Unit 8 Motiation, emotion, and personality

instinct theory of motivation

people perform certain behaviors because of these evolutionarily programmed instincts

drive reduction theory of motivation

A theory that states that people are motivated to take action in order to lessen the state of arousal caused by a physiological need.

incentive theory of motivation

theories of motivation in which behavior is a response to desiring external reinforcement (reward)

cognitive dissonance theory

the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent

optimal arousal theory

A theory of motivation stating that people are motivated to behave in ways that maintain what is, for them, an optimal level of arousal

social impairment (optimal arousal)

performance decreases in crowd (hard task)

social facilitation (optimal arousal)

performance increases in crowd (easy tasks)

hierarchy of needs theory

Maslow's theory that human needs - physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization - form a sort of hierarchy

Motivation Conflict

People seldom do anything for just one reason. In general, biological needs take priority over other motivations but not always.

approach-avoidance conflict

A conflict in which there are both appealing and negative aspects to the decision to be made.

approach-approach conflict

Conflict that results from having to choose between two attractive alternatives

avoidance-avoidance conflict

Conflict that results from having to choose between two distasteful alternatives

A.L. Washburn

Associated with studies on the motivation of eating (hunger). In the experiment, Washburn inflated a balloon in his stomach, monitored stomach contractions and found that hunger was felt when stomach contractions occurred.

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.

Insulin

A protein hormone secreted by the pancreas that is essential for the metabolism of carbohydrates and the regulation of glucose levels in the blood.

Hypothalamus

A neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward.

lateral hypothalamus

The part of the hypothalamus that produces hunger signals (memory tool: L for lunch)

Orexin

hunger-triggering hormone secreted by hypothalamus

ventromedial hypothalamus

The part of the hypothalamus that produces feelings of fullness as opposed to hunger, and causes one to stop eating. (memory tool: v for very full)

Ghrelin

A hunger-arousing hormone secreted by an empty stomach

set point theory

The idea that the body monitors fat-cell levels to keep them (and weight) fairly stable.

settling point theory

The idea that weight tends to drift around a level at which the constellation of factors that determine food consumption and energy expenditure achieve an equilibrium.

basal metabolic rate (BMR)

the rate at which the body burns energy when the organism is resting

unit bias

when the portion size is larger, people will eat more

Alfred Kinsey

Associated with motivation, sex, and sexuality. Regarded by some as the father of the scientific study of human sexuality. Published a series of reports which described common sexual behaviors in the US

sexual response cycle

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

sexual orientation

an enduring sexual attraction toward a group

industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology

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

human factors psychology

a branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use

achievement motivation

individual's need to meet realistic goals, receive feedback, and experience a sense of accomplishment

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

famous psychologist who interviewed over a hundred highly creative people and reported on the conditions under which they were most creative.

flow

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

positive psychology

a field focused on using psychology to enhance people’s lives and make them even happier

James-Lange Theory

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

Cannon-Bard Theory

theory proposing that an emotion-provoking event leads simultaneously to an emotion and to bodily reactions, but that they are separate processes

Schachter-Singer Theory

A theory of emotion that states that both physiological arousal and cognitive appraisal must occur before an emotion is consciously experienced.

Zajonc; LeDoux theory of emotion

theory that some emotional responses occur instantly; sometimes we feel before we think

Lazarus theory of emotion

The theory that a cognitive appraisal is the first step in an emotional response and all other aspects of an emotion, including physiological arousal, depend on it.

Paul Ekman

1934-present; Field: emotion; Contributions: found that facial expressions are universal

Paul Ekman's 7 basic emotions:

happiness, sadness, contempt, surprise, fear, disgust, anger

display rules

cross-cultural guidelines for how and when to express emotions

facial feedback effect

the tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness

subjective experience

reality as it is perceived and interpreted, not as it exists objectively

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

General Adaptation Syndrome

Seyle's concept that the body responds to stress with alarm, resistance and exhaustion

Stress

the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging

stress appraisal

the events of our lives flow through a psychological filter. How we appraise an event influences how much stress we experience and how effectively we respond.

Hans Selye

(1907-1982) Psychologist who researched a recurring response to stress that he called the general adaptation syndrome

GAS (general adaptation syndrome)

Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three phases—alarm, resistance, exhaustion.

alarm

the first phase of the stress response, in which the person faces a challenge and starts paying attention to it.

resistance stage

The second stage of the general adaptation syndrome, when there are intense physiological efforts to either resist or adapt to the stressor.

exhaustion stage

the third stage of the GAS, characterized by weakened resistance and possible deterioration

Type A personality

Personality characterized by (1) a strong competitive orientation, (2) impatience and time urgency, and (3) anger and hostility.

Type B personality style

a personality pattern in which persons are more relaxed, less aggressive, and less concerned about time

Holmes and Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale

Scale included 43 life events that involved change and some level of adaptation
Each event was assigned a numerical rating that estimates its relative impact in terms of life change units
Commonly used for stress research

coping mechanisms

patterns of behavior used to neutralize, deny, or counteract anxiety

problem-focused coping

Attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor.

emotion-focused coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction\#

Personality

an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

psychoanalytic theory

Theory which attempts to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behavior (developed by Freud)

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

founder of psychoanalysis, a controversial theory about the workings of the unconscious mind

Repression (Freud)

a mental process that removes unacceptable thoughts and memories from consciousness

unconscious

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

Id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

pleasure principle

Freud's theory regarding the id's desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain in order to achieve immediate gratification.

ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

reality principle

principle by which the ego functions; the satisfaction of the demands of the id only when negative consequences will not result

Superego

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations

morality principle

the principle on which the superego may operate, which results in feelings of guilt if its rules are violated

psychosexual stages

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

Oral Stage (0-18 months)

pleasure centers on the mouth- sucking, biting, chewing

Anal Stage (18-36 months)

pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control

Phallic Stage (3-6 years)

pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feelings

Latency Stage (6-puberty)

A phase of dormant sexual feelings

Genital phase

(psychoanalysis) the fifth sexual and social stage in a person's development occurring during adolescence

Oedipus complex

according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

identification

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos

Fixation

according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

defense mechanisms

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Regression

psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

reaction formation (defense mechanism)

- Preventing unacceptable thoughts or behaviors from being expressed by exaggerating opposite thoughts or types of behaviors.

EX: Jane hates nursing. She attended nursing school to please her parents. During career day, she speaks to prospective students about the excellence of nursing as a career.

Projection

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

Rationalization (defense mechanism)

offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one's actions

Displacement

psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

Denial

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or even to perceive painful realities.

sublimation (defense mechanism)

channeling threatening devices into acceptable outlets (e.g. working out)

sublet--\>outlet

dream analysis

A psychoanalytic technique in which the therapist interprets the symbolic meaning of the client's dreams.

manifest content of dreams

In Freudian dream analysis, the "surface," or remembered, story line, which contains symbols that mask the dream's latent content (the true meaning).

latent content

according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream (as distinct from its manifest content)

projective personality tests

Assessments that present stimuli without a specified meaning to test takers, whose responses can then be interpreted to uncover underlying personality characteristics

Rorschach inkblot test

the most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

Psychodynamic (Neo-Freudian Theories)

theories derived from Freud's model, but with less emphasis on sexuality as a driving force in personality and more optimism regarding the prospects for long-term personality growth

Alfred Adler

Neo-Freudian; introduced concept of "inferiority complex" and stressed the importance of birth order

inferiority complex

Adler's conception of a basic feeling of inadequacy stemming from childhood experiences