Motivation, Emotion, and Personality Flashcards
Motivation
A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.
Instinct
A complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned.
Physiological Need
A basic bodily requirement
Drive-Reduction Theory
The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.
Homeostasis
A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level.
Incentive
A positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.
Arousal Theory
The arousal theory of motivation states that motivation is dictated by specific levels of “arousal”, which in psychology represents mental alertness. People have different levels of optimal arousal and are motivated to take actions that help them achieve their optimum level.
Yerkes-Dodson Law
The principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases.
Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active. From top to bottom of the pyramid: Self Actualization (desire to become the most one can be), Esteem (self-respect, status, etc.), Love and Belonging (friendship, intimacy, family, etc.), Safety Needs (personal security, health, etc.), and Physiological Needs (air, water, food, shelter, etc.).
Self-Actualization
Self-actualization, in psychology, a concept regarding the process by which an individual reaches his or her full potential. It was originally introduced by Kurt Goldstein, a physician specializing in neuroanatomy and psychiatry in the early half of the 20th century.
Self-Transcendence
According to Maslow, self-transcendence brings the individual what he termed “peak experiences” in which they transcend their own personal concerns and see from a higher perspective. These experiences often bring strong positive emotions like joy, peace, and a well-developed sense of awareness. At the top of Maslow’s Pyramid.
Glucose
The form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger.
Insulin (Hunger Hormone)
Hormone secreted by pancreas; controls blood glucose. (Decreases Appetite)
Ghrelin (Hunger Hormone)
Hormone secreted by empty stomach; sends “I’m hungry” signals to the brain. (Increases Appetite)
Orexin (Hunger Hormone)
Hunger-triggering hormone secreted by hypothalamus. (Increases Appetite)
Leptin (Hunger Hormone)
Protein hormone secreted by fat cells; when abundant, causes brain to increase metabolism and decrease hunger. (Decreases Appetite)
PYY (Hunger Hormone)
Digestive tract hormone; sends “I’m not hungry” signals to the brain. (Decreases Appetite)
Hypothalamus
It performs various body maintenance functions, including control of hunger. Blood vessels supply the hypothalamus, enabling it to respond to our current blood chemistry as well as to incoming neural information about the body’s state. “The lat makes the rat fat. “ - Ellis
Set Point
The point at which your “weight thermostat” may be set. When body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore lost weight.
Basal Metabolic Rate
The body’s resting rate of energy output.
Obesity
Obesity is a condition marked by excess accumulation of body fat.
Asexual
Having no sexual attraction to others.
Testorone
The most important male sex hormone. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs during the fetal period and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty.
Estrogen
Sex hormones, such as estradiol, that contribute to female sex characteristics and are secreted in greater amounts by females than by males. Estrogen levels peak during ovulation. In nonhuman mammals, this promotes sexual receptivity.
Sexual Response Cycle
The four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson - excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution.
Refractory Period
In human sexuality, a resting period that occurs after orgasm, during which a person cannot achieve another orgasm.
Affiliation Need
The need for affiliation (N-Affil) is a term that was popularized by David McClelland and describes a person’s need to feel a sense of involvement and “belonging” within a social group.
Ostracism
Being ignored, excluded, and/or rejected signals a threat for which reflexive detection in the form of pain and distress is adaptive for survival. Brief ostracism episodes result in sadness and anger and threaten fundamental needs. Individuals then act to fortify or replenish their thwarted need or needs.
Achievement Motivation
Achievement motivation is defined as an individual’s ability to building up their skills and behaviors so that they can tap into their highest potential. An achievement motivation example would be an individual working toward becoming a better public speaker.
Grit
A personality trait characterized by perseverance and passion for achieving long-term goals. Grit entails working strenuously to overcome challenges and maintaining effort and interest over time despite failures, adversities, and plateaus in progress.
Emotion
A response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience.
James-Lange Theory
The theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to an emotion-arousing stimulus: stimulus to arousal to emotion.
Cannon-Bard Theory
The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion states that stimulating events trigger feelings and physical reactions that occur at the same time. For example, seeing a snake might prompt both the feeling of fear (an emotional response) and a racing heartbeat (a physical reaction).
Two-Factor Theory
The Schacther-Singer Theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal.
The Spillover Effect
Spillover Effect refers to the tendency of one person’s emotion to affect how other people around them feel.
Polygraph
A polygraph test–popularly known as a lie detector test–is a machine that measures a person’s physiological responses when they respond to questions.
Facial Feedback Effect
The facial feedback hypothesis suggests that individuals’ emotional experiences are influenced by their facial expressions. For example, smiling should typically make individuals feel happier, and frowning should make them feel sadder.
Behavior Feedback Effect
The tendency of behavior to influence our own and others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Display Rules
Display rules determine how we act and to what extent an emotion is expressed in any given situation. They are often used to protect one’s own self-image or those of another person. The understanding of display rules is a complex, multifaceted task.
Stress
The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging.
Motivational Conflicts Theory
This theory, proposed by psychologist Kurt Lewin, suggests that individuals are motivated to resolve conflicts that can be categorized into three types: approach-approach, avoidance-avoidance, and approach-avoidance.
General Adaption Syndrome (GAS)
Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases - alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
Tend and Befriend Response
Under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend).
Health Psychology
A subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine.
Psychoneuroimmunology
The study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health.
Coronary Heart Disease
The clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries.
