Psychology 121 - Chapter 9: Motivation and Emotion

Motives

internal forces that move us to act in certain ways and not others; many different types pulling us in different directions

Instincts

genetic tendency to behave a particular way; biologically based and triggered by features of the environment

Alternative

verything we do serves a single purpose; response to cues in external and internal environments; w/ changes in the outside environment there must be constancy for internal environment

Homeostasis

body’s tendency to maintain internal equilibrium through various forms of self-regulation

Drives

Deviations create internal states of biological / psychological tension called drives (e.g., when cold, body promotes shivering; if going somewhere cold, packing a sweater)

Drive-reduction account of motivation

Drive calls forth behaviour that reduces the drive and helps body return the body to equilibrium

Pain Matrix

distributed set of brain regions that underlie both the sensory and the emotional components of pain and give rise to the associated behavioural response of withdrawal

What are the roles of pain and describe them.

Motivational Role: what is happening and what do I do to stop it

General Motivation Role: what do I do now

Incentives

positive goals we seek to achieve

Intrinsically Rewarding

being pursued for its own sake

Extrinsically Rewarding

being pursued because of rewards that are not an inherent part of the task or activity

Glucostatic Hypothesis

hunger/eating are regulated by the body’s monitoring and adjustment of blood glucose levels

Lipostatic Hypothesis

when fat stores deviate from target levels, body tries to restore homeostasis

Dual Centre Theory

• When blood glucose levels drop, glucoreceptors activate the lateral hypothalamus which leads to sensation of hunger; go center for eating; role of ghrelin

• When blood glucose levels raise, glucoreceptors activate the ventromedial hypothalamus which leads to decreased levels of hunger; stop centre for eating; role

Cholecystokinin (CCK)

satiety signal that is released from the intestinal tract and favours stopping eating

Neuropeptide Y (NPY)

hunger-inducing signal released by the hypothalamus and favours eating

Adipose Cells

ong-term energy resource provided by fat cells; absorb the fatty acids created by the liver and swell in absorption process (drained when glucose is needed – conversion of fatty acids into glucose

Caloric Body Weight Set Point

weight an organism will seek to obtain despite alterations in dietary intake

What is the danger of crash diets?

body compensates for the caloric loss by lowering its metabolic rate (rate at which it uses energy)

Unit Bias

the size of what counts as a single portion

How do eating disorders work?

Mechanisms that regulate food intake work well, but humans have ability to override this system

Anorexia Nervosa

extreme concern with being overweight and by compulsive dieting; disturbance in how they perceive their bodies; may use excessive exercise and purging to lose weight; concern about dangerous deficiencies in electrolytes

Bulimia Nervosa

extreme concern with weight/appearance; combination of binge eating and compensatory behaviour (self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives or diuretics, extreme level of exercise)

Binge Eating

eating a larger amount of food that is typical within a relatively brief amount of time usually while feeling little or no control over what or how much one eats; concern for electrolyte imbalances and erosion of dental enamel; binge-eating disorder: eating w/o compensatory behaviours

How is obesity defined?

It is define using the body mass index

Body Mass Index

measure of health weight based on weight/height

What does BMI not consider?

fat free mass

What are the health risks associated with obesity?

Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers, shorter life expectancy

Thrifty Gene Hypothesis

natural selection favours individuals who have efficient metabolisms that maximize fat storage; stemming from times when food supplies were unpredictable and food shortages were common

Estrus

period of sexual receptivity; differ across species

Libido

sexual interest; correlated with testosterone levels for women and men

What is influences sexual desire?

Hormones

Excitement Phase

heart rate and blood pressure increase, breathing quickens, increased muscle tension and blood flow to the sexual organs

Plateau Phase

heart rate and blood pressure rise, muscle tension increases but slowly as muscles tighten in sexual organs

Orgasm Phase

heightened arousal and rhythmic contractions leading to ejaculation of sperm in biological males and vaginal contractions in women to help guide sperm up the vagina

Resolution Phase

heart rate and blood pressure decrease and muscles relax; for men there is a refractory period during which another orgasm is not possible

Neurodevelopmental Perspective

sexual orientation is built into the circuitry of the brain early in fetal development

Fraternal Birth Order Effect

each male a mother carries may have a cumulative impact on a mother’s immune system that alters the way subsequent boys’ nervous systems develop during gestation

Dual Motive

want to avoid failing (avoidance fear) but also want to succeed – BUT fear of failure is distinct from desire for success

Performance Orientation

focus on performing well and looking smart,avoiding failure and not looking stupid; avoidance motivation; negative feedback leads to withdrawing effort

Mastery Orientation

focus on learning and improving; approach motivation; negative circumstance leads to increased effort and looking on what to learn/take away from the experience

Fixed Mindset

abilities are fixed and unlikely to change; respond negatively to challenging feedback; goal = looking smart

Growth Mindset

abilities can change and grow in response to

new experiences or learning; respond positively to challenging

feedback; goal = mastering new knowledge and skills

Lower Motives

hunger, sex; Higher motives = affiliation, achievement, autonomy, control, competence, power, self-enhancement, understanding, and meaning

Hierarchy of Motives

order in which needs are thought to become dominant; fulfill basic needs first; highest need = self-actualization: desire to realize one’s potential to the fullest; work of Maslow but heavily debated [credit owed to knowledge keepers of Siksika Nation]

Self - transcendence - additional motive

desire to further a cause bigger than yourself

Basic Needs

need for acceptance, need for predictability (understanding of relationships among events/things in one’s world), and need for competence (skills necessary for interacting successfully with the world around us)

Compound Needs

need for trust (acceptance + predictability), need for control (predictability + competence), need for self- esteem/status (acceptance + competence), need for self- coherence (feeling psychologically whole)

Emotion

coordinated behaviours, feelings, and physiological changes that occur when a situation becomes relevant to our personal goals

Display Rules

deeply ingrained conventions, often obeyed without awareness, that dictate the facial expressions considered appropriate in particular contexts

Discrete Emotion Approach

focuses on defining specific categories of emotions (e.g., anger from shame, pride from amusement)

Dimensional Approach

focuses on using dimensions to make sense of emotion (e.g., more sad, less happy)

Valence

how pleasant or unpleasant the emotion feels

Arousal

how activated the person feels when experiencing emotion

Alexithymia

extreme difficulty in identifying and labelling one’s emotions

Happiness Set Point - 3 factors determining happiness level

levels of happiness that is characteristic in an individual; reflection of high extraversion and low neuroticism; 50% of the variation

Circumstances - 3 factors determining happiness level

role of adaptation (ability to grow accustomed to / cease paying attention to a state where one is constantly exposed); 10% of the variation

Intentional Activities - 3 factors determining happiness level

cultivating feelings of gratitude, savoring positive experiences, working to our strengths; 40% of the variation

James Lange Theory

different emotions are associated w/ different patterns of bodily responses; subjective experience
- We perceive a situation, then we become aware of the specific pattern of bodily changes produced by the stimuli
- Detection of bodily changes shifts us from cold appraisal to emotional feelings

What is the BUT for James Lange Theory?

If all it takes to generate emotion is the experience of bodily changes, why don’t we feel emotional every time we run up the stairs?

Cannon bard Theory

stimulus generates emotion by triggering by triggering a certain type of response in the brain (in the thalamus) which causes both the physiological change associated with the emotion AND the emotional experience itself

What is the BUT for the Cannon Bard Theory?

If different emotions produce comparable physiological responses, then why do we have the subjective impression that our bodies are doing different things in different emotional states? (e.g., excited vs. nervous, both high levels of arousal but different valence)

Schacter-Singer Theory

behavioural and physiological changes are crucial for emotional experience; interpreting bodily cues in the context of situational cues

Empathy

ability to accurately track what others are feeling and plays important role in social interactions

Affect as Information Perspective

subjective experience of emotion is a key resource during problem solving; e.g., sadness causes thinking to become more systematic, analytical, and careful

Self Control

attempt to modify automatic or default responses in a given situation

Role of Willpower

ability to engage in self-control

Strength Model of Ego Control

engaging in self-control efforts depletes a finite pool of cognitive resources

Ego Depletion

tate of diminished self-regulatory ability due to repeated demands on cognitive resources required for self-regulation

Emotional Regulation

involves decreasing, increasing, or simply maintaining behavioural, experiential, and physiological aspects of emotion depending on our goals

Situation Selection

choosing to expose yourself to some situation (and not others) based on the emotional impact you expect the situation to have (e.g., texting a friend who you like will boost mood)

Situation Modification

changing one or more aspects of a situation you are in, so it has a different emotional impact for you (e.g., sit away from someone who is playing loud music

Attentional Deployment

changing your attentional focus (e.g., shift your attention to your plans for later in the evening if you’re bored by class)

Cognitive Change

modifying your thinking to change how you feel (e.g., if a friend doesn’t respond to your greeting, you can think about how preoccupied they must be, rather than thinking that they were ignoring you)

Response Modulation

changing one or more aspects of your emotional responses (e.g., you might exaggerate your pleasure at receiving a gift for your parents, even when it’s not something you wanted)

Reappraisal

type of cognitive change; occurs when someone tries to decrease an emotional response by changing the meaning a situation has; most effective!; no cognitive or physiological costs; leads to activations in the prefrontal region (self-regulation) and decreased activation in the amygdala (negative emotion)

Suppression

type of response modulation; occurs when someone tries to decrease the emotion they show on their face or in their behaviour; blocks the display of emotion, but does not make the feelings go away = not effective!; leads to greater sympathetic nervous system activation as individual must exert self-control to keep emotions from showing (impact on cognitive performance as well!)