Short Answers

Question 1

Intra-Organismic & Extra-Organismic Mechanisms

Intra Organismic Mechanisms

Answer 1

• Biological regulatory systems within the body activate, maintain, and terminate psychological drives (AMT).
• These systems involve brain structures (e.g., hypothalamus), hormones (e.g., glucose and insulin), and bodily organs (e.g., stomach, liver, pancreas) (BHB).
• They directly influence biological needs such as hunger.

Question 2

Intra-Organismic & Extra-Organismic Mechanisms

Extra Organismic Mechanisms

Answer 2

• Environmental influences contribute to activating, maintaining, and terminating psychological drives (AMT).
• These influences include cognitive factors (e.g., beliefs about calories), environmental cues (e.g., smell of food), social factors (e.g., peer pressure), and cultural norms (e.g., ideals about body shapes) (CESC).

Question 3

How are behavioural responses of persons high in achievement different from persons with a low need for achievement when faced with a standard of excellence?

Answer 3

• A standard of excellence is a challenge to a person’s competence with outcomes of success or failure.
• Individuals with a high need for achievement tend to display distinct behavioural responses when faced with a standard of excellence
• Individuals with a high need for achievement (CEEPT):
• Choose challenging tasks over easy ones.
• Engage quickly in tasks without procrastination.
• Exert more effort and perform better, driven by pride.
• Persist in the face of difficulty and failure.
• Take personal responsibility for outcomes.
• Those with low need for achievement may exhibit avoidance-oriented responses like procrastination, reluctance to engage in challenges, and seeking external support rather than personal responsibility.

Question 4

Optimistic explanatory style & pessimistic explanatory style

Optimistic Explanatory Style

Answer 4

• The optimistic explanatory style attributes successes to internal factors and failures to external factors.
• This fosters resilience, self-confidence, and a positive outlook (RSP).
• Individuals with this style tend to:
• Ignore negative information about themselves.
• Filter incoming information positively.
• Interpret events in self-enhancing ways (IFI).

Question 5

Optimistic explanatory style & pessimistic explanatory style

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

Answer 5

• The pessimistic explanatory style attributes failures to internal, stable, and global factors, while attributing successes to external, unstable, and specific factors.
• This leads to feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and decreased motivation (HHD).
• Pessimistic individuals are more prone to giving up in the face of challenges and experiencing negative outcomes such as academic failure, social distress, and depression.

Question 6

Self-Efficacy

Answer 6

Self-efficacy significantly influences behavior in four main ways:
* It determines individuals’ willingness to exert effort and persist in challenges, with high self-efficacy fostering perseverance and low self-efficacy leading to decreased effort.
* Self-efficacy influences task and environment choices, guiding individuals toward tasks they feel competent in and away from those perceived as overwhelming.
* It impacts cognitive processes, with strong self-efficacy facilitating clear thinking and effective decision-making, while low self-efficacy leads to erratic thinking and negative emotions.
* Self-efficacy regulates emotional reactions, buffering against anxiety and promoting constructive emotionality in the face of challenges.