PSYC1101 - Emotions & Motivation

emotion definition

states characterised by physiological arousal and changes in emotional expressions and internal feelings

motivated behaviour definition

goal directed & persistant actions that changes over time depending on our needs / desires

liking

something we expect to increase our happiness

association between emotion and behaviour

1. There is always an emotional goal behind our motivated behaviours (e.g. I want a girlfriend because I want to be happy)

Discrete Emotion Theory - overview

• everyone experiences a small range of emotions that combines in complex ways

Discrete Emotion Theory - ideas

basic emotions:

1. have a unique biological basis (e.g. fear → amygdala)

2. has an evolutionary function

3. emerge early in life (not dependent on experiences)

4. have a distinct and universal set of physiological responses

5. are cross-cultural

Paul Ekman’s research

• travelled to isolated tribes in New Guinea

• showed emotional facial expressions to people from different cultures

• found universal recognition of several emotions

• 6 Universal Basic Emotions: Happiness, Sadness, Fear, Surprise, Disgust, Anger

association between emotion and communication

• facial expressions help us communicate

• emotional expressions occur more in the presence of others

• expressions are the best indicators of one’s emotional states

duchenne smile

• genuine happiness involves mouth smiling and eye wrinkles ("crow's feet")

• fake smile usually involves only the mouth

cerebral cortex

thinking, decision making, interpreting situations

limbic system

 group of brain structures heavily involved in emotions

amygdala

detects and responds to threats / fear related stimuli

prefrontal cortex

helps regulate emotions and make rational decisions; avoid impulses

sympathetic ns

• consists of two chains of neuron clusters to the left and right of the spinal cord

• activates the body during stress or danger

parasympathetic ns

• consists of neurons with axons extending out from the medulla and the lower spinal cord

• calms the body after stress & promotes rest and digestion

polygraphs

attempt to detect lying through measuring sympathetic nervous system physiological arousal (heart rate, blood pressure, etc)

Attribution theory

assigning causes to events; attributing arousal to a certain source

James-Lange Theory

• emotional feelings follow bodily arousal and come from awareness of such arousal

• e.g. See snake → heart races → feel fear

Cannon-Bard Theory

• the thalamus causes emotional feelings and bodily arousal at the same time.

• e.g. See snake = both heart races & feel fear at once

Schachter’s Cognitive Theory

• emotions occur when a label is applied to general physical arousal

• Seeing something unclear in the bush:

  • If interpreted as snake → fear

  • If interpreted as stick → calm

the mere exposure effect

• when you see something (or someone) again and again, you are more prune to like it

• we prefer familiarity

personal space

• humans maintain different physical distances from others depending on familiarity, comfort and relationship

levels of personal space

intimate → personal → social → public

hedonic

short term happiness

eudemonic

long term happiness

how does money affect happiness

• moving from below-average income to above average income can increase happiness

• correlation only exists to a specific threshold of money

• after you have “enough” money - having more doesn’t create more happiness

the hedonic treadmill

• people adapt to positive changes over time

• things that were previously seen as happy returns to normal

association between happiness and age

• older people tend to be more happy

• happiness decreases during midlife and increases again later in life

affective forecasting

• predicting how a future event will make us feel & how long that feeling will last

• e.g. if i get a girlfriend i will be happy

miswanting

• thinking something makes us feel happy, then getting it and realising it doesn’t

• e.g. my girlfriend makes me stressed, not happy!

durability bias

people tend to overestimate the duration of our emotional reactions in the future

• e.g. i just broke up with her, i’m gonna be sad and my life is over!!

why does durability bias occur?

1. we overthink little events

2. we don’t know what really makes us happy/sad

3. expecting happiness motivates our behaviour

4. we forget that we usually adapt to changes in our life

self esteem

the extent to which we like ourselves; associated with the no. of positive experiences in our life

Lorenz’s theory

• action specific energy builds up inside an animal over time

• an external stimulus triggers this stored energy to release, causing a fixed action pattern (FAP) behaviour

Perceive > Act theory

Humans are better at inhibiting our motivated responses and taking account of complex cues

Examples of biological needs in humans

hunger, thirst, sex, temperature, sleep and rest

Examples of social needs in humans

achievement, autonomy, affiliation, nurturance

Drive Reduction Theory

need -> drive -> response -> goal -> need reduction

Yerkes-Dodson Law

• arousal can improve performance up to a set point, after which it declines

• moderate arousal tends to produce the best results.

• the ideal arousal level depends on task difficulty (simple tasks = higher arousal, complex tasks = low arousal

Homeostasis theory

• it is necessary to use energy to maintain homeostasis

• e.g. if we’re cold, we are motivated to get a jumper

Maslow’s theory

• humans are motivated to satisfy needs in order

• once a need is satisfied, it ceases to be a motivator and you seek the next one up

Maslow’s needs hierarchy

• physiological -> safety -> love & belongingness -> esteem needs -> self actualisation

feeling of hunger is caused by….

• release of ghrelin hormone when the stomach feels hungry & travels to the hypothalamus

• as you eat, CCK (cholecystokinin) is released → reduces hunger and increase feelings of fullness

why do we eat a lot?

• we evolved in environments where food is scarce & we need to hunt & earn our food

• led to us wanting to eat more high calorie food to conserve more energy

leptin

• signals fullness, reduces our appetite and increases energy use

• obese people are genetically resistant to leptin

the stanford marshmallow study

• children can eat 1 marshmallow immediately or wait and get 2

• found that older children = more self control

sugar & self control

• self control is regulated by the pre-frontal cortex and requires energy

• energy comes from glucose

• when blood glucose levels are higher, we have more more self control

what the hell effect

• after breaking a diet once, people may completely abandon their diet and overeat excessively

hedonic license

• people believing they were taking a multi-vitamin engaged in less exercise and made unhealthier food choices

soup bowl study

• researchers fed people a soup bowl that automatically refilled from the bottom

• found that people ate more because they relied on visual cues to know when they’re full

portion size effect

larger portions increase food intake

set point theory

• people often "settle into" a weight in adulthood

• when our weight drops below this set point, regulatory mechanisms increase our appetite and decrease metabolism

libido

our crave for sexual activity and pleasure, strongly influenced by genetics

Buss (1989)

• sexual motivation comes from natural selection / the need to pass on our genes

• men are more horny

reproductive health

• we are attracted to partners with signs of reproductive health & disease resistant

• partners w/ different immune system genes = produce more disease resistant children

• major histocompatibility complex (MHC) - the gene that lets us detects diseases

scent

men prefer:

• women at fertile points of their menstrual cycle

• facially attractive

women prefer (particularly at their fertile point):

• men w/ more masculine faces

• indicators of good reproductive success

factors of attraction

• same interests / values / personality

• not long distance

• are physically attractive

• reciprocate us

• give us nice things

sexual response

excitement → plateau → orgasm → resolution

sternber’s theory of love

love = intimacy + passion + commitment

• Intimacy: emotional closeness, sharing stories, "trauma bonding"

• Passion: sexual attraction, infatuation, wanting to be around her all the time

• Commitment: the decision to remain together long term