APP Unit 7.1 & 7.2 - Motivation: Theories and Special Topics

motivation

motivation

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 402)

instinct

a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 402)

physiological need

a basic bodily requirement. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 403)

drive-reduction theory

the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 403)

homeostasis

a 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. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 403)

incentive

a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 403)

Yerkes-Dodson law

the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 404)

hierarchy of needs

Maslow's pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e pp. 405, 591)

basal metabolic rate

the body's resting rate of energy output. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 411)

glucose

the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 409)

set point

the point at which your "weight thermostat" may be set. When your body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore lost weight. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 411)

obesity

defined as a body mass index (BMI) measurement of 30 or higher. (Overweight individuals have a BMI of 25 or higher.) (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 414)

asexual

having no sexual attraction to others. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 418)

estrogens

sex hormones, such as estradiol, that contribute to female sex characteristics and are secreted in greater amounts by females than by males. Estrogen levels peak during ovulation. In nonhuman mammals, this promotes sexual receptivity. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 418)

testosterone

the most important male sex hormone. Both males and females have it, 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 characteristics during puberty. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e pp. 418, 545)

sexual response cycle

the four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson—excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 419)

refractory period

(1) in neural processing, a brief resting pause that occurs after a neuron has fired; subsequent action potentials cannot occur until the axon returns to its resting state. (2) in human sexuality, a resting period that occurs after orgasm, during which a person cannot achieve another orgasm. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e pp. 83, 420)

affiliation

need the need to build relationships and to feel part of a group. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 423)

ostracism

deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 425)

achievement motivation

a desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control, and for attaining a high standard. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 428)

grit

in psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e pp. 429, 629)

James-Lange theory

the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to an emotion-arousing stimulus: stimulus S arousal S emotion. (Myers Psychology for AP 3e p. 433)