a number of criticisms of the James-Lange theory. These are as follows:

1. Bodily changes are not essential to perceive emotion.

In addition, Cannon and Bard argue that Cutting off afferent pathways does not produce changes in emotional responses..

2. There are no specific patterns of emotions

According to Cannon and Bard, what actually happens is that certain bodily changes are similar for different emotions.

3. Sometimes bodily sensations occur after the emotion.

That is, the bodily sensations, being slower, often manifest themselves after experiencing the emotion (which may be immediate).

4. Voluntary activation of the organism

When the organism is activated voluntarilya real emotion does not appear.

5. Diffuse and general activation

The Cannon-Bard theory proposes a diffuse and general autonomic activation (it is therefore a central theory with a substrate in the thalamus); on the other hand, the James-Lange theory, which is peripheral, defends that each emotional state provokes specific physiological changes.

Bibliographical references:

• Aguado, L. (2005). Emotion, affect and motivation. Chap. 1: Introduction to the study of emotion (17-48). Alianza: Madrid.
• Díaz, A. (2010). Theories of emotions. Innovación y experiencias educativas, 29.
• Fernández, E.G.; García, B.; Jiménez, M.P.; Martín, M.D. and Domínguez, F.J. (2010). Psychology of emotion. Editorial Universitaria Ramón Areces: Madrid.
• The Psychology Notes, HQ. (2013). Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion. Online Resources for Psychology Students.