Motivation and Emotion Theory (Weeks 1-4)

Natural selection

The environment influences who reproduces, driving genetic change. Three parts: viability, fertility, fecundity.

Viability / Fertility / Fecundity

Survive to reproduce / signal ability to mate / produce as many offspring as possible.

Sexual selection

Males compete, females choose. Females are pickier because they invest more in offspring.

Parental investment model

Females seek mates who can provide support and security. Males show resources and support.

Hedonism

We move toward pleasure and away from pain.

Intervening variable

Motivation is the link between a stimulus and a response. We infer it from behavior.

Performance variable

We can only see whether a behavior occurred, not the motivation behind it.

Operant conditioning (addiction)

Positive reinforcement = the high is added. Negative reinforcement = withdrawal is removed. Both maintain use.

Affective model of negative reinforcement

We use drugs to avoid actual or anticipated withdrawal.

Classical conditioning (addiction)

Drug = UCS, pleasure = UCR. Cues (lighter, place) become CS and trigger cravings.

Opponent process theory

Every pleasure (State A) is followed by an opposite State B (withdrawal). B develops slowly and worsens with repeated use, which explains tolerance.

Opponent process: 5 steps

Quick peak, slight decline, plateau, drop below neutral into State B, slow decay back to neutral.

Incentive sensitization theory

With repeated use, incentive value (wanting/craving) increases while hedonic value (liking/pleasure) stays flat or decreases.

Epigenetics

The study of how genes and environment interact.

Gateway drug idea

Marijuana may lead to other drugs, partly through access to drug-seeking environments.

Affective forecasting errors

We're bad at predicting our future emotions, so we underestimate cravings and withdrawal.

Loss of self-control account

Drugs impair the prefrontal cortex (impulse control, delaying gratification). It isn't fully developed until about 25, and stress makes it worse.

Cognitive stages of change

Contemplation, preparation, execution, maintenance.

Yerkes-Dodson law

Performance is best at moderate arousal (inverted U) and poor at very low or very high.

Homeostatic theory of motivation

We act to return to an optimal middle level (arousal, stress, sleep need).

Arousal theory: main criticisms

Measures don't agree, the same body response can mean different emotions, it's mostly untestable, and it ignores cognition and history.

Hebb's theory

Sensory information has a cue function (information) and an arousal function (changes arousal level).

Lacey's model

Arousal is multidimensional: behavior, brain activity, and peripheral body signals all reflect it.

Circadian rhythm

A roughly 24-25 hour cycle that puts us to sleep at night, when humans are poorly adapted to be active.

Homeostatic sleep process

The longer you're awake, the more sleep you need (adenosine builds up).

Threat simulation theory

Dreams let us rehearse threats. The extended version covers any upcoming situation.

Continuity / repetition principles

Daytime experiences carry into dreams / similar dreams recur across the lifespan.

Selye's stress theory

Stressors push the body out of balance, and the stress response restores it.

General adaptation syndrome

Alarm (whole body, HPA activated), resistance (focused on affected area), exhaustion (whole body again if the stressor persists).

Hardiness

Commitment, a sense of control, and seeing stress as a challenge.

Internal locus of control

Believing you control your own future. It's a healthy way to cope with stress.

Spencer

Pleasurable behaviors have survival value, and painful responses reduce survival.

Thorndike's law of effect

Rewarded or good-feeling behaviors increase, and bad experiences decrease them.

Troland's classification

Beneception (pleasant), nociception (unpleasant/pain), neutroception (neutral).

Beebe-Center

Bright pressure = sense organs experience something pleasant, dull pressure = unpleasant. Expectations can change the perception (cognition).

Young's three properties

Sign (approach/avoid), intensity (the chosen option is more intense), duration (how long the effect lasts).

Pfaffman

Sensory stimulation can trigger behavior without any physiological change (e.g., eating when not hungry).

Contact vs. distance receptors

Taste and touch produce faster, stronger emotional reactions than vision and hearing.

Gate control theory

The spinal cord and many higher brain areas regulate pain. It isn't just receptor to brain.

Endogenous opiates

The body's natural opiates, which reduce pain by blocking substance P.

Harlow's contact comfort

Monkeys preferred the cloth mother even when the wire mother had food. Contact comfort is key to attachment.

Imprinting

The tendency to attach is innate, but what you attach to is learned.

Critical period

Early development when deprivation causes lasting damage