BASIS OF EMOTION Emotions are subjective and are also described as feelings. Emotions are different from mood. Emotions are not long-lasting and are reactive to the environment, while mood is prolonged, less intense, and is not a response to the environment. Moods are not conscious while emotions are consciously perceived. Emotions are a combination of psychological appraisal, physiological arousal, and subjective experience. They are influenced by past experiences, culture, and psychosocial background. Different individuals will have different emotions in similar situations. There are different theories on what emotions are all about. The James-Lange theory says that emotions are mainly physiological. They are based on different effects of the autonomic nervous system: the sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system. There is the sympathetic fight or flight response that determines some emotions, while the parasympathetic rest and digest response determines other emotions. The Cannon-Bard theory says that both physiological states and emotional experiences will act separately to determine an emotion. This explains partly why people will have different emotions to different things and indicates that psychological states play an equal role in what a person feels. People who do not feel physiological arousal from a spinal cord injury still have emotions. The Schachter-Singer two-factor theory says that both psychological and physiological factors play a role in emotions. It indicates that there is a cognitive role in having an emotion. Because there are just a few physiological states and many different emotions, there must be some cognitive component to arrive at the different emotions. Strong emotional responses are linked to strong physiological arousal states. These can produce sweating, increased heart rate, and increased respiratory rate. Polygraphs measure lying by asking the person questions and looking at physiological reactions. There is, however, no standardized way of predicting what physiological reactions are linked to lying.
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