Chapter 11 - Motivation & Emotions

Define motivation

• Any internal process or condition that directs behvaiour

What are the five theories of motivation

1. Instinct

   • Behaviour is motivated by instincts that are inborn and that are activated by environmental stimuli

2. Drive reduction

   • Behaviour is motivated by biological needs to maintain the body in a state of balance or equilibrium

3. Arousal

   • Behaviour is motivated by the need to achieve optimum levels of arousal

4. Incentive

   • Behaviour is motivated by internal (intrinsic) or external (extrinsic) incentives or rewards

5. Hierarchy of needs

   • Behaviour is motivated by the current most basic need

   • Basic survival needs must be satisfied first before we are motivated to satisfy higher-level needs such as belonging and self esteem

What is the instinct theory

• People are motivated by their biological (innate) instincts

• Instincts are inborn behavioural tendencies, activated by stimuli in our environments

  • e.g. newborn reflexes, certain social behaviours

What is the drive reduction theory

• Physiological need creates an aroused state that drives us to reduce that need

• We are motivated to restore balance or equilibrium - homeostasis

• Pushed by biological, inborn needs (similar to instinct)

• Pulled by incentives in environment

What is the arousal theory

• We are motivated to pursue an optimum level of stimulation (arousal)

  • Different than drive reduction which is about returning to homeostasis

• Some motivated behaviours increase arousal

• Some motivated behaviours decrease arousal

What is Yerkes-Dodson Law

• Arousal increases performance up to a certain point, after which it interferes with performance

• The optimal level of arousal depends on whether it’s an easy or difficult

What is the Incentive theory of Motivation

• Incentives: external motives that signal rewards.

• Intrinsic Motivation – doing something for its own satisfaction (linked to quality of performance).

• Extrinsic Motivation – doing something for external rewards (grades, money, recognition); linked to quantity of performance.

What is the difference between primary and secondary incentives

• Primary - rewards (food) or punishments (pain) that are innate

• Secondary - cues that are viewed as rewarding as a result of learning about their association with other events (work for money)

What happens in the brain during pleasurable experiences and motivation?

• Opiate release → reduces pain, creates pleasure.

• Dopamine pathway: Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) → Nucleus Accumbens → Prefrontal Cortex = reinforces rewarding behaviour

• This pathway motivates future behaviour by linking actions with rewards.

What is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

1. Physiological needs

   • Physical survival (food, water, sex)

2. Safety needs

   • Need to feel safe and secure

3. Belonging and love needs

   • Close relationships with others

4. Esteem needs

   • Need to feel good about oneself

5. Self-actualization needs

   • Need to become all that one is capable of becoming

What are three biological motives

• Hunger

  • We must replenish nutrients and energy & we are motivated to do so

• Thirst (bodies are 60% water)

  • Motivated to drink water to maintain the volume in our bodies

  • maintain the ions-to-water balance inside cells

• Sex

  • Biological (evolutionary), social and cultural motivation

What are some cues for us to eat

• Empty stomach and levels of nutrients in our bloodstream

• Levels of glucose, lipids, and leptin

  • Lipids - produced when body breaks down fats from food

  • Leptin- released from fat cells as they grow

• Lateral hypothalamus (LH) signals hunger and thirst

What are some cues for us to stop eating? What happens if these mechanism stop working?

• Ventromedial region of the hypothalamus (VMH) signals satiety

• Dysfunction of the ventromedial hypothalamus = no satiety signal

  • Prader-Willi syndrome

What is a body weight set point

• A weight that individuals typically return to, even after dieting or overeating

• Permanent eating and exercise changes as well as monitoring weight override set point controls

What classifies/causes obesity

• BMI of over 30

• Genetic, environmental/social (portion sizes, social eating, etc) and psychological (self-regulation) effects all can cause obesity

What is Anorexia Nervosa and how is it treated?

• Eating disorder marked by under-eating and extreme dieting.

• Features:

  • Preoccupation with being fat

  • Distorted body image

  • Dangerous weight loss

  • 10% fatality rate

  • More common in females (1 in 300 young women in Canada)

• Treatment: Cognitive-behavioural therapy, nutritional counselling, hospitalization, family therapy.

What is Bulimia Nervosa and how is it treated?

• Eating disorder with a cycle of binge-eating followed by purging (vomiting, laxatives, excessive exercise).

• Features:

  • Medical & dental problems

  • Secretive, shameful behaviours

  • Most not underweight

  • More common in females (1/100 young women in Canada)

  • Linked to OCD, anxiety, depression, and self-harm

• Treatment: Behaviour modification, reward healthy habits, cognitive therapy, healthier self-image, antidepressants or other medications.

What is Binge-Eating Disorder and how is it treated?

• Eating disorder marked by out-of-control eating large amounts of food.

• Features:

  • Occurs multiple times per week over months/years

  • Eating rapidly, even when full

  • Done alone, followed by guilt/shame

  • Causes psychological distress and negative emotions

  • More common in women and people with obesity

• Treatment: Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), antidepressant medication.

What happens to the body during sexual activity

• Excitement: This is the beginning of arousal and it can last up to several hours. Heart rate quickens, though not constantly over a long period of time.

• Plateau: At this phase, breathing and pulse rates increase. Muscles tense and a flush may appear across the chest.

• Orgasm: Muscle tension and blood pressure reach a peak. This is quickly followed by climax, which is a series of muscle contractions (the intensity varies, particularly among women).

• Resolution: Muscles relax and heart rate returns to normal. While men have a refractory period after an orgasm, during which they cannot ejaculate, women may have additional orgasms.

What happens in the brain during sexual activity

• Reproductive hormones influence sex drive, the pursuit of sexual behaviour, and sexual response

• Sexual activity and sexual images activate:

  • Frontal lobes

  • Basal ganglia

  • Hypothalamus

  • Amygdala

• Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA): activated during early-stage, intense romantic love and when viewing photos of loved ones (even without sexual interest).

What are the gender differences in sexuality according to evolutionary psychology?

• Men: Prefer mates who increase odds of reproductive success.

• Women: Prefer mates who can provide for and protect offspring.

• These differences are thought to have evolved to maximize reproduction and survival of children.

What is sexual orientation

• One’s relative attraction to individuals of varied genders and contains four related phenomena:

1. Sexual behaviour

2. Sexual identity

3. Sexual attraction

4. Sexual arousal

What are the four components of Sexual Orientation?

1. Sexual Behaviour – range of sexual behaviours and partners.

2. Sexual Identity – how a person defines their orientation, whether or not shared with others.

3. Sexual Attraction – who a person is sexually attracted to.

4. Sexual Arousal – extent of arousal to erotic stimuli involving different genders.

Conscious vs Unconscious motivations

• Conscious motivations– motivations that people are aware of and can verbalize

• Unconscious motivations– motivations that people are unaware of and cannot verbalize

  • Take caution when explaining people’s behaviour with

    unconscious motivations

Approach vs Avoidance motivation

• Avoidance - the desire to avoid the experience of a negative outcome following a behaviour

• Approach - the desire to experience a positive outcome following a behaviour

What is the hedonic principle

• We avoid painful experiences and approach pleasurable experiences

What is loss aversion

• A tendency to be motivated more strongly to avoid a loss rather than to achieve a gain, even if the potential loss and gain are of equal size

What are intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation?

• Intrinsic Motivation – doing something for internal satisfaction.

• Extrinsic Motivation – doing something for external rewards (e.g., money, grades).

• Amotivation – state of having no motivation (though it may reflect other underlying factors, not true absence of motivation).

What is the fixed vs growth mindset

• Growth - a belief that hard work and effort can improve a person’s skill or talent in a particular area

• Fixed - a belief that talent is innate and that skill in a particular area is not determined by hard work and effort

• Grit - long-term perseverance toward a goal

What is affiliation motivation?

• Need to form attachments for support and protection.

• Benefits: higher self-esteem, less depression, longer life.

• Drawbacks: stay in abusive relationships or political polarization to feel like they belong

• Brain: Social exclusion activates anterior cingulate cortex (like physical pain)

  • long-term isolation can lead to permanent psychological damage

What is achievement motivation?

• Self-Determination Theory: driven by competence, relatedness, autonomy

• Can be intrinsic (learning) or extrinsic (rewards) motivated to learn new things

• Linked to competition

• Too much focus on rewards → more distress after failure

How is achievement related to delaying gratification?

• Achievement requires long-term goal pursuit.

• Involves delaying gratification and impulse control.

• These skills depend on the prefrontal cortex, which matures after puberty.

Ability to wait for rewards is key to success.

What are the four components of emotion

1. Physiological - changes in bodily arousal

   • HR, temperature, and respiration

2. Cognitive, feeling - subjective appraisal and interpretation of one’s feelings and environment

3. Physical, behavioural - expression of the emotion verbally and non-verbally

   • Smiling, frowning, whining, laughing, reflecting, slouching

4. Emotional, behavioural - keeping the emotion present (happiness) or removing it (sadness)

What are three ways to measure emotions

1. Behavioural displays of emotions

   • Observe behaviour and facial expression

2. Self-reports of emotion

   • Widely used, but has low validity

3. Psychophysiological reactions

   • Face electromyography

   • HR

   • Skin conductance

   • fMRI

What are the functions of emotions

• Cognitive

  • help organize and retrieve memories

  • prioritize concerns, needs, goals and helps with judgement

• Behavioural

  • emotions alter behaviours

  • action tendencies (emotions are associated with predictable behaviours)

• Social

  • Emotions are the foundation of relationships, help improve relationship quality and helps with empathy & work performance

What are the three major theories of emotion?

• James-Lange Theory – emotions result from physiological changes.

• Cannon-Bard Theory – emotions and bodily arousal occur simultaneously.

• Schachter & Singer’s Two-Factor Theory – emotion = physiological arousal + cognitive interpretation.

What are two other theories of emotion?

• Cognitive-Mediational Theory (Lazarus): Emotions depend on cognitive appraisal, which mediates between environmental stimuli and our reactions.

• Facial-Feedback Theory: Facial muscle activity influences emotional experience (e.g., smiling can make you feel happier). Evidence is mixed/weak.

What is the survival function of emotions?

• Evolutionary Theory: Emotions are innate, passed through generations because they aid survival.

• Basic emotions: Universal across cultures (fear, anger, joy, sadness, surprise).

• Survival links:

  • Threat → Fear/Anxiety → Fight or flight

  • Obstacle → Anger/Rage → Aggression/defense

  • Potential mate → Joy/Excitement → Courtship, mating

  • Loss → Sadness/Grief → Crying for help

  • Novelty → Surprise → Stop & pay attention

What happens in the brain during emotion?

• No single brain structure controls a specific emotion.

• Emotions arise from circuits of interconnected brain regions working together.

• The activation of these circuits (not just individual structures) produces our conscious experience of emotion.

  • Medial prefrontal cortex, the medial parietal lobe, temporal lobe, thalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala, and the circuitry between these structures, contribute to our experience of emotions 

What is positive psychology

• The study and enrichment of:

  • Positive feelings - happiness, optimism

  • Positive trains - perseverance, wisdom

  • Positive abilities - interpersonal skills

  • Virtues - altruism, tolerance

What factors are linked to happiness?

• Tend to be optimistic, outgoing, curious, tender-minded, high self-esteem, spiritual, goal-directed, sense of control.

• Health benefits: highly optimistic people had 55% lower risk of death and 23% lower risk of heart problems.

• Cultural variation: Definitions and value of happiness differ across cultures.