Psychology Test 4

What Is Drive Reduction Theory?

Drive reduction theory explains that as a drive becomes stronger, we are motivated to reduce

it.

Need:

Physiological State, A need is a deprivation that energizes

the drive to eliminate or reduce the deprivation. Generally, psychologists think of needs as

underlying our drives. You may have a need for water; the drive that accompanies that need

is your feeling of being thirsty.

Drive

Psychological State, A drive

is an aroused state of tension that occurs because of a physiological need. You can think of a

drive as a psychological itch that requires scratching.

What Is Optimum Arousal Theory?

suggests that there should be a level of arousal

that is ideal for facilitating goal attainment.

Yerkes–Dodson law,

The psychological principle stating that performance is best under conditions

of moderate arousal rather than either low or high arousal.

What Is the Evolutionary Approach?

emphasized the role of instincts, An instinct is

an innate (unlearned) biological pattern of behavior that is assumed to be universal

throughout a species. Generally, an instinct is set in motion by a sign stimulus—something in

the environment that turns on a fixed pattern of behavior.

How do brain processes influence hunger

Lateral Hypothalamus (located on the out portion): involved in stimulating eating.

Ventromedial Hypothalamus(located in the middle): involved in reducing hunger

What Is Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder in which an individual consistently repeats a

binge-and-purge eating pattern. The individual goes on an eating binge and then purges by

self-induced vomiting or the use of laxatives or excessive exercise

hierarchy of needs

Physiological Need, Safety, Love and Belongingness, Esteem, Self Actualization

What Is Self-Determination Theory?

Three basic organismic(needs are innate and exist in every person) needs: competence(met when were able to bring desired outcomes), relatedness(warm , meaningful connections), and autonomy(sense that we are in control of our life)

What Are Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations?

intrinsic motivation

Motivation based on internal factors such as organismic needs (competence,

relatedness, and autonomy), as well as curiosity, challenge, and fun.

Extrinsic motivation involves external incentives such as rewards and punishments.

When we are extrinsically motivated, we engage in a behavior for some external payoff or to

avoid an external punishment.

Self-regulation

The process by which an organism effortfully controls behaviour in order to

pursue important objectives.

delay of gratification

A key concept in understanding how individuals successfully pursue goals is delay of

gratification—putting off a pleasurable experience in the interest of some larger but later

reward

What is emotion?

Is feeling or affect that can involve physiological arousal, conscious experience( feeling joy) and behavioural expression ( a smile)

Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS)

Fight or flight, is responsible for rapid reactions

to threats. SNS

Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS)

Relaxed stage, calms the body, promoting processes of maintenance and healing.

autonomic nervous system (ANS)

takes messages to and from the body’s internal organs, monitoring processes

James–Lange theory

emotion results from physiological states triggered by stimuli in the environment: Emotion occurs after physiological reactions.

Cannon–Bard theory

the proposition that emotion and physiological reactions occur simultaneously.

Walter Cannon argued

Walter Cannon (1927) rejected the idea that each emotional experience has its own

particular set of physiological changes. He argued that different emotions could not be

associated with specific physiological changes because autonomic nervous system responses

are too diffuse and slow to account for rapid and differentiated emotional responses.

How Do Neurotransmitters and Neural Circuits Affect

Emotions?

dopamine and endorphins

are linked to positive emotions, such as happiness
norepinephrine functions in regulating arousal and anxiety

What Is the Two-Factor Theory of Emotion? Stanley Schachter and Jerome

Singer

Perceive external stimulus—→ Physiological arousal—→ Emotion

Perceive external stimulus——> Cognitive labelling—→ Emotion

The Primacy Debate: Cognition or Emotion?

The Primacy Debate (Zajonc vs. Lazarus, 1980s) questions whether emotions or cognitions (thoughts/appraisals) first drive behavior. Robert Zajonc argued "preferences need no inferences" (affective primacy), while Richard Lazarus maintained that emotions require prior cognitive appraisal.

How Do We Classify Emotions?

valence, arousal, and motivational quality.

What Is Valence?

The valence of an emotion refers to whether it feels pleasant or unpleasant

How Does Arousal Level Influence Emotion?

The arousal level of an emotion (sometimes called activation level) is the degree to which the

emotion is reflected in an individual’s being active, engaged, or excited versus passive,

disengaged, or calm.

You can think of valence as the quality of the emotion and arousal as

linked to the intensity.

Motivational Quality of emotions

emotions to avoid punishers or to approach rewards

How Do Motivation and Emotion Affect Health

and Wellness?

Happiness is moderately heritable, and there is reason to consider each person as having a

happiness set point.

One obstacle to changing happiness is the

• hedonic treadmill: the idea that we quickly adapt to changes that might enhance happiness.

• Another obstacle is that pursuing happiness for its own sake often backfires.

• Ways to enhance happiness include engaging in physical activity, helping others, engaging in

  positive self-reflection, experiencing meaning (such as by keeping a gratitude journal and by

  practising loving-kindness meditation)