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.
