Unit 4c - Motivation & Emotion Review

Self-Determination Theory

• Definition: People are motivated to learn, grow, and change when their three basic psychological needs are satisfied.

  • Autonomy: The need to feel in control of one's life.

  • Relatedness: The need for interpersonal relationships and feelings of belongingness.

  • Competence: The need to be effective in dealing with the environment.

Motivation & Emotion

• Motivation: A psychological process that directs and maintains behavior towards a goal.

• Motive: Needs or desires that energize behavior.

• Instinct: Complex, inherited behavior patterns characteristic of a species that are unlearned.

• Drive-Reduction Theory: A physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.

• Homeostasis: The tendency to maintain a balanced internal state; regulation of any body chemistry (e.g., blood glucose) around a particular level.

• Need: A necessity, especially a physiological one.

• Desire: Something wanted, but not needed.

Arousal Theory

• Arousal: Level of alertness and activation caused by activity in the CNS.

• Primary Drive: Innate drives such as hunger, thirst, and sex.

• Secondary Drive: Learned drives through conditioning, such as working for money.

• Optimal Arousal Theory: A psychological theory explaining how arousal level affects performance.

• Yerkes-Dodson Law: Relationship between arousal and performance; optimum performance at moderate arousal levels.

• Sensation Seeking: Searching for specific levels of sympathetic nervous system arousal, including:

  • Experience seeking

  • Thrill or adventure

  • Disinhibition

  • Boredom susceptibility

Lewin’s Motivational Conflicts

• Conflicts between undesirable options are harder to resolve than those between desirable options.

Incentive Theory

• People are motivated by a desire to obtain external incentives.

  • Incentive: Positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

  • Primary Incentives: Motivate behavior to satisfy physiological needs.

  • Secondary Incentives: Motivate behavior to satisfy desires.

Cognitive Theory of Motivation

• People are motivated as a result of their own thoughts, desires, goals, and expectations.

• Intrinsic Motivation: Doing something because you genuinely like doing it.

• Extrinsic Motivation: Doing something due to promises of rewards or threats of punishment.

Achievement and Conflict Types

• Achievement: The drive to succeed, especially in competition.

• Types of Conflicts:

  • Approach-Approach: Involves two options where you must choose one (e.g., accepted at both Harvard and Dartmouth).

  • Avoidance-Avoidance: Involves two negative options (e.g., mow the lawn or wash the dishes).

  • Approach-Avoidance: Choosing an option with both positive and negative consequences (e.g., spicy food that causes heartburn).

Sociobiology

• Relates social behaviors to evolutionary biology.

Hunger Motivation

• Glucose: Circulates in the blood and provides energy; low levels lead to hunger.

• Lateral Hypothalamus (LH): The "on" button for eating; lesioning leads to lack of hunger ("little LH").

• Ventromedial Hypothalamus (VMH): The "off" button for eating; lesioning leads to lack of fullness ("very huge VMH").

Appetite Hormone

• Regulates glucose levels and hunger.

Set Point

• The individual’s "weight thermostat"; when below set point, hunger increases and metabolic rate decreases.

Basal Metabolic Rate

• The body's resting rate of energy expenditure.

Satiety

• The feeling of fullness.

Eating Disorders

• Anorexia Nervosa: Significant weight loss (15% or more) while feeling fat; continues to starve.

• Bulimia Nervosa: Episodes of overeating followed by purging behaviors.

• Binge-Eating Disorder: Significant binge-eating episodes without compensatory behaviors.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

• Measures body fat percentage; obesity is a BMI over 30%.