Needs

Question 1

What is motivation?

Answer 1

Motivation is a broad theoretical concept that is used to explain why people engage in certain actions. It includes aspects of activation and intention: energy, direction, persistence, and equifinality.

Question 2

What is the psychological hedonism/hedonic axiom?

Answer 2

Organisms approach goals or engage in activities that presumably yield a positive outcome and avoid events that presumably have negative outcomes.

Question 3

What is determinism?

Answer 3

Every event is an unavoidable and necessary consequence of prior circumstances.

Question 4

What is dualism in the mind-body puzzle?

Answer 4

Assumes that the body and the mind are qualitatively different (Descartes).

Question 5

What is monism in the mind-body puzzle?

Answer 5

Assumes that the body and the mind are qualitatively the same (Godfried Wilhelm Leibniz).

Question 6

What is interactionist/Cartesian dualism?

Answer 6

The body is believed to be material whereas the mind is immaterial. The body depends on the mind; they interact with each other. Interaction occurs in the pineal gland where light energy through the eyes activates spirits which leads to body movement.

Question 7

What is parallelistic dualism?

Answer 7

The body and the mind both work simultaneously but without influencing each other. Both mind and body exist but they do not interact with one another.

Question 8

What is methodological dualism?

Answer 8

Methods for studying mental activity are different from those used to study other phenomena; hence the body-mind distinction is worth maintaining for this reason alone.

Question 9

What is mentalistic monism?

Answer 9

The external world does not exist, it is merely a product of our own mind.

Question 10

What is solipsism?

Answer 10

Proposed by Hume; there is only one mind and all other minds are merely a product of your own mind (not plausible).

Question 11

What is materialistic monism?

Answer 11

The one underlying substance is of material nature and the mind is what the brain does; consciousness is merely a function of the brain.

Question 12

What is the neural identity theory?

Answer 12

A variation of materialistic monism: the nervous system can be divided into two different parts: for every conscious mental event there is a corresponding brain event, but the converse is not true. We are not aware of everything that happens in our nervous system (aka the double-aspect theory).

Question 13

What is a scientific theory?

Answer 13

A theory is a representation of real things that arise in nature and can therefore be seen, and it relates those things to each other by a set of rules.

Question 14

What qualities distinguish a good theory from a bad one?

Answer 14

Testability: a good theory can be proven false.
Fruitfulness: a good theory generates research so that more knowledge can be gained.
Simplicity: the simple explanation is also preferred (parsimony).
Comprehensiveness: the better the theory, the greater number of observations it explains.

Question 15

What do we want theories to explain?

Answer 15

We want theories to explain past events and predict future ones. One kind of scientific explanation is to identify a specific event as an instance of a more general principle or law.

Question 16

What are the subareas of semiotic?

Answer 16

Semiotics is a system used to understand the scientific language and it has three subareas.
Syntactics: the relations of different signs to each other based on confirmed rules.
Semantics: the relations of signs to the objects to which they refer guided by rules for defining terms (simplest definition: ostensive definition).
Pragmatics: the relations of signs to their users.

Question 17

What is a circular definitions?

Answer 17

A circular definition is when something is defined in terms of itself (appears to say something but it doesn’t).

Question 18

What are intervening variables?

Answer 18

Intervening variables can be used to prevent circular reasoning by using an antecedant condition and a consequent condition in the definition.

Question 19

How do we put together a theory?

Answer 19

The concepts of a theory are defined in terms of observable events, and the theory states how these concepts are related to each other. Predictions about other observable events in the world are made based on the syntax of the theory, which is determined by both observation and logic.

Question 20

What is the regulatory approach to motivation?

Answer 20

The regulatory approach functions around homeostasis, how our bodies attempt to restore internal equilibrium following disruptive internal forces. According to this approach, there is a biological mechanism, complex behaviours are strings of reflexes of the body, and stimuli are the sole cause of the behaviour.
People are driven by their need for homeostasis.
Internal need –> Drive –> Activity –> Goal –> Quiescence

Question 21

What is the purposive approach to motivation?

Answer 21

Emphasizes the goal-directed nature of behaviour and is more future-oriented and less physiologically oriented. We look to the future and all possible outcomes of different actions, and then we strive towards those goals we predict will have the greatest value to us.

Question 22

What are motivational intervening variables?

Answer 22

An intervening variable is motivational if a difference in the level of an intervening variable X is related to a difference in preference, vigour, or persistence of behaviour. We can manipulate both internal states (regulatory) and goals (purposive) to see how they affect performance.

Question 23

What is the hedonic continuum?

Answer 23

The hedonic continuum assumes that at any given time, there is an ordering of events along a continuum ranging from aversive to neutral to desirable. Organisms direct their behaviours to maximize pleasure and minimize distress. The hedonic continuum with the ordering of outcomes from aversive to desirable is a hierarchy of desirability of goals.

Question 24

What is the relationship between social rejection and numbness to pain?

Answer 24

Laboratory manipulations of social exclusion caused a broad decrease in pain sensitivity across all participants. Biologically, the body goes into shock after experiencing pain (evolutionarily beneficial). Social rejections produces an emotional experience that is very similar to pain, with the same brain circuits being active. Thus, the brain releases opioids to produce an emotional shock-like state which presents itself in the form of emotional numbness.

Question 25

What is the relationship between social rejection and money-spending behaviour?

Answer 25

Socially rejected individuals demonstrate self-regulation deficits that could lead to higher spending. Social exclusion seems to lead to a strategically intelligible pattern of selective spending. Socially rejected individuals are more willing to spend money, specifically on items that could enhance their social appeal.

Question 26

What is self-determination theory (SDT)?

Answer 26

SDT is aimed at explaining people’s inherent need for growth and psychological needs, which are believed to be the basis of their motivation and personality integration. Includes three psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Question 27

What is intrinsic motivation?

Answer 27

Intrinsic motivation describes the natural inclination of humans towards mastery, interest, and exploration, thereby representing a principle source of enjoyment. To maintain and enhance intrinsic motivation, supportive conditions are required.

Question 28

What is the cognitive evaluation theory (CET)?

Answer 28

CET is a sub-theory within SDT and is framed in social and environmental factors that either facilitate or undermine intrinsic motivation. It argues that the social context of an individual must foster both autonomy and competence to enhance intrinsic motivation (one is not enough on its own). External threats and rewards can diminish intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is more likely to flourish in the context of security and relatedness.

Question 29

What is extrinsic motivation?

Answer 29

Extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity to attain an outcome.

Question 30

What is the organismic integration theory (OIT)?

Answer 30

OIT is a second sub-theory of SDT that describes the different forms of extrinsic motivation and the contextual factors that promote or hinder internalization and integration of the regulation for these behaviours. Internalization is fostered by feelings of relatedness, perceived competence, and the experience of autonomy.

Question 31

What are the different types of extrinsic motivation in OIT?

Answer 31

External regulation: the least autonomous and most controlled, facilitated through rewards and punishments
Introjected regulation: taking in regulation but not fully accepting it, not experienced as part of the self, internal rewards and punishments (guilt/anxiety).
Identified regulation: more autonomous and self-determined, more interest and enjoyment, expending more effort. accepting the regulation, personal importance.
Integrated regulation: most autonomous, regulations are fully assimilated to the self, there is congruence with the values and needs, but still extrinsic for attaining separable outcomes.

Question 32

What are the subjective qualities within the experience of autonomy?

Answer 32

An internal perceived locus of causality, volition (feeling free to do something because you want to do it), and perceived choice over one’s actions.