AP Psych: Motivation, Emotion, and Stress

Motivation

The process that initiates, guides, and sustains goal-directed behavior.

Instincts

Innate, fixed patterns of behavior that occur in response to specific stimuli, typically without prior learning.

Drive

A physiological state that motivates behavior aimed at reducing a need or maintaining homeostasis.

Homeostasis

The tendency of the body to maintain a balanced or constant internal state (e.g., body temperature, blood sugar levels).

Incentives

External stimuli or rewards that motivate behavior, often in anticipation of a positive outcome.

Boredom (Motivation)

A state of mind when an individual feels uninterested or unstimulated by their environment, which may drive them to seek novelty or challenge.

Hierarchy of Motives

A theory by Abraham Maslow that suggests people have a hierarchy of needs, starting with basic physiological needs and advancing to self-actualization.

Abraham Maslow

A psychologist best known for developing the Hierarchy of Needs theory, which states that individuals are motivated by a series of hierarchical needs.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

A psychological theory that prioritizes human needs in a five-tier pyramid: physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

Obesity

An excessive accumulation of body fat.

Ventromedial Hypothalamus

Plays a role in regulating feelings of satiety and hunger; its dysfunction may contribute to obesity.

Diet/Carbohydrates and the Reduction of Tension/Anxiety

Carbohydrates can increase serotonin levels in the brain, which may reduce feelings of anxiety and tension.

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by an extreme fear of gaining weight, leading to self-imposed starvation and extreme weight loss.

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder marked by episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors like vomiting or excessive exercise to avoid weight gain.

Job vs. Career

A job is a task or set of tasks performed for pay, while a career is a long-term professional pursuit that typically involves a series of jobs within a field.

Flow

A state of deep engagement and focus in an activity, where individuals lose track of time and experience intrinsic motivation.

Industrial-Organizational Psychology

The study of human behavior in organizations and the workplace, focusing on improving productivity, performance, and employee well-being.

Interviewer Illusion

The tendency for interviewers to overestimate their ability to judge a candidate’s suitability for a job based on a brief interview.

Halo Errors

A type of cognitive bias where an overall impression of a person influences specific judgments about their traits or behavior.

Achievement Motivation

The desire for significant accomplishment, mastering skills, and attaining high standards of success.

Transformational Leadership

A leadership style that inspires and motivates followers to achieve high levels of performance and to engage in personal growth.

Keys’ Semi-Starvation Diet

An experiment led by Ancel Keys during which participants were deprived of calories to study the psychological and physiological effects of starvation.

Lateral Hypothalamus

When electrically stimulated, triggers hunger in animals; damage to it can cause a loss of appetite.

Cannon-Bard Theory

A theory of emotion suggesting physiological responses and emotional experiences occur simultaneously but independently.

Cognitive Labels

In Schachter's Two-Factor Theory, the interpretation or labeling of a physiological response that leads to the experience of emotion.

James-Lange Theory

The theory that emotions result from the perception of physiological reactions to stimuli.

Epinephrine

A hormone produced by the adrenal glands that prepares the body for the fight-or-flight response.

Norepinephrine

A neurotransmitter and hormone involved in the body's stress response, influencing attention, arousal, and mood.

Physiological Arousal and Performance

According to the Yerkes-Dodson Law, performance increases with physiological arousal, but only to a point, after which it declines.

Lie Detector Tests/Polygraph

Polygraphs measure physiological responses (e.g., sweating, heart rate) that are assumed to change when a person is deceptive.

Guilty Knowledge Test

A type of lie detection test that measures a person’s physiological responses to information only known to the criminal.

Amygdala & Fear/Anger

The _________ plays a key role in processing emotions like fear and anger, particularly in threat detection.

Facial Expressions

Universal emotional expressions that convey a person’s emotional state and are linked to evolutionary survival.

Evolutionary Psychological Perspective

The view that human behaviors and emotions are shaped by evolutionary pressures and natural selection for adaptive functions.

Facial Feedback Effect

The hypothesis that facial expressions can influence emotional experiences.

Susan Mineka Monkey Experiment

An experiment where monkeys were conditioned to fear snakes, showing how fears can be learned through observation.

Catharsis Hypothesis

The idea that expressing emotions can reduce those emotions, though this theory is controversial.

Feel-good, Do-good Phenomenon

The tendency for people who are in a good mood to help others.

Adaptation-Level Phenomenon

The tendency to judge new experiences in relation to past experiences.

Relative Deprivation Principle

The perception that one is worse off than others, leading to feelings of discontent or frustration.

Schachter’s Two-Factor Theory

A theory of emotion suggesting that emotions are based on two factors: physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation.

Nervous System Divisions (Review)

The nervous system is divided into the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS).

Behavioral Medicine

A field of study integrating behavioral and biomedical science to understand the psychological and physical aspects of health.

General Adaptation Syndrome (Hans Selye)

A model describing the body's response to stress in three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

Type A vs Type B Personalities

Type A personalities are competitive and hostile; Type B personalities are relaxed and easygoing.

Psychophysiological Illness

A physical illness influenced by psychological factors, such as stress.

Ader & Cohen Rat Experiments

Research showing that the immune system can be conditioned by associating a specific taste with an immune response.

Executive vs Subordinate Rats

In Ader & Cohen’s experiments, rats in dominant roles had different physiological responses compared to subordinate rats.

Pessimistic vs Optimistic Explanatory Style

A pessimistic style attributes negative events to internal factors; an optimistic style attributes them to external factors.

Homeopathy & Alternative Medicine

Homeopathy is a practice based on the idea that 'like cures like,' using extremely diluted substances.

Dieting & Metabolic Rate

Dieting can affect metabolic rate; prolonged calorie restriction can lower metabolism.

Social Leadership vs Task Leadership

Social leadership focuses on building relationships; task leadership emphasizes getting the job done efficiently.

Anger

An emotional response to perceived threats or injustices, varying in intensity and expression.