Psych Chapter 16 FlashCards

Reward and motivation + emotion

What are the six major approaches to motivation?

1. Drive Reduction

2. Instinct

3. Incentive

4. Arousal

5. Cognitive

6. Hierarchy of Needs

A.K.A, D.I.I.A.CH

What does the approach ‘instinct’ mean in regards to motivation? Provide an example

We are built with evolutionary behaviours, that are NOT learned but instead, biologically determined.

E.g: looking for food when we are hungry, babies crying

What does the “drive-reduction” approach mean in regards to motivation? Provide an example

Our behaviour is motivated to lower our internal uncomfortableness

What is motivation?

factors (specific things) that drive us to behave (act) to reach our goals

True or false: Motivation has biological and cognitive aspects

False, it has biological, cognitive, and social aspects

Describe Homeostasis

the body's ways to maintain a balanced internal state (think of it like a thermostat)

What needs does homeostasis control? Name four

• food

• water

• stable body temperature

• sleep

How does Homeostasis work?

1. Receptor cells that are all around the body, watch the temperature and nutrient level

2. When deviations occur (e.g., your body being too hot or too cold, too full or starving) the body adjust to try and return it back to its best state.

Describe feedback loops

Feedback loops engage homeostasis.

1. The receptors cells detect an imbalance

2. That imbalance notification is sent to your brain (a.k.a, the control center)

3. The receptor cells trigger a response (e.g if you’re body is too hot, cool down and vice versa)

THUS, ANY VARIBALE THAT PRODUCES AN IMBALANCE, CAUSES A CHANGE THAT OUR CELLS DETECT AND WORK TO RESTORE THE IMBALANCE

Define Primary Drives

Related to the biological needs of the body (hunger, thirst, sleep)

What secondary drives?

They are learned from previous experiences (knowledge, achievement)

Pros & Cons of the drive reduction approach

Pros: they explain how primary drive can motivate behavior

Cons: They cannot explain a behavior where an individual does not want to reduce the drive, but instead keep or increase that level of excitement/arousal

What’s an example of the con to drive-reduction apporaches?

1. Eating when you’re not hungry

2. Ignoring the signs from your body when you need sleep

3. Ignoring your body’s signal saying you need to pee

Name Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs from top to bottom

1. Physiological needs

2. Safety Needs

3. Belonginess and love needs

4. Esteem Needs

5. Self-actualization

What did Maslow’s believe?

A person must satisfy the lower needs level before they move on to the higher needs.

E.g: if you are fearing (safety and belonging) for your life, you can’t work on the goals to improve yourself (self-actualization)

What else did Maslow believe

1. People wanted to be their best self (positive view)

2. Without a good and supportive environment, you cannot reach your potential (e.g., if you are abused, it limits or makes your potential harder to reach)

What’s the arousal approach?

1. We try to keep certain levels of stimulation and activity

2. We either increasing or reducing them, as necessary

e.g: If our stimulation and activity levels become too high, we try to reduce them.

OR: If the levels of stimulation and activity are too low, we will try to increase them by seeking stimulation.

What is the incentive Approaches?

We are motivated because of the potential reward.

E.g.,: studying for a good grade, going to work for money

True or False: We only do things for the external stimuli (a.k.a, the potential reward)?

FALSE, we also do things for the love it. People do puzzles because they enjoy them, or crosswords for the satisfaction of completing them.

(think of doing Wordle and completing it quickly or in less than three tries. There’s no external reward, but you feel proud of yourself).

What’s the cognitive approach ?

Motivation is a mixture of indiviudal’s thoughts, expectations and goals

Define Intrinsic motivation

We do things for our own enjoyment.

Define Extrinsic motivation

We do something to receive an external reward (grades, money, food)

What are some reasons for intrinsic motivation? List and explain

1. For inherent joy: brings joy to our lives

2. Morally right: it’s right and just to do the correct thing

3. Developing a skill: the joy of learning something new is exciting, and fun.

What are some reasons for extrinsic motivation? List and explain

1. For good grades: sometimes you don’t study the material to learn, but instead to pass and good grade because it will look on your GPA

2. For a reward: Receiving something as a result of your hard work is enjoyable

3. To please others: Receiving praise from others feels good, and makes you look good

What is obesity, and how is it measured?

Body weight more than 20% above the average weight for a person of a given height. It’s usually measured by body mass index (BMI)

What BMI is considered obese?

A) a BMI over 30

B) a BMI over 45

C) a BMI over 35

D) A BMI over 40

A) a BMI over 30

What BMI is considered overweight?

A) a BMI between 20-25

B) a BMI over 40

C) a BMI between 25-30

D) A BMI over 27

C) a BMI between 25-30

What % of Canadians are overweight?

Over 63% of Canadians that are 18+ are overweight.

Why are other species far less likely to become obese?

1. They have an internal mechanism which controls what food they want and how much they want.

2. Because that mechanism chooses, they choose a well-balanced diet (some meat, some vegetables).

3. That same mechanisms tells them if they require food and when to stop eating

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1. Humans don’t have that mechanism, we eat when we are not hungry and overeat when we are full.

2. We choose what we eat, and often times, it’s not a good diet.

What controls the feelings of hunger, and what does it do

The hypothalamus (monitors the change of glucose)

What is the Weight Set Point

the level of weight that the body strives to maintain, which in turn controls our food intake.

(think of it like a thermostat, or the sims food bar. When your sim is hungry, it turns from yellow to red, alerting you to feed your sim).

What affects the weight set point?

Injury to the hypothalamus. If it cannot monitor if it should eat more or less, we can overeat or undereat.

What is metabolism?

1. The rate in which our food is converted to energy

2. Then, is expended by the body.

Some have a slow metabolism rate, others fast, others normal.

List some societal factors in eating

1. Portion distortion. America eats a lot, Japan, not so much

2. We eat on a schedule (e.g., lunch, dinner), even if we are not hungry.

3. Same ratio of food, despite our level of daily activity.

4. We eat for comfort, or bored, to soothe sad feelings.

5. We eat mindlessly, often while doing other things.

What is affiliation?

The need to associate with and maintain social bonds with others

IT IS A NEED!

True or false, we form bonds easily?

True: We form bonds easily & hate when they have the chance to dissolve.

We monitor our environment and interactions to make sure we are included/belong.

Define Ostracism & fear of rejection

Being ignored or excluded by valued others leads to pain & attempts to reconnect and reestablish that positive relationship with them

True or false: Loneliness cannot be deadly

FALSE, it can actually shorten our lifespan by 15 years.

Fun fact (well, not really): it’s equivalent to being obese or smoking 15 cigs a day!

How is loneliness dangerous from a biological impact?

1. They trigger the release of stress hormones

2. That causes higher blood pressure; decreased resistance to infection

3. Also increase risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer

What ages are the most lonely?

a) 25-34

b) 35-44

c) 45-54

d) 18-24

d) 18-24

IT’S THOSE DARN PHONES!

Define high need for achievement

1. They LOOK for situations where they can compete against some standard (internal or external) and prove themselves successful.

2. They AVOID situations where success comes too easily or is unlikely

Define Low need for achievement

1. They are motivated by a desire to AVOID failure

2. They look for easy tasks (where they KNOW they will not fail)

3. OR, they look for extremely difficult tasks where failing doesn’t have a bad cost

What are emotions and what is there purpose?

• There is no definitive answer. There are many answers that not everyone can 100% agree on what they are or why we have them

  • Emotion is complex, intertwines with our motivities, cognition, neuroscience, biological etc.

What are the three functions of the emotions? List and explain

1. They prepare us for action: link between events in our environment, as well as our response. (For example, someone robs you during the night at gunpoint, fear prepares you on how to act and approach your next moves by moving slowly or saying the right thing).

   2. Shape our future behavior: act as reinforcement or punishment.

   3. Help us to interact effectively with others: we observe and people observe us. allowing them to better understand what we are experiencing and to predict our future behaviour.

We organize emotions by a hierarchy. What is that hierarchy? (Think of the five emotions from inside out!)

1. happiness

2. anger

3. fear

4. sadness

5. disgust.

Name one difficulty over defining simple emotions

The culture difference, someone people describe a feeling in one place, like German’s schadenfreude (a feeling of pleasure over another person’s difficulties), that we do not have in Canada.

Emotions are expressed by…

a) nothing

b) verbally

c) nonverbal language

c) nonverbal language

Define the term nonverbal leakage

Your body unconsciously expressing your true feelings. (especially when we are trying to hide/suppress an emotion)

Give two examples of Nonverbal leakage

1. Saying “that’s fine.” when someone ask you to do something, but your body language says otherwise.

2. Saying “I’m not mad,” but your jaw is clenched.

True or false: the body rarely lies

True

What is the James-Lange theory?

Our emotions are because of the physical changes in the body.

Name three flaws in the James-Lange Theory

1. Body change reaction occur too slowly to trigger emotional responses

2. We can experience body changes without experience emotions (heart racing is not because we’re scared, but because we’re exercising)

3. Body reactions can be for different emotions (heart racing because of fear, joy, anger, sexual attraction).

What is the Cannon-Bard theory?

We experience physical reactions (your heart racing) at the same time as emotional reactions (fear).

What is the Schachter-Singer theory?

Our experience of our emotions depend on the physiological arousal and our cognitive understanding as to WHY we feel that arousal.

1. After an emotion inducing event, we experience an undefined state of arousal.

   2. To understand that arousal, we look to our external environment for cues and our cognitive interpretation of the arousal = our emotional experience

True or false: Only the thalamus plays a major role in emotional experience

FALSE: both the hypothalamus and limbic system play a crucial part

What’s the Capilano Suspension Bridge Study

1. Attractive female approaches male visitors one one of two bridges (wobbly or sturdy), and ask them to complete a survey.

2. She gives them her number in case they have questions

What % of those approached on sturdy bridge called her later?

a) 15%

b) 10%

c) 30%

d) 40%

30%

What % of those approached on wobbly bridge called her later?

a) 35%

b) 50%

c) 60%

d) 45%

c) 60%

Explain why there is a higher success rate on a wobbly bridge?

1. Because they misattributed the physiological arousal of fear (of being on an extremely high bridge), with the feeling of attraction

What is the neuroscience perspective of emotions?

1. Specific emotions produce activation on different portions of the brain, as shown on pet scans

2. Participants were asked to think of something sad like deaths and funerals, or events that made them feel happy like birthdays and parties

3. Happiness = decreased in activity in certain areas of the cerebral cortex

4. Sadness = increase in certain areas of the cerebral cortex

True or false: Emotions are hardwired brain reactions that are uncontrollable.

False: Emotions are NOT hardwired brain reactions that are uncontrollable.

True or false: Emotions are built into your brain at birth.

False: Emotions are NOT built into your brain at birth, they are just built

True or false: Emotions are guesses that your brain constructs in the moment, and you have more control over those guesses than you might imagine.

True: “Using past experiences, your brain predicts and constructs your experience of the present world”

Fill in the blank: Emotions that seem to be _________ to you, are being ________ by you.

1. happening

2. made

True or false: there are bad emotions

False: there are no bad emotions, there are bad ways to react using those emotions

True or false: suppressing your emotions is a good thing!

False: suppressing your emotions only amplify them, because you ignore the problem and it gradually builds up over time.

What are the three reasons humans aren’t designed to be happy? (Hint: A.W.H)

1. Hedonic treadmill: we always want more after we adapt to our circumstances, and think that if we reach higher goals, we will be more happy.

2. We make social comparisons (oh, she went on vacation, living her best life yada yada)

3. Asymmetry of affective experience: losing something feels worse than finding something

What are the factors that DO NOT predict happiness? (Hint: there’s 5)

1. Money

2. Age

3. Parenthood

4. IQ

5. Attractiveness

What are the factors that MODERATELY predict happiness? (Hint: there’s 3)

1. Health

2. Level of social activity

3. Religious affiliation.

What are the factors that STRONGLY predict happiness? (Hint: there’s 4)

1. Relationship satisfaction

2. Work satisfaction

3. Genetics

4. Personality