emotion/personality Flashcards
Motive
is a need or a want that causes us to act.
Motivation
directs and maintains
goal-directed behavior. Motivational theories explain the relationship between physi- ological changes and emotional experiences.
Instinct theory
physical and mental instincts such as curiosity and fearfulness cause us to act. Instincts are inherited automatic species-specific behaviors.
Drive reduction theory
focuses on internal states of tension, such as hunger, that motivate us to pursue actions that reduce the tension and bring us back tohomeostasis, which is internal balance. Need is a motivated state caused by a physiological deficit. Drive is a state of psychological tension, induced by a need, which motivates us.
Incentive theory
beyond the primary motives of food, drink, and sex that push us toward a goal, secondary motives or external stimuli such as money, approval, and grades regulate and pull us toward a goal.
Arousal theory
each of us has an optimal level of arousal necessary to perform tasks which varies with the person and the activity. Arousal is the level of alert- ness, wakefulness, and activation caused by activity in the central nervous system. According to the Yerkes-Dodson law, for easy tasks, moderately high arousal is optimal; for difficult tasks, moderatelylow is optimal; and for most average tasks, a moderate level of arousal is optimal.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
arranges biological and social needs ni priority from the lowest level of(1) basic biological needs to (2) safety and securityneeds to
(3) belongingness and love needs to (4) self-esteem needs to (5) self-actualization needs. The need for self-actualization, the need to fulfill one’s potential, and tran- scendence, spiritual fulfillment, are the highest needs and can only be realized after each succeeding need below has been fulfilled; lacks evidence to support theory.
Physiological motives
are primary motives such as hunger, thirst, pain, and sex influenced by biological factors, environmental factors, and learned preferences and habits.
Hunger
increases with stomach contractions, low blood sugar, high insulin levels that stimulate the lateral hypothalamus (LH); high levels of the neurotransmitters nor- epinephrine, GABA, and neuropeptide Ythat stimulate the paraventricular hypothal- amus (PVN); environmental factors such as the sight and smell of desired foods; and stress. Stimulation of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) stops eating behavior.
Set point
a preset natural body weight, determined by the number of fat cells in our body.
Anorexia nervosa
eating disorder most common in adolescent females character- ized by weight less than 85 percent of normal, abnormally restrictive food consump- tion, and an unrealistic body image.
Bulimia nervosa
an eating disorder characterized by a pattern of eating binges involving intake of thousands of calories, followed by purging, either by vomiting or using laxatives.
Thirst
increases with mouth dryness; shrinking of cels from loss of water and low blood volume which stimulate the lateral hypothalamus; and sight and smell of desired fluids.
Pain
promotes avoidance or escape behavior to eliminate causes of discomfort.
Sex
necessary for survival of the species, butnot the individual. Testosterone levels in humans seem related to sexual motivation in both sexes.
Sexual orientation
refers to the direction ofa n individual’s sexual interest
Homosexuality
a tendency to direct sexual desire toward another person of the same sex.
Bisexuality
a tendency to direct sexualdesire toward people ofboth sexes.
Heterosexuality
a tendency to direct sexual desire toward people of the opposite sex.
Social motives
are learned needs, such as the need for achievement and the need for affiliation, that energize behavior acquired as part of growing up in a particular society or culture.
Need for achievement
a desire to meet some internalized standard of excellence, related to productivity and success. People with a high need for achievement choose moderately challenging tasks to satisfy their need.
Affiliation motive
the need to be with others; is aroused when people feel threatened, anxious, or celebratory.
Intrinsic motivation
a desire to perform an activity for its own sake.
Extrinsic motivation
a desire to perform an activity to obtain a reward such as money, applause, or attention.
Overjustification effect
where promising a reward for doing something we already like ot do results ni us seeing the reward as the motivation for performing the task. When the reward si taken away, the behavior tends to disappear.
Social conflict situations
involve being torn in different directions by opposing motives that block us from attaining a goal, leaving us feeling frustrated and stressed.
Approach-approach conflicts
situations involving two positive options, only one of whichwe can have.
Avoidance-avoidance conflict
situations involving two negative options, one of which we must choose.
Approach-avoidance conflicts
situations involving whether or not to choose an option that has both a positive and negative consequence or consequences
Multiple approach-avoidance conflicts
situations involving several alternative courses of action that have both positive and negative aspects.
Emotions
are psychological feelings that involve physiological arousal (biological component), conscious experience (cognitive component), and overt behavior (behav- oral component). Physiological arousal involves stimulation of the sympathetic ner- vous system and hormonal secretion. The limbic system is the center for emotions; the amygdala influences aggression and fear and interacts with the hypothalamus. Basic emotions such as joy, fear, anger, sadness, surprise, and disgust are inborn. Cross- cultural studies support the universal recognition of at least six basic emotions based on facial expressions.
Evolutionary theory
emotions developed because of their adaptive value, allowing the organism to avoid danger and survive. We often know how we feel before we know what we think.
James-Lange theory
conscious experience of emotion results from one’s awareness of autonomic arousal.
Cannon-Bard theory
the thalamus sends information to the limbic system and cerebral cortex simultaneously so that conscious experience of emotion accompanies physiological processes.
Opponent-process theory
ollowing a strong emotion, an opposing emotion counters the first emotion, lessening the experience of that emotion. On repeated occasions, the opposing emotion becomes stronger.
Schachter-Singer two-factor theory
we determine an emotion from our physiological arousal and then label that emotion according to our cognitive explanation for the arousal.
Cognitive-appraisal theory
our emotional experience depends on our interpretation of the situation we are in.
Health psychology
looks at relationship between psychological behavior-thoughts, feelings,andactions-and physical health
Stress
both psychological and physiological reactions to stressors; situations, events, or stimuli that produce uncomfortable feelings or anxiety.
Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome
three-stage process describes our body’s reaction to stress:
Alarm reaction
stressor triggers increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system.
Resistance
raised temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration maintained; levels of adrenaline and corticosteroids rise.
Exhaustion stage
immune system is weakened, increased susceptibility to ulcers, depression, death.
Catastrophes
unpredictable, large-scale disasters that threaten us.
Significant life events
stressful changes in our lives such as death of a loved one, marriage, starting college, etc. Holmes and Rahe’s Social Readjustment Rating Scale rates stressful events in our lives. The greater the number and intensity of life- changing events, the greater is the chance of developing physical illness or disease in the following year.
Daily hassles
everyday annoyances that together can raise our blood pressure, cause headaches, and lower our immunity.
Coping strategies
are active efforts to reduce or tolerate perceived levels ofstress. Maladaptive coping strategies include aggression; indulging ourselves by eating, drinking, smoking, using drugs, spending money, or sleeping too much; or using defense mechanisms.
Personality
a set of unique behaviors, attitudes, and emotions that characterize a particular individual.
Idiographic methods
personality assessment techniques that look at the individual, such as case studies, interviews, and naturalistic observations.
Nomothetic methods
personality assessment techniques such as tests, surves. and observations that focus on variables at the group level, identifying universal trait dimensions or relationships between different aspects of personality.
Biological approach
examines the extent to which heredity determines our personality.
Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic approach
originated with Sigmund Freud, who emphasized unconscious motivations and conflicts, and the importance of early childhood experiences.
Conscious
includes everything we are aware of.
Preconscious
contains information and feelings we can easily recall.
Unconscious
contains wishes, impulses, memories,and feelings generally inacces-
sible to conscious.
Id
contains everything psychological that si inherited and psychic energy that powers all three systems. Id is “Give me, I want,” irrational, self-centered; guided by the pleasure principle
Ego
mediates between instinctual needs and conditions of the environment to maintain our life and ensure that our species
lives on; guided by the reality principle.
Superego
is composed of the conscience that punishes us by making us feel guilty, and the ego-ideal that rewards us by making us feel proud of ourselves.
Defense mechanism
extreme measures protect the ego from threats; operate unconsciously and deny, falsify, or distort reality
Repression
the most frequently used and powerful defense mechanism; the pushing away of threatening thoughts, feelings, and memories into the unconscious mind; unconscious forgetting.
Regression
retreating to an earlier level of development characterized by more immature, pleasurable behavior.
Rationalization
Offering socially acceptable reasons for our inappropriate behavior; making unconscious excuses.
Projection
Attributing our own undesirable thoughts, feelings, or actions toothers.
Displacement
shifting unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or actions from a more threatening person or object to another less threatening person or object.
Reaction formation
acting in a manner exactly opposite of our true feelings.
Sublimation
redirecting unacceptable sexual or aggressive impulses into more socially acceptable behaviors.
Oral stage
pleasure from sucking; conflict is weaning from bottle or breast; oral fixation; oral-dependent personalities are gullible, overeaters, and passive, while oral-aggressive personalities are sarcastic and argumentative.
Anal stage
pleasure from holding in or letting go of feces; conflict is toilet training; anal fixation; anal-retentive personalities are orderly, obsessively neat, stingy, and stub- born; or anal-expulsive personalities are messy, disorganized, and lose their temper.
Phallic stage
pleasure from self-stimulation of genitals; conflict si castration anxiety or penis envy. Healthy resolution ofOedipal/Electra complex results in identifica- tion with same-sex parent; fixation; homosexuality or relationship problems.
Latency stage
suppressed sexuality; pleasure in accomplishments; if accomplish- ments fall short of expectations, development of feelingsof inferiority.
Genital stage
adolescent to adulthood; pleasure from intercourse and intimacy with another person.
Archetypes
inherited memories or common themes found in all cultures, religions, and literature, both ancient and modern.
Individuation
psychological process by which we become anindividual; a unified whole, including consciousand unconscious processes.
Humanistic approach
humans are born good and strive for positive personal growth.
Behavioral approach
According to Skinner, our history of reinforcement shapes our behavior, which is our personality.
Self-efficacy
is our belief that we can perform behaviors that are necessary to accom- plish tasks and that we are competent.
Cognitive and social cognitive/social-learning approach
cognitive theories say human nature is basically neutral and we are shaped by our perceptions of the world.
Collective efficacy
is our perception that with collaborative effort our group wil obtain its desired outcome. Research studies indicate high self-efficacy is more beneficial in individualistic societies and high collective efficacy in collectivistic societies for achievement of group goals.
Trait theory
A trait is a relatively permanent characteristic of our personality that can be used to predict our behavior.
Cardinal trait
defining characteristic, in a small number of us, that dominates and shapes all ofour behavior.
Central trait
general characteristic; between 5 and 10 of these shape much o f our behavior.
Secondary trait
a characteristic apparent in only certain situations. Our unique pattern oftraits determines our behavior.
Extroversion
measures our sociability and tendency to pay attention to the external environment, as opposed to our private mental expe
Neuroticism
measures our level ofinstability-how moody, anxious, and unreli- able we are as opposed tostability-h o w calm, even-tempered, and reliable we are.
Psychoticism
measures our level of tough-mindedness-how hostile, ruthless, and insensitive we areas opposed to tender-mindedness-how friendly, empathetic, and cooperative we are.
Unstructured interviews
involve informal conversation centered on the individual.
Structured interviews
involve the interviewer posing a series of planned questions that the interviewee answers.
Behavioral assessments-
record the frequency of specific behaviors in an observation.
Self-report methods
the most common personality assessment techniques, involve answering a series of questions, such as a personality questionnaire, or supplying information about himself or herself.
Halo effect
tendency to generalize a favorable impression to unrelated dimensions of the subject’s personality.
Hawthorn effect
when people know that they are being observed, they change their behavior to what they think the observer expects or to make themselves lookgood.
Self-concept
our overall view of our abilities, behavior, and personality
Self-esteem
one part of our self-concept or how we evaluate ourselves.
