Chapter 8: Motivation, Emotion, and Stress

Question 1

motivation

Answer 1

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

Question 2

instinct

Answer 2

a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned

Question 3

physiological need

Answer 3

a basic bodily requirement

Question 4

drive-reduction theory

Answer 4

the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

Question 5

homeostasis

Answer 5

a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level

Question 6

incentive

Answer 6

a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

Question 7

Yerkes-Dodson law

Answer 7

the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases

Question 8

hierarchy of needs

Answer 8

Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active

Question 9

glucose

Answer 9

the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger

Question 10

set point

Answer 10

the point at which your “weight thermostat” may be set. When your body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore lost weight

Question 11

basal metabolic rate

Answer 11

the body’s resting rate of energy output

Question 12

obesity

Answer 12

defined as a body mass index (BMI) measurement of 30 or higher. (Overweight individuals have a BMI of 25 or higher.)

Question 13

asexual

Answer 13

having no sexual attraction to others

Question 14

testosterone

Answer 14

the most important male sex hormone. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs during the fetal period and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty

Question 15

estrogens

Answer 15

sex hormones, such as estradiol, that contribute to female sex characteristics and are secreted in greater amounts by females than by males. Estrogen levels peak during ovulation. In nonhuman mammals, this promotes sexual receptivity

Question 16

sexual response cycle

Answer 16

the four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson—excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution

Question 17

refractory period

Answer 17

(1) in neural processing, a brief resting pause that occurs after a neuron has fired; subsequent action potentials cannot occur until the axon returns to its resting state. (2) in human sexuality, a resting period that occurs after orgasm, during which a person cannot achieve another orgasm

Question 18

affiliation

Answer 18

the need to build relationships and to feel part of a group

Question 19

ostracism

Answer 19

deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups

Question 20

narcissism

Answer 20

excessive self-love and self-absorption

Question 21

achievement motivation

Answer 21

a desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control, and for attaining a high standard

Question 22

grit

Answer 22

in psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals

Question 23

emotion

Answer 23

a response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience

Question 24

James-Lange theory

Answer 24

the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to an emotion-arousing stimulus: stimulus S arousal S emotion

Question 25

Cannon-Bard theory

Answer 25

the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion

Question 26

two-factor theory

Answer 26

the Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal

Question 27

polygraph

Answer 27

a machine used in attempts to detect lies that measures several of the physiological responses (such as perspiration, heart rate, and breathing changes) accompanying emotion

Question 28

facial feedback effect

Answer 28

the tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness

Question 29

behavior feedback effect

Answer 29

the tendency of behavior to influence our own and others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions

Question 30

stress

Answer 30

the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging

Question 31

general adaptation syndrome

Answer 31

Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases—alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Question 32

tend-and-befriend response

Answer 32

under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend)

Question 33

health psychology

Answer 33

a subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine

Question 34

psychoneuroimmunology

Answer 34

the study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health

Question 35

coronary heart disease

Answer 35

the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries

Question 36

Type A

Answer 36

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people

Question 37

Type B

Answer 37

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people

Question 38

catharsis

Answer 38

in psychology, the idea that “releasing” aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

Question 39

aerobic exercise

Answer 39

sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; also helps alleviate depression and anxiety

Question 40

mindfulness meditation

Answer 40

a reflective practice in which people attend to current experiences in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner

Question 41

feel-good, do-good phenomenon

Answer 41

people’s tendency to be helpful when in a good mood

Question 42

positive psychology

Answer 42

the scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive

Question 43

subjective well-being

Answer 43

self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people’s quality of life

Question 44

adaptation-level phenomenon

Answer 44

our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience

Question 45

relative deprivation

Answer 45

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself.