Emotions are determined through cognitive processes

In the Schachter-Singer Two-Factor theory of emotion, the second factor in causing an emotion is cognitive interpretation. The Schachter-Singer theory points to cognitive processes to resolve one of the major disagreements between two earlier theories of emotion: the James-Lange theory, which argued that emotions are the direct result of physiological responses, and the Cannon-Bard theory, which rebutted James-Lange in part by observing that many physiological symptoms, such as those experienced during exercise, do not correlate neatly with emotions. Whereas Cannon and Bard entirely rejected James-Lange's claim that physiology causes emotions, Schachter and Singer bridged the gap between James-Lange and Cannon-Bard by theorizing an additional cognitive step after physiological arousal to explain why specific physiological responses only sometimes cause specific emotions. According to the Schachter-Singer theory, cognitive interpretation is the second step in forming emotions following physiological arousal. When a physiological response occurs, this triggers a person's cognitive processes, which search for a source of the physiological symptom in their external environment. If a person begins sweating, for example, cognitive interpretation might check for signs of heat, ongoing exercise, or danger in the person's environment, and initiate and label the relevant emotional response based on this information. Thus, two factors are involved in emotional responses, the physiological factor and the cognitive factor.