Motivation and Emotion

Motivation

Factors within (intrinsic) and outside (extrinsic) an organism that cause it to behave a certain way at a certain time

Intrinsic motivation (self determination theory)

A desire to perform a behavior out of internal personal interest or desire

ex. Sam reads about physics because she is interested in the subject

Extrinsic motivation (self determination theory)

A desire to perform a behavior to receive rewards or avoid punishment. This is external motivation.

ex. Will cleans his room because a parent said he could go to the movies if he did it

Drive Theory (Drive Reduction Theory)

An internal condition or impulse that activates behavior to reduce a biological need and restore homeostasis

ex. the hormone ghrelin makes a person feel hungry so that person is motivated to eat to reduce the internal drive and return to homeostasis

Grehlin

A hormone that makes a person feel hungry

Mnemonic: stomach is "growling" when your body releases grehlin

Leptin

Tells the body about the level of fat storage (leptin resistance is a disorder where people don't process leptin and continue eating despite having adequate fat storage)

satiation

Feeling full

Mnemonic: If you are satiated you are "satisfied"

sensory-specific satiation

The reduced desire to continue consuming a particular food

ex. A person that has had several slices of pizza might feel as though they couldn't eat another bite. Minutes later they decide they have enough room to eat a chocolate chip cookie. In this instance the person was satiated relative to the pizza only.

lateral hypothalamus

The part of the hypothalamus that produces hunger signals

ventromedial hypothalamus

The part of the hypothalamus that produces feelings of satiation and causes one to stop eating.

positive incentive value

In eating behavior, the anticipated pleasure of consuming a particular food

ex. If pizza has positive incentive value for a person, it is pleasurable for them to eat and they may eat it even when not all that hungry. The person may also release the neurotransmitter dopamine (rewarding sensations) when eating it

incentive theory of motivation

States that extrinsic rewards are the driving forces behind people's choices and behaviors

ex. Jack is motivated to learn his multiplication tables to get a gold star on the sticker chart at school

instinct theory of motivation

Humans have innate characteristics and emotions that shape behavior

ex. a person is motivated by an inborn sense of competitiveness or jealousy

Arousal theory of motivation

People are motivated to maintain an optimum level of arousal—neither too high nor too low

ex. When someone is overwhelmed they may reduce their activities to get to an optimal level of arousal. If someone is bored in class, they may draw flowers all over their notebook in order to also achieve the optimal level of arousal.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

The principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases. The graph is sometimes referred to as an "inverted U" shape.

Additionally, easy tasks tend to be performed best with higher arousal and more difficult tasks tend to be performed best with lower arousal.

ex. an actor that isn't excited enough may have a poor performance in the school play in the same way an actor that is overly nervous might have a poor performance. Somewhere in the middle is the optimal level of arousal for the best performance.

sensation seeking

The degree to which an individual is motivated to experience high levels of sensory and physical arousal associated with varied and novel activities. Experience seeking, thrill seeking, disinhibition, and boredom susceptibility are all components.

ex. A person high in sensation seeking for thrill seeking tends to look for exciting (and sometimes risky) activities such as sky diving.

display rules

cultural rules specifying what emotions should and should not be expressed under what circumstances

ex. some cultures would never show disgust in front of an authority figure while in others it is acceptable to do so

Innate emotions (basic emotions)

Universal emotions that are seen across cultures.

acial expressions and basic emotions appear to be innate (inborn) and also universal across all cultures. Fear, Surprise, Anger, Disgust, Happy, and Sad.

Paul Ekman Research on Nonverbal Communication

One of the foremost researchers on nonverbal communication, most specifically facial expressions.

Ekman Showed pictures of people's faces to inhabitants of 21 different countries including a tribe in New Guinea that was untouched by modern media. He found that all people guessed the emotion displayed in the picture with great accuracy regardless of culture.

-Children that are born deaf and blind use the same facial expressions when they are happy, sad, etc.

facial expressions

The human face has over 7,000 expressions according to Ekman's research

Microexpressions

Fleeting facial expressions lasting only a few tenths of a second. Studied extensively by Ekman and can provide clues to emotions a person may be masking. Determining what the emotion is and, most importantly, why the person might be masking it is a much more difficult task.

James-Lange theory of emotion

Theory in which a physiological reaction leads to the experience of an emotion. The arousal happens first, followed by the emotion.

"I'm angry because I strike, I'm afraid because I'm running". William James thought that physiology produced emotions. The facial feedback hypothesis supports this idea.

Mnemonic: "A" comes before "E" in the name "James" and in the theory "a"rousal happens followed by the "e"motion

facial feedback hypothesis

Emotional expressions can cause the emotional experiences they represent

ex. research has shown that there is a correlation between smiling more and being happier. In this instance, the muscles in the face that are smiling send a message to the brain, which contributes to the emotion of happiness. The arousal is the face smiling and the emotion is happiness, which aligns with the beliefs in the James-Lange theory.

Cannon-Bard theory of emotion

Theory in which the physiological reaction and the emotion are assumed to occur at the same time. The arousal and the emotion happen simultaneously.

Mnemonic: Imagine a cannon firing and a person jumping and feeling afraid all at once

Schachter-Singer two-factor theory

Physical arousal and cognitive labeling of that arousal produce our subjective experience of emotion

ex. A student's heart is racing in class. The student thinks about it and determines that their heart is racing because they have a math test next period. The student experiences the emotion of fear.

Mnemonic: Sch"A""C"ht"E"r: The name Schachter has the letters ACE and in that theory a person experiences Arousal, Cognitive labeling, and then the Emotion.

Mnemonic: Schachter= actor, an actor has to physically hype themselves up for a performance, cognitively label aspects of their character, and portray the emotion on the stage. In this theory we experience arousal, a cognitive label, and then the emotion.

Lazarus' Cognitive Mediational Theory

A cognitive appraisal of a situation is the most important factor in experiencing emotion. In this theory the cognitive piece comes first, followed by a simultaneous experience of the arousal and the emotion.

ex. A person labels a situation as dangerous, so their heart races and they feel fear all at once.

Broaden and Build Theory of Emotion

Positive emotional experiences tend to broaden awareness and encourage new actions and thoughts. Negative ones reduce awareness and narrow thinking.