Table of Contents
What is the James Lange theory of emotion in psychology?
The James–Lange theory proposes that emotional stimuli first induce peripheral physiological variations, which occur without consciousness of affect. These bodily responses are further interpreted by the brain to produce the feeling state of an emotion (Critchley, 2009). Different theories exist regarding how and why people experience emotion. These include evolutionary theories, the James-Lange theory, the Cannon-Bard theory, Schacter and Singer’s two-factor theory, and cognitive appraisal. Emotions are a brief episode of coordinated brain, autonomic, and behavioral changes that facilitate a response to an event. They are lower level responses, coded in our genes. Feelings are high-level responses which provide a mental and perceptual representation of what is physically happening inside our bodies. Emotions are not innately programmed into our brains, but, in fact, are cognitive states resulting from the gathering of information. Lazarus has been a pioneer in this field for the past 40 years; he argues that emotions have intentionality and that their significance and force are determined by our cognition. This then creates a judgement as to whether or not we can cope with the external event or situation, which forms an emotional reaction. Darwin treated the emotions as separate discrete entities, or modules, such as anger, fear, disgust, etc. The German physician Wilhelm Wundt proposed an alternative view of emotion about a decade later.
What is Freud’s theory of emotion?
Sigmund Freud believed that mental illness came from repressed emotions in the unconscious mind. Freud believed that release and acceptance of these denied or repressed emotions and memories were vital for mental health. Freudian Theory In simple terms, Sigmund Freud’s theory suggests that human behavior is influenced by unconscious memories, thoughts, and urges. This theory also proposes that the psyche comprises three aspects: the id, ego, and superego. The id is entirely unconscious, while the ego operates in the conscious mind. Summary: Contrary to popular belief, those suffering from psychopathy are able to experience emotions, but they do have a blunted emotional response if their attention is directed toward something else. In psychology, there is no topic more controversial than Carl Jung’s collective unconscious. This idea suggests that all humans share a common psychic realm, where instincts and memories are stored. It turns out Darwin was also an early experimental psychologist. Darwin conducted one of the first studies on how people recognize emotion in faces, according to new archival research by Peter Snyder, a neuroscientist at Brown University.