1
Q
Motivation
A
a process that energizes, guides, and maintains behavior toward a goal.
2
Q
Motivational states have four essential qualities:
A
- Motivational states are energizing or stimulating.
- Motivational states are directive.
- Motivational states help animals persist in their behavior until they achieve their goals or satisfy their needs.
- Motives vary in strength, influenced by psychological and external forces.
3
Q
Motivational states are energizing or stimulating.
A
- They activate behaviors: they give individuals the energy to engage in activities.
- Ex.) the desire for fitness might influence someone to go for a run on a cold morning.
4
Q
Motivational states are directive
A
- They direct behaviors toward satisfying specific goals or needs.
- Ex.) hunger motivates you to eat
- Ex.) thirst motivates you to drink
- Ex.) pride (or fear) motivates you to study for exams.
5
Q
Motivational states help animals persist in their behavior until they achieve their goals or satisfy their needs.
A
- Ex.) Hunger annoys you until you find something to eat
6
Q
Motives vary in strength, influenced by psychological and external forces.
A
- The intensity of motivations to do something can vary based on our internal feelings and external factors in our environment.
- Ex.) Exercising can be affected by our personal beliefs (psychological) and circumstances such as time availability or social support (external forces).
7
Q
Motivational states
A
Internal feelings in living beings that drive them to start actions, choose what to do, and aim to reach their goals.
8
Q
Need
A
Need: a state of biological, social or psychological deficiency.
- What you lack.
9
Q
Need hierarchy
A
- Maslow’s arrangement of needs, in which basic survival needs must be met before people can satisfy higher needs.
10
Q
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, bottom and top
A
- Survival needs (food, water) at the base of the hierarchy.
- Personal growth needs at the top.
11
Q
Maslow and Personal Growth
A
To experience personal growth, Maslow believed people must fulfill their biological needs, feel safe and secure, feel loved, and have a good opinion of themselves.
12
Q
Maslow - Self-Actualization
A
Self-actualization: a state that can be achieved when one’s personal dreams and aspirations have been attained.
- The height of Maslow’s theory was self-actualization.
- Self-actualization occurs when people achieve their own best self.
- Self-actualized people experience true happiness and inner peace.
- According to Maslow, self-actualized individuals are driven to pursue their passions and talents.
13
Q
Maslow’s Hierarchy - Empirical Support
A
- Lacks evidence
- The concept of self-actualization as the height of Maslow’s hierarchy might not be universally applicable for achieving happiness.
- Some individuals prioritize personal beliefs over basic needs, as seen in hunger strikes.
- Western cultures tend to prioritize individual achievement, while many other cultures prioritize interpersonal values like belonging and relatedness above individual goals.
- Maslow’s hierarchy shows how some needs may be more important than others, but specific needs and their priorities vary among people and cultures.
14
Q
Drive Definition
A
A psychological state that, by creating arousal, motivates an organism to satisfy a need.
- A specific drive encourages behaviors that will satisfy a specific need.
15
Q
Example of Need and Drive - Oxygen
A
If you hold your breath, you will start to feel a strong sense of urgency, even anxiety.
- The need is the deficiency, the lack of oxygen.
- The drive is the feeling of anxiety or urgency.
16
Q
Relationship between need and drive
A
- A need is what you lack, and a drive is the feeling or motivation that pushes you to fulfill that lack by taking action.
- A need is a deficiency in some area that creates a drive - an internal psychological state/feeling.
17
Q
Role of basic drives in equilibrium
A
- For biological states such as thirst or hunger, basic drives help animals maintain equilibrium.
18
Q
Definition of Homeostasis
A
Homeostasis: the tendency for bodily functions to maintain equilibrium.
19
Q
Analogy for Homeostasis
A
Analogy: a home heating and cooling system controlled by a thermostat.
- Thermostat is set to an optimal level, or set-point. This optimal level indicated homeostasis.
- If the actual temperature differs from the set-point, the furnace or air conditioner adjusts the temperature to restore equilibrium.
20
Q
Human body set-point temperature
A
The human body has a set-point temperature of around 37 celsius.
21
Q
Brain Mechanisms in temperature regulation
A
Brain mechanisms, particularly the hypothalamus, play a crucial role in initiating responses to temperature changes.
- Initiate responses such as sweating - to cool the body
- Initiate responses such as shivering - to warm the body.
22
Q
behavioral responses to temperature changes
A
- Individuals are motivated to perform behaviors like taking off or putting on clothing in response to temperature changes.
- These behaviors continue until the set-point temperature is reached, causing the regulatory mechanism to discontinue.
23
Q
Negative-Feedback loops - temperature regulation
A
- This entire process is called a negative-feedback loop, because feedback decreases the activity of the system.
24
Q
Negative-Feedback loops - human body
A
Negative-feedback loops are useful for describing basic biological processes such as eating, fluid regulation, and sleep.
25
Clark Hull's Theory
Clark Hull expanded on Walter Cannon’s work and proposed a theory regarding the relationship between needs, drives, and behaviors.
- According to Hull’s theory, when an animal (or person) is deprived of a need, such as water or sleep, the drive increases in proportion to the level of deprivation.
- The more you are deprived of a need, the more you are motivated to fulfill that need.
26
How can drives lead to habits?
- Initially, the behaviors individuals engage in to satisfy a need may be random or haphazard.
- Any behavior that successfully satisfies a need is reinforced and is more likely to reoccur in similar circumstances.
- Overtime, if a behavior consistently reduces a drive, it becomes a habit and is the dominant response produced by the arousal.
- The likelihood that a behavior will occur is due to drive and habit.
27
Clark Hull's Theory - Intensity of drive
- The intensity of the drive corresponds to the level of deprivation; the hungrier you are, the stronger the drive to find food.
28
Example of Clark Hull's Theory - Dinnertime
Ex.) Dinner time:
- The need for food arises, triggering a drive to satisfy hunger.
- If dinner is consistently consumed around a certain time of day, it becomes a habit.
29
Yerkes-Dodson Law
- The psychological principle that performance on challenging tasks increases with arousal up to a moderate level. After that, additional arousal impairs performance.
- Relationship between arousal (feelings: anxiety, excitement, stress, alertness) and performance.
30
Arousal
feelings: anxiety, excitement, stress, alertness
31
Yerkes-Dodson Law graph
- Relationship between arousal and performance is depicted as an inverted U-shaped curve.
32
Yerkes-Dodson Law - Test Example
- Moderate anxiety levels are optimal for performance on tasks like exams.
- Too little anxiety may lead to inattention or lack of motivation.
- Too much anxiety interferes with thinking ability.
33
Yerkes-Dodson Law - Athlete Example
Athletes often need to psych themselves up for events, but excessive stress can cause performance to deteriorate.
34
Optimal level of arousal
People are motivated to seek their optimal level of arousal - the level they most prefer.
Too little, they are bored, too much they are overwhelmed.
35
Low level of optimal arousal
Some people have a lower level of optimal arousal.
- More comfortable with lower levels of stimulation.
- These individuals prefer calmer activities: ex. Reading.
36
High level of optimal arousal
Some people have a higher level of optimal arousal.
- More comfortable with higher levels of stimulation.
- Prefer exciting activities, such as skydiving.
37
Emotions
Emotions: an immediate, specific negative or positive response to environmental events or internal thoughts.
- Emotions typically have a triggering event, interrupt whatever is happening, and change your thought and behavior.
38
Three components of emotions
a physiological process (eg. heart beating fast, sweating),
and feelings based on cognitive appraisal of the situation (eg. I’m scared!),
and a behavioral response (eg. eyes and mouth opening wide).
39
Feeling
Feeling: a feeling is when you recognize and understand the emotion within yourself.
- Linking thoughts and perceptions to the emotion you’re feeling.
40
Mood
Mood: long-lasting emotional states without identifiable triggers or specific behavioral and physiological responses.
- They unconsciously influence thoughts and behavior.
- People often don’t know why they are in a bad/good mood.
41
Primary Emotions
Primary Emotions: emotions that are innate, evolutionarily adaptive, and universal.
- Primary emotions are immediate, instinctual responses to stimuli.
- First emotions you feel when something happens.
- Primary emotions are independent, and are not made from combinations of other emotions.
- Universally shared across cultures
- Examples of primary emotions: fear, joy, anger, sadness, surprise, disgust, contempt.
- Ex.) won the lottery, your primary emotion is extreme joy.
42
Secondary Emotions
Secondary Emotions: blends of primary emotions or culturally specific emotions.
- A culturally specific emotion refers to an emotional experience or expression that is unique to a particular culture or society.
- Ex.) “Loss of face” - feeling of shame or embarrassment related to losing respect, honor, etc in Asian cultures. - ZUKO
- Examples: remorse, guilt, shame, jealousy, pride, love, and contentment.
- Ex.) Guilt: blend of anger at oneself and fear of consequences of your actions.
43
The Circumplex model of emotion
In this model emotions are plotted along two continuums: valence and arousal.
44
Valence
Valence: refers to the negativity and positivity of emotions.
- Negative emotions have low valence (eg. sadness, anger)
- Positive emotions have high valence (eg. happiness, joy)
45
Arousal
Arousal: indicates brain and body activation levels, which influence the intensity of emotions.
- Low arousal emotions are calm or relaxed (eg. contentment)
- High arousal emotions are intense or stimulating (eg. excitement, fear)
46
What physiological changes does arousal involve?
- Increased brain activity
- Increased autonomic responses (quickened heart rate, increased sweating, muscle tension).
47
Valence vs. Arousal
Example: losing a dollar bill:
- Experience makes you unhappy, so you have negative valence.
- Slightly aroused, because it increases autonomic responses.
Example: lottery ticket:
- Positive valence, you are happy.
- High arousal levels
48
Secondary emotions contradict traditional emotion views
Some secondary emotions contradict the traditional view of emotions as being strictly negative or positive.
- Ex.) bittersweet feeling: feeling both happy and sad simultaneously, such as remembering good times with a deceased loved one.
- Ex.) feeling happy and sad after moving out, graduating from college.
- Neuroscience research supports the brain’s ability to generate mixed emotions, combining features of both positive and negative states.
49
Valence and arousal, neuroscientific findings,
Neuroscientific findings: valence and arousal are not uniquely encoded in specific brain regions, but are represented throughout the brain.
50
According to the circumplex model of emotion, what are the two dimensions on which emotions vary?
valence (positive vs. negative) and arousal (brain and body activation)
51
Fear and anger
Fear and anger share biochemical similarities but differ in behavioral responses.
- Fear: retreat, avoid, freeze, run, implode.
- Anger: move forward, engage, erupt, fight, explode.
- The difference lies in the behavioral responses.
- Extreme anger can lead to fearlessness in individuals.
52
Three Components of Anger:
Feeling angry involves three components: physiological arousal, cognitive appraisal of the situation, and behavioral reactions.
Physiological arousal:
- Heart beating fast, sweating
Cognitive appraisal/evaluation of the situation:
- Being offended, discriminated against, victimized, etc.
- Interpreting others as having negative motives.
- Recalling other traumatic or enraging events.
- Being oversensitive to comments
Behavioral reactions:
- Screaming, yelling, swearing, name calling, hitting, slapping, throwing things, sarcasm, etc.
53
The Evolutionary Approach to Emotion:
Charles Darwin believed that:
- Emotional expressions are universal.
-Emotional responses are serving some adaptive functions.
- Emotions are inherited responses that help us deal with familiar situations, like danger or forming relationships.
54
Are Emotional Expressions Universal?:
- Emotions are expressed universally through facial expressions.
- Seven basic emotions are universally recognized: fear, disgust, happiness, surprise, contempt, anger, and sadness.
55
Study 1 - Universal Facial Expressions:
Hypothesis: Ekman proposed that the meaning of facial expressions is socially learned. Therefore, the meaning of expressions should vary across cultures.
Research Method:
- In this study, participants in New Guinea were photographed displaying certain facial expressions.
- For example, they were asked to look like they had come across a rotting pig or like one of their children had died.
- Participants from other countries were asked to identify the emotions being expressed by the New Guineans.
Results:
- People across cultures largely agreed on the meaning of different facial expressions.
- The examples here are (a) happiness, (b) sadness, (c) anger, and (d) disgust.
Conclusion: Ekman’s hypothesis was wrong. Recognition of facial expressions may be universal and therefore biologically based.
56
Study 2 - Recognition of Basic Emotions:
- Ekman and Friesen told the participants a story, and then presented three pictures of faces displaying different emotions.
- The participants chose the face that showed the appropriate emotion for the story.
- Participants were New Guineans.
Results: participants could distinguish all of the emotions, except they tended to confuse fear and surprise.
Psychology 201
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