Psycology Chapter 10 terms

Drive state

An affective experience that motivates organisms to pursue goals that are beneficial for survival and reproduction. Drive states strongly influence attention, motivation, decision-making, and behavior.

Homeostasis

The tendency of an organism to maintain a stable internal physiological state across bodily systems. Drive states function to restore balance when homeostasis is disrupted.

Homeostatic set point

The ideal or optimal level of a physiological system that the body monitors and attempts to maintain. Deviations from the set point trigger drive states that motivate corrective behavior.

Reward

A positive outcome that reinforces behavior and moves the organism closer to restoring homeostasis. Rewards feel pleasurable because they signal progress toward the set point.

Punishment (homeostatic context)

An unpleasant affective signal that occurs when the organism moves further away from the set point. Punishment motivates behavior change to restore balance.

Narrowing of attention

A property of drive states in which attention becomes focused on stimuli and actions that satisfy the current biological need, while unrelated goals lose value.

Temporal myopia

A collapse of time perspective toward the present that occurs during intense drive states. Individuals become impatient and heavily discount future outcomes in favor of immediate need satisfaction.

Self-focus

A tendency for intense drive states to narrow attention inward, reducing concern for others and increasing self-centered decision-making.

Hunger

A drive state triggered primarily by low blood glucose levels and other internal signals indicating energy deficit. Hunger motivates food-seeking behavior and increases the perceived reward value of food.

Hypothalamus

A brain region critical for regulating drive states, including hunger and sexual arousal, through hormone secretion and neural signaling. Different hypothalamic areas serve distinct motivational functions.

Lateral hypothalamus (LH)

A region of the hypothalamus strongly associated with hunger. Damage to the LH can eliminate eating behavior, while stimulation can trigger feeding.

Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)

A hypothalamic region involved in satiety and the termination of eating. Damage to the VMH can lead to overeating and obesity.

Satiety

The state of being sufficiently full such that hunger is reduced and eating behavior stops. Satiety mechanisms help prevent excessive deviation above the homeostatic set point.

Reward value

The affective importance or desirability of an outcome to an organism. Reward value increases when a drive state is strong and decreases once the drive is satisfied.

Orbitofrontal cortex

A brain region involved in representing reward value and decision-making. Activity in this region reflects how valuable a reward is under current motivational states (e.g., hungry vs. sated).

Sexual arousal

A drive state that motivates behaviors related to reproduction. Like hunger, it is influenced by both internal biological mechanisms and external cues.

Preoptic area

A region in the anterior hypothalamus that plays a critical role in regulating male sexual behavior. Damage to this area disrupts the initiation of sexual activity.

Lordosis

A physical sexual posture in female mammals that signals receptivity to mating. It is hormonally regulated and reflects activation of sexual arousal circuits.

Periaqueductal gray

A midbrain region involved in defensive responses such as freezing and escape. During sexual arousal, activity in this area is reduced, allowing mating behavior to occur.

Septal nucleus

A brain region associated with sexual pleasure and orgasm. It receives connections from multiple emotional and motivational brain systems.

Internal cues

Physiological signals originating within the body (e.g., hormone levels, blood glucose) that trigger or intensify drive states.

External cues

Environmental stimuli (e.g., sights, smells, contexts) that activate or amplify drive states by signaling opportunities for need satisfaction.

Drive-specific cues

Stimuli that are particularly effective at activating a given drive state (e.g., food smells for hunger, sexual imagery for arousal).

Bidirectional influence (drive states)

The idea that biological states influence cognition and behavior, while behavior and environmental interaction also influence biological states. Drive states emerge from this two-way interaction.

Motivational prioritization

The process by which drive states elevate certain goals above others. As drive intensity increases, competing goals rapidly lose subjective importance.

Drive state satisfaction

The reduction of a drive state following successful engagement in goal-directed behavior. Once satisfied, cognition and behavior typically return to baseline.

Intrapersonal

Refers to processes that occur within the individual. The intrapersonal functions of emotion involve how emotions influence one’s own thoughts, decisions, physiological responses, and behavior.

Rapid information processing

Emotions allow people to process important information quickly with minimal conscious awareness. This enables fast responses to threats or opportunities without deliberate reasoning.

Minimal conscious awareness

A property of emotions whereby they guide behavior without requiring extensive conscious thought. This is adaptive in situations where slow deliberation could be dangerous.

Action readiness

Emotions prepare the body for immediate action by coordinating physiological arousal, attention, and motor systems. This allows efficient and goal-directed responses to the environment.

Physiological preparation

Emotions activate and deactivate bodily systems to support adaptive action. For example, fear increases heart rate and redirects blood flow to muscles to prepare for fight or flight.

Emotions influence thoughts

Emotions shape perception, memory, attitudes, and beliefs. Emotional states make related memories easier to retrieve and influence how situations are interpreted.

Mood-congruent memory

The tendency to more easily remember information that matches one’s current emotional state. For example, people recall sad memories more easily when feeling sad.

Emotions motivate future behavior

Emotions reinforce behaviors that led to positive outcomes and discourage behaviors associated with negative outcomes. This helps individuals repeat adaptive actions and avoid harmful ones.

Interpersonal

Refers to interactions between two or more individuals. The interpersonal functions of emotion involve how emotional expressions influence others and regulate social behavior.

Emotional expression

The verbal and nonverbal communication of emotion through facial expressions, voice, posture, gestures, and movement. Emotional expressions serve as social signals to others.

Communicative signal value

Emotions convey information about an individual’s feelings, intentions, and relationship goals. This helps others predict behavior and respond appropriately.

Facial expressions as social signals

Facial expressions are universal cues that communicate emotional states and behavioral intentions. Observers use these signals to guide their own responses.

Approach-related behavior

Behavior that involves moving toward a person or object. Emotions such as happiness or interest increase approach-related responses in observers.

Avoidance-related behavior

Behavior that involves withdrawal or distancing from a stimulus. Emotions such as anger or fear tend to elicit avoidance responses in observers.

Complementary emotional responses

Emotional expressions often evoke predictable emotional reactions in others. For example, fear may elicit concern, while distress may elicit sympathy and helping behavior.

Emotions signal relationship quality

Patterns of emotional expression provide information about the health and nature of relationships. Certain emotions, such as contempt or disgust, can predict relationship dissatisfaction.

Culture

A shared system of meaning and information transmitted across generations. Culture shapes norms, values, and expectations about emotional experience and expression.

Norms regarding emotions

Culturally shared rules that define which emotions are appropriate to feel and express in particular situations. These norms help regulate social behavior.

Cultural display rules

Learned rules that govern how emotions should be expressed depending on social context. They can involve amplifying, suppressing, masking, or neutralizing emotional expressions.

Emotion regulation (cultural context)

The management of emotional experience and expression based on cultural expectations. Culture influences not only how emotions are expressed but also how they are experienced.

Social referencing

The process by which individuals look to others’ emotional expressions to interpret ambiguous situations and decide how to act. This is especially important in infancy.

Cultural transmission

The process by which emotional norms and values are passed from one generation to the next. This occurs through caregivers, institutions, and cultural products such as media.

Group coordination

Emotions help synchronize behavior within groups by signaling shared values and priorities. This coordination reduces social chaos and increases group efficiency.

Emotion and social harmony

By regulating emotional expression and behavior, cultures promote cooperation and reduce conflict. This helps societies function effectively over time.

Affect

Feelings described along two dimensions: valence (positive–negative) and arousal (high–low).

Actual affect

The emotional states people actually experience in their daily lives.

Ideal affect

The emotional states people want or value feeling; strongly shaped by culture.

Valence

Dimension of emotion ranging from pleasant (positive) to unpleasant (negative).

Arousal

Dimension of emotion ranging from high activation (excited, energized) to low activation (calm, relaxed).

High-Arousal Positive (HAP) Emotions

Positive emotions with high energy (e.g., excitement, enthusiasm); valued more in North American cultures.

Low-Arousal Positive (LAP) Emotions

Positive emotions with low energy (e.g., calm, peaceful, relaxed); valued more in East Asian cultures.

Culture

Shared, socially transmitted values, beliefs, norms, and practices reinforced by institutions and products.

Independent Self

View of the self as distinct and autonomous; goal is self-expression and influencing others (common in individualistic cultures).

Interdependent Self

View of the self as connected to others; goal is harmony and adjustment (common in collectivistic cultures).

Individualism

Cultural orientation prioritizing personal goals, independence, and self-expression.

Universalism

Theory that emotions are biologically hard-wired and fundamentally similar across cultures.

Display rules

Cultural rules that guide how and when emotions should be expressed.

Dialectical emotional experience

Tendency to experience positive and negative emotions simultaneously, more common in East Asian cultures.

Arousal seeking

Preference for excitement and stimulation; more common in individualistic cultures.

Affect Valuation Theory

Theory stating culture shapes ideal affect, while temperament shapes actual affect.

Cultural Transmission of Emotion

Process by which emotional values are taught through parents, media, education, and cultural products.

Happiness across cultures

Based on similar factors (e.g., relationships, self-esteem), but cultures weight these factors differently.