Chapter 14: Motivation and Emotion

**Motivation**

is defined as a need or desire that serves to energize or direct behavior.

**Evolutionary theory**

states that animals are motivated to act by basic needs critical to the survival of the organism.

**primary drives**

Hunger, thirst, sleep, and reproduction needs are

**secondary drive**

The desire to obtain learned reinforcers, such as money or social acceptance, is a

**Olds and Milner**

discovered that rats would press a bar in order to send a small electrical pulse into certain areas of their brains.

**Instinct theory**

supported by evolutionary psychology, posits that the learning of species-specific behavior motivates organisms to do what is necessary to ensure their survival.

**Arousal theory**

states that the main reason people are motivated to perform any action is to maintain an ideal level of physiological arousal.

**Yerkes-Dodson law**

states that tasks of moderate difficulty, neither too easy nor too hard, elicit the highest level of performance.

**opponent process theory**

is a theory of motivation that is clearly relevant to the concept of addiction.

**drive-reduction theory**

posits that psychological needs put stress on the body and that we are motivated to reduce this negative experience.

**Homeostasis**

is a state of regulatory equilibrium.

**set point**

target temperature is called

**ventromedial hypothalamus**

will send messages to the brain to eat less and to exercise more.

**lateral hypothalamus**

When body weight falls below the set point, the brain sends messages to eat more and exercise less through the

**hypothalamus**

has been identified as an area controlling feeding.

**Leptin**

plays a role in the feedback loop between signals from the hypothalamus and those from the stomach.

Glucose

is the primary fuel of the brain and most other organs.

**lipostatic hypothesis**

A second candidate hypothesis is called the

**Anorexia nervosa**

which is more prevalent in females, is an eating disorder characterized by an individual being 15 percent below ideal body weight.

**Body dysmorphia**

or a distorted body image, is key to understanding this disorder.

**bulimia nervosa**

which is characterized by alternating periods of binging and purging.

**Androgens** and **estrogens**

are the primary sexual hormones in males and females, respectively.

**Biological Theory**

As discussed in the “biological bases” of motivation, early theories on motivation relied on a purely biological explanation of motivated behavior.

**Abraham Maslow**

proposed a hierarchical system for organizing needs.

**Self-actualization**

occurs when people creatively and meaningfully fulfill their own potential.

**Extrinsic motivators**

are often associated with the pressures of society, such as getting an education, having a job, and being sociable.

**Intrinsic motivators**

are associated with creativity and enjoyment.

**overjustification effect**

Over time, our intrinsic motivation may decrease if we receive extrinsic rewards for the same behavior.

**self-determination**

important intrinsic motivator

**self-efficacy**

the belief that we can or cannot attain a particular goal.

**achievement motivation**

the need to reach realistic goals that wintrinsic motivatore set for ourselves.

**Henry Murray**

believed that, although motivation is rooted in biology, individual differences and varying environments can cause motivations and needs to be expressed in many different ways.

**approach-approach**

conflict, one has to decide between two desirable options, such as having to choose between two colleges of similar characteristics.

**Avoidance-avoidance**

is a similar dilemma.

**approach-avoidance**

one choice is presented, but it carries both pluses and minuses.

**Emotions**

are experiential and subjective responses to certain internal and external stimuli.

**James-Lange theory**

posits that environmental stimuli cause physiological changes and responses.

**Cannon-Bard theory**

arose as a response to the James-Lange theory.

**two-factor theory**

proposed by **Schachter and Singer,** adds a cognitive twist to the James-Lange theory.

**Paul Ekman**

observed facial expressions from a variety of cultures and pointed out that, regardless of where two persons were from, their expressions of certain emotions were almost identical.

**facial feedback hypothesis**

the idea that a person’s facial expression can influence the actual emotion being experienced.

**limbic system**

is a collection of brain structures that lie on both sides of the thalamus; together, these structures appear to be primarily responsible for emotional experiences.

**amygdala**

plays an especially key role in the identification and expression of fear and aggression.

**flashback**

Similar circumstances to a traumatic event can lead to recall of the memory of the experience

**prefrontal cortex**

is critical for emotional experience, and it is also important in temperament and decision-making.

**autonomic nervous system**

is responsible for controlling the activities of most of the organs and glands, and it controls arousal.

**sympathetic nervous system**

provides the body with brief, intense, vigorous responses.

**parasympathetic nervous system**

provides signals to the internal organs during a calm resting state when no crisis is present.

**Stress**

causes a person to feel challenged or endangered.

**transient**

meaning that they are temporary challenges.

**Alarm**

refers to the arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in the release of various stimulatory hormones

**corticosterone**

which is used as a physiological index of stress.

**Resistance**

is the result of parasympathetic rebound.

**Richard Lazarus**

developed a cognitive theory of how we respond to stress.

**Type-A pattern**

behavior is typified by competitiveness, a sense of time urgency, and elevated feelings of anger and hostility.

**Type-B pattern**

behavior is characterized by a low level of competitiveness, low preoccupation with time issues, and a generally easygoing attitude.