Two-factor Theory of Emotion - Schachter and Singer Study

Schachter and Singer Study

Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer (1962) performed a study on 184 college students on how emotion results from a state of arousal and what makes the best explanation of the situation. They designed a study as follows: they would give the participants an injection of epinephrine (adrenaline), although all participants were told that they were given a new drug called "Suproxin" to test their eyesight. Shortly after an injection of adrenaline typically blood pressure and heart rate both increase, blood flow increases, while muscle and cerebral blood flow increase, blood sugar and lactic acid concentration increases, and respiration rate increases slightly. Schachter and Singer then manipulated the participants giving them cues which placed them on one of four groups: epinephrine informed, epinephrine ignorant, epinephrine misinformed, and placebo.