Motivation and Emotion Flashcards
Define:
motivation
a need or desire that serves to energize or direct behavior
What are needs or desires that energize behavior toward a goal?
motives
To be considered a true instinct, or inherited behavior pattern characteristic of a species, what must it be?
stereotypical
An instinct must be performed automatically in the same way by all members of a species in response to a specific stimulus.
What is the level of alertness, wakefulness, and activation caused by activity in the central nervous system?
arousal
List four primary drives.
1) hunger
2) thirst
3) need to sleep
4) drive to reproduce
The desire to obtain learned reinforcers, like money or social acceptance, is known as __________.
secondary reinforcers
Secondary reinforcers are also known as secondary drives.
What are the four primary theories attempting to explain the link between neurophysiology and motivated behavior?
1) instinct theory
2) arousal theory
3) opponent-process theory
4) drive-reduction theory
Which theory of motivation, supported by evolutionary psychology, contends that the learning of species-specific behavior motivates organisms to do whatever is necessary to ensure their survival?
instinct theory
What does the arousal theory of motivation state?
The arousal theory of motivation states that there is an optimum level of arousal (or: alertness and activation) at which performance on a given task is optimal.
What is the Yerkes-Dodson law, and on what theory of motivation is it based?
The Yerkes-Dodson law states that tasks of moderate difficulty elicit the highest level of performance. High levels of arousal for easy tasks and low levels of arousal for difficult tasks are preferred.
The opponent-process theory of motivation, most relevant to the concept of __________, suggests that we are motivated to seek stimuli that make us feel emotion, after which an opposing motivational force brings us back in the direction of a baseline.
addiction
Which theory of motivation posits that psychological needs put stress on the body and that we are motivated to reduce this negative experience?
drive-reduction theory
Homeostasis is important because it keeps our body in a constant state of equilibrium. Through what operation does homeostasis occur?
negative feedback loop
_______ is the sum total of all chemical processes that occur in our bodies and are necessary to keep us alive.
Metabolism
What are three environmental cues that regulate eating behavior?
1) learned preferences
2) food-related cues
3) stress
In terms of regulatory functioning, what is the role of the hypothalamus?
hunger, sex, and other homeostatic functioning
What are the two candidate hypotheses for the feedback loops controlling eating?
1) glucostatic hypothesis
2) lipostatic hypothesis
Explain how the glucostatic theory of homeostatic regulation works.
Glucose is the primary fuel of the brain and most other organs; when insulin (a hormone produced to regulate glucose) rises, glucose decreases. In order to restore glucostatic balance, a person needs to eat.
This theory gained support through the discovery that the hypothalamus has cells that detect glucose.
What is one shortcoming of the glucostatic theory of homeostatic regulation of eating?
- Blood glucose levels are transient; it is unlikely that such a variable measure could control body weight, which tends to remain stable from early adulthood
- Diabetics, who suffer from an insulin production disorder, have elevated blood glucose levels but are no less hungry than other people
Describe the lipostatic hypothesis.
The lipostatic hypothesis states that fat is the measured and controlled substance in the body that regulates hunger; it provides the long-term energy store for our bodies.
This hypothesis gained support after the discovery of leptin, a hormone secreted by fat cells, which is used by the brain to monitor the amount of fat in the body.
In order to be diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, one must be what percentage below ideal body weight?
15%
What two states characterize bulimia nervosa?
binging
purging
What are characteristics of obesity?
Obesity is seen in people who are significantly overweight, which frequently causes health problems. Obesity can be caused by unhealthy eating patterns or genetic predisposition.