C10 PSYCHE
Motivation and Emotion
1. What is Motivation?
Definition: Motivation is described as the wants or needs that direct behavior toward a goal.
Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation:
Intrinsic Motivation: Arises from internal factors. Behaviors are performed for personal satisfaction.
Extrinsic Motivation: Arises from external factors. Behaviors are performed to gain rewards or avoid negative consequences.
2. Understanding Emotions
Definition: Emotion is a subjective state of being, characterized by relatively intense feelings that occur in response to experiences. It's consciously experienced and intentional.
Components of Emotion: Includes physiological arousal, psychological appraisal, and subjective experiences, which are informed by individual experiences, backgrounds, and cultures.
Difference from Mood: Mood is a prolonged, less intense affective state that doesn’t necessarily occur in response to an experience and may not be recognized consciously.
3. Types and Sources of Motivations
What Motivates Us:
Tasks we would rather avoid versus things we are passionate about.
Are motivations different depending on the activity?
Role of Emotions: Discusses whether emotions drive motivation or serve as responses to achieving goals.
Questions to consider:
Do you believe your emotions motivate you?
What else might be contributing factors to emotions?
Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development
Key Stages and Descriptions:
Stage 1: Sensorimotor (0-2 Years)
Description: The world is experienced through senses and actions.
Developmental Issues: Object permanence and stranger anxiety.
Stage 2: Preoperational (2-6 Years)
Description: Use of words and images for representation but lack logical reasoning.
Developmental Issues: Egocentrism and language development.
Stage 3: Concrete Operational (7-11 Years)
Description: Understand concrete events and perform arithmetic operations.
Developmental Issues: Conservation and mathematical transformations.
Stage 4: Formal Operational (12+ Years)
Description: Utilize abstract reasoning and engage in moral reasoning.
Theories of Motivation
1. Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation
Overjustification Effect: Indicates that intrinsic motivation may decrease due to the introduction of extrinsic rewards. For example, getting paid may reduce enjoyment in a task. Conversely, intangible rewards (like praise) can enhance intrinsic motivation.
2. Instinct Theory of Motivation
William James' Proposal: Behavior driven by instincts crucial for survival (e.g., maternal instinct).
Criticism: Ignores learned behavior's role in shaping motivation.
3. Drive Theory of Motivation
Concept: Focuses on maintaining homeostasis; deviations cause physiological needs that create psychological drives directing behavior back to homeostasis.
Emphasis on Habits: Successful behaviors that reduce drives are reinforced and likely repeated.
Example: Hunger leads to eating.
4. Arousal Theory of Motivation
Optimal Arousal Concept: Individuals strive to maintain an optimal level of arousal; both underarousal (boredom) and overarousal (stress) lead to behavioral changes.
Yerkes-Dodson Law: Optimal performance occurs at moderate arousal, with task complexity affecting the ideal arousal point.
Difficult tasks: Best performed at lower arousal levels.
Simple tasks: Best performed at higher arousal levels.
Self-Efficacy and Social Motivation
Self-Efficacy
Definition: Belief in one's capabilities to complete tasks.
Bandura's Theory: Motivation is influenced by expectations regarding consequences of behavior; beliefs about abilities dictate actions and goals.
Social Motives
Need for Achievement: Drives accomplishment and performance.
Need for Affiliation: Encourages positive interactions with others.
Need for Intimacy: Causes pursuit of deep, meaningful relationships.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow's Theory (1943): Needs structured in a hierarchy, emphasizing that lower-level needs must be met before addressing higher-level needs.
Basic Needs: Including food, water, and shelter, must be fulfilled before focusing on social or self-esteem needs.
Hunger and Eating
Physiological Mechanisms
Regulation of Hunger and Eating: Governed by hunger and satiety signals integrated in the brain.
Before Eating:
Empty stomach triggers contractions causing hunger pangs; chemical signals communicate hunger to the brain.
Low blood glucose stimulates hunger via hormonal signals from the pancreas/liver.
After Eating: Satiation signals:
Increased blood glucose shuts off hunger.
Food in the gastrointestinal tract generates satiety signals.
Leptin (satiety hormone) released from fat cells.
Metabolism and Body Weight
Factors Affecting Body Weight: Genetic factors, calorie intake versus expenditure, and metabolic rate impact body weight.
Metabolic Rate: Definition - the energy expended in a timeframe, which varies among individuals.
Set-Point Theory: Individuals have an ideal body weight, resistant to change, influenced genetically. Efforts to significantly alter weight provoke compensatory changes in energy intake and expenditure.
Obesity
Classification:
Overweight: BMI 25-29.9
Obese: BMI 30+
Morbidly Obese: BMI 40+
Statistics: 2/3 of U.S. adults face challenges related to being overweight.
Environmental Contributors: Includes socio-economic status and neighborhood safety, influencing physical activity and food availability.
Weight Reduction Strategies
Combination of diet and exercise.
Bariatric Surgery: Gastric banding reduces stomach size for digestion.
Health Risks Associated with Obesity: Includes cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and several cancers.
Eating Disorders
Bulimia Nervosa: Involves binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors (e.g., purging). Associated health risks: kidney and heart failure. Psychological issues include anxiety and depression.
Anorexia Nervosa: Involves maintaining a weight below average through starvation and distorted body image. Health risks: bone loss, heart failure, amenorrhea, and potential death. Associated psychological issues include anxiety and mood disorders.
Sexual Behavior
Physiological Mechanisms
Role of the Hypothalamus: Key in regulating sexual behavior; lesions disrupt sexual engagement but do not affect sexual motivation.
Hormonal Influence: Hormones from endocrine glands significantly affect sexual motivation and behavior.
Kinsey's Research
Background: Dr. Alfred Kinsey conducted extensive surveys in the late 1940s to gather empirical data on sexual behaviors.
Findings:
Women are equally as interested in sex as men.
High rates of masturbation reported with no negative health consequences.
Homosexual behaviors are relatively common.
Kinsey Scale: A tool to categorize sexual orientation from exclusive heterosexuality to exclusive homosexuality.
Masters and Johnson's Research
Sexual Response Cycle:
Excitement: Initial arousal phases.
Plateau: Increased physiological response.
Orgasm: Peak of sexual response.
Resolution: Return to baseline.
Methodology: Direct observation and measurement of physiological responses during sexual behavior.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Sexual Orientation: Stable emotional and erotic attraction, not a choice; influenced by biological and genetic mechanisms.
Gender Identity: The internal sense of being male or female; can differ from biological sex.
Gender Dysphoria: Diagnosis for those misidentifying gender, which requires persistent distress for at least six months.
Transgender Hormone Therapy: Administer hormones to align one's physical appearance with their gender identity.
Theories of Emotion
1. James-Lange Theory
Concept: Emotions occur as a result of physiological arousal (e.g., "See a snake, heart pounds, then feel fear").
2. Cannon-Bard Theory
Concept: Simultaneous occurrence of physiological arousal and emotional experience (e.g., "See a snake and feel fear simultaneously").
Empirical Evidence: Spinal cord injury studies supporting that physiological input increases emotional intensity but isn’t strictly necessary for emotion.
3. Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory
Concept: Emotions consist of two components, physiological arousal and cognitive appraisal of the situation (e.g., evaluation leads to labeling the emotion).
Emphasis on Context: Arousal interpretation varies depending on the situation (e.g., sweating palms during fright or excitement).
4. Lazarus' Cognitive-Mediational Theory
Concept: Appraisal precedes emotional labeling; emotion is shaped by immediate, unconscious evaluation of stimuli.
5. Automatic Emotion Regulation (AER)
Concept: Non-deliberate control of emotions influencing various emotional processes; operates automatically without requiring conscious input.
6. Biological Basis of Emotions
Limbic System: Key brain structures involved in mediating emotions and memories, including the hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus.
Amygdala
Function: Central in processing emotional information, critical for fear and anxiety responses.
Facial Expression and Recognition of Emotions
Cultural Display Rules: Culturally specific standards governing emotional expression. Encourages understanding of variability in emotional displays across cultures while recognizing universal patterns.
Universal Facial Expressions of Emotion
List of Emotions: Happiness, Surprise, Sadness, Fright, Disgust, Contempt, Anger.
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Suggests that facial expressions impact emotional experiences; supported by findings related to emotion intensity linked to facial activity (e.g., Botox studies).
Homework Assignments
Complete the Change Style Indicator handout following provided directions, scoring it and bringing results for the discussion in the next class.
Results do not need to be shared with the instructor or classmates; focused on personal benefit in understanding personality during the discussion.