PSYC18H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Sympathetic Nervous System, Temporal Lobe, Vagal Tone
Document Summary
How can we measure emotions in the body: advantages and limitations of measuring emotions in the body. Emotions in bodily actions: how do emotions impact the body. Recall william james" theory: each emotion has a unique physiological signature (autonomic specificity) and it differs from the physiological signature of another emotion. According to this theory if you feel sad your body should a specific physiological response and they should be different from my body"s response to anger or happiness. There may be overlap but there should be some difference on a bodily level. The most important thing he said was that the viscera was the starting place of emotions. The viscera is the body, emotions originated in the body then spread out in the mind and this ability to think about them. We know now this was not the case but it was prominent at the time.
