AP REVIEW: Motivation, Emotion, and Personality

Motivation

The drive or desire that energizes behavior and directs it towards a goal. It can be intrinsic or extrinsic, and can be influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors.

Instincts

Inborn fixed patterns of behavior that help animals survive. They are automatic responses to specific stimuli, not learned through experience.

Imprinting

A rapid and relatively permanent type of learning that occurs early in life and involves attachment to an object or figure. —>  Ducks and geese form a social attachment to the first moving object they see or hear at a critical period soon after birth by following that object, which is usually their mother. Konrad Lorenz

Drive reduction theory

States that motivation arises from the need to reduce internal drives, like hunger or thirst, or sex, to maintain homeostasis (balance).

Need

A physiological or psychological requirement for the well-being of an organism. It motivates behavior to fulfill the lack or deficit

Drive

A state of psychological tension induced by a need, which motivates us to eat or drink, for example.

Homeostasis

The body’s tendency to maintain an internal steady state of metabolism, to stay in balance.

Metabolism

The sum total of all chemical processes that occur in our bodies and are necessary to keep us alive. Includes catabolism (breakdown of molecules) and anabolism (building of molecules).

Incentive

External stimulus that motivates behavior by offering rewards or avoiding punishments. It drives individuals to act in a certain way to achieve desired outcomes.

Secondary motives

Psychological needs that arise from learned experiences and social influences, such as the desire for achievement, affiliation, or power.

Arousal

Psychological and physiological state of being energized, alert, and attentive, influencing behavior and performance.

Yerkes–Dodson Law of arousal

States that performance increases with arousal, but only up to a certain point. Beyond that, performance decreases as arousal increases.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

Psychological theory proposing that individuals are motivated by five basic categories of needs, arranged in a hierarchical order from basic physiological needs to self-actualization.

Lateral hypothalamus & Hunger

The “on” button for hunger, evokes robust eating. If this area is damaged you have a lack of appetite and it can lead to excessive weight loss.

Ventromedial hypothalamus & Hunger

The “off” button for hunger, satiety center; causes the sensation of fullness. If this area is damaged you never feel sated after eating. Leads to excessive hunger, overeating and weight gain, leads to obesity.

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight, self-starvation, and a distorted body image.

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging behaviors like vomiting or excessive exercise to compensate.

Sexual orientation

Refers to a person's emotional, romantic, and sexual attraction towards others, such as being heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual.

Homosexuality

The romantic or sexual attraction between individuals of the same gender, such as two men or two women.

Heterosexuality

Sexual attraction and emotional connection between individuals of opposite genders.

Achievement motive

Desire to excel, accomplish goals, and strive for success. Involves setting high standards, working hard, and feeling satisfaction from personal achievements.

Thematic Apperception test

A projective psychological test where individuals interpret ambiguous scenes to reveal underlying thoughts and emotions. - Used to measure achievement motivation.

Affiliation motive

The psychological need to establish and maintain close, positive relationships with others. It drives individuals to seek social connections and support.

Intrinsic motivation

A desire to perform an activity for its own sake rather than an external reward.

Extrinsic motivation

A desire to perform an activity to obtain a reward from outside the individual, such as money and other material goods we have learned to enjoy, such as applause or attention.

Conflict

Involves being torn in different directions by opposing motives that block you from attaining a goal, leaving you feeling frustrated and stressed.

Approach-Approach conflict

Situations involving two positive options, only one of which you can have. - Least stressful

Avoidance-Avoidance conflict

Situations involving two negative options, one of which you must choose.

Approach-Avoidance conflict

Situations involving whether or not to choose an option that has both a positive and negative consequence or consequences.

Emotion

A conscious feeling of pleasantness or unpleasantness accompanied by biological activation and expressive behavior; emotion has cognitive, physiological, and behavioral components.

James-Lange Theory

A theory proposing that emotions arise from physiological arousal first, followed by the interpretation of the arousal to label the emotion.

Growling Dog → Increased heart rate → Fear

Cannon-Bard Theory

A theory proposing that emotional and physiological responses occur simultaneously, rather than emotions being a result of physiological responses. - A stimulus arouses a physiological response and emotion at the same time; your bodies response and feelings occur at the same time .

Growling dog → Fear+Increased heart rate

Opponent-Process Theory

Psychological theory proposing that emotions are paired in opposition, meaning that an intense emotion is followed by its opposite to maintain emotional balance.

Two-Factor Theory

Focuses on the interaction between physical arousal and how we cognitively label that arousal. In other words, simply feeling arousal is not enough; we also must identify the arousal in order to feel the emotion.

Growling dog → Increased heart rate → “That’s scary!” → Fear

Cognitive-Appraisal Theory

A theory suggesting that emotions are based on individuals' evaluations of events and their ability to cope with them.

Stress

The body's response to challenges or demands, often resulting in physical, emotional, or psychological strain. It can be triggered by various factors and may have negative effects on health if not managed effectively.

General Adaption Syndrome (GAS)

Three-stage theory of alarm, resistance, and exhaustion describes our body's reaction to stress. 1. Alarm stage: Intense arousal and body immobilizes (prevents body from moving or operating normally) 2: Resistance stage: Body tries to resist or adjust, 3: Exhaustion stage: Body cannot adjust and may lead to physical problems.

Id

Unconscious part of the mind driven by instinctual desires and operates on the pleasure principle.

Ego

The part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and personal identity.

Superego

The part of the psyche that acts as a moral compass, representing societal norms and values. It strives for perfection and suppresses impulses.

Defense mechanisms

Unconscious psychological strategies used to cope with anxiety and protect the ego from uncomfortable thoughts or feelings.

Regression

The retreat to an earlier level of development characterized by more immature, pleasurable behavior.

Rationalization

Offering socially acceptable reasons for our inappropriate behavior: making unconscious excuses.

Projection

Defense mechanism where individuals attribute their own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or motives onto others. It involves projecting one's own feelings onto someone else.

Displacement

Redirecting an emotion from its original target to a less threatening one.

Reaction formation

Defense mechanism where unacceptable impulses are expressed as their opposite. For example, showing exaggerated friendliness to mask true feelings of anger.

Sublimation

Redirecting unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable actions or pursuits. Ex. A woman who recently went through a breakup may channel her emotions into a home improvement project.

Oral Stage

Birth-18 months. States that children derive pleasure from putting things in their mouth (bottle, nursing, eating, pacifier)

Adult Fixation: Biting nails, overeating, smoking, chewing on pencil.

Anal Stage

2-3 years. States that children derive pleasure from elimination-toilet training.

Adult Fixation: Orderliness, Messiness.

Phallic Stage

3-6 years. States that children derive pleasure from the genital zone. Attraction with opposite sex parent, and identification with same sex parent.

Adult Fixation: Sexual Identity

Latency Stage

6-12 years. Sexual urges are relatively dormant here.

Adult Fixation: None

Genital Stage

In Freud's psychosexual theory, the final stage of development in adolescence where individuals seek romantic relationships and mature sexual experiences.

Oedipus complex

Psychological theory by Freud where a child has unconscious feelings of desire for the parent of the opposite sex and hostility towards the same-sex parent.

Compartmentalization

A form of psychological defense mechanism in which thoughts and feelings that seem to conflict are kept separated or isolated from each other in the mind.

Compensation

Focusing on achievement in one area of life in order to distract attention away from the inadequacy or fear of inadequacy in another area of life.

Denial

Involves ignoring the reality of a situation to avoid anxiety

Fantasy

A retreat into fantasy in order to resolve, or avoid, inner and outer conflicts

Intellectualization

A defense mechanism by which reasoning is used to block confrontation with an unconscious conflict and its associated emotional stress – where thinking is used to avoid feeling.

Undoing

A person tries to cancel out or remove an unhealthy, destructive or otherwise threatening thought or action by engaging in contrary behavior. For example, after thinking about being violent with someone, one would then be overly nice or accommodating to them.

Personal unconscious

Similar to Freud's preconscious and unconscious, a storehouse of all our own past memories, hidden instincts, and urges unique to us.

Collective unconscious

The powerful and influential system of the psyche that contains universal memories and ideas that all people have inherited from our ancestors over the course of evolution.

Archetypes

Common themes found in all cultures, religions, and literature, both ancient and modern.

Individuation

The process of becoming a self-realized and integrated individual through the development of one's unique identity and potential.

Reciprocal determinism

The concept that behavior is influenced by the interaction between personal factors, environmental factors, and behavior itself. - States that the characteristics of the person, the person's behavior, and the environment all affect one another in two-way causal relationships.

Self-efficacy

Our belief that we can perform behaviors that are necessary to accomplish tasks, and that we are competent.

Collective efficacy

A community's shared belief in its ability to achieve common goals and maintain social control through cooperation and mutual trust.

Cardinal trait

Dominant personality trait shaping behavior, influencing choices across various situations, defining a person's character and life.

Central traits

A general characteristic, between 5 and 10 of which shape much of our behavior. - Traits that make up our personalities

Secondary traits

Traits that are not quite as obvious or as consistent as central traits. They are present under specific circumstances and include preferences and attitudes.

Self-concept

Our overall view of our abilities, behavior, and personality or what we know about ourselves.

Self-esteem

One part of our self-concept, or how we evaluate ourselves. Affected by our emotions and comes to mean how worthy we think we are.

Trait theory

Suggests that people have certain basic traits and it is the strength and intensity of those traits that account for personality differences