Studied by 11 people
Motivation
the want or needs that direct behavior toward a goal
Intrinsic Motivation
the pursuit of activity because of internal factors like love
Extrinsic Motivation
the pursuit of activity because of external factors like money or fame
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
motivated by needs not being met
Self-actualization
our inner talent, fulfillment and creativity
Drive (reduction) theory
Organisms seek to exist in a state of homeostasis within various biological needs
Homeostasis
an optimal balance
Primary drive
those that are biological and innate
Secondary drive
those that are conditioned and learned
Optimal arousal theory
we are motivated to maintain an optimal level of physiological and psychological arousal
Self-determination theory
we are motivated by intrinsic goals and want to feel like we are in control of our destiny; focused on autonomy, competence, and relatedness within social groups
Autonomy
in control of destiny
Competence
mastery in domain of which we’re intrinsically motivated
Relatedness
want to feel purpose in our organization
Goals
Should be specific and achievable to enhance motivation
Learned helplessness
a self-fulfilling prophecy in which you learn you have no self-efficacy; common after continued frustration
Approach goals
goals we seek or aspire toward (ex. Trying to become good at a sport)
Avoidance goals
goals we want to avoid (ex. Avoiding public embarrassment, financial ruin)
Performance goals
performing well in front of others, being judged well (ex. Hitting off the first tee of a golf course)
Mastery goals
increasing competence and skills (ex. Hitting the ball well even when no one’s watching)
Approach-approach conflict
Choice between two appealing activities or goals (ex. Choosing a new car when you have money for it)
Avoidance-avoidance conflict
Choosing between the “lesser of the evils” (ex. Many people feel this way about elections)
Approach-avoidance conflict
Choice has both positive and negative outcomes (ex. Offered a promotion, but requires a transfer)
Personality
the long-standing traits and patterns that propel individuals to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific ways; distinct and relatively stable
Trait
a unit of personality; a characteristic that describes a habitual way of behaving, thinking, and feeling
Attributions
what is it that motivates you
Situational attributions
behavior is a product of a situation
Dispositional attributions
a reflection of who you are as a person
Fundamental attribution error
tendency to attribute motivation of others more to personality factors than to situational factors
Self-serving bias
personality drives our successes, situations drive our failures
Projective tests
based on the assumption that the test taker will project unconscious conflicts and motives onto an ambiguous stimulus
Personality inventories
Answers a series of questions about self; There are no right or wrong answers; From responses, develop a personality profile
Thematic Apperception Test
person is asked to tell a story about the “hero” in the picture then a psychologist interprets the needs and motives that are projected via the story
Rorschach Inkblot Test
show the person an ambiguous stimulus, ask them to explain what they see
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Measures personality across several personality “types” identified by Carl Jung; Often used for employment/personnel management purposes
Factor analysis
used to identify how these traits cluster together across the population
Five factor model by Costa and McRae
Openness to experience; Conscientiousness; Extroversion; Agreeableness; Neuroticism
Reciprocal determinism
how cognitive processes, behaviors, and situational factors all interact to reinforce or punish personality traits
Freud’s psychodynamic theory
Emphasizes interactions between different components of personality; Emphasizes psychosexual development of the Id, Ego, and Superego
Freud’s stages
Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital
Humanistic theories
Focus on personality development as part of our quest for growth and achievement of potential
Abraham Maslow
emphasized pursuit of self-actualization
Carl Rogers
described the importance of unconditional positive regard, and congruence between real self and ideal self
Paul Baltes’ Framework
Development is lifelong, depends on history and context, multidirectional and multidimensional, plastic
Prenatal dangers
Proper maternal nutrition is vital; Maternal age outside of optimal range can pose difficulties, both for teens and above 35
Teratogens
external/environmental contaminants that can penetrate the maternal protections of pregnancy and cause harm to the fetus
Teratogens Examples
Medical drugs, Environmental pollution, Alcohol: fetal alcohol syndrome, Nicotine, Illegal drugs
Sight at birth
stimulation builds quickly, binocular depth perception by 4-5m, 20/20 by 6m
Reflexes at birth
innate, unlearned, adaptive behaviors; Includes grasping, stepping, a basic swim reflex
Piaget’s cognitive development
Driven by improving skills to organize information
Sensorimotor stage
learning and thought is centered on the senses and the motor skills
Sensorimotor facts
Lasts from birth to about 2 years old; No sense of object permanence; End goal is mental representation
Piaget’s preoperational stage
Can now manipulate information in the mind, but with limitations; follows the onset of mental representation at the end of the sensorimotor stage
Centration
a tendency to focus on only one dimension of a problem
Conservation tasks
Preoperational limit; water bottle example with different sizes
Egocentrism
a tendency to only be able to reason about a problem from one’s own viewpoint; three mountain problem
Piaget’s concrete operations
Onset of logical, but not abstract thought; Now able to reason better in multiple dimensions
Piaget’s formal operations
Ability to think abstractly; Able to deal with hypothetical-deductive reasoning; brain maturation, specifically synaptic pruning
Adolescent barriers
Argumentativeness, Indecisiveness, Finding fault with authority, Self-consciousness - the imaginary audience, Assumption of invulnerability
Violation of expectations paradigm
infants show surprise at impossible events; carrot example
Behaviorism development of gender identity
gender identity is based on reinforcement and punishment
Cognitive development of gender identity
Children categorize or develop gender schemata
Temperament
innate traits that influence how one thinks, behaves, and reacts with the environment
Authoritarian
Everything related to authority, no reasoning; Demand strict conformity, no questioning; Strict punishment for rules violations
Permissive
Value self-expression at the expense of structure; Not demanding, rarely punish
Authoritative
Mesh the two, firm, but loving; Emphasize social rules, but within context of individual values; Use reason in explaining punishments and rules
Power assertion
reliance on authority; Physical discipline often stimulates aggression
Induction
attempt to reason with the child; Better for extending discipline to social situations
Withdrawal of love
ignoring, isolation
Primary aging
inevitable process of deterioration
Secondary aging
product of disease, abuse, poor care
Dementia
deterioration in cognitive functioning from physiological causes
Alzheimer’s disease
A highly heritable, progressive, degenerative neurological disorder characterized by irreversible deterioration in memory, intelligence and awareness, leading to death
Norms
rules that govern our behavior in a social context
Roles
a pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group
Entrapment
Having the teacher commit first to less dangerous steps; “Foot in the door” approach
Deindividuation
A loss of awareness of one’s identity in a group
Diffusion of responsibility
The tendency of members to avoid taking responsibility, under the assumption that someone else will
Social loafing
Members of a group do less work individually
Bystander apathy
People stand and watch rather than take action
Conformity
A tendency of people to go along with the group
Groupthink
In close-knit groups, the tendency for all members to think alike and suppress disagreement for the sake of unanimity
Attachment
a long-standing connection or bond with others.
Secure base
a parental presence that gives the child a sense of safety as he explores his surroundings
Secure attachment
where a toddler prefers their parent over a stranger
Avoidant attachment
child is unresponsive to the parent
Resistant attachment
children tend to show clingy behavior, but then they reject the attachment figure’s attempts to interact with them
Disorganized attachment
they freeze, run around the room in an erratic manner, or try to run away when the caregiver returns
Adrenarche and gonadarche
the maturing of adrenal glands and sex glands
Menarche and spermarche
the beginning of menstrual periods and first ejaculation
Attitude
A relatively stable opinion based on both a cognition and emotion
Explicit attitude
you are aware of your opinion
Implicit attitude
you act on your opinion without awareness
Self-perception theory
argues that we also infer our attitudes based on internal observation of our own behavior
Prejudice
An implicit or explicit attitude driven by negative feeling about individuals based on group membership
Stereotypes
Negative beliefs about individuals based solely on group membership
Discrimination
Negative behavior toward an individual based solely on group membership
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Discrimination can lead to a negative response from the discriminated individual, which in the mind of the discriminator confirms their prejudicial stereotyping
Persuasion
An effort to change an attitude
Direct persuasion
an effort to persuade based primarily on the merits of an argument
Note 
Flashcard (33)