Cognitive processing is needed to elicit emotional responses. At the same time, emotional responses modulate and guide cognition to enable adaptive responses to the environment. Emotion determines how we perceive our world, organise our memory, and make important decisions.

Cognitive theory suggests that people's interpretations of events cause their reactions to events (including emotional reactions). Erroneous or dysfunctional thoughts might be particularly implicated in causing intense emotions that disrupt functioning.

The cognitive arousal theory of emotion was originally formed by Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer, now formally known as the Schachter-Singer Cognitive Theory of Emotion. This theory is based on other biological theories of emotion such as the James-Lange and Cannon-Bard theories of emotion.

Emotion is a mental state associated with fear, anger, love, etc. Cognition is the process of acquiring knowledge through experiences and senses. Cognition describes how mental processes i.e. learning, remembering, problem-solving, and thinking develop from birth until adulthood.