Motivation, Emotion, and Stress

Question 1

What is motivation?

Answer 1

purpose, or driving force, behind our actions

Question 2

Extrinsic motivation

Answer 2

include rewards for showing a desired behavior or avoiding punishment if the desired behavior is not achieved

Question 3

Intrinsic motivation

Answer 3

comes from within

Question 4

What are instincts?

Answer 4

innate, fixed patterns of behavior in response to stimuli

Question 5

What is instinct theory?

Answer 5

people are driven to do certain behaviors based on evolutionarily programmed instincts

Question 6

What is arousal?

Answer 6

the psychological and physiological state of being awake and reactive to stimuli

Question 7

What is arousal theory?

Answer 7

states that people perform actions in order to maintain an optical level of arousal: somewhere in the middle

Question 8

What is the Yerkes-Dawson law?

Answer 8

U-shaped function between level of arousal and performance; performance is worst at high and low levels of arousal

Question 9

What are drives?

Answer 9

defined as internal states of tension that activate particular behaviors focused on goals

Question 10

What are primary drives?

Answer 10

including the need for food, water, and warmth, motivate us to sustain bodily processes in homeostasis

Question 11

What is homeostasis?

Answer 11

the regulation of the internal environment to maintain an optimal, stable set of conditions

Question 12

What are secondary drives?

Answer 12

additional drives that are not directly related to biological processes

Question 13

What is drive reduction theory?

Answer 13

explains that motivation is based on the goal of eliminating uncomfortable states

Question 14

What are needs?

Answer 14

motivators that influence human behavior

Question 15

What is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Answer 15

physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization

Question 16

What is the self-determination theory (SDT)?

Answer 16

Three universal needs:

(1) Autonomy - the need to be in control of one’s actions and ideas
(2) Competence - the need to complete and excel at difficult tasks
(3) Relatedness - the need to feel accepted and wanted in relationships

Question 17

What is incentive theory?

Answer 17

explains that behavior is motivated not by need or arousal, but by the desire to pursue rewards and to avoid punishments

Question 18

What is expectancy-value theory?

Answer 18

states that the amount of motivation needed to reach a goal is the result of both the individual’s expectation of success in reaching the goal and the degree to which he or she values succeeding at the goal

Question 19

What is the opponent-process theory?

Answer 19

explains that when a drug is taken repeatedly, the body will attempt to counteract the effects of the drug by changing its physiology; results in tolerance

Question 20

What is emotion?

Answer 20

is a natural instinctive state of mind derived from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others

Question 21

What are the three elements of emotion?

Answer 21

(1) Physiological Response
(2) Behavioral Response
(3) Cognitive Response

Question 22

What are the seven universal emotions?

Answer 22

happiness, sadness, contempt, surprise, fear, disgust, anger

Question 23

What is the James-Lange theory?

Answer 23

a stimulus results first in physiological arousal, which leads to a secondary response in which the emotion is labeled

Question 24

What is the Cannon-Bard theory?

Answer 24

theorized that physiological arousal and feeling an emotion occur at the same time

Question 25

What is the Schacher-Singer (Cognitive arousal/twofactor) theory?

Answer 25

states that both arousal and the labeling of arousal based on environment must occur in order for an emotion to be experiences

Question 26

What is the limbic system?

Answer 26

a complex set of structures that reside below the cerebellum on either side of the thalamus; amygdala, thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, fornix, septal nuclei and some of the cerebral cortex

Question 27

What is the amygdala?

Answer 27

a small round structure that signals the cortex about stimuli related to attention and emotions; process the environment, detects external cues and learns from the person’s surroundings in order to produce emotion

Question 28

What is the thalamus?

Answer 28

preliminary sensory processing stations and routes information to the cortex and other areas; synthesizes and releases a variety of neurotransmitters, homeostasis, modulates emotion

Question 29

What is the hippocampus?

Answer 29

primarily involved in creating long-term memories; aids in creating context for stimuli to lead to an emotional response

Question 30

What is emotional memory?

Answer 30

this is the storage of the actual feelings of emotion associated with an event

Question 31

What is the prefrontal cortex?

Answer 31

the anterior portion of the frontal lobes and is associated with planning intricate cognitive functions, expressing personality, and making decisions

Question 32

What is the dorsal prefrontal cortex?

Answer 32

associated with attention and cognition

Question 33

What is the ventral prefrontal cortex?

Answer 33

connects with regions of the brain responsible for experiencing emotions

Question 34

What is the ventromedial prefrontal cortex?

Answer 34

thought to play a substantial role in decision making and controlling emotional responses from the amygdala

Question 35

What is cognitive appraisal?

Answer 35

subjective evaluation of a situation that induces stress
Stage 1: primary appraisal - initial evaluation of the environment and the associated threat. If revealed as a threat…
Stage 2: directed at evaluating whether the organism can cope with the stress; evaluation of harm, threat and challenge

Question 36

What is a stressor?

Answer 36

a biological element, external condition or event that leads to a stress response

Question 37

What is distress?

Answer 37

occurs when experiencing unpleasant stressors

Question 38

What is eustess?

Answer 38

occurs when experiencing positive stressors

Question 39

What is general adaptation syndrome?

Answer 39

(1) Alarm Stage - initial reaction to a stressors and the activation of the sympathetic nervous system
(2) Resistance Stage - continuous release of hormones allows the sympathetic nervous system to remain engaged to fight the stressor
(3) Exhaustion - the body can no longer maintain an elevated response with sympathetic nervous system activity