Motivation and Emotion Final Exam

automatic processes

can be carried out rapidly without effort or explicit intention

- often involuntary and occurs outside awareness (unconscious) and without effort

controlled processes

refers to a process under the flexible, intentional control of the individual that the individual is consciously aware of

- effortful and requires cognitive resources

Psychodynamic theory of personality

term that refers to all theories the descent from Freud's original work and his students work

Freud emphasized the unconscious and the basic motives of sex and aggression

Conscious

what you are aware of at any given moment

unconscious

according to Freud, the unconscious mind houses desires that are too threatening/took provoking

Conscious v. unconcious

conflict between the two involves sexual and aggressive desires

-thought this conflict is what produces anxiety, depression, and the other psychological disorders

how can you know unconscious there

information about motives creep to surface in disguised form (has to be disguised or would cause too much anxiety)

Ways unconscious observable

1. slips of the tongue (Freudian slip)

2. dreams

3. defense mechanisms

slip of the tongue (freudian slip)

when you say what you really believe/desire, but not what you actually want to say

dreams

"royal road to the unconscious"

dreams contain latent (symbolic) information that reveal our true desires in disguised form

during sleep, desires from unconscious are able to creep out

defense mechanisms

unconscious methods of minimizing anxiety by denying and distancing from reality; one of the primary mechanisms to cope with anxiety

1. projection

2. repression

3. reaction formation

using these is healthy as long as a person doesn't really on them too much bc they help us cope with threatening thoughts/desires

projection

defense mechanism

project feelings and anxieties onto others; attributing one's own unacceptable feelings/impulses to another

ex: you hate your parents but that is too threatening so you come believe they hate you

repression

defense mechanism

keeping distressing thoughts/feelings out of consciousness by burning them into unconscious

reaction formation

defense mechanism

behaving the opposite of the way you really feel

ex: you're attracted to someone but you act as if you dislike them

Connectionist model

related concepts are linked together in networks (schemas)

a concept can be piece of info, idea, memory, goal, behavioral representation, attitudes, etc.

spreading activation

when one concept is activated, concepts linked to the concept also become activated

once a concept is activated, it guides information processing and behavior

when you activate one goal, activation gets spread to other things

typically, not aware that other goals are activated, and they can direct behavior

how can a goal be activated

1. by directing your attention toward them

2. priming

priming

activation of a concept (goal) in a network by spreading activation from a neighboring concept (environmental cue)

can activate goals outside conscious awareness - those goals direct behavior, as well as associated cognitions and feelings

two types of priming

1. subliminal

2. supraliminal

subliminal priming

the prime occurs outside of conscious awareness

supraliminal priming

an individual is consciously aware of prime but is unaware of how the prime influences their responses

Automatic processes examples

1. automatic goal management

2. Implicit egotism

3. Embodied cognition

4. impact of others

automatic goal management

goals and their temptations are connected in networks in a special way that reduces ability of the temptation of affect behavior - counteractive control

counteractive control

when a temptation trigger is encountered, it activates the temptation by also strongly activates the paired competing goals, which then inhibits the temptation

process completely unconscious

is more successful if competing goal has high levels of importance and commitment

implicit egotism

humans have a mostly unconscious preference for things they associated with themselves

Supportive findings:

1. ppl at above chance levels are likely to move to a state similar to their name, and also have a profession that is like their last name

2. chameleon effect

chameleon effect

we tend to unconsciously mimic posture, mannerisms, facial expressions, etc, of those around us

doing so causes our interaction partners to like us more

bc we unconsciously prefer those who act in a way that mirror how we act

embodied cognition

changes in motor system can unconsciously produce changes in the cognitive system

- joystick studies

impact of others

the presence or thought of others can prime goal

- one particular person who is likely to very capable of priming at least some of your goal is your mom

the other doesn't have to be a close other: goal contagion

goal contagion

when we observed another's behavior we tend to interpret their behavior in terms of goals that then become activated in our mind and guide our behavior

- goals are contagious

Three characteristics of the self:

1. social in nature

2. self-awareness

3. traditionally associated with two core motives:

a. self-enhancement/positivity strivings

b. prediction and control

festingers social comparison theory:

ppl often evaluate their own abilities and opinions by comparing themselves to others, especially when uncertain of opinions or abilities

self-awareness

sense that you are distinct from your environment

only humans, dolphins, primates, elephants, and magpie have self-awarenesss

human children don't seem to become self-aware until 18-24 months

self-enhancement motives

motivation to maintain a positive view of the self

- we want to view selves in a positive light; be able to feel good about ourselves; protect positive self-view/esteem

evidence:

1. unrealistically positive views

2. downward social comparison

3. self-handicapping

4. self-serving bias

5. BIRGing

unrealistically positive views

tendency to rate self as above average in abilities/traits

inflated optimism about the self

downward social comparison

comparing selves to others who are less successful, happy or less fortunate

- compare yourself to someone worse off than you

self-handicapping

attempts to handicap or sabotage our own performance, in order to provide a later excuse for an anticipated failure

- set up excuse before (not after) attempting the task they may fail

self-serving bias

when explaining why we succeeded or failed, we tend to take credit for success via dispositional attributions and to attribute failure to the situation

BIRGing (Basking in Reflected Glory of others)

increasing self-esteem by emphasizing one's associations with high status groups or people

prediction and control

desire to control (or a least predict) one's outcomes

conceptually similar to need for competence

self-verification theory

individuals seek and prefer information about the self that confirms their self-views, regardless of whether those self-views are positive or negative

corollary: individuals prefer and gravitate toward others who provide self-confirming feedback

if you have a positive self view -> prefer positive feedback

if you have a negative self view -> prefer negative feedback

how people self-verify

1. selective recall

2. selective interaction