You are walking down a deserted alley late at night, and you hear a sudden noise to your left.The noise activates your thalamus, which in turn alerts the hypothalamus and amygdala for action and the cortex for further reflection.Thus, your body is aroused for flight at the same time you experience the emotion of fear.This set of events is best described by which theory of emotion?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Cannon-Bard theory proposes that an event leads to both the subjective experience of an emotion and the physiological arousal, which occur at the same time but separately. In this scenario, the noise in the alley activates the thalamus, which sends signals to both the emotional center (amygdala and hypothalamus) and the cortex for interpretation. As a result, the person feels fear (the subjective experience) while also being physiologically aroused for action (fight or flight response). This is in contrast to the James-Lange theory, which argues that physiological arousal comes first, and then the brain interprets this information to create an emotional experience.

You Are Walking Down a Deserted Alley Late at Night