Unit 5- Emotions & Motivation

AP Psychology

Basal metabolic rate

Number of calories our bodies need at rest + the calories you need for extra energy expenditure. (Yeah, you hear that health freaks? Your body needs calories!)

Set point theory

Weight is relatively fixed and largely predetermined, body will autocorrect us to keep our weight stable.

Lateral hypothalamus

Signals the body to eat

Ventromedial hypothalamus

Signals our body to stop eating

Insulin

Regulates blood sugar after you eat. If blood sugar dips, it signals body to eat.

Made by pancreas, low amounts cause T1 diabetes.

Ghrelin

Tells brain we need food. Secreted by your stomach. Will cause the embarrassing growling noise.

(hehe, ghrelin? like gremlin?)

Leptin

Tells brain to stop eating

When we eat, our white blood cells bloat and secrete leptin

Anorexia nervosa

Extreme calorie restriction (>1% of population)

Bulimia nervosa

Cycles of binging followed by purging (1% of population)

Binge-eating disorder

Similar to bulimia. Binge eating followed by shame, but not purging. (3% of population)

Instinct theory

We have innate, instinctive needs related to survival

Evolutionary perspective

Like wanting to have a ‘group’ comes back to safety in numbers

Does not account for non-survival related behaviors

Drive-reduction theory

Our bodies create an unpleasant physical state that we try to satisfy (Drives)

Like getting a headache because you need water

Biological perspective

Does not account for non-drive related behaviors

Sensation-seeking theory

Seeking excitement or novel feelings

Extreme sports, adrenaline junkies, traveling

Biological perspective (bc genetics influence how much of a SS you are/routed in the nervous system)

Does not explain why we do boring things. Also, not everyone gets this

Optimal arousal theory

Bodies want us to balance boredom and overstimulation/stress (amounts of arousal)

Biological perspective

But everyone’s ideal level of arousal is different, and ideal levels change based on the situation.

Incentive theory

We do things because of external rewards and punishments

Behavioral perspective (shock of the century, I know)

But why then do we still do things we are punished for?

Hierarchy of needs

Maslow!

We prioritize some needs over others- basic needs first, then can worry about higher needs.

Physiological, safety, love & belonging, esteem, self actualization, transcendence

People have issues with the order- we don’t always put ourself first. Also, why have transcendence if it can’t be reached?

Circadian rhythm

Sleep wake cycle on ~24/25 hour schedule.

When darkness is detected, Pineal glands release melatonin

nREM-1

Drifting off

Brain emits Alpha waves

Hypnagogic hallucinations

5-10 mins

nREM-2

Light sleep, can be woken easily

Brain emits Theta waves

Erratic sleep spindles (spikes on EEG)

May sleep talk here

~20 mins

nREM-3

Deep sleep

Brain emits Delta waves

Sleep disorders occur here

Restorative, slow autonomic functions

~40 mins, then go back to nREM-2 for ~20 mins, then to REM

REM

Rapid eye movement

Dreams occur here

Brain emits Beta waves again

Increased autonomic functioning (heartrate, breathing)

Brain is active, body is paralyzed

REM starts at ~10 mins, then increases every cycle (taking time away from nREM-3). Can last up to an hour

Insomnia

Inability to fall or stay asleep

10-15%

Narcolepsy

Uncontrollable sleep attacks

0.005%

(Fun fact, 45% more likely if born in March)

Somnambulism

nREM-3 sleep disorder

Sleep walking- 10%, more common in children and females

Causes: Fatigue, illness, anxiety

Night terrors

nREM-3 sleep disorder

Intense fear during sleep

3% in kids, 1% in adults

Causes: Fatigue, illness, anxiety

Sleep apnea

Repeatedly will stop breathing at night

5%- more common in men

Related to obesity, smoking, blocking airways

Wish-fulfillment theory

Our good old pal Freud and his band of merry psychoanalytics

Dreams are unconscious wished- outlet for unacceptable thoughts and feelings

Manifest content and Latent content (more on that later!)

Manifest content

What actually happened in that dream

Wish fulfillment theory

Latent content

What the stuff in your dreams mean

Wish fulfillment theory

Consolidation theory

‘tis the cognitive explanation

Dreams serve as a memory function (dream about recent events)

Evidence: REM increases after a stressful event

Fault: Why would we dream about things we’ve never experienced?

Activation-synthesis theory

Biological explanation

During REM, brain releases random neural firings. Brain tries to make sense of them, thus dreams.

REM sleep behavior disorder

No paralysis during REM, people act out dreams.

Industrial-organizational psychology (I/O)

Study of human behavior in the workplace, optimizing behavior in employees. Overarching category for Personnel and Organizational

Theory X

Leadership style- McGregor’s model of workforce motivation

Assumes people find work boring and would not do it without forced compliance

Controlling, clear manager/managed divide

Incentives

Little creativity

Common in blue collar jobs

Theory Y

Leadership style- McGregor’s model of workforce motivation

Assumes workers like work and want to do well

Hierarchy is blurred

Manager is more hands-off

Provides opportunities to use strengths and be creative

Better in white collar jobs

Task leadership

Part of the other major leadership theory

Goal oriented

High standards

Gain respect through ability to communicate

Keeps team on task

Social leadership

Part of the other major leadership theory

Relationship building

Group culture fosters success

Democratic approach

Gains respect through knowing their employees

Team building

Self-determination theory

Framework explaining human motivation based on the need for autonomy, competence, relatedness

Learned needs theory

David McClellan’s

We are born with 3 motivators

Affiliation: Needs social interaction

Power: Want ideas to be used, competition

Achievement: Self-motivated, persistent after failure

Intrinsic motivation

Doing something because it is personally motivating, not because it provides a reward

Extrinsic motivation

Being motivated by rewards

Over justification effect

If rewarded for something they already enjoy, may loose interest in the task (reward becomes more important)

Types of employees (3)

Engaged workers

Not engaged

Actively Disengaged

Flow

Deeply focused mental state, person is fully immersed in the activity

Grit

Combination of perseverance and passion for long term goals (loose definition okay)

Self-efficacy

Your belief that you are a queen and can do that hard thing!

Display rules

Cultural norms of expressing emotions

James-Lange theory

Emotions come from awareness of our physical arousal (no arousal, no emotion)

Critique: Autonomic changes are too similar to create different emotions

Facial-feedback hypothesis

Like when you tell your face that running is fun (liar)

Facial expressions create emotions

Cannon- Bard theory

Physiological arousal and experience of emotion occur at the same time

Thalamus sends messages to cerebral cortex (emotion) and autonomic nervous system simultaneously

Critique: Some people think thalamus isn’t that complex

Schachter-singer (two-factor) theory

Emotions come from how we interpret our physical sensations

Low road to emotion

Part of the Zajonc-Ledoux theory (whoo, have fun saying that one…)

Less complex emotions get sent from thalamus straight to amygdala for faster responses

High road to emotion

Other part of the Zajonc-Ledoux theory

More complex emotions go to thalamus → cerebral cortex → amygdala. Creates more accurate and thought out emotional responses

Opponent-process theory (of emotion)

Emotional aftermath

Sometimes emotions are followed by the exact opposite emotion

Ex: Fear → sigh of relief

Spillover effect

(OmGoodness the guidance councilors were right!)

Has the do good, feel good phenomenon and the frustration-aggression principle.

Emotions from one experience can carry over to the next

Feel good, do good phenomenon

More likely to help others if you are in a good mood

Frustration-aggression principle

Frustration earlier leads to more aggressive behavior (not combative without any arousal)

Stress hormones (3)

Cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine

Eustress

Good stress (Ex: time pressures)

Creates optimal performance

Distress

Bad stress

Impairs performance

Yerkes-Dodson law

Relationship between stress and performance

Moderate amounts of stress = peak performance

Shown as a bell curve

Related to optimal arousal theory from earlier in motivation

Type A personality

Perfectionist, high stress, can be hostile or overreact

Type B personality

Easy-going, one thing at a time, procrastination, lower stress

General adaptation syndrome

Hans Selye’s

Explains stress response over time

Alarm stage: Stressed, SNS activated, boosted adrenaline

Resistance stage: Body used to stress, sustained stress relief

Exhaustion stage: Energy depleted, poor health, burnout

Problem-focused coping

Directly addresses the problem

When there is a controllable/clear course of action

Emotion-focused coping

Regulating emotional responses

When problem is less controllable/slower resolution

Tend-and-befriend theory

Alternative to fight or flight

Tend: Comforting someone

Befriend: Helping someone solve their problem

Biofeedback

Altering or controlling physiological activity to improve health

Deep breaths, meditation, monitoring your heartrate

Catharsis

Doing something to release negative emotion

Mixed research on long term sucess

Approach-approach conflict

Decisions between 2 appealing choices

Approach-avoidance conflict

Decision has both attractive and unattractive features

Avoidance-avoidance conflict

Decision between 2 bad options

Emotional intelligence (EQ)

Ability to manage emotions

Internal locus of control

Believe they have control over what happens to them. Sees value in effort. Better success and health

External locus of control

Believes they have no control over their fate. Blames others. Becomes passive. Higher rate of mental illness