Chapter 5: Motivation, Emotion, and Stress Flashcards
Motivation
The purpose, or driving force, behind our actions.
Extrinsic Motivation
External forces, coming from outside oneself, create extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation can include rewards for showing a desired behavior or avoiding punishment if the desired behavior is not achieved.
Intrinsic Motivation
Motivation that comes from within oneself is referred to as intrinsic motivation. This can be driven by interest in a task or pure enjoyment.
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation Example
A student who takes interest in the subject matter at hand and has the goal of mastering the content is driven by intrinsic motivation, while the goal of achieving high grades is considered extrinsic.
What can reduce intrinsic motivation?
Introducing external reward.
What are the factors the influence motivation?
Instinct, Arousal, Drive, Needs.
Instinct Theory
People perform certain behaviors because of these evolutionarily programmed instincts.
Arousal Theory
People perform actions to maintain arousal, the state of being awake and reactive to stimuli, at an optimal level.
Yerkes–Dodson Law
Shows that performance is optimal at a medium level of arousal. Performance is worst at extremely low and high levels of arousal.
Drives
Internal states of tension that beget particular behaviors focused on goals.
Primary Drives
Primary drives are related to bodily processes. They include the need for food, water, and warmth.
Secondary Drives
Secondary drives stem from learning and include accomplishments and emotions (such as the desire for nurturing, love, and aggression).
Drive Reduction Theory
States that motivation arises from the desire to eliminate drives, which create uncomfortable internal states.
Needs
Motivators that influence human behavior.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
The most basic (bottom) needs must be met first.
Self Determination Theory
SDT emphasizes the role of three universal needs: autonomy, the need to be in control of one’s actions and ideas; competence, the need to complete and excel at difficult tasks; and relatedness, the need to feel accepted and wanted in relationships.
Theorists explain that these three needs must be met in order to develop healthy relationships with oneself and others.
Incentive theory
Explains motivation as the desire to pursue rewards and avoid punishments.
Expectancy–value theory
States that the amount of motivation for a task is based on the individual’s expectation of success and the amount that success is valued.
Opponent-process theory
Explains motivation for drug use: as drug use increases, the body counteracts its effects by changing its physiology, leading to tolerance and uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms.
What is one thing that motivates human sexual behavior?
Sexual motivation is related to hormones (estrogens, progesterone, and androgens) as well as cultural and social factors.
Physiological Component of Emotion
Changes in the sympathetic nervous system.
Behavioral Component of Emotion
Facial expressions and body language.
Cognitive Component of Emotion
The subjective interpretation of the feeling being experienced.
Universal Emotions
Paul Ekman described 7 basic emotions: Happiness, sadness, contempt, surprise, fear, disgust, and anger.
James–Lange theory
Nervous system arousal leads to a cognitive response in which the emotion is labeled.
Cannon–Bard theory
The simultaneous arousal of the nervous system and cognitive response lead to action.
Schachter–Singer theory
Nervous system arousal and interpretation of context lead to a cognitive response. One must analyze the environment in relation to nervous system arousal.
Amygdala
Involved with attention and fear, helps interpret facial expressions, and is part of the intrinsic memory system for emotional memory.
Thalamus
Sensory processing station. It routes information to the cortex and other appropriate areas of the brain.
Hypothalamus
Releases neurotransmitters that affect mood and arousal. It largely dictates emotional states.
Hippocampus
Creates long-term explicit (episodic) memories.
Prefrontal Cortex
Involved with planning, expressing personality, and making decisions.
Ventral Prefrontal Cortex
Critical for experiencing emotion.
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex
Involved in controlling emotional responses from the amygdala and decision-making.
What are the two stages of stress appraisal?
Primary Appraisal and Secondary Appraisal
Primary Appraisal
The initial evaluation of the environment and the associated threat. This appraisal can be identified as irrelevant, benign–positive, or stressful. If primary appraisal reveals a threat, stage 2 appraisal begins.
Secondary Appraisal
Directed at evaluating whether the organism can cope with the stress. This appraisal involves the evaluation of three things: harm, or damage caused by the event; threat, or the potential for future damage caused by the event; and challenge, or the potential to overcome and possibly benefit from the event.
Distress
Occurs when experiencing unpleasant stressors.
Eustress
Result of positive conditions. Eustress can include life events such as graduating from college, achieving a high score on the MCAT, getting married.
The sequence of physiological responses is called?
The “general adaptation syndrome”. The three stages are: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
