Dr. Lester M. Sdorow, author of Psychology, answers
questions about emotion. 1. Why does it matter whether the James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, or
cognitive theory of emotion is right? The ability to understand and control emotions is important in
everyone's life. The approach that psychotherapists take toward the
treatment of emotional problems, for example, depends on the theory of
emotionality they favor. Suppose you were a cognitive therapist. You might
believe that emotional disorders are caused by irrational beliefs. You
would help your clients learn to change their emotional states by changing
how they think about things. 2. When I've been in a bad mood, people sometimes tell me to "put
on a happy face" or "keep a stiff upper lip." Is there any
scientific basis for this? Research on the facial-feedback theory of emotion lends some support to
the notion that altering one's facial expression can subtly alter one's
moods and emotions. The exact mechanism that underlies this has not been
identified. 3. With all the mention of lie detectors on the many television talk
shows that deal with notorious contemporary crimes, is it time that we
permitted lie-detector results in court? Though there is nothing to prevent a person from voluntarily taking a
lie-detector (polygraph) test and publicizing the results, American courts
typically do not permit the results of lie-detector tests to be entered as
evidence unless, in some cases, both parties agree to do so. At this time
in the development of lie detectors, this is probably a good thing,
because (as described in the textbook chapter) lie detectors are fairly
good at detecting deception but not as good at detecting truthfulness.
Thus, the widespread use of the lie detector might result in the
conviction of some innocent people and the firing of honest employees. | 
2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education