Motivation, Emotion, & Stress

Question 1

Define Motivation

Answer 1

A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.

Question 2

Define Instinct

Answer 2

A complex, unlearned behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species.

Question 3

Define Drive-Reduction Theory

Answer 3

The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.

Question 4

Define Homeostasis

Answer 4

A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as glucose, around a particular level.

Question 5

Define Incentive

Answer 5

A positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

Question 6

Define Yerkes-Dodson Law

Answer 6

The principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases.

Question 7

Define Hierarchy of Needs

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

Define Glucose

Answer 8

The form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissue. When it’s level is low, we feel hunger.

Question 9

Define Set Point

Answer 9

The point at which an individual’s “weight thermostat “ is supposedly set. When the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight.

Question 10

Define Basal Metabolic Rate

Answer 10

The body’s resting rate of energy expenditure.

Question 11

Define Sexual Response Cycle

Answer 11

The four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson—excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution.

Question 12

Define Refractory Period

Answer 12

A resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm.

Question 13

Define Sexual Dysfunction

Answer 13

A problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning.

Question 14

Define Estrogens

Answer 14

Sex hormones, such as estradiol, secreted in greater amounts by females than by males and contributing to female sex characteristics. In nonhuman female mammals, estrogen levels peak during ovulation, promoting sexual receptivity.

Question 15

Define Testosterone

Answer 15

The most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty.

Question 16

Define Emotion

Answer 16

A response of the whole organism, involving

1) physiological arousal
2) expressive behaviors
3) conscious experience

Question 17

Define James-Lange Theory

Answer 17

The theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli.

Question 18

Define Cannon-Bard Theory

Answer 18

The theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers

1) physiological responses
2) the subjective experience of emotion

Question 19

Define Two-Factor Theory

Answer 19

The Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion one must

1) be physically aroused
2) cognitively label the arousal

Question 20

Define Polygraph

Answer 20

A machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses (such as perspiration and cardiovascular and breathing changes) accompanying emotion.

Question 21

Define Facial Feedback Effect

Answer 21

The tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness.

Question 22

Define Health Psychology

Answer 22

A subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine.

Question 23

Define Stress

Answer 23

The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging.

Question 24

Define General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Answer 24

Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases—alarm, resistance, exhaustion.

Question 25

Define Tend-and-Befriend Response

Answer 25

Under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend).

Question 26

Define Psychophysiological Illness

Answer 26

Literally, “mind-body” illness; any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches.

Question 27

Define Psychoneuroimmunology

Answer 27

The study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health.

Question 28

Define Lymphocytes

Answer 28

The two types of white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune system: B lymphocytes form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections; T lymphocytes form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances.

Question 29

Define Coronary Heart Disease

Answer 29

The clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries.

Question 30

Define Type A

Answer 30

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people.

Question 31

Define Type B

Answer 31

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people.

Question 32

How do our motivations arise?

Answer 32

From the interplay between nature (the bodily “push”) and nurture (the “pulls” from our thought processes and culture).

Question 33

What are the four perspectives for viewing motivated behaviors? Describe them.

Answer 33

Instinct theory (evolutionary perspective) focuses on genetically predisposed behaviors. Drive-reduction theory focuses on how our inner pushes and external pulls interact. Arousal theory focuses on finding the right level of stimulation. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs describes how some of our needs take priority over others.

Question 34

What is the physiological aim of drive reduction?

Answer 34

Homeostasis

Question 35

List in order Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, starting from the lowest level.

Answer 35

Physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, self-actualization needs, self-transcendence needs.

Question 36

Describe physiological needs

Answer 36

Need to satisfy hunger and thirst.

Question 37

Describe safety needs

Answer 37

Need to feel that the world is organized and predictable; need to feel safe.

Question 38

Describe belongingness and love needs

Answer 38

Need to love and be loved, to belong and be accepted; need to avoid loneliness and separation.

Question 39

Describe esteem needs

Answer 39

Need for self-esteem, achievement, competence, and independence; need for recognition and respect from others.

Question 40

Describe self-actualization needs

Answer 40

Need to live up to our fullest and unique potential.

Question 41

Describe self-transcendence needs

Answer 41

Need to find meaning and identity beyond the self.

Question 42

Name a strength and weakness of the instinct theory/evolutionary psychology

Answer 42

Strength: helps explain behavioral similarities due to adaptations from our ancestral past.
Weakness: instinct theory explains animal behavior better than human behavior; humans have fewer true instincts.

Question 43

Name a strength and weakness of drive-reduction theory

Answer 43

Strength: explains our motivation to reduce arousal by meeting basic needs, such as hunger or thirst.
Weakness: does not explain why some motivated behaviors increase arousal.

Question 44

Name a strength and weakness of optimal arousal theory

Answer 44

Strength: explains that motivated behaviors may decrease or increase arousal.
Weakness: does not explain our motivation to address our more complex social needs.

Question 45

Name a strength and weakness of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Answer 45

Strength: incorporates the idea that we have various levels of needs.
Weakness: the order of needs may change in some circumstances. Evolutionary psychologists note the absence in the hierarchy of the universal human motives to find a mate and reproduce.

Question 46

While in a long road trip, you suddenly feel very hungry. You see a diner that looks pretty deserted and creepy, but you are really hungry, so you stop anyway. What motivational perspective would most easily explain this behavior and why?

Answer 46

Drive-reduction theory, because the physical need for food creates an aroused state that prompts you to satisfy the need to reduce arousal.

Question 47

Use Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to explain why a

1) hungry person would steal
2) lonely new student would join a club
3) successful artist would continue to invest tremendous effort in her career

Answer 47

1) a hungry person would steal to satisfy their most basic physiological needs for food.
2) a lonely new student would join a club to satisfy their need to belong and be accepted.
3) a successful artist would continue to invest effort into her career to satisfy the need for self-actualization.

Question 48

A. L. Washburn

Answer 48

Showed that stomach contractions accompany our feelings of hunger by swallowing a balloon.

Question 49

How does the brain control feelings of hunger?

Answer 49

When glucose levels drop, the stomach, intestines, and liver will signal the brain to motivate eating.the brain then triggers hunger using several neural areas that influence eating. One neural arc, called the arcuate nucleus, has a center that secretes appetite-suppressing hormones, and another that secretes appetite-stimulating hormones.

Question 50

What are some appetite hormones?

Answer 50

Ghrelin—secreted by empty stomach; sends hunger signals to the brain
Insulin—secreted by pancreas; controls blood glucose
Leptin—protein hormone secreted by fat cells; when abundant, causes brain to increase metabolism and decrease hunger
Orexin—hunger triggering hormone secreted by the hypothalamus
PPY—digestive tract hormone; sends fullness signals to the brain

Question 51

What triggers hunger?

Answer 51

Physical feelings of hunger in the stomach, hormones secreted by the brain, memories of the time of our last meal.

Question 52

What factors influence taste preferences?

Answer 52

Mood, genetics, conditioning, culture, evolution.

Question 53

What are some situational influences on eating?

Answer 53

We tend to eat more around others. Unit bias explains why people in places where food is offered in smaller serving sizes tend to be thinner. Food variety stimulates overeating.

Question 54

What factors influence weight?

Answer 54

Set point and metabolism, genetics, and food and activity factors.

Question 55

You’ve skipped lunch and haven’t eaten anything in eight hours. as your favorite dish is placed in from of you, your mouth waters. What triggers this anticipatory salivation?

Answer 55

You’ve learned through classical conditioning to respond to the cues—the sight and aroma—that signal the food about to enter your mouth. Both physiological cues (low blood sugar) and psychological cues (anticipation of the tasty meal, memory of the last time you ate) have heightened your experience of hunger.

Question 56

Who were William Masters and Virginia Johnson?

Answer 56

In the 1960s, gynecologist-obstetrician William Masters and his collaborator Virginia Johnson observed and recorded the physiological responses of individuals who masturbated or had intercourse. They described the sexual response cycle and identified four stages.

Question 57

Describe the excitement phase of the sexual response cycle

Answer 57

Men’s and women’s genital areas become engorged with blood, a woman’s vagina expands and secretes lubricant, and her breasts and nipples may engorge.

Question 58

Describe the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle

Answer 58

Excitement peaks as breathing, pulse, and blood pressure rates continue to increase. The penis becomes fully engorged and some fluid—frequently containing enough live sleek to enable conception—may appear at its tip. Vaginal secretion continues to increase.

Question 59

Describe the orgasm phase of the sexual response cycle

Answer 59

Muscles all over the body contract, accompanied by further increase in breathing, pulse, and blood pressure rates. Pulse rate surges from about 70 to 115 beats per minute. A woman’s arousal and orgasm facilitate conception by positioning the uterus to receive sperm, and drawing the sperm further inward.

Question 60

Describe the resolution phase of the sexual response cycle

Answer 60

The body gradually returns to its unaroused state as the engorged genitalia blood vessels release their accumulated blood—relatively quickly if orgasm has occurred, relatively slowly otherwise. The body enters the refractory period.

Question 61

Compare the refractory period of males and females

Answer 61

A male’s refractory period lasts from a few minutes to a day or more, while a female’s much shorter refractory period may enable her to have another orgasm if restimulated during or soon after resolution.

Question 62

What are some examples of sexual dysfunctions?

Answer 62

Erectile disorder, premature ejaculation, female orgasmic disorder.

Question 63

What are some examples of paraphilias?

Answer 63

Exhibitionism, fetishism, pedophilia.

Question 65

What is the difference between sexual dysfunction and paraphilias?

Answer 65

Sexual dysfunction involves problems with arousal or sexual functioning. People with paraphilias experience sexual arousal but direct it in unusual ways. The APA only classified such behaviors as disordered if a person experiences distress from their unusual sexual interest, or the sexual desire or behavior entails harm or risk to others.

Question 66

What are the two effects of sex hormones?

Answer 66

They direct physical development of male and female sex characteristics, and (especially in nonhuman animals) they activate sexual behavior.

Question 67

Describe the bio-psycho-social influences on sexual motivation

Answer 67

Biological influences: 
  • sexual maturity 
  • sex hormones (especially  testosterone)
Psychological influences: 
  • exposure to stimulating conditions
  • sexual fantasies
Social-cultural influences: 
  • family and society values
  • religious and personal values
  • cultural expectations 
  • media

Question 68

How might the evolutionary perspective, drive-reduction theory, and arousal theory explain sexual motivation?

Answer 68

Evolutionary Perspective: those motivated to have sex were more likely to leave even Santa than were those who lacked sexual motivation
Drive-Reduction Theory: hormonal influences create a driven (physiologically aroused) state that compels is to reduce the drive
Arousal Theory: people sometime seek the pleasure and stimulation of arousal

Question 69

How do external stimuli affect arousal?

Answer 69

External stimuli can trigger arousal in both men and women, although the activated brain areas differ. Men respond more specifically to sexual depictions involving their preferred sex. Sexually explicit material may lead people to perceive their partners as comparatively less appealing and to devalue their relationships. Imagined stimuli (dreams and fantasies) also influence sexual arousal.

Question 70

What percent of the population experience sexual fantasies?

Answer 70

95%

Question 71

What evidence points to our human affiliation need?

Answer 71

Our need to affiliate or belong—to feel connected and identified with others—had survival value for our ancestors, which may explain why humans in every society live in groups. People suffer when socially excluded, and may engage in anti-social or self-defeating behaviors. Feeling loved activates brain regions associated with rewards for safety systems.

Question 72

How does social networking influence us?

Answer 72

We connect with others through social networking, strengthening our relationships with those we already know. When networking, people tend to increase self-disclosure. Working out strategies for self control and discipline can help people maintain a healthy balance between social networking and school/work performance.

Question 73

What are some potentially negative effects of social networking?

Answer 73

Isolated us from others, can become a time-sucking diversion, can become an attention-sucking diversion, people may self-disclose too much, can make us feel emotionally distracted.

Question 74

How do arousal and cognition influence our experience of emotion?

Answer 74

Arousal fuels emotion and cognition channels it.

Question 75

What are the two neural pathways for emotions?

Answer 75

Some emotions, especially more complex feelings like hatred and love, travel a “high road.” A stimulus following this path would travel via the thalamus to the brain’s cortex. There, it would be analyzed and labeled before the common as is sent out via the amygdala to respond.

Other emotions, especially simple likes, dislikes, and fears, take the “low road.” A stimulus following this pathway would travel vi the thalamus directly to the amygdala, enabling a faster emotional response.

Question 76

Summarize the emotion theories and provide examples

Answer 76

James-Lange: emotions arise from our awareness of our specific bodily responses to emotion-arousing stimuli.
Example: we observe our heart racing after a threat and then feel afraid.

Cannon-Bard: emotion-arousing stimuli trigger our bodily responses and simultaneous subjective experience.
Example: our heart races at the same time that we feel afraid.

Schachter-Singer: our experience of emotion depends on two factors—general arousal and a conscious cognitive label.
Example: we may interpret our arousal as fear or excitement, depending on the context.

Zajonc; LeDoux: some embodied responses happen instantly, without conscious appraisal.
Example: we automatically feel startled by a sound in the forest before labeling it as a threat.

Lazarus: cognitive appraisal—sometimes without our awareness—defines emotion.
Example: the sound is “just the wind.”

Question 77

Christine is holding her baby when a fierce dog appears out of nowhere and leaps for the baby’s face. Christine immediately ducks for cover to protect the baby, screams at the dog, then notices that her heart is racing and she’s broken out in a cold sweat. How would the James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, and two-factor theories explain Christine’s emotional reaction?

Answer 77

James-Lange theory: Christine’s emotional reaction consists of her awareness of her physiological responses to the dog attack.
Cannon-Bard theory: Christine’s fear experience happened simultaneously with her physiological arousal.
Two-factor theory: Christine’s emotional reaction stemmed from her interpreting and labeling the arousal.

Question 78

How do the two divisions of the autonomic nervous system affect our emotional responses?

Answer 78

The sympathetic division arouses us for more intense experiences of emotion, pumping out the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine to prepare the body for fight or flight. The parasympathetic division takes over when a crisis passes, restoring the body to a calm physiological and emotional state.

Question 79

What is the insula?

Answer 79

A neural center deep inside the brain that is activated when we experience various social emotions such as lust, pride, or disgust.

Question 80

What are two problems with the polygraph test?

Answer 80

1) Physiological arousal is much the same from one emotion to another.
2) Many innocent people respond with heightened tension to the accusations implied by critical questions.

Question 81

What is a more effective approach to lie detection?

Answer 81

A guilty knowledge test assesses a suspect’s physiological responses to crime scene details known only to the police and guilty person. For example, if a camera and computer had been stolen, only a guilty person should react strongly to the brand names of the stolen items.

Question 82

Performance peaks at ________ levels of arousal for difficult tasks, and ________ levels of arousal for easy or well-learned tasks.

Answer 82

lower, higher

Question 83

Do different emotions activate different physiological and brain-pattern responses?

Answer 83

Emotions may be similarly arousing, but some subtle physiological responses, such as facial muscle movements, distinguish them. More meaningful differences have been found in activity in some brain pathways and cortical areas and in the hormone secretions associated with different emotions.

Question 84

How do cultures differ in their expression of emotion?

Answer 84

Facial expressions are universal. The meaning of different gestures varies with culture. The amount of emotion expressed also varies. Those that encourage individuality display much more visible emotion, while those that encourage people to adjust to others tend to have less visible displays of emotion.

Question 85

How do we communicate nonverbally?

Answer 85

Much of our communication is through body movements, facial expressions, and voice tones. Even seconds-long filmed slices of behavior can reveal feelings.

Question 86

How do genders differ in the capacity to communicate nonverbally?

Answer 86

Women tend to read emotional cues more easily and to be more empathetic.

Question 87

How do facial expressions influence emotions?

Answer 87

Facial expressions can trigger emotional feelings and signal our body to respond accordingly. We also mimic others’ expressions, which helps us empathize.

Question 88

What are the three main types of stressors?

Answer 88

Catastrophes, significant life changes, and daily hassles.

Question 89

Describe catastrophes as a stressor

Answer 89

Catastrophes are unpredictable large-scale events, such as wars, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, and famines. Nearly everyone appraises catastrophes as threatening. We often give aid and comfort to one another after such events, but damage to emotional and physical health can be significant.

Question 90

Describe significant life changes as a stressor

Answer 90

Events such as getting married, leaving home for college, losing a job, or having a loved one die are all significant life changes. Even happy events can be stressful.

Question 91

Describe daily hassles as a stressor

Answer 91

Rush-hour traffic, aggravating siblings, long lunch lines, too many things to do, family frustrations, and friends who don’t respond to calls or texts are all examples of daily stressors. Some people can shake off such hassles, but for others, these annoyances add up and take a toll on health and well-being.

Question 92

How did Walter Cannon view the stress response system?

Answer 92

He confirmed that the stress response is part of a unified mind-body system, and observed that extreme cold, lack of oxygen, and emotion-arousing events all trigger an outpouring of the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine from the core of the adrenal glands.

Question 93

How does the sympathetic nervous system contribute to stress response?

Answer 93

When alerted by any of a number of brain pathways, the sympathetic nervous system increases heart rate and respiration, diverts blood from digestion to the skeletal muscles, dulls feelings of pain, and releases sugar and fat from the body’s stores. All of this prepares the body for a fight or flight response.

Question 94

Describe the other stress response system identified by physiologists

Answer 94

On orders from the cerebral cortex via the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, the outer part of the adrenal glands secretes glucocorticoid stress hormones such as cortisol.

Question 95

Who was Hans Selye?

Answer 95

A Canadian scientist whose 40 years of research on stress extended Cannon’s findings. He studied animals’ reactions to various stressors, and proposed that the body’s adaptive response to stress is so general that it sounds no matter what intrudes. His findings helped make stress a major concept in both psychology and medicine.

Question 96

What are some common responses to stress?

Answer 96

Socially withdraw, become paralyzed by fear, seek and give support, become aggressive, substance abuse

Question 97

How does stress affect our lives?

Answer 97

When short-lived, or when perceived as challenges, stress can have positive effects. Momentary stress can mobilize the immune system for fending off infections and healing wounds, arouse and motivate us to conquer problems, and promote later emotional resilience.
Extreme or prolonged stress can be harmful. People who suffer severe or prolonged stress are later at risk of a variety of chronic diseases. One study found the shortening of telomeres, speeding the aging process, in people suffering enduring stress.

Question 98

Xavier has a huge math test coming up next week. Explain two ways appraisal can determine how stress will influence his test performance.

Answer 98

If Xavier interprets the test as a challenge, he will be aroused and focused in a way that could improve his test performance. If he interprets the test as a threat, he will be distracted by stress in a way that is likely to harm his test performance.

Question 99

What are the four types of cells that are active in the immune system, and what are their functions?

Answer 99

B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, macrophages, and natural killer cells (NK cells).

B lymphocytes release antibodies that fight bacterial infections.
T lymphocytes attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances.
Macrophages identify, pursue, and ingest harmful invaders and worn-out cells.
NK cells pursue diseased cells.

Question 100

What factors influence your immune system’s activity?

Answer 100

Age, nutrition, genetics, body temperature, and stress.

Question 101

What two directions can the immune system err when it doesn’t function properly?

Answer 101

It may respond too strongly and attack the body’s own tissues.
It may underreact and allow infections to occur.

Question 102

Why does the stress effect on immunity make physiological sense?

Answer 102

It takes energy to produce an immune response, so when diseased, the body reduces muscular energy consumption by inactivity and increased sleep. Stress does the opposite: during an aroused fight or flight reaction, stress responses divert energy from the immune system and send it to the muscles and brain. It creates a competing energy need, rendering the body vulnerable to illness.

Stress does not make us sick, but it does alter immune functioning, leaving the body less able to resist infection.

Question 103

What is the opponent processing theory of emotion?

Answer 103

The opponent processing theory states that

1) after experiencing an emotion such as excitement or joy, there will be a period of depression afterwards because of the let down
2) the more a person experiences a particular emotion, such as fear, the less it will affect them.