Final answer:
Schachter and Singer's study on the two-factor theory of emotion demonstrated that cognitive appraisal in combination with physiological arousal determines emotional experience.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Schachter and Singer's classic study of emotion, the researchers explored the two-factor theory of emotion, which postulates that emotions are a result of a combination of physiological arousal and cognitive appraisal. Participants injected with epinephrine who were not informed about the physical sensations they might experience (such as an increased heart rate and respiration associated with the sympathetic nervous system’s fight-or-flight response) were more prone to misattribute these sensations to emotions elicited by the confederate's behavior. This contrasted with those who were forewarned, who showed no such misattribution. The study suggests that without context, physiological arousal can be mistakenly interpreted as an emotional change, exemplifying the cognitive appraisal aspect of the two-factor theory.
Furthermore, their findings argued against the James-Lange theory of emotion, which suggests that separate physiological patterns lead to different emotional experiences. Instead, the results supported the idea that the cognitive label given to physiological arousal is crucial in determining our emotional state, as shown in their findings of euphoria or anger being reported based on the confederate's behavior.