James–Lange theory

the theory that different feeling states stem from the feedback from the viscera and voluntary musculature to the brain. This theory hypothesizes that there are as many physiological responses as there are different intrapsychic feelings and that each of these responses precedes rather than follows the feeling. [William James; Carl Georg Lange (1834–1900), Danish physiologist]

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Psychology term of the day

July 27th 2024

primary insomnia

in DSM–IV–TR, a sleep disorder characterized by difficulty in initiating or maintaining a restorative sleep to a degree in which the severity and persistence of the sleep disturbance causes clinically significant distress, impairment in a significant area of functioning, or both. The disorder is not caused by a general medical condition or the effects of a substance and is not exclusively an aspect of another sleep disorder or mental disorder. It is termed insomnia disorder in DSM–5. See dyssomnia. Compare primary hypersomnia.