Psychology Unit 3

motivation

the impetus (want or need) that gives direction, intensity, and persistence to human behavior

instinct theory

unlearned, built-in behavior patterns that aid survival

drive reduction theory

a bodily need creates a drive that pushes us back to balance

arousal theory

we seek a level of arousal that is not too low and not too high

beliefs and needs theory

belief in our own ability and social needs drive effort

instinct, drive reduction, arousal, beliefs and needs

theories of motivation

homeostasis

the body keeps a stable balance

arousal

how activated your body and brain are, raised by sensory input and emotion

Yerkes-Dodson Law

performance peaks at moderate arousal

self-efficacy

your belief that you can succeed at a task (higher belief leads to more effort and harder goals)

need for achievement

the drive to do well and accomplish things

affiliation

pulls us toward positive contact with others

intimacy

pulls us toward deep, close relationships

self-actualization, esteem, social, security, physiological

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

self-determination theory

all people share three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness

amotivation, external, introjected, identified, integrated, intrinsic

extrinsic-to-intrinsic continuum

introjected motivation

guilt or pride

identified motivation

you care about the result

integrated motivation

part of who you are

overjustification effect

rewarding something people already enjoy can lower their interest

distal motivation

before you start, you choose a goal and how much effort to give it

proximal motivation

while you work, you track your progress, judge it against the goal, and adjust your effort

limited resources

Resources are on a fixed budget. Extra effort watching yourself takes away resources

distal motivation, proximal motivation, limited resources

resource allocation model

goal setting

specific, difficult, commitment and feedback

set-point theory

the body defends a certain weight

anorexia nervosa

keeping body weight far below average through starving or heavy exercise

bulimia nervosa

binge eating followed by purges

binge eating disorder

binges with no purging, followed by guilt and embarassment

emotion

a complex reaction pattern, involving experiential, behavioral, and psychological elements, by which an individual attempts to deal with a personally significant matter or event

cognitive appraisal

how you read a situation

valence

how pleasant or unpleasant a feeling is

James-Lange theory

event > body reaction > we label the emotion

Cannon-Bard theory

event > body reaction and emotion happen at the same time

Schachter-Singer theory

event > arousal + interpretation = emotion

cognitive-mediational theory

event > your appraisal of what it means > emotion

limbic system

handles emotions and memory

hypothalamus

turns on the sympathetic nervous system

thalamus

relays sensory input to the amygdala and the cortex

amygdala

processes emotional information and passes it on

hippocampus

links emotional experience with thought and memory

facial feedback hypothesis

your expression can change how you feel

seven universal emotions

happiness, surprise, sadness, fright, disgust, contempt, and anger

cultural display rules

a culture’s norms for when and how much emotion to show

personality

the enduring configuration of characteristics and behavior that comprises an individual’s unique adjustment to life

Id

Present from birth, holds drives such as hunger and thirst

superego

learned rules of right and wrong

ego

the rational self, finds realistic ways to meet the id’s wants

repression

blocks painful memories from awareness

reaction formation

acting the opposite of how you feel

projection

seeing your own feelings in someone else

rationalization

giving logical-sounding excuses for behavior

displacement

taking out feelings on a safer target

regression

acting younger than your age

locus of control

people differ in how much control they believe they have in their own lives

congruence

who you are matches who you want to be

incongruence

who you are is far from who you want to be

heritability

genes explain part of the differences between people

temperament

an inborn style of reacting, such as activity level and mood

melancholic

Unstable, introverted. Reserved, anxious, unhappy

choleric

Unstable, extroverted. Passionate, ambitious, bold

phlegmatic

Stable, introverted. Calm, reliable, thoughtful

sanguine

Stable, extroverted. Joyful, eager, optimistic

lexical hypothesis

important traits become everyday words

openness to experience

curious, imaginative, with wide interests

conscientiousness

hardworking, organized, dependable

extroversion

outgoing, warm, assertive

agreeableness

cooperative, trusting, good-natured

neuroticism

anxious, moody, easily upset

social psychology

studies how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the presence of other people and by our social and physical environment

person perception

the mental processes we use to form judgments and draw conclusions about the characteristics of other people

principles guiding person perception

your perception, your goals in a situation, social norms, your own self-perception

social categorization

mental process of categorizing people into groups on the basis of their shared characteristics

explicit thinking

conscious, deliberate thoughts and beliefs we are aware of

implicit thinking

unconscious, automatic mental processes that influence our judgments

implicit personality theory

the unconscious assumptions people make about personality traits, believing that certain characteristics naturally go together

attribution

the process of explaining your own behavior and the behavior of other people

dispositional influence

behavior is explained by internal traits or characteristics

situational influence

behavior is explained by external circumstances

victim blaming

the tendency to blame an innocent victim of misfortune for somehow causing the problem or for not having taken steps to avoid or prevent it

fundamental attribution error

the tendency to explain other people’s behavior by their personality while underestimating the situation

actor-observer bias

the tendency to explain other people’s behavior by internal traits but our own behavior by situational factors

self-serving bias

the tendency to credit ourselves for success but blame outside factors for failures

hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after an event happens, that we could have predicted it beforehand

just-world hypothesis

the belief that the world is basically fair, so people tend to get what they deserve

self-presentation

the process of controlling how we present ourselves to others in order to create a particular impression

social role

expected behavior associated with a particular position

social norm

unwritten rules about appropriate behavior

script

expected sequence of behaviors in a familiar situation

attitude

learned tendency to evaluate some object, person, or issue in a particular way

cognitive dissonance

an unpleasant state of psychological tension that occurs when there is an inconsistency between your cognition and behavior

stereotypes

a cluster of characteristics that are associated with all members of a specific social group

in-group bias

the tendency to make favorable judgments about our own in-group

out-group homogeneity effect

the tendency to see members of the out-group as all being very similar to one another

confederates

accomplices who pose as participants and give planned wrong answers

Asch effect

the influence of a group majority on an individual’s judgment

normative social influence

people conform to a group norm to fit in

informational social influence

people conform to a group because they believe the group is correct

obedience

change in individual’s behavior to comply with authority figure

Milgram Experiment

65% of participants delivered severe shock to learner when ordered by researcher