Emotion and Motivation

Multidimensional Scaling

A mapping method to visualize the emotional landscape

2 dimensions

• arousal - high or low

• valence - positive or negative

Emotion

positive or negative experience that is associated wiht a particular pattern of physiological acitivity

James Lange Theory (The emotional body)

emotions are the result of our physiological reactions to events

• stimulus triggers activity in the body, which in turn produces an emotion experience in the brain 

• emotional experience is the consequence 

• first see the raptor, then experience fear

Cannon Baird Theory 

stimuli simultaneously triggers activity in the body and emotional experience in the brain 

• so you react and feel emotion at the same time

Two Factory Theory (Schachter and Singer)

emotions are based on 2 factors, your physiological arousal (physical reaction) and how you interpret that reason for this reaction (cognitive interpretation)

• Example - heart pounding and shaking (physical), you interpret it as you must be in danger (cognitive label) and then you feel fear

Schachter and Singer Study

injected participants with epinephrine which causes physical arousal (like increased heart rate), some knew about the epinephrine, some didn’t 

Reason they didnt tell some people, was to see how cognitive interpretation plays a role in emotion (environmental impacts)

exposed participants either ot a goofy or nasty confederate

findings’

• participants who didnt know why they felt the arousal looked at others for cues

  • aorond happy confederates —> they felt happy

  • aorond angry confederates —> they felt angry

Conclusion - your bodys reaction gives you alertness, but your minds interpretation of the situation tells you what emotion youre feelings

Emotional Communication (def)

observable sign of an emotional state

• people can infer emotion from 

  • vocal cues (intonation, loudness), gaze direction, gait, even a brief touch of the arm

Facial Expression

we have 43 distinct muscles at various levels of intensity that allow us to create 10,000 different expression

Facial Action Coding System (FACS)

developed by Ekman and Friesen to measure the different facial expressions

Universality Hypothessi

emotional expressions have the same meaning for everyone

• no cultural differences in the way emotions are expressed and how they are interpreted

Aziezer, Trope and Todorov (2012)

claimed that mroe information is given from the body then from our facial expressions

• tennis player examples

Facial Feedback hypothesis

emotional expressions can cause the emotional expriences’s they signal

• so if you make sad expressions purposely, they can cause you to feel negatively afterwards

Motivation 

the purpose for our psychological cause of an action

• what causes us to act

How emotions motivate us

provide information about the world

objectives in which people strive

Emotions

tell us what we want

Damasio (1994)

his experiment with a brained damaged participant showed that emotions helps guide decision making

• the brained damage made it hard for him to feel which option he felt better about, so he had a hard time making a choice

Hedonic Principle

claim that people are motivated to experience pleasure and avoid pain

Maslow

attempted to organize a list of human urges or “needs” in a meaningful way

• some needs must be satisfied before other

  • need to eat before need to have friends

Maslow’s hierarchu of needs

most immediate needs are at the bottome

most deferrable needs are at the top

Notes

• needs that take precedence are typically those we share with animals (physiological ones like food, wood, safety)

Motivation for food

our body is constantly sending signals to our brains about our current energy state, orexigenic signals and anorexigneic signals

Orexigenic Signal

signals sent to the brain to turn hunger on

anorexigenic signals

signals sent to brain to turn hunger off

Ghrelin

hormone produced in the stomach that seems to switch hunger on

• when people are injected with this, they eat 30% more than usual

Leptin

chemcial secreted by fat cells that tell the brain to switch hunger off

Eating Disorders

Bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa

bulimia nervosa

eating disorder characterized by binging and purging

• eat large quantities of food in short period

  • take laxatices or vomit to purge food from body

anorexia nervosa

eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of being fat and severe restriction of food intake

• individuals believe they are larger than they actually are (distorted body image)

Dihydroepiandosterone (DHEA)

hormone involved in the initial onset of sexual desire

• boys and girls produce this slow acting hormone at age 6

• first sexual interest at age 10

hormone production

both sexes produce testosterone and estrogen

• men produce mroe testosterone

• women produce more estrogen

Human sexual response

stages of physiological arousal during sexual activity (comes from work of Masters and Johnson)

Excitment Phase (stage 1 of human sexual response)

• increased heart rate

• muscle tension and blood flow increase around sexual organs

• blood pressure ruses

• nipples may become more erect

men

• penis becomes erect, testicles draw upward

woemn

• vigina becomes lubricated

• clitoris becomes swollen

Plateau Phase (phase 2 of sexual response)

arousal levels intensify and stablize

phase one reactions intensify

men 

• bladder closes to prevent urine from mixign with semen

women 

• muscles tighten and reduce the diameter of the opening of the vigina

orgasm phase (step 3)

breathing becomes rapid

(peak)

involuntary muscle contractions and rhythmic muscular contractions

Men

• ejaculate 2 to 5 five milliliters of semen 

• 95% of men report havign an orgasm during their last sexual encounter

Women

• 15% never experience organsm

resolution phase (step 4)

body returns to normal state

Intrinsic Motivation

motivation to take action that are themselves rewarding

• engage in activity for own sake, find it personally rewarding

extrinsic motivation

motivation to take actions that lead to reward

• drive to perform better due to external factors

• studying to get a good grade