Question

Based on any combination of the following terms:

nervous system (parasympathetic/sympathetic), hormones system, neurotransmitters cardiovascular system (heart rate, blood pressure, etc.), perception, interpretation/categorization

Describe whether cognition (thinking) preceded physiology, or whether physiology preceded cognition. Very briefly--what is your evidence?

I love adventures, so I went hiking with a girlfriend of mine. There was a marker on a cliff to climb, so we did. I wanted to see the view, so I climbed it, and so did my friend. Once we were at the top, I realized how high I was and did not think I would be able to get down. My friend easily made it back down, but I thought I was going to slip if I tried. I began getting anxious. Next thing I knew my heart was racing and everything went blurry. I ended up blacking out for a few seconds until my friend grabbed me.

Answer 1

Cognition generally precedes physiology but not always as it can be the other way round. Our physiology has nothing to with our emotions directly. As mentioned in the above example the guy started feeling panicky once he reached the hill top whereas his girlfriend did not. All this suggests is both the boy and girl cognitive thinking got them geared up and excited about the climb but once the destination was reached one of them felt scared and worried imagining things which might happen. This is his physiology and is also driven by cognitive thinking.