Unit 8 All Modules

Motivation

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

Instinct

complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned

Physiological Need

a basic bodily requirement

Drive-Reduction Theory

idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

Homeostasis

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

Incentive

positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

Yerkes-Dodson Law

principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's pyramid of human needs (physiological, safety & security, love & belonging, self-esteem, self-actualization)

Glucose

form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues (when low, we become hungry)

Set Point

point at which your "weight thermostat" may be set; when your body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate combine to restore lost weight

Basal Metabolic Rate

the body's resting rate of energy output

Obesity

define as a body mass index (BMI) measurement of 30 or higher; overweight individuals have a BMI of 25 or higher

Asexual

having no sexual attraction to others

Testosterone

most important male sex hormone - both males and females have this but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs during the fetal period and the development of the male sex characteristic during puberty

Estrogens

sex hormones (like estradiol) that contribute to female sex characteristics and are secreted in greater amounts by females than by males - estrogen levels peak during ovulation; in non-human mammals, this promotes sexual receptivity

Sexual Response Cycle

the four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson— excitement, plateau, orgasm, resolution

Refractory Period

in human sexuality, a resting period that happens after orgasm that prevents another orgasm

Affiliation Need

the need to build relationship and to feel part of a group

Ostracism

deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups

Narcissism

excessive self-love and self-absorption

Achievement Motivation

a desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control

Grit

in psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals

Emotion

a response of the whole organism, involving physiological arousal, expressive behavior, and conscious experience

James-Lange Theory

theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to an emotion-arousing stimulus: stimulus S arousal S emotion

Cannon-Bard Theory

theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers physiological responses and the subjective experience of emotion

Two-Factor Theory

the Schachter-Singer Theory that to experience emotion one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal

Polygraph

a machine used in attempts to detect lies that measures several of the physiological responses (ex: perspiration, heart rate, and breathing changes) that accompany emotion

Facial Feedback Effect

tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness

Behavior Feedback Effect

tendency of behavior to influence our own and others' thoughts, feelings, and actions

Stress

process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three phases— alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Tend-and-Befriend Response

under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others (tend), bend with, and seek support from others (befriend)

Health Psychology

a subfield of psychology that provides psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine

Psychoneuroimmunology

study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes affect the immune system together and resulting health

Coronary Heart Disease

the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries

Type A

Friedman and Rosenman's term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people

Type B

Friedman and Rosenman's term for easygoing, relaxed people

Catharsis

in psychology; the idea that 'releasing' aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

Aerobic Exercise

sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; helps alleviate depression and anxiety

Mindfulness Meditation

reflective practice in which people attend to current experiences in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner

Feel-Good, Do-Good Phenomenon

people's tendency to be helpful when in a good mood

Positive Psychology

scientific study of human flourishing with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive

Subjective Well-Being

self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life; used with measures of objective well-being (ex: physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life

Adaptation-Level Phenomenon

our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience

Relative Deprivation

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself