Drive-reduction theories cannot fully explain behavior in which the goal is not to reduce a drive but rather to maintain or even increase the level of excitement or arousal
Places motivational needs in a hierarchy and suggests that before more sophisticated, higher-order needs can be met, certain primary needs must be satisfied
A pyramid can represent the model, with the more basic needs at the bottom and the higher-level needs at the top
To activate a specific higher-order need, a person must first fulfill the more basic needs in the hierarchy
Achieving self-actualization reduces the striving and yearning for greater fulfillment that mark most people's lives and instead provides a sense of satisfaction with their current state of affairs
The sequence of emotions and cognitive processes varies from situation to situation, with emotions predominating in some instances and cognitive processes occurring first in others
Substantial differences exist in descriptions of emotions among various cultures, suggesting that fitting a particular emotion into a linguistic category may make it easier to discuss, contemplate, and perhaps experience
Emotional experience is a reaction to instinctive bodily events that occur as a result of some situation or event in the environment
For every major emotion there is an accompanying physiological or "gut" reaction of internal organs, and it is this specific pattern of visceral response that leads us to label the emotional experience
Drawbacks of the James-Lange theory include the fact that visceral changes do not always occur rapidly enough to account for immediate emotional experiences, and physiological arousal does not invariably produce emotional experience
Rejects the view that physiological arousal alone leads to the perception of emotion
Assumes that both physiological arousal and the emotional experience are produced simultaneously by the same nerve stimulus
The thalamus sends a signal to the autonomic nervous system, producing a visceral response, and at the same time communicates a message to the cerebral cortex regarding the nature of the emotion being experienced
The simultaneous occurrence of the physiological and emotional responses, which is a fundamental assumption of the Cannon-Bard theory, has yet to be demonstrated conclusively
Evidence is growing that specific patterns of biological arousal are associated with specific emotions, and the amygdala plays an important role in the experience of emotions
The Schachter-Singer experiment supported a cognitive view of emotions in which emotions are determined jointly by a relatively nonspecific kind of physiological arousal and the labeling of that arousal on the basis of cues from the environment