AP Psychology: Motivation and Emotion

Motivation

a psychological process that directs and maintains behavior towards a goal.

Motive

needs or desires that energize behavior.

Instinct

complex, inherited behavior patterbs characteristic of a species that 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.

Need

 a necessity, especially a physiological one.

Desire

something that is wanted, but not needed.

Self-determination theory

the idea that people are motivated to learn, grow, and change when their three basic psychological needs are satisfied.

Autonomy

the need to feel in control of one's life.

Relatedness

the need for interpersonal relationships and feelings of belongingness.

Competence

the need to be effective in dealing with the environment.

Arousal theory

the level of alertness, wakefulness, an activation caused by activity in the CNS.

Primary drive

drives that are innate such as hunger, thirst, and sex.

Secondary drive

drives that are learned through conditioning such as working for money.

Optimal arousal theory

a psychological theory that explains how arousal level affects performance.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

looks at the relationship between arousal and performance, people perform best at a moderate level of arousal.

Sensation seeking

searching for a certain level of sympathetic nervous system of arousal (Experience seeking, thrill or adventure, disinhibition, boredom susceptibility)

Incentive theory

people are motivated by a desire to obtain external incentives.

Incentive

a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

Primary incentive

motivates behavior to satisfy a physiological need.

Secondary incentive

motivates behavior to satisfy a desire.

Cognitive theory

people are motivated as a result of their own thoughts, desires, goals, and expectations.

Intrinsic motivation

doing something because you generally like to do it.

Extrinsic motivation

doing something because of a promise of a reward or a threat of punishment.

Achievement

the drive to succeed, especially when in competition.

Lewin’s motivational conflicts

the theory suggests that conflicts between undesirable options are more difficult to resolve than conflicts between desirable options.

Approach-approach

the least stressful social conflict that involves 2 options, only one of which you can choose. Ex. You are accepted to both Harvard and Dartmouth.  Which do you choose? 

Avoidance-avoidance

involves 2 negative options, one of which you must choose.  Ex. mow the lawn or wash the dishes.

Approach-avoidance

involves whether or not to choose an option that has both a positive and negative consequence or consequences.  You are both attracted and repelled by the same goal.  Ex. you like to eat spicy food but it gives you heartburn.

Sociobiology

relates social behaviors to evolutionary biology.

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.

Lateral hypothalamus (LH)

the “on” button for eating.  *Remember: If it is lesioned, people will not feel hungry and they will become little.

Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)

the “off” button for eating.  *Remember: If it is lesioned, people will not feel full and they will become very huge.

Appetite hormone

controls the levels of glucose and the hunger of people.

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.

Satiety

feeling full.

Anorexia nervosa

an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) diets and becomes significantly (15 percent or more) underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve.

Bulimia nervosa

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

Binge-eating disorder

significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging, fasting, or excessive exercise that marks bulimia nervosa.

Body Mass Index

the percentage of a person’s body fat.

Obesity

a disorder characterized by being excessively overweight, usually considered to have a BMI of over 30%.

Emotion

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

James-Lange Theory

our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli.

Cannon-Bard theory (Thalamic Theory)

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

Schachter-Singer theory (Schachter-Two Factor)

to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal.

Cognitive-Appraisal Theory

Our emotional experience depends on our interpretation of the situation we are in.

Primary appraisal

appraise a situation of whether or not you want to do something based on the consequences.

Secondary appraisal

deciding to do something based on the primary appraisal and your current emotion.

Valence

how pleasant something is.

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.

Tend and befriend

a behavior exhibited by some animals, including humans, when under threat. It refers to protection of offspring (tending) and seeking out the social group for mutual defense (befriending).

Facial feedback

the effect of facial expressions on experienced emotions, as when a facial expression of anger or happiness intensifies feelings of anger or happiness.

Catharsis

emotional release.  The catharsis hypothesis maintains that “releasing’ aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges.

Broaden-and-build theory

positive emotions create opportunities to learn and grow beyond immediate situations.