Unit 7: Motivation and Emotion

AP Psychology Vocabulary

Motivation

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

Instinct

a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned

Drive-reduction theory

the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

Homeostasis

A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level

Incentive

a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

Hierarchy of needs

Maslow's pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active

Glucose

the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger.

Set point

the point at which an individual's "weight thermostat" is supposedly set. When the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight.

Basal metabolic rate

the body's resting rate of energy expenditure

Anorexia nervosa

an eating disorder in which an irrational fear of weight gain leads people to starve themselves

Bulimia nervosa

an eating disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise

Sexual response cycle

the four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson - excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution

Refractory period

a resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm

Sexual disorder

a problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning

Estrogen

A sex hormone, secreted in greater amounts by females than by males. In nonhuman female mammals, estrogen levels peak during ovulation, promoting sexual receptivity.

Testosterone

the most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty

Sexual orientation

an enduring sexual attraction toward members of either one's own sex (homosexual orientation) or the other sex (heterosexual orientation)

Flow

a completely involved, focused state of consciousness, with diminished awareness of self and time, resulting from optimal engagement of one's skills

Industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology

the application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces

Personnal psychology

a sud-field of I/O psychology that focuses on employee recruitment, selection, placement, training, appraisal, and developement.

Organizational psychology

a subfield of I/O psychology that examines organizational influences on worker satisfaction and productivity and facilitates organizational change

Structured interviews

interview process that asks the same job-relevant questions of all applicants, each of whom is rated on established scales

Achievement motivation

a desire for significant accomplishment: for mastery of things, people, or ideas; for attaining a high standard

Task leadership

goal-oriented leadership that sets standards, organizes work, and focuses attention on goals

Social leadership

group-oriented leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict, and offers support

Emotion

a response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience

James-Lange theory

the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli

Cannon-Bard theory

the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion

Two-factor theory

Schachter-Singer's theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal.

Polygraph

a machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion (such as perspiration and cardiovascular and breathing changes).

Catharsis

emotional release. In psychology, the catharsis hypothesis maintains that "releasing" aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges.

Feel-good, do-good phenomenon

people's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

Subjective well-being

self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life.

Adaptation-level phenomenon

our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience

Relative deprivation

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself