“Historical theories of Emotion and Arousal”
PSY/355
“Historical theories of Emotion and Arousal”
The interaction of emotional and arousal to motivation was gathered in 1884 and 1885 from William James and Carl Lange. James and Lange believed a person’s emotions occur because of Psychological events that they suffer from. For instance, if a person is the victim of a tragic event, this can cause post-traumatic stress syndrome. This cause’s fear from that movement on and at times causes the person to withdraw from the event or anything pertaining to it due to fear.
According to the James-Lange theory, each specific emotion is accompanied by a unique pattern of physiological responses. James reasoned that emotion occurs when we become aware of our body’s physiological arousal and emotional behavior in reaction to an exciting stimulus. According to him, “The bodily changes follow directly the Perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur is the emotion” (James, 1884/1948, p. 291; italics in original).
According to Cannon’s theory physiological arousal is merely an indication that the organism is ready or prepared for an emergency response, such as fighting or fleeing. When a person jumps from a high level, they tend to get their bodies ready for when they reach the ground. Not only does the individual get ready to land properly, their bodies set themselves up to the proper way to jump. According to Cannon (1927, 1929/1953) these emergency responses make the organism more capable in dealing with situations that produce fear, rage, and pain. These states are felt as urges and impulses to act in a certain fashion depending on the emotional experience. Thus, when frustrated a person may have an urge to yell insults or when in love a person may have the impulse to touch another person. Emotions and action readiness are linked together (Cannon, 1929/1953).
Reference
Motivation: Biological, Psychological, and Environmental, Third Edition, Deckers, L. (2010), Pearson
“Historical theories of Emotion and Arousal”
The interaction of emotional and arousal to motivation was gathered in 1884 and 1885 from William James and Carl Lange. James and Lange believed a person’s emotions occur because of Psychological events that they suffer from. For instance, if a person is the victim of a tragic event, this can cause post-traumatic stress syndrome. This cause’s fear from that movement on and at times causes the person to withdraw from the event or anything pertaining to it due to fear.
According to the James-Lange theory, each specific emotion is accompanied by a unique pattern of physiological responses. James reasoned that emotion occurs when we become aware of our body’s physiological arousal and emotional behavior in reaction to an exciting stimulus. According to him, “The bodily changes follow directly the Perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur is the emotion” (James, 1884/1948, p. 291; italics in original).
According to Cannon’s theory physiological arousal is merely an indication that the organism is ready or prepared for an emergency response, such as fighting or fleeing. When a person jumps from a high level, they tend to get their bodies ready for when they reach the ground. Not only does the individual get ready to land properly, their bodies set themselves up to the proper way to jump. According to Cannon (1927, 1929/1953) these emergency responses make the organism more capable in dealing with situations that produce fear, rage, and pain. These states are felt as urges and impulses to act in a certain fashion depending on the emotional experience. Thus, when frustrated a person may have an urge to yell insults or when in love a person may have the impulse to touch another person. Emotions and action readiness are linked together (Cannon, 1929/1953).
Reference
Motivation: Biological, Psychological, and Environmental, Third Edition, Deckers, L. (2010), Pearson