Behavior, Arousal, and Affective Valence

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and their definitions related to behavior, arousal, and affective valence from the lecture.

Arousal

Refers to the mobilization or activation of energy for and during behavior.

Physiological Arousal

Bodily changes that correspond to feeling energized, influenced by the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Psychological Arousal

The subjective experience regarding how activated or energized a person feels.

Energetic Arousal

Arousal characterized by a positive feeling ranging from tiredness to alertness.

Tense Arousal

Arousal characterized by a negative feeling ranging from calmness to anxiety.

Trait Anxiety

Proneness to experience anxiety and perceive most situations as threatening.

State Anxiety

Actual feelings of apprehension or worry that occur in threatening situations.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Describes the relationship between arousal and performance, indicating that performance can improve with arousal to an optimal level.

Cusp Catastrophe Model

A model that explains how cognitive and physiological arousal interact and can lead to sudden changes in performance.

Processing Efficiency Theory

Suggests that anxiety takes up working memory capacity, interfering with problem-solving.

Attentional Control Theory

Indicates that anxiety impairs the ability to maintain and switch attention.

Optimal Level of Stimulation Theory

Describes the relationship between arousal levels and affective valence, indicating that moderate arousal corresponds with the best feelings.

Benign Masochism

The enjoyment of defensive reactions to negative stimuli.

Tragedy Paradox

The inconsistency of enjoying painful experiences, such as listening to sad music.

Complexity of Stimuli

Stimuli of intermediate complexity are preferred over those that are too simple or too complex.

Musical Grammar Processor

A primitive mechanism that processes musical notes for enjoyment and prevents habituation.

Chill

A reaction to music that may include goosebumps and shivers, experienced as pleasure.

Groove

The rhythmic property of music that compels a person to move in sync.

Prediction Errors

Instances of incorrectly predicting the next musical note that, when resolved, lead to pleasure.