Psychology: Motivation and Emotion

AP Psychology - Motivation 

Video playlist on AP Psychology on motivation

AP Psychology - Emotions 

Video playlist on AP Psychology of Emotions

Emotions and Motivations 

Information on emotions and motivations

Overview of the 6 Major Theories of Emotion 

Information on theories of emotion

Theories of Emotion 

all about Theories of Emotion

Psychology - Emotion and Motivation 

Video playlist from psych exam review

Eating Disorders

Characterized by persistent gross disturbances in eating patterns

Obesity: being overweight

Obesity is a complex health problem in which behavioral patterns, genetics, and environmental and emotional factors all play a role.

set point theory: The belief that brain mechanisms regulate body weight around a genetically predetermined “set point.”

Anorexia Nervosa: a life threatening eating disorder characterized by dramatic weight loss and a distorted body image

Bulimia Nervosa: an eating disorder characterized by repeated cycles of binge eating and purging

Cultural pressure imposed on young women to achieve an unrealistic standard of thinness is a major underlying factor in anorexia and bulimia.

Psychological factors underlying eating disorders include issues of control and perfectionism, sexual or physical abuse during childhood, and family conflicts.

Biological factors implicated in eating disorders include genetics, abnormalities in brain mechanisms that control feelings of hunger and satiation, and irregularities in serotonin activity.

Motivation and Emotion

The Psychology of Motivation

Motivation: the state in which an organism experiences an inducement or incentive to do something

Motives: Needs or wants that drive goal directed behavior.

need: a state of deprivation or deficiency. 

drive: a state of bodily tension, such as hunger or thirst, arising from an unmet need

• primary drives: Innate drives, such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire, that arise from basic biological needs.
• secondary drives: Drives that are learned or acquired through experience, such as the drive to achieve monetary wealth.

Drive reduction: Satisfaction of a drive.

incentive: an object, person, or situation perceived as capable of satisfying a need or as a desirable for its own sake; Rewards or other stimuli that motivate us to act.

instinct: involving an inherited disposition to activate specific behavior patterns that enable an organism to reach specific goals

Theories of Motivation

Evolutionary Perspective: many animals are neurally "prewired", they are born with preprogrammed tendencies to respond to certain situations in certain ways

Drive theory: The belief that behavior is motivated by drives that arise from biological needs that demand satisfaction. 

• psychologist Clark Hull, believed we have biological needs that demand satisfaction, such as the needs for food, water, and sleep

Drive-reduction theory: the view that organisms learn to engage in behaviors that have the effect of reducing drives

• Homeostasis: the tendency of the body to maintain a steady state

incentive theory: The belief that our attraction to particular goals or objects motivates much of our behavior. The belief that behavior is motivated by instinct.

• incentive value: the strength of the “pull” of a goal or reward. Influenced by an individual’s learning experiences and expectancies.

• instinctive behaviors: Genetically programmed, innate patterns of response that are specific to members of a particular species.

• Sigmund Freud, believed that human behavior is motivated primarily by sexual and aggressive instincts 

arousal theory: The belief that whenever the level of stimulation dips below an organism’s optimal level, the organism seeks ways of increasing it. 

Humanistic Theory: human behavior is not just mechancial and aimed towards survival and the reduction of tension; people are also motivated by a conscious desire for personal growth.

• Hierarchy of needs: Abraham Maslow's concept that there is an order to human needs, which starts with basic biological needs and progresses to self-actualization.
  • Maslow’s hierarchy of basic needs consists of five levels:
    • physiological needs, such as hunger and thirst
    • safety needs, such as the need for secure housing
    • love and belongingness needs, such as the need for intimate relationships
    • esteem needs, such as the need for the respect of one’s peers
    • the need for self-actualization: The motive that drives individuals to express their unique capabilities and fulfill their potentials.

Later he proposed other needs that motivate human behavior, including cognitive needs (needs to know, understand, and explore), aesthetic needs (needs for beauty, symmetry, and order), and self-transcendence (needs to connect to something beyond the self and help others realize their own potential)

Psychological needs of Motivation

psychosocial needs: Needs that reflect interpersonal aspects of motivation, such as the need for friendship or achievement.

need for achievement: The need to excel in one’s endeavors.

• Harvard psychologist David McClelland, states goals that are too easily achieved are of no interest to them, nor are goals that are patently unobtainable

extrinsic motivation: Motivation reflecting a desire for external rewards, such as wealth or the respect of others.

intrinsic motivation: Motivation reflecting a desire for internal gratification, such as the self-satisfaction derived from accomplishing a particular goal.

achievement motivation: The motive or desire to achieve success. avoidance motivation The motive or desire to avoid failure. 

Hunger

What Makes Us Hungry? 

The hypothalamus detects decreases in blood sugar levels and depletion of fat from fat cells, which leads to the feelings of hunger that motivate eating.

lateral hypothalamus: A part of the hypothalamus involved in initiating, or “turning on,” eating.

ventromedial hypothalamus: A part of the hypothalamus involved in regulating feelings of satiety.

• neurotransmitters and hormones are involved in regulating hunger and appetite.
  • One of these chemicals, the neurotransmitter neuropeptide Y (NPY), works on the hypothalamus to stimulate appetite and eating.
  • The hormone leptin is released by fat cells in the body and acts to curb hunger when we’ve had enough to eat. 

Satiety: the state of being satisfied; fullness

hyperphagic: characterized by excessive eating

aphagic: characterized by undereating

Sexual Motivation & Sexual Orientation

Sex Harmones:

• Fuel the sex drive
• promote the development of male and female sex organs and regulate the menstrual cycle.
• Activating effects: the arousal-producing effects of sex hormones that increase the likelihood of sexual behavior

Estrus: the periodic sexual excitement of many female mammals as governed by levels of sex hormones
 

Sexual response Cycle

William Masters and Virginia Johnson demonstrated that the body responds to sexual stimulation with a characteristic pattern of changes this is known as the sexual response cycle.

• sexual response cycle:  The term Masters and Johnson used to refer to the characteristic stages of physiological responses in the body to sexual stimulation
  • Stages of Sexual response
    • excitement: the first phase of the sexual response cycle, which is characterized by muscle tension, increases in heart rate, and erection in the male and vaginal lubrication in the female
    • plateau: the second phrase of the sexual response cycle, which is characterized by increases in vasocongestion, muscle tension, heart rate, and blood pressure in preparation for orgasm
    • orgasm: the height or climax of sexual excitement, involving involuntary muscle contractions, release of sexual tensions, and usually, subjective feelings of pleasure
    • resolution: the forth phase of the sexual response cycle, which is characterized by the lacking of continued sexual stimulation, myotonia and vasocongestion lessen, and the body gradually returns to its prearoused state.
       
• vasocongestion: Swelling of tissues with blood, a process that accounts for penile erection and vaginal lubrication during sexual arousal.
• Myotonia: muscle tension

Sexual orientation

Gender identity: The psychological sense of maleness or femaleness.

Sexual orientation: The directionality of one’s erotic interests.

Gender roles: The cultural expectations imposed on men and women to behave in ways deemed appropriate for their gender.

homosexual: referring to people who are sexually aroused by, and interested in forming romantic relationships with, people of the same gender

heterosexual: referring to people who are sexually aroused by, and interested in forming romantic relationships with, people of the other gender

Gender nonconformity: not behaving in a way that is consistent with the gender-role stereotype associated with one's sex in a given culture

Sexual Dysfunctions

Sexual Dysfunctions: Persistent or recurrent problems with sexual interest, arousal, or response.

Underlying causes of sexual dysfunctions include biological factors, such as neurological or circulatory problems, and psychosocial factors, such as performance anxiety.

Achievement Motivation

Pioneered by Psychologist David McClelland, Achievement Motivation is defined as the need for success or the attainment of excellence. Individuals will satisfy their needs through different means, and are driven to succeed for varying reasons both internal and external.

• Thematic Appreciation Test: developed by Henry Murray. The test involves cards that have pictures or drawings on them that can be interpreted in many ways.

Emotion

Emotions: feeling states that psychologists view as having physiological, cognitive, and behavioral components.

Sympathetic nervous system: Directs the body's rapid involuntary response to dangerous or stressful situations. A flash flood of hormones boosts the body's alertness and heart rate, sending extra blood to the muscles.

Parasympathetic nervous system: the branch of the autonomic nervous system that is most active during processes that restore reserves of energy to the body, such as relaxing and eating.

Expressions of Emotions

Charles Darwin believed that emotions evolved because they have an adaptive purpose in helping species survive and flourish.

Evidence suggests that six basic emotional expressions are universally recognized: anger, fear, disgust, sadness, happiness, and surprise 

Display rules: Cultural customs and norms that govern the display of emotional expressions.

Happiness

The architects of the positive psychology movement believe that psychology should focus more on promoting human happiness and building human strengths and assets, such as the capacity to love and be loved, rather than just repairing negative emotions such as anxiety and depression. 

Positive psychology founder Martin Seligman argues that psychologists should become guides to help people lead the good life—the happy and meaningful life.

Three kinds of human happiness:

• pleasure of doing things
• gratification
• meaning 

facial-feedback hypothesis: The belief that mimicking facial movements associated with a particular emotion will produce the corresponding emotional state.

Duchenne smile: A genuine smile that involves contraction of a particular set of facial muscles.

Emotional intelligence: The ability to recognize emotions in yourself and others and to manage your own emotions effectively.

James-lange Theory: The belief that emotions occur after people become aware of their physiological responses to the triggering stimuli.

• proposed by William James and Danish physiologist Karl G. Lange

The cannon-Bard Theory: The belief that emotional and physiological reactions to triggering stimuli occur almost simultaneously. 

• proposed by Walter Cannon and Philip Bard

Schachter-Singer Theory or two-factor theory of emotion: The theory that emotions involve two factors: a state of general arousal and a cognitive interpretation (or labeling) of the causes of the arousal. 

• created by researchers Stanley Schachter and Jerome E. Singer

dual-pathway model of fear: Joseph LeDoux’s theory that the brain uses two pathways (a “high road” and a “low road”) to process fear messages.