AP Psych - Unit 8A Vocab

motivation

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

sexual response cycle

the four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson (excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution)

bulimia

an eating disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise

obestatin

a hunger-suppressing hormone secreted by the stomach

ventromedial hypothalamus

a part of the hypothalamus that signals us to stop eating when we are full

excitement

an emotional state marked by enthusiasm, eagerness or anticipation, and general arousal

obese

a condition marked by excess accumulation of body fat

estrogen

sex hormones, such as estradiol, secreted in greater amounts by females than males and contributing to female sex characteristics (in nonhuman female mammals, levels peak during ovulation, promoting sexual receptivity)

PYY

a hormone that helps regulate appetite (released by cells in the intestines and colon after eating)

ghrelin

(AKA hunger hormone) a hormone produced by the stomach that stimulates hunger

instinct

a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned

drive reduction theory

the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

set point

the point at which an individual’s “weight thermostat” is supposedly set. When the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight

binge eating disorder

significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging, fasting, or excessive exercise that marks bulimia nervosa

leptin

signals the hypothalamus that the body has enough fat stored to function normally

testosterone

the most important of the male sex hormones (both males and females have it, but the additional hormones in males stimulate the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty)

anorexia

an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) diets and becomes significantly (15 percent or more) underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve

refractory period

a resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm

incentive

a positive or negative environment stimulus that motivates behavior

basal metabolic rate

the body’s resting rate of energy expenditure