AP psych Motivation, Emotion, and Personality

Affect

Any experience of feeling or emotion.

Approach-Approach Conflict

A situation involving a choice between two equally desirable but incompatible alternatives.

Approach-Avoidance Conflict

A situation involving a single goal or option that has both desirable and undesirable aspects or consequences.

Arousal Theory

A theory of motivation emphasizing the importance of a balance in our levels of stimulation.

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict

A situation involving a choice between two equally objectionable alternatives.

Boredom Susceptibility

According to sensation-seeking theory, this quality represents a dislike of repetition, predictability and monotony.

Broaden-and-Build Theory of Emotion

A positive psychology theory that suggests that positive emotions can help people build skills and resources over time.

Cognitive Label/Appraisal

A theory that cognitive evaluation (a thought) is involved in the generation of some emotions.

Disinhibition

According to sensation-seeking theory, this quality represents impulsiveness, extraversion, and a hedonistic lifestyle.

Display Rules

A socially learned standard that regulates the expression of emotion, varying by culture.

Drive

A generalized state of readiness precipitating or motivating an activity, usually created by deprivation of a needed substance or the presence of negative stimuli.

Drive-Reduction Theory

The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state that motivates an organism to satisfy the need and return to homeostasis.

Emotion

A complex reaction pattern involving experiential, behavioral, and physiological elements by which an individual attempts to deal with a personally significant matter or event.

Experience Seeking

According to sensation-seeking theory, this represents a need for a variety of inner experiences.

External Cues

Related to hunger.

Extrinsic Motivation

An external incentive to engage in a specific activity, especially motivation arising from the expectation of punishment or reward.

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

The effect of facial expressions on experienced emotions, where a facial expression intensifies feelings of anger or happiness.

Ghrelin

Hormone involved in stimulating appetite.

Homeostasis

A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of body chemistry around a particular level.

Hypothalamus

Structure in the limbic system that regulates many drive-related behaviors, including hunger.

Incentive Theory

The theory that an external stimulus enhances or serves as a motive for behavior.

Instinct

A complex, innate behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species.

Intrinsic Motivation

An incentive to engage in a specific activity that derives from pleasure in the activity itself.

Leptin

A protein, manufactured and secreted by fat cells, that communicates to the brain the amount of body fat stored.

Lewin's Motivational Conflicts Theory

Theory proposing that choices create conflicts one must resolve, forming the basis of motivation.

Motivation

A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.

Optimal Arousal

A motivational theory that individuals maintain contact with stimuli to achieve and maintain a preferred stimulation level.

Pituitary Gland

The master gland of the endocrine system, regulating hormone production related to hunger and satiety.

Satiety

The state of being fully satisfied to or beyond capacity, such as when hunger has been fully satisfied.

Self-Actualization

The complete realization of that of which one is capable, involving maximum development of abilities.

Self-Determination Theory

A theory that proposes that people are motivated by intrinsic or extrinsic motivations.

Sensation-Seeking Theory

A theory proposing that one's need for varied or novel experiences is the basis of motivation.

Thrill or Adventure Seeking

According to sensation-seeking theory, a desire to engage in unusual or risky physical activity.

Universal Emotions

Emotions that include anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

The principle stating that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases.

Agreeableness

A personality dimension that includes trust, altruism, kindness, cooperation, and other prosocial behaviors.

Big Five Theory

A model of primary dimensions of individual differences in personality, labeled as extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.

Collectivist Culture

Giving priority to the goals of one's group and defining one's identity accordingly.

Conscientiousness

A personality dimension describing someone who is responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized.

Denial

Defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or perceive painful realities.

Displacement

Defense mechanism that shifts negative impulses toward a more acceptable object or person.

Ego

The conscious 'executive' part of personality mediating among the demands of the other two parts of the psyche.

Ego Defense Mechanisms

The psyche's protective methods of reducing anxiety by distorting reality.

Emotional Stability

A personality dimension in which a person generally maintains emotional balance.

Extraversion

A personality dimension describing someone who is sociable, gregarious, and assertive.

Actor Analysis

A statistical procedure identifying clusters of related items on a test, used to identify performance dimensions underlying a person's total score.

Humanistic Psychology

A perspective aiming to understand personality by considering what makes a person essentially themselves and gives their life meaning.

Id

A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy striving to satisfy basic drives, demanding immediate gratification.

Openness to Experience

A personality dimension characterized by curiosity, open-mindedness, and acceptance of novel situations.

Personality

An individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Personality Inventories

Questionnaires designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors.

Preconscious Mind

The level of the psyche containing thoughts and feelings not presently in awareness but can be readily called to consciousness.

Projection

Defense mechanism disguising threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

Projective Test

A personality test providing ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of inner dynamics.

Psychodynamic Theory

A view of personality that focuses on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences.

Rationalization

Defense mechanism providing self-justifying explanations in place of real threatening reasons for one's actions.

Reaction Formation

Defense mechanism in which the ego switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites.

Reciprocal Determinism

The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.

Regresssion

Defense mechanism where an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage.

Repression

The basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.

Rorschach Test

The most widely used projective test, identifying people's inner feelings through inkblot interpretations.

Self-Concept

One's description and evaluation of oneself, including qualities, characteristics, and skills.

Self-Efficacy

An individual's subjective perception of their capability to perform in a given setting.

Self-Esteem

The degree to which the qualities in one's self-concept are perceived as positive.

Social-Cognitive Theory

A personality theory stating that traits and environment interact with each other and influence behavior.

Sublimation

Defense mechanism that re-channels unacceptable impulses into socially approved activities.

Superego

Represents internalized ideals, providing standards for judgment and future aspirations.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective test where people express inner feelings through stories about ambiguous scenes.

Trait

A characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act.

Trait Theories

A theory emphasizing the lasting nature of personal characteristics and tendency to respond in different situations.

Unconditional Positive Regard

According to Carl Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person.

Unconscious

According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories.