chapter 7 -Emotion and motivaation

Emotion

experience involving physiological, cognitive, and behavioral responses. Key dimensions:

• Valence (positive/negative)

• Arousal (high/low)

Brain Structures in Emotion

• Amygdala: fast, threat detection (primitive)

• Prefrontal Cortex: slower, reasoning (advanced)

Purpose of Emotion

• Aid survival and communication

• Example: fear = widened eyes → more sensory input

Universality Hypothesis (3)

• Darwin: Facial expressions are evolved and mostly universal

• Support: blind babies smile, similar expressions cross-culturally

• Limitations: confirmation bias in research with isolated groups

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

• Facial expressions influence emotional state

• Evidence: smiling during a story → increased happiness

• Expression can reinforce or amplify emotion

Deceptive Emotional Expressions Reasons: Social expectations, politeness, manipulation Strategies: (4)

• Intensification: exaggerate emotion

• Deintensification: downplay emotion

• Masking: replace emotion

• Neutralizing: hide all emotion (poker face)

Detecting Fake Emotions Clues:

• Morphology: some facial muscles can't be faked

• Symmetry: real = symmetrical

• Duration: 0.5–5s = real

• Temporal patterning: gradual start/end = real

Emotional Regulation & Development

• Deciding when/how to show emotion

• Infants: Parents help regulate → Self-regulate (~6 months)

• Adults: Use:

  • Distraction

  • Suppression

  • Affect labeling

  • Cognitive reappraisal (most effective)

Motivation: Definition

• Psychological cause of action, driven by emotion

• Tied to hedonic principle: maximize pleasure, minimize pain

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Must fulfill lower before higher:

1. Physiological (food, water)

2. Safety

3. Belonging

4. Esteem

5. Self-actualization (personal goals)

Types of Motivation (3 Dimensions)

1. Intrinsic (for self) vs Extrinsic (for others)

2. Conscious vs Unconscious

3. Approach vs Avoidance (avoidance = stronger)

Flynn Effect

• IQ scores rise ~3 points per decade globally

• Due to: nutrition, education, technology

Early IQ Tests

• Galton: intelligence = normally distributed

• Binet & Simon: 1st standard test; introduced mental age

• Stanford-Binet: IQ = (mental age / chronological age) × 100

  • Flawed: mental age stagnates

• Wechsler: deviation IQ (mean = 100, SD = 15), still used today

Emotional Intelligence (EI)

• Ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

• Not captured by traditional IQ tests

• High EI = more efficient emotion-related brain processing

spearman’s Two-Factor Theory

• g = general intelligence across domains

• s = specific skills (e.g., math, verbal)