Task 1 Flashcards

Question

motivation concepts - evidence agianst the drive theories - reward = drive reduction??? - rat study - dog study

Answer 1

studies in rats shoed: - brain stimulation activating the mesocorticolimbic system in rats induced “wanting” for variety of natural incentives (start eating, drinking, having sex) + rats pressed the button to CONTINUE stimulation - -> not possible that the aversiveness of drives motivated behavior (reward ≠ drive reduction) - rats trained to associated one place with hunger and one with food - hungry rats did not walk to the place where they expected intra-gastric mild (hunger), but eagerly ran to place where they could drink sweet milk - -> only incentive cue (eg. tasty food) motivated some action (eg. eating), but not a drive cue (eg. hunger) - it was shown that reducing a physiological drive (eg. hunger) does not necessarily reduce the motivated behavior (eg. eating) o daily calories were delivered intravenously to dogs, but continued to eat normally

Answer 2

= motivation directed toward affectively positive incentives brain motivation systems modulate those incentive values - role of physiological “drive states” is to amplify the incentive value of relevant incentive stimuli & to magnify the reward properties o E.g.: hunger enhances the incentive value of the reward (food) & increase “wanting” and “liking” for foods --> incentive motivation is focused on reward, which involves 3 categories of mechanism: wanting, liking and learning

Answer 3

“wanting” = incentive salience - -> generated by large, robust mesocorticolimbic circuity - -> mediated by DA - cue-triggered as a temporary peak of desire to obtain an associated reward - cues are made attractive and attention-grabbing --> helps to motivate action to obtain the goal - explains why something can be both, motivating and rewarding at the same time Incentive salience is a mesocorticolimbic form of “wanting” + distinguishable from the cognitive form of wanting which is goal-oriented (based on declarative memories and on expectations of act-outcome relations)!!!

Answer 4

“liking” = hedonic impact of a pleasant reward --> generated by small, functionally fragile brain circuit (“hedonic hotspots” which are distributed across the brain but act as integrated network) • hedonic hotspots found in limbic areas (NA, vPallidum), the OFC, Insula • stimulating one causes recruitment of other hotspots --> simultaneously activity is necessary to amplify sensory pleasures --> mediated by opioid, endocannabinoid and related neurotransmitter signals • injecting those neurotransmitter inside the hedonic hotspots increased “liking”, but injecting them outside the hotspots only stimulated intense “wanting” (without “liking”)

Answer 5

learning = learning mechanisms tend to focus amplified salience more narrowly on to a particular “wanted” target (because cues are associated with reward)

Answer 6

- reward “wanting” and “fear” share overlapping mesolimbic dopamine and NA mechanisms of motivational salience although psychologically opposites --> both make external stimulus attention-grabbing + motivationally meaningful o incentive salience - attractive o fearful salience- threatening (-->fear response) o active fear response is produced by the NA o more passive freezing reactions are depend on the AMY circuitry - NA contains desire-dread valence keyboard (organized from front to back) o tapping the anterior sited induces strong wanting o tapping the posterior end elicits strong active fear reactions - valence of the “keyboard” not solely determined by neuroanatomy, but is influenced by environment (eg. safe vs. dark)

Answer 7

- Fear defends against external bodily danger threats o fear expressions enhance relevant sensory perception (eye widening) - Disgust defends against oral and internal toxic threats o disgust expressions suppresses relevant sensory perception (head shaking) - Neural mechanisms generating disgust and fear are mostly distinct (partly overlap in the posterior shell of the nucleus accumbens) o posterior NA has 2 “fear” generating modes: glutamate AMPA receptor blockage and GABA receptor activation o only GABA mode also generates disgust --> (produces strong inhibition which releases other neurons into higher excitation levels, thereby adding a qualitative change in the emotion)

Answer 8

- Motivation and emotions emerged as separate fields of study – but actually they are inherently linked - Early theories of motivation incorporated emotions only within the pleasure/ pain principle, but they did not recognize specific emotions o Lack of something (need) is associated with negative emotions (pain) o Achievement (satisfaction of need) is associated with positive emotions (pleasure) o Actions should maximize pleasure & to minimize pain - Atkinson’s theory of achievement motivation introduced more specific emotions o First one to acknowledge the reward for achievement behavior are not extrinsic (money, hunger), but intrinsic (affect) o Achievement behaviors are determined by the anticipated emotions of pride and shame --> more pride: approach vs. more shame: withdrawal o Furthermore, the intensity of the anticipated emotion is determined by the subjective task difficulty --> Success in difficult task leads to more pride than success in easy task --> Failure in easy task leads to more shame than failure in difficult task - Later attribution theories suggest that feelings are determined by thoughts, and specifically by causal beliefs. In turn, the feelings direct behavior (motivation). o attribution --> emotion --> directs action --> Need for help --> controllable cause --> anger --> no aid --> Need for help --> uncontrollable cause --> sympathy --> aid

Answer 9

- disparate causal beliefs can elicit the same emotional experience, if they can share one or more of the 3 causal properties: (1) causal locus (2) casaul stability (3) casaul control - -> CAUSE-EMOTION RELATIONSHIP -> causal beliefs are at the core of a most (not all) emotional experiences and motivation

Answer 10

= internal vs. external cause - -> Example: success in sports because of GAME = internal cause; success in sports because other team was poor = external cause - -> success in sports/difficult task - internal causes --> pride

Answer 11

= stable/permanent vs. changeable cause - Causal stability determines expectancies of future success or failure; therefore linked to emotions of confidence, apprehension, hope and helplessness - Causal stability and causal locus are orthogonal (senkrecht) dimensions: internal external stable unstable

Answer 12

= changeable by agent or not --> Example: lack of effort = controllable vs. lack of resources = uncontrollable - relates to judgements of responsibility and moral emotions such as guilt, remorse, anger, and sympathy - distinguishable with causal locus & causal stability, yet also overlaps (not orthogonal) • Example: all external causes are uncontrollable to the actor (but may be controllable by others)

Answer 13

Look at figure ---> all the differnent emotions

Answer 14

- does not address most fundamental issue of motivation (reward etc.) + BUT predicts behavior based upon causal beliefs & emotional reactions - conceptual linkages/ associations are nothing other than common sense + BUT theory attempts to systematize common sense (=naïve theory) > insights not available to any layperson - cannot explain help-giving: anticipated rewards or social norms are main determinant of helping, not perceived control and sympathy + BUT control and sympathy play a big role - disgust is the main emotional reaction to moral transgression –> theory states anger + BUT anger has mitigators: we judge it morally wrong if healthy person commits crime, but less so if mentally disabled person does the same (both situations elicit disgust to the same extent) - overemphasizes rationality of emotional life & does not take into account unconscious motivations (real causes for emotions are often unknown) + BUT unconscious mechanisms might be activated when reachin causal conclusions