Motivation and emotion

Question 1

What is motivation?

Answer 1

Process that directs and energises the behaviour of animals (goal-directed behaviour). Motivational psychologists look at the motives that underlie goal pursuit.

Question 2

What are instincts?

Give an example

Answer 2

Inborn patterns of behaviour that are biologically determined rather than learned. Considered essential for survival/fitness.

Graylag goose egg retrieval or disgust reaction in babies

Question 3

What problems are there when trying to explain motivation through instincts? (3)

Answer 3

1. No agreement on what/how many instincts exist
2. Does not explain why a specific behaviour, but no others appear in a given species
3. The variety/complexity of human/animal behaviours (much of which are learned) cannot be explained as instinctive

Question 4

What is motivation through drive reduction?

Answer 4

When people lack basic biological needs (eg water) a drive to obtain that need is produced (thirst).

Clark Hull, 1943: B = f(D x H)
Behaviour is the result of drive and habit

Question 5

What is homeostasis?

Answer 5

A basic motivational phenomena that involves the body’s tendency to maintain a steady internal state

Question 6

What problems are there when trying to explain motivation through drive reduction? (2)

Answer 6

1. Does not account for how secondary reinforcers (eg money) impact drive
2. Does not explain why people engage in behaviour that does not reduce a drive/ activities that increase tension (eg eating when not hungry or skydiving)

Question 7

What are arousal approaches (to motivation)?

Answer 7

They explain behaviour that has the goal to maintain/increase excitement. People vary in their optimal level of arousal, ad try to maintain that level.

Question 8

What is the Yerkes-Dodson law?

Answer 8

Motivation is optimal at medium levels of arousal. Relation between performance and arousal also depends on nature/difficulty of the task.

Question 9

What are incentive approaches (to motivation)?

What are push and pull factors?

Answer 9

External stimuli direct behaviour: Motivation stems from the desire to obtain incentives (environmental stimuli that pull an organism towards a goal). Organisms try to fulfill needs even when incentives are not apparent: Push and pull factors! For example:

• We seek to satisfy underlying hunger (Push of drive reduction)
• We are drawn to food that appears particularly appetizing (pull of incentive)

Question 10

What are cognitive approaches (to motivation)?

What is the expectancy x value theory?

Answer 10

Motivation is a product of people’s thoughts, expectations and goals (their cognition)

Behaviour is determined by:

• strength of the expectation that behaviour will lead to a goal
• Incentive value that person places on goal

Question 11

Intrinsic vs Extrinsic motives

Answer 11

Intrinsic motivation: Cause you enjoy the activity

Extrinsic motivation: Cause of an external reward

Question 12

What is the overjustification effect?

Give an example

Answer 12

When an expected external incentive such as money or prizes decreases intrinsic motivation to perform a task.

Eg.: Lepper and colleagues’ magic marker studies. Children given rewards for using felt-tipped pens. Later showed less enthusiasm for drawing compared to the others.

Comparable to ‘doing what you love’ as a carreer?

Question 13

What is learned helplessness?

Give an example

Answer 13

When individuals have little control over outcomes in their lives, they lose motivation to take control/learn to be helpless.

Eg.: Seligman’s dog studies. Dogs could not control/escape shocks, later showed less motivation to escape the shocks.

Comparable to depression?

Question 14

What is Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs?

Answer 14

Needs form a hierarchy. Many motivation models ignored a key human motive: The striving for personal growth. More “basic” needs in the hierarchy must be met before higher order needs can be tackled.

Question 15

Approach/avoidance motivation

Answer 15

• Evolutionary adaptive (seizing opportunities, escaping from danger)
• Positive vs negative stimuli (reward vs punishment, attractive vs repulsive)

Question 16

What is loss aversion?

Give an example of this being studied

Answer 16

The strong tendency to regard losses as considerably more important than gains of comparable magnitude (tendency towards more risk to avoid possible loss)

Studied in the context of “Prospect theory” by Kahneman and Tversky, 1979)

Question 17

Loss and gain in context

Answer 17

People are often risk-seeking for loss, and risk-averse for gain!

Question 18

What is the asian disease problem? (Take risks to avoid losses, but avoid risks to protect gains)

Answer 18

An asian disease is expected to kill 600 people in your country. You have to decide between 2 policies designed to combat it. Depends how it is phrased!

Question 19

Define emotion

Answer 19

Feelings/affective states that impact behaviour, and has both physiological and cognitive elements. Complex and hard to define. Distinct from moods!!! Tightly linked to motivation, strong adaptive function.

Question 20

Difference between mood and emotions

Answer 20

Emotions: Clear cause, lasting seconds/minutes, cognition, bodily changes, concrete categories

Mood: Unknown reasons, lasting for hours/days, subjective experiences, pleasantness

Question 21

What is the function of emotion? (3)

Answer 21

1. Preparing us for action (link between event in our environment and our responses
2. Shaping our future behaviour (Reinforcement)
3. Helping us interact more effectively with others (Signal to observers, to better understand what we are experiencing and predict future behaviour)

Question 22

Emotions as psychoevolutionary (4)

Who came up with this and when?

Answer 22

1. 8 basic emotions (trust, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger, anticipation, joy)
2. Long evolutionary history (eg fear = flight from danger)
3. All emotions are variants of these (eg joy and trust = love)
4. Emotions have polar opposites (eg surprise vs anticipation)

Robert Plutchnik (1980)

Question 23

Name 4 theories that explain the experience of a particular emotion

Answer 23

1. Common-sense theory
2. James-Lange theory
3. Cannon-Bard theory
4. Schachter-Singer theory

Question 24

Explain the steps of the common-sense theory

Answer 24

1. Perception (stimulus is dangerous)
2. Emotion (fear)
3. Bodily arousal (pounding heart)

Question 25

Explain the steps of the James-Lange theory

Answer 25

1. Perception (stimulus is dangerous)
2. Bodily arousal- physiological AND behavioural (pounding heart)
3. Emotion (fear)

Question 26

Give a challenge to James’ theory (3)

Answer 26

Canon (1927).
- Claimed that it takes too long. - Not distinctive. (Similar visceral responses, but different emotions, adrenaline injections could provoke an “as if” emotional experience)

• Emotional stimuli are processed in the brain, and then separately generate bodily responses and feelings

Question 27

Explain the Cannon-Bard theory

Answer 27

Proposed that emotional stimuli are processed in the brain, which then separately generates bodily responses and feelings:

Upon perception, the subcortical brain activity in the thalamus causes both emotion (fear) and bodily arousal (pounding heart)

Question 28

What is the “facial feedback hypothesis”?

Give an example

Answer 28

Arousal feedback (from the facial muscles to the brain) plays a key role in determining the nature/intensity of emotions that we experience.

Eg.: Experiment in which participants were told to hold a pen/pencil with either their teeth or lips. Participants’ ratings of how funny a cartoon was afterwards increased for the teeth group, because holding a pencil in the teeth activates muscles used in smiling.

Question 29

What is the “facial feedback hypothesis”?

Give an example

Answer 29

Arousal feedback (from the facial muscles to the brain) plays a key role in determining the nature/intensity of emotions that we experience.

Eg.: Experiment in which participants were told to hold a pen/pencil with either their teeth or lips. Participants’ ratings of how funny a cartoon was afterwards increased for the teeth group, because holding a pencil in the teeth activates muscles used in smiling.

Question 30

Describe the “shaky bridge” study

Answer 30

Dutton & Aron (1974)

Question 31

How do we know what we feel? (According to Schachter)

Answer 31

Our experience of emotion depends on 2 factors: General arousal and a cognitive label. We may interpret our arousals as fear or excitement, depending on the context.

Question 32

Describe Schachter’s view of the role of appraisal in emotion through the Schachter-Singer theory

Answer 32

Intensity of physiological arousal determines the DEGREE of emotion. Cognitive assessment determines the TYPE of emotion:

1. Perception (dangerous stimulus)
2. Bodily arousal (pounding heart) causes cognitive appraisal (“I’m afraid”)
3. Degree and type of stage before determines emotion (fear)

Question 33

Explain Schachter’s theory

Answer 33

Emotion depends on the interpretation of arousal in the context of situation cues. (like a person’s judgment about WHY their physiology has changed)

Predictions: When you know why you feel aroused your emotional state won’t change, and when you don’t know why you feel aroused you will attribute the “feeling” to a change in emotion.

Question 34

Explain the Schachter and singer experiment 1962

Answer 34

Epinephrine was given to patient (one group informed, one ignorant), also a placebo was given to an informed group. Confederate that gave it was either angry or euphoric.. The informed subjects remained neutral, but the uninformed subjects took over the emotion.