The James-Lange theory of emotion holds that physiological arousal precedes and causes the subjective experience of emotion, reversing the common-sense order in which an emotion is felt first and the bodily response follows. William James proposed the idea in an 1884 essay and the Danish physiologist Carl Lange independently developed a similar account in 1885; John Dewey gave the joint theory its name in 1894.
Facts
Disputed
Core ClaimA stimulus produces a physiological (bodily) response first, and the perception of that physiological response is the emotion itself, rather than the emotion causing the physiological response. 1 Walter Cannon's 1920s critique argued that visceral (internal organ) responses are too slow and too physiologically similar across different emotions, and even across some non-emotional states such as fever, to be what generates the specific felt quality of an emotion. A 2017 re-reading by Lisa Feldman Barrett argues Cannon and Dewey misread James: James claimed each particular instance of an emotion has its own distinct bodily state, not that whole emotion categories do, which she argues survives Cannon's objection. Connections
Rejected Here
Cannon's own five-point critique of James-Lange: removing visceral feedback does not eliminate emotional behavior, identical visceral changes accompany different emotions, viscera carry too few sensory fibers, and visceral responses are too slow to explain instant emotion.
Developed By
Source Wikipedia: James-Lange Theory
In Branch
Source Wikipedia: James-Lange Theory
Sources
1. Wikipedia: James-Lange Theory
Wikimedia FoundationOriginators and Timeline
The James-Lange theory (1884) is a hypothesis on the origin and nature of emotions and is one of the earliest theories of emotion within modern psychology.
Core Claim and Major Criticisms
our feeling of the same changes as they occur is the emotion.
- Developed By: William James
In Branch: Biological Psychology, Theory section
The basic premise of the theory is that physiological arousal instigates the experience of emotion.
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