Transcript Document

Motivation and
Emotion
8A: Motivation
THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
O Motivation – a need or desire that energizes
behavior and directs it toward a goal
Instinct theory
O Based on instincts – fixed action patterns
that are not learned and occur in most
members of a species
O Bird migration, mating rituals
O Failed to explain motives – named rather
than described behavior
O Today psychologists taking the evolutionary
perspective focus on evolutionary history
on eating, selection of mates, expression of
emotions, etc.
Drive-reduction theory
O 1930s: replaced instinct theory
O Based on biological concept of homeostasis –
body seeks to maintain a stable internal state
O If any need is unmet, body creates drive or a
state of tension
O Still used to explain motivated behaviors that
have a clear biological basis
O Can’t account for many behaviors – buying
newest cell phone, giving to charity, skydiving
Arousal theory
O Motivation serves to achieve and maintain a
certain level of arousal
O Yerkes-Dodson law – an optimal level of
psychological arousal helps performances
O Too low = boredom; too high = anxiety
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
O Needs are ordered from basic survival to
psychological needs
O Safety, belongingness, esteem, self-
actualization, and transcendence
O Each level of the hierarchy is addressed
only after the preceding level’s needs have
been met
O Has been criticized for its vague definition
of self-actualization
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Self-determination theory
O We have three basic organismic (psychological
needs that are innate and exist in every person)
needs:
O Competence – we can bring about desired
outcomes
O Relatedness – forming positive relationships with
others
O Autonomy – being in control of our own life
O Provide intrinsic motivation
O Emphasizes we do things because we have
freely chosen to – not a drive-reduction theory
Hunger motivation
Food
% Males Indicating Dislike
% Females Indicating Dislike
Calves’ brains
70
90
Celery
32
8
Clam dip
46
74
Eggs
4
18
Hominy
28
52
Kidney stew
80
94
Lamb
20
38
Leftovers
24
44
Nuts
2
14
Oysters
26
64
Tripe
64
96
Turtle soup
60
88
Waffles
4
18
Watermelon
2
12
Biological bases of hunger
O Glucose – form of sugar that circulates in the blood and
provides the major source of energy for body tissues
O Blood glucose drops = hunger
O Hypothalamus is involved in hunger
O Stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus causes an animal
to eat
O Stimulation of the ventromedial hypothalamus causes an
animal to stop eating
O Set-point theory – humans and other animals have a
natural/optimal body-fat level
O Criticism: slow, sustained changes in body weight can alter
one’s set point
O Psychological factors sometimes drive feelings of hunger
O Now use term settling point
Appetite Hormones
Insulin
Secreted by pancreas; controls blood glucose
Leptin
Secreted by fat cells; when abundant, causes
brain to increase metabolism and decrease
hunger
Orexin
Hunger-triggering hormone secreted by
hypothalamus
Ghrelin
Secreted by empty stomach; sends “I’m hungry”
signals to the brain
Obestatin
Secreted by the stomach; sends out “I’m full”
signals to the brain
PYY
Digestive tract hormone; sends “I’m not hungry”
signals to the brain
Psychology of hunger
O Eating disorders
O Anorexia nervosa – eating disorder with
diagnosis based on
O Significantly underweight (usually below 85%
of “normal” body weight)
O Distorted view of body size or shape
O Intense fear of gaining weight
O Cessation of menstruation (amenorrhea)
O Bullimia nervosia – eating disorder with diagnosis
based on
O Repeated episodes of overeating followed by vomiting,
laxative use and/or exercise
O Undue concern with body size or shape
O Family influences on eating disorders
O Mothers of girls w/eating disorders tend to focus on
their own weight and on their daughters’ weight
O Families of bulimia patients have a higher-than -usual
incidence of childhood obesity and negative selfevaluation
O Families of anorexia patients tend to be competitive,
high achieving and protective
O Obesity
O 2/3 of adult Americans are officially overweight
and about half of them are obese
O 1/6 Americans aged 6-19 are overweight
O Contributes to heart disease, diabetes, kidney
failure and many forms of cancer
O Causes:
O Abundant, easily obtainable high-fat, high-calorie
food
O Sedentary lifestyle
O Lack of adequate sleep
O Genetic predisposition
O Physiology of obesity
O Once we gain a fat cell, we keep the fat cell
O Once we become fat we require less food to
maintain our weight than we did to attain it
O Lean people naturally fidget more than
overweight people
O Sleep deprivation increases vulnerability to
obesity
O People are more likely to become obese
when a friend becomes obese
Weight loss tips
O Chew cinnamon gum
O Factor out 100-200 calories of “fluff” from your
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diet
Be creative with your snack foods
Don’t eat while you read, watch TV, talk on the
phone or work at your desk
Wait 20 minutes before eating after getting
home from school/work
Schedule snacks every 2 hours and plan out
what you’re going to have
Physiology of sex
O Sexual response cycle – four stages of sexual
responding described by William Masters
and Virginia Johnson
O Excitement, plateau, orgasm, resolution
O Refractory period – resting period after
orgasm, during which a man can’t achieve
another orgasm
O Hormones and sexual behavior
O Estrogens – female sex hormones
O Testosterone – male sex hormone
Psychology of sex
O Sexually explicit materials can increase
male willingness to hurt women and may
lead people to devalue their own partners
and relationships
Adolescent sexuality
O Teen pregnancy – causes:
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Ignorance
Minimal communication about birth control
Guilt related to sexual activity
Alcohol use
Mass media norms of unprotected promiscuity
O Predictors of teenage sexual restraint
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High intelligence
Religious engagement
Father presence
Participation in service learning programs
Sexual orientation
O 3-4% of men and 1-2% of women are exclusively
homosexual
O
Homosexuality is more fixed for men than women
O Psychologists view homosexuality as neither willfully
chosen nor willfully changed
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Not linked to
O Problems in a child’s relationships with parents
O Fear of hatred of people of the other gender
O Levels of sex hormones in the blood
O Childhood molestation by an adult homosexual
O Genetic influence:
Gay men and straight women: brain hemispheres are the same
size
O Lesbian women and straight men: right brain hemisphere is
larger
O
Motivation and
Emotion
8B – Emotions, Stress and Health
O Emotions are a mix of
O Physiological arousal
O Expressive behaviors
O Consciously experienced thoughts and
feelings
O Psychologists agree that emotions include
physiological, cognitive and behavioral
components but disagree on how we
become emotional and which component of
emotion received the most emphasis
James-Lange theory of emotion
O Named after William James and Carl Lange
O Argues that emotions follow a three-part
sequence
O Perceive a stimulus (see a shadowy figure in
your yard)
O Stimulus triggers physiological arousal
(heart rate jumps and you begin to tremble)
O You interpret the bodily changes as a specific
emotion (I’m afraid!)
O Arousal immediately precedes emotion
James-Lange Theory:
“I’m afraid because I am shaking”
Person
sees a
spider
Begins to
shake
Interprets
shaking
as fear
Cannon-Bard theory
O Named after Walter Cannon and Philip Bard
O States that an emotion-arousing stimulus
simultaneously triggers
O Physiological responses and
O The subjective experience of emotion
Cannon-Bard Theory
“The spider makes me shake and feel afraid.”
Person sees a
spider
Begins to
shake
Interprets
Shaking as fear
Experiences
fear
Schacter-Singer two-factor theory
O Stanley Schachter and James Singer agreed that
physiological arousal is a key element in
emotion but pointed out that physiological
arousal is similar for different emotions
O Proposes that our emotions depend on physical
arousal and the cognitive labeling of that
arousal
1.
2.
You perceive a stimulus
The stimulus triggers both physiological
arousal and a cognitive label that makes the
best sense of the arousal
Two-Factor Theory
“I label my shaking as fear because I appraised the situation as
dangerous.”
Begins to shake
Person sees a
spider
Decides the
situation is
dangerous
Experiences
fear
Opponent-process theory
O Every emotion triggers an opposing
emotion that fights it
O We will feel a negative emotion after we feel
a positive emotion
Physiological differences
among emotions
O Fear and joy increase heart rate but
stimulate different facial muscles
O Watching a fearful face activates the
amygdala
O Some tendency for negative emotions to be
linked to the right hemisphere and positive
emotions linked to the left
O Left frontal lobe has more dopamine
receptors
Lie detectors
O Problems with lie
detectors:
O Our physiological arousal
is similar from one
emotion to another
(anxiety, irritation, guilt)
O Tests are wrong at least
33% of the time
O Guilty knowledge test –
assesses a suspect’s
physiological responses to
crime-scene details
known only to the police
and the guilty person
Cognition and emotion
Spillover effect – our arousal
response to one event spills
over into our response to the
next event
O Some emotions (especially
simple likes, dislikes and fears)
require no conscious thought
O Some emotions bypass the
cortex and go straight to the
amygdala
O Results in a speedy
emotional response before
our intellect has time to
process
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Expressed emotion
O We aren’t very good at detecting deceiving
expressions (for example, detecting truth over
lies)
O Women generally surpass men at
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reading emotional cues
spotting lies
emotional literacy
emotional responsiveness
O Happiness and anger translate across cultures
but cultures differ in how much emotion they
express
Effects of facial expression
O Facial feedback – effect of facial expressions
on experienced emotions
O People induced to smile tend to feel happier
and recall happier memories
Fear
O We learn fear from experience and
observation
O Identical twins have similar levels of
fearfulness, even when raised apart
O Amygdala is involved in human fear
Anger
O Catharsis – emotional release
O Catharsis hypothesis – “releasing” aggressive
energy (through action or fantasy) relieves
aggressive urges
O Is temporarily calming if it does not produce guilt
or anxiety
O In general, expressing anger breeds more anger
O How to handle anger:
O Wait
O Channel energy into something productive
Happiness
O Feel-good, do-good phenomenon: tendency
to be helpful when already in a good mood
O We overestimate the duration of our
emotions and underestimate our capacity to
adapt
O Once one has enough money for comfort
and security, money matters less and less
O Today’s happiness predicts tomorrow’s
income better than today’s income predicts
tomorrow’s happiness
Happiness -contO Adaptation-level phenomenon - tendency to
judge stimuli relative to those we have
previously experienced
O We feel an initial surge of pleasure w/pay
increase, but then adapt to it
O Relative deprivation - perception that we
are worse off than those we compare
ourselves to
O Lebron’s salary makes other players
disappointed w/their own
Happiness -contO Happy people tend to
O Have high self-esteem
O Be optimistic, outgoing and agreeable
O Have close friendships or a satisfying marriage
O Have work and leisure that engage their skills
O Have meaningful religious faith
O Sleep well and exercise
O Happiness is not much related to
O Age
O Gender
O Parenthood
O Physical attractiveness
How to be happier
O Realize that lasting happiness may not come
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from money
Take control of your time
Act happy
Seek work and leisure that engage your skills
Exercise
Get enough sleep
Give priority to close relationships
Focus beyond self
Count your blessings and record gratitudes
Nurture your spiritual self
Stress
 Stress: process by which we perceive
and respond to certain events
(stressors) that we appraise as
threatening or challenging
 General adaptation syndrome (GAS):
 Alarm - sudden activation of sympathetic
nervous system
 Resistance - temperature, blood pressure
and respiration stay high and if persistent,
stress may deplete body’s reserves
 Exhaustion - more vulnerable to illness
Friedman and Rosenman’s study
 Type A: people who are reactive,
competitive, driven, impatient, time
conscious, supermotivated, verbally
aggressive and easily angered
 Type B: more easy going and relaxed
 Type A people are more susceptible to
stress related disease
Effects of stress
 Surgical wounds heal more slowly
 Makes body more susceptible to cold virus
 Stress does not make us sick but it does alter
our immune functioning