unit 7 master flashcard set

Motivation

Process by which activities are started, directed, and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are met.

Extrinsic Motivation

A person performs an action because it leads to an outcome that is separate from the person.

Intrinsic Motivation

A person performs an action because the act itself is rewarding or satisfying in some internal manner.

Creativity and Motivation

Children’s creativity increases more with intrinsic than extrinsic motivation.

Instincts

Biologically determined and innate patterns of behavior.

Instinct Approach

An approach to motivation that assumes people are governed by instincts similar to those of animals.

Instinct Theories and Human Behavior

Instinct approaches could not explain all behavior but proved that human behavior is controlled by hereditary factors.

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

Instincts reside in the id, which governs basic human needs and drives.

Need

A requirement of some material (e.g., food or water) essential for survival.

Drive

Psychological tension and physical arousal that motivates the organism to act in order to fulfill a need and reduce tension.

Drive-Reduction Theory

Connection between internal physiological states and outward behavior.

Primary Drives

Survival needs of the body (e.g., hunger, thirst).

Acquired (Secondary) Drives

Learned through experience or conditioning (e.g., need for money, social approval).

Homeostasis

The tendency of the body to maintain a steady state.

Imbalance and Primary Drives

When there is a primary drive need, the body is in imbalance.

Need for Achievement (nAch)

Desire to attain goals, receive feedback, and face challenges.

Carol Dweck on nAch

nAch is linked to personality factors, including a person’s view of how the self affects understanding of actions.

Self

Beliefs one holds about abilities and relationships with others.

Dweck’s Research in Education

People form one of two belief systems about intelligence, which affects their motivation to achieve.

External Locus of Control

Belief that intelligence is fixed, leading to learned helplessness.

Internal Locus of Control

Belief that intelligence is changeable, leading to motivation.

Need for Affiliation (nAff)

The need for friendly social interactions and relationships.

Need for Power (nPow)

Desire for control, influence, and impact.

Stimulus Motive

A motive that appears to be unlearned but causes an increase in stimulation, such as creativity.

Arousal Theory

People have an optimal level of tension.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

A moderate level of arousal is best for most tasks, but the effect is modified by task difficulty.

• Easy tasks require a high-moderate level.

• Difficult tasks require a low-moderate level.

Sensation Seeker

A person who needs more arousal (complex and varied sensory experiences).

• May be linked to temperament and/or operant conditioning.

• High-intensity-seeking infants reach out for new stimuli.

• Low-intensity-seeking infants hesitate in new situations.

Incentives

Things that attract or lure people into action.

Incentive Approaches

Theories of motivation in which behavior is explained as a response to external stimuli and their rewarding properties.

Earliest Incentive Theories

Edward Tolman demonstrated the relationship between incentives and learning (specifically latent learning - you implicitly learn but don’t demonstrate it until incentives are introduced).

Expectancy-Value Theories

A class of incentive theories based on Tolman’s work that assumes human actions depend on beliefs, values, and importance attached to goals.

Kurt Lewin’s Field Theory of Decision Making

Behavior is the result of complex interactions between individuals and their environment, represented as a "field" of forces. People make decisions by balancing these forces—driving forces that push them toward a particular behavior and restraining forces that prevent them from doing so—leading to a state of equilibrium or change depending on the force dynamics.

Julian Rotter’s Social Learning Theory

Behavior is shaped by the interaction between individual cognitive factors (such as expectations and values) and environmental influences. People make decisions based on what they expect to happen and how much they value the outcome, with internal or external locus of control playing a crucial role in guiding their actions. This theory bridges cognitive and behavioral elements to explain how learning occurs in social contexts.

Current View of Motivation

Motivation is driven by both the push of internal needs/drives and the pull of external rewards.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Humanistic psychologist who proposed that several levels of needs must be met before achieving the highest level of personality fulfillment.

Self-Actualization

A rare state where people have satisfied lower needs and achieved their full potential.

Deficiency Needs

Basic survival needs that must be fulfilled first.

Growth Needs

Desires like friendship, self-esteem, and self-fulfillment.

Maslow’s Pyramid

• Physiological needs

• Safety

• Belongingness and love

• Esteem

• Cognitive needs

• Aesthetic needs

• Self-actualization

• Transcendence (helping others achieve self-actualization).

Transcendence

Similar to Erikson’s generativity stage, focusing on helping the next generation.

Peak Experiences

Moments of temporary self-actualization.

McGregor’s Management Theories

• Theory X: Workers are unmotivated and need strict management.

• Theory Y: Workers seek meaningful work and thrive in positive environments.

Cross-Cultural Research on Maslow’s Theory

• The order of needs varies across cultures.

• Cultures like Greece & Japan emphasize security over self-actualization.

• Sweden & Norway prioritize quality of life over productivity.

Alderfer’s ERG Theory

An alternative to Maslow’s hierarchy with three levels:

• Existential needs

• Relatedness needs (safety & relationships)

• Growth needs (self-esteem & self-actualization)

Self-Determination Theory (SDT)

Ryan and Deci proposed three inborn, universal needs for psychological growth:

1. Autonomy – Control over one’s own behaviors and goals.

2. Competence – Mastery of challenges.

3. Relatedness – Sense of belonging and security in relationships.

Hunger Pangs

Stomach contractions triggered by sensory receptors responding to stomach stretching.

Insulin

A hormone that controls blood sugar levels and increases hunger.

Carbohydrates and Hunger

Carbs cause insulin spikes, leading to hunger cycles.

Glucagons

Hormones that are secreted by the pancreas to control the levels of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates in the body by increasing the level of glucose in the bloodstream

Ventromedial Hypothalamus (VMH)

Stops eating when glucose rises.

Lateral Hypothalamus (LH)

Triggers hunger when insulin rises.

Weight Set Point

The body’s preferred weight level, influenced by metabolism and exercise.

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

The rate at which the body burns energy at rest.

• BMR decreases with age, leading to weight gain.

Eating and Conditioning

Hunger is conditioned by external cues (e.g., time of day, stress).

Cultural Differences in Eating Habits

• US: Emotional eating, eating while watching TV.

• Japan: Eating is more tied to hunger cues and social customs.

Obesity

A condition where body weight is 20% or more above ideal weight.

Genetic and Environmental Factors in Obesity

• Genetic predisposition plays a role.

• Industrialized societies contribute through overeating and low activity.

Overeating

High blood sugar → more insulin → Low blood sugar → appetite

Leptin

• Appetite control

• Secreted as a hormone by the fatty tissues of the body

• When released into the bloodstream, it signals the hypothalamus that the body has had enough food, reducing appetite

• Enters the bloodstream from the fat cells, traveling to the hypothalamus in the brain where it binds to receptors and causes the hypothalamus to signal more/less food

hunter-gatherers

Depended on finding and gathering food as it became available. Often faced periods of food scarcity or lean times. Benefited from genes that promoted energy storage to sustain them during times of want. Contributes to modern obesity.

herder-farmers

Lived in regions where cultivating food and raising animals was feasible. Had more stable access to food supplies compared to hunter-gatherers.

Anorexia Nervosa

A condition where a person (typically young and female) reduces eating to 15% below expected body weight, often leading to severe physical and psychological consequences.

anorexia hospitalization

When weight drops to 40% below the expected body weight, hospitalization is necessary for medical intervention.

Physical Symptoms of Anorexia

Abnormal hormone secretion (thyroid and adrenal glands), weak heart, diarrhea, loss of muscle tissue, sleep loss, low blood pressure, dehydration, severe chemical imbalances, and organ damage.

Psychological Factors in Anorexia

Contributing psychological factors include rejection of sexual maturity, sexual abuse, perfectionism, and family dysfunction.

Anorexia Treatment

Psychological counseling, often involving 2-4 months of therapy, including supportive psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, group therapy, and family therapy.

Bulimia Nervosa

A disorder characterized by periods of starving followed by purging (throwing up the food), often in response to an obsessive preoccupation with appearance and weight.

Characteristics of Bulimia

Typically affects females, is marked by excessive dieting, and the disorder often begins in the early 20s, unlike anorexia which typically starts in early puberty.

Detection of Bulimia

Individuals with bulimia usually maintain a normal weight, making the disorder difficult to detect. They have distorted views of how much food is considered excessive.

Physical Symptoms of Bulimia

Includes severe tooth decay, erosion of the esophagus lining from vomiting, enlarged salivary glands, potassium, calcium, and sodium imbalances, intestinal damage from laxatives, and heart problems, fatigue, and seizures.

Causes of Bulimia

Genetic causes, psychological control issues, and brain chemistry imbalances involving serotonin and leptin.

Bulimia Treatment

As a clinical mental disorder, bulimia requires hospitalization, drugs that affect serotonin levels, psychotherapy, and cognitive therapy.

Sexual Motivation

Nature’s way of making people procreate, enabling species’ survival. It is also the genes’ way of preserving and spreading themselves.

Kinsey’s Research

Alfred Kinsey from Indiana University set out to answer students' questions. His controversial research shocked the 1940s audience. Social scientists noted that his nonrandom sample contained an overrepresentation of well-educated white urbanites.

Premarital Sex and Masturbation

Most men and nearly half the women reported having had premarital sex. Both men and women reported masturbation, and women who masturbated to orgasm before marriage seldom had difficulties experiencing orgasm after marriage.

Excitement Phase

Areas of the body become engorged with blood, expanding and secreting lubricant.

Plateau Phase

Excitement peaks as breathing, pulse, and blood pressure rates continue to increase.

Orgasm

Could not reliably distinguish between descriptions by men and women. When men and women undergo PET scans while having an orgasm, the same subcortical brain regions glow, indicating that brain responses are very similar.

When people passionately in love undergo fMRI scans while viewing photos of their beloved or a stranger, brain responses to the partner are equal.

After Orgasm

The body gradually returns to its unaroused state. Engorged blood vessels release accumulated blood quickly if orgasm has occurred, and slowly otherwise.

Resolution Phase

In the resolution phase, the male enters a refractory period (which can last from a few minutes to a day or more), during which he is incapable of another orgasm. The female has a much shorter refractory period.

Masters and Johnson

Psychologists who sought to not only describe the human sexual response cycle but to understand and treat the inability to complete it.

Sexual Disorders

Problems that consistently impair sexual functioning, such as a lack of sexual energy and arousability. For men, this includes premature erectile and ejaculative disorder (inability to have or maintain an erection). For women, it refers to orgasmic disorder (infrequently or never experiencing orgasm).

Causes of Sexual Disorders

Personality disorders are largely discounted as causes. Most women who experience sexual distress relate it to their emotional relationship with their partner. These issues can be helped by receiving behaviorally oriented therapy. The introduction of Viagra in 1998 became a treatment for erectile disorder.

Hormones and Sexual Behavior

• Direct physical development of sexual characteristics and the activation of sexual behavior, especially in nonhuman animals.

• Female becomes sexually receptive ("in heat") when the production of the female hormone estrogen peaks at ovulation.

  • Researchers can stimulate receptivity by injecting female animals with estrogen.

• Castrated male rats, lacking testosterone, lose interest in receptive females.

Human hormones

These hormones have a loose influence on sexual behavior, with slight increases in sexual desire observed during ovulation in women with mates.

Women's sexuality

Women's sexual behavior is more responsive to testosterone levels than estrogen levels, and a drop in testosterone may diminish sexual interest.

Testosterone replacement therapy

This therapy can restore sexual appetite in women whose testosterone levels have dropped due to ovarian or adrenal gland removal.

Fluctuations in male testosterone

In men, normal fluctuations in testosterone levels have minimal effect on sex drive, with variations influenced by sexual stimulation.

Sexual arousal and testosterone

Social arousal, particularly with women, can lead to increased testosterone levels and sexual arousal, which can be both a cause and consequence.

Hormonal shifts and sexual desire

Large hormonal shifts, such as those experienced during puberty, have a greater effect on sexual desire compared to normal short-term fluctuations.

Pubertal surge

Puberty significantly increases interest in dating and sexual stimulation, and its absence can prevent normal sexual development.

Castration and sexual drive

Adult men who undergo castration experience a decrease in sexual drive as testosterone levels fall.

Depo-Provera

Male sex offenders lose their sexual urge when taking this medication, which reduces testosterone to prepubertal levels.

External stimuli

Men become aroused by seeing, hearing, or reading erotic material, with most women responding similarly, though their brains show more amygdala activation.

Habituation

Repeated exposure to sexual stimuli leads to a reduced emotional response over time.

Effects of explicit material

Research suggests that exposure to sexual content can lead to negative effects, such as an increased willingness to harm women, devaluation of partners, and decreased satisfaction with one's own partner.

Imagined stimuli

The brain is the most significant organ in sexual arousal, and imagination can heavily influence sexual desire, even in the absence of genital sensation.

Spinal cord injury and desire

People with spinal cord injuries may still experience sexual desire despite having no genital sensation.

Dreams and arousal

Sleep studies show that arousal accompanies dreams, even though most dreams lack sexual content, and both men and women experience sexual imagery in dreams.

Nighttime orgasm

Men are more likely to experience nocturnal emissions or orgasms when they have not recently orgasmed.