Chapter 9: Motivation and Learning

Question 1

What is motivation?

Answer 1

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

Question 2

What are the four theories that psychologists use to understand motivated behavior?

Answer 2

1. instinct theory
2. drive reduction theory
3. arousal theory
4. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Question 3

What is an instinct?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

What is the drive-reduction theory?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

What does drive reduction help us do?

Answer 5

strive for homeostasis

Question 6

What are incentives?

Answer 6

positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

Question 7

What pushes and pulls us to do things?

Answer 7

physiological needs push us, while incentives pull us

Question 8

What does uncertainty do to us?

Answer 8

we inertly are sensation seekers and the “unknown” arouses us and brings excitement

Question 9

What is the Yerkes-Dodson law?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Do more difficult tasks require more or less arousal for best performance?

Answer 10

less arousal

Question 11

What is the hierarchy of needs?

Answer 11

Maslow’s 5 levels of human needs, it starts with physiological needs that need to be satisfied first before other needs higher up in the pyramid

Question 12

What does Maslow’s self-transcendence level mean?

Answer 12

we strive for meaning, purpose, and communication

Question 13

Is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs universal?

Answer 13

no, there are people that achieve things higher in the pyramid while not having something lower in the pyramid (for example: Buddha starving himself to find peace and a purpose)

Question 14

Do things lower on Maslow’s hierarchy take precedent over stuff that is higher?

Answer 14

yes, it does (for example: stopping at a sketchy diner because you are really hungry)

Question 15

What is affiliation need?

Answer 15

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

Question 16

What is the self-determination theory?

Answer 16

the theory that we feel motivated to satisfy our needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness

Question 17

What is ostracism?

Answer 17

the deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups

Question 18

What is narcissism?

Answer 18

excessive self-love and self-absorption

Question 19

What is achievement motivation?

Answer 19

a desire for significant accomplishment for mastery of skills or ideas, for control, and for attaining a high standard (essentially: the more we achieve, the more we many need to achieve)

Question 20

Is natural talent the only factor in high achievement?

Answer 20

nope, people who have high self-discipline and natural talent are the ones that achieve the most in life

Question 21

What is grit?

Answer 21

passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long term goals

Question 22

What is intrinsic motivation?

Answer 22

the desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

Question 23

What can excessive reward do to intrinsic motivation?

Answer 23

it can destroy intrinsic motivation

Question 24

What is extrinsic motivation?

Answer 24

the desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

Question 25

Is hunger only due to stomach contractions?

Answer 25

nope, when researchers removed rats' stomach, they were still feeling hungry and eating, so the stomach wasn't the only reason people and animals felt hungry

Question 26

What is a set point?

Answer 26

the "normal" weight that your body and brain are used to

Question 27

What are emotions a mix of?

Answer 27

1. body arousal 2. expressive behaviors 3. conscious experience and feelings

Question 28

What is the James-Lange Theory?

Answer 28

the theory that our experience of emotion occurs when we become aware of our physiological responses to an emotion arousing stimulus

Question 29

What is the Cannon-Bard Theory?

Answer 29

the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers a physiological responses and the subjective experience of emotion

Question 30

What are the three most important aspects of self- motivation?

Answer 30

choice, competence, and community

Question 31

What was the marshmallow test?

Answer 31

children were given a marshmallow, and instructed to wait if they wanted two marshmallows later, rather than eating the one now

Question 32

What did the marshmallow experiment show?

Answer 32

that children able to resist temptation tended to do better later in life (with health and success)

Question 33

What is the difference between stress and distress?

Answer 33

perception of personal control

Question 34

What is the difference between activators and consequences?

Answer 34

activators direct and consequences motivate

Question 35

What type of consequences are naturally reinforcing?

Answer 35

intrinsic

Question 36

Can observers and coworkers improve or impair an individuals performance?

Answer 36

both

Question 37

Why can behavior be self directed and other directed?

Answer 37

you can behave due to your own intrinsic motivation and take responsibility for your actions, or you can behave according to other people and blame other people for shortcomings

Question 38

What type of intelligence was triggered when the kids delayed eating the marshmallow?

Answer 38

emotional intelligence

Question 39

What is the two factor theory?

Answer 39

that humans feel physical arousal when presented with a stimulus and then cognitive label that arousal based on the situation/environment we're in

Question 40

What is self actualization in Maslow's hierarchy of needs?

Answer 40

motivation, what drives us to become the best version of ourselves

Question 41

What determines an individuals equity ratio?

Answer 41

work input and work output

Question 42

What is catharsis beneficial for and problematic for?

Answer 42

beneficial for grief but problematic for anger

Question 43

What is work-releated stress caused by?

Answer 43

role ambiguity, interpersonal conflict, low "psychological safety", and lack of interpersonal support

Question 44

What are the four levels of psychological safety?

Answer 44

feeling included, learning, contributing, and ability to change the status quo

Question 45

What is cognitive appraisal?

Answer 45

the way in which an individual responds to and interprets stressors in life

Question 46

What is general adaptation?

Answer 46

process your body goes through when you are exposed to any kind of stress

Question 47

What is subjective well-being?

Answer 47

how people experience and evaluate their lives