The James-Lange theory refers to a hypothesis on the origin and nature of emotions Emotion is associated with mood, temperament, personality, and disposition. The English word 'emotion' is derived from the French word émouvoir. This is based on the Latin emovere, where e- means 'out' and movere means 'move'. The related term "motivation" is also derived from movere developed independently by two 19th-century scholars, William James William James was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher trained as a medical doctor. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and the philosophy of pragmatism. He was the brother of novelist Henry James and of diarist Alice James and Carl Lange Carl Georg Lange was a Danish physician and psychologist. He and William James independently developed the James-Lange theory of emotion, which posits that all emotions are developed from, and can be reduced to, physiological reactions to stimuli. Unlike James, Lange specifically stated that vasomotor changes are emotions. Lange also noted the. The theory states that within human beings, as a response to experiences in the world, the autonomic nervous system The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous system contains the brain and spinal cord. The creates physiological events such as muscular tension, a rise in heart rate, perspiration, and dryness of the mouth. Emotions, then, are feelings which come about as a result of these physiological changes, rather than being their cause. James and Lange arrived at the theory independently. Lange specifically stated that vasomotor changes are emotions. (Ex. A person rationalizes that because he/she is crying, he/she must be sad.) James elucidated his concept as:
| “ |
|
” |
The notion of causality is a difficult one. The theory has been largely disfavored in modern times. Some evidence to support it, however, may come from the fact that sufferers of various psychological challenges such as panic disorders Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurring severe panic attacks. It may also include significant behavioral change lasting at least a month and of ongoing worry about the implications or concern about having other attacks. The latter are called anticipatory attacks . Panic disorder is not the same as agoraphobia, although often experience psychoemotional trauma after physiological responses arise in the body, responses which individuals are conditioned to associate with a particular emotional state but which can, via therapy, be dissociated.
This theory was challenged in the 1920s by psychologists such as Walter Cannon Walter Bradford Cannon was an American physiologist, Professor and chairman of the Department of Physiology at Harvard Medical School, who developed secondarily to Claude Bernard the concept of homeostasis , and popularized it in his book The Wisdom of the Body, published in 1932 by W. W. Norton, New York and Philip Bard, who theorized that physiological changes are caused by emotions (collectively known as the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion The Cannon-Bard theory is a psychological theory developed by physiologists Walter Cannon and Philip Bard, which suggests that people feel emotions first and then act upon them. These actions include changes in muscular tension, perspiration, etc. The theory was formulated following the introduction of the James-Lange theory of Emotion in the late).
The third theory of emotion is called the Schachter & Singer's two factor theory of emotion The two factor theory of emotion is a social psychology theory that views emotion as having two components : physiological arousal and cognition. According to the theory, "cognitions are used to interpret the meaning of physiological reactions to outside events.". This theory states that emotions are a direct result of an analysis of the surroundings.
Criticisms
- The viscera In anatomy, a viscus is an internal organ, and viscera is the plural form. The viscera, when removed from a butchered animal, are known collectively as offal. Internal organs are also known as "innards", or less formally, "guts" (which may also refer to the gastrointestinal tract) are largely unresponsive and react relatively slowly (i.e. - we 'feel' the emotion before the physiological changes have occurred.)
- Cutting nerves from the viscera has no effect on emotions in rats.
- Visceral responses are the same no matter what the reported emotion.
- Injecting adrenaline Epinephrine is a hormone and neurotransmitter. When produced in the body it increases heart rate, contracts blood vessels and dilates air passages and participates in the "fight or flight" response of the sympathetic nervous system. It is a catecholamine, a sympathomimetic monoamine produced only by the adrenal glands from the amino/epinephrine (as in released from the adrenal glands during "normal" emotional state) does not induce the feeling of an emotion, only your moods.
- A double dissociation has been found for autonomic nervous system The autonomic nervous system is the part of the peripheral nervous system that acts as a control system functioning largely below the level of consciousness, and controls visceral functions. The ANS affects heart rate, digestion, respiration rate, salivation, perspiration, diameter of the pupils, micturition (urination), and sexual arousal responses between those with those with injuries to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is a part of the prefrontal cortex in the mammalian brain. The ventral medial prefrontal is located in the frontal lobe and is implicated in the processing of risk and fear, and in decision making that have the feelings not the responses, and those with injuries to the right somatosensory cortex The lateral postcentral gyrus is a prominent structure in the parietal lobe of the human brain and an important landmark. It was initially defined from surface stimulation studies of Penfield, and parallel surface potential studies of Bard, Woolsey, and Marshall. Although initially defined to be roughly the same as Brodmann areas 3, 1 and 2, more that lack the feelings but not the responses.[2]
See also
- Facial feedback hypothesis
- Somatic markers hypothesis The somatic-marker hypothesis proposes a mechanism by which emotional processes can guide (or bias) behavior, particularly decision-making. This hypothesis has been formulated by Antonio Damasio
- Stress (medicine) Stress is a term in psychology and biology, first coined in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become a commonplace of popular parlance. It refers to the consequence of the failure of an organism – human or animal – to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, whether actual or imagined
- Two factor theory of emotion The two factor theory of emotion is a social psychology theory that views emotion as having two components : physiological arousal and cognition. According to the theory, "cognitions are used to interpret the meaning of physiological reactions to outside events."
- Cannon-Bard theory The Cannon-Bard theory is a psychological theory developed by physiologists Walter Cannon and Philip Bard, which suggests that people feel emotions first and then act upon them. These actions include changes in muscular tension, perspiration, etc. The theory was formulated following the introduction of the James-Lange theory of Emotion in the late
References
- ^ Ellsworth, P. C. (1994). William James and Emotion: Is a Century of Fame Worth a Century of Misunderstanding?. Psychological Review, (101)2, 222-229.
- ^ Johnsen EL, Tranel D, Lutgendorf S, Adolphs R. (2009). A neuroanatomical dissociation for emotion induced by music. Int J Psychophysiol. 72(1):24-33. doi A digital object identifier is a character string used to uniquely identify an electronic document or other entity. The DOI for a document remains fixed over the lifetime of the document, unlike URLs which can change when a publisher of online content changes its web server's file structure, and the DOI System provides a mechanism for locating an:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.03.011 PMID 18824047
Categories: Psychological theories Categories: Psychology | Scientific theories | Philosophical theories | Emotion Emotions are subjective experiences, often associated with mood, temperament, personality, and disposition
Archives of General Psychiatry
Pragmatist William James, Hall's PhD advisor and author to the James-Lange theory of emotion whose classic textbook launched psychology as a discipline in ...
108px x 131px | 7.20kB
[source page]
Theories of Emotion According to the James Lange theory environmental stimuli bring on physiological changes in our bodies and emotions then arise from those physical changes The Cannon
Angel
ue, 17 Mar 2009 14:10:00 GM
The . James. -. Lange theory. refers to a hypothesis on the origin and nature of emotions developed independently by two 19th-century scholars, William James and Carl Lange. The theory states that within human beings, as a response to ...
