Unit 7: Motivation, Emotion, and Personality

Question 1

Motivation

Answer 1

a need or desire that influences and directs behavior

Question 2

Nature vs. Nurture in motivation

Answer 2

the “bodily push” (nature) combined with our personal experience (nurture) creates motivation

Question 3

Instinct

Answer 3

a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned

• humans are not primarily motivated by instinct; we have basic ones but more of our motivations are driven by psysiological needs and psychological wants

Question 4

Instinct theory

Answer 4

theory that our instincts act as a source of motivation; inborn impulses are our motivation to action

Question 5

Imprinting

Answer 5

the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life

Question 6

Drive reduction theory

Answer 6

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

• drive reduction is the way our bodies strive for homeostasis, a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state

homeostasis –> need –> drive –> drive reduction

Question 7

incentives

Answer 7

a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

Question 8

arousal theory

Answer 8

some motivated behaviors increase arousal (**think adrenaline junkies)

sometimes uncertainty brings excitement, amplifying motivation

Question 9

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Answer 9

the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases (this point is different for different people)

• simpler tasks are performed best when arousal levels are relatively moderate/high whereas complex tasks are best performed when arousal levels are low

Question 10

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Answer 10

Beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active

Question 11

How do glucose levels affect hunger?

Answer 11

If your blood glucose level drops, you won’t consciously feel the lower blood sugar. Your brain, which is automatically monitoring your blood chemistry and your body’s internal state, will trigger hunger.

Question 12

Role of the Hypothalamus in hunger

Answer 12

Blood vessels supply the hypothalamus, enabling it to respond to our current blood chemistry/incoming neural info about the body’s state

Question 13

Ghrelin

Answer 13

Hormone secreted by an empty stomach; sends “i’m hungry” signals to the brain

Question 14

“set point” (in terms of weight)

Answer 14

The point at which your “weight thermostat” may be set. When your body falls below this weight, increased hunger and lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore lost weight.

• does not really exist; sustained changes in our body weight can alter one’s set point and psychological factors sometimes also drive our feelings of hunger

Question 15

Testosterone

Answer 15

The most important male sex hormone. both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the make sex organs during the fetal period and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty

Question 16

Oestrogen

Answer 16

sex hormones that contribute to female sex characteristics and are secreted in greater amounts by females than in males - oestrogen peaks during ovulation

Question 17

Testosterone

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Affiliation need

Answer 18

the need to build relationships and be part of a group

Question 19

Ostracism

Answer 19

deliberate social exclusion of groups or individuals

Question 20

Narcissism

Answer 20

excessive self-love and self-absorbtion

Question 21

Achievement motivation

Answer 21

a desire for significant accomplishment, mastery of skills or ideas, control, and for attaining a high standard

• those with high achievement motivation tend to achieve more with their persistence and eagerness for challenge

Question 22

Emotion vs the autonomic nervous system

Answer 22

in a crisis the sympathetic division of your ANS mobilizes your body for action by directing your adrenal glands to release the stress hormone epinephrine and norepinephrine to prepare you for survival. When crisis has passed, the parasympathetic division works to gradually calm you down as stress hormones slowly leave the bloodstream

Question 23

Common sense theory (theories of emotion)

Answer 23

Stimulus > Emotion > Arousal
- some sort of external stimulus will elicit an emotion response causing arousal

Question 24

James-Lange theory (theories of emotion)

Answer 24

Stimulus > Arousal > Emotion
- an external stimulus causes an arousal, leaving you emotional

Question 25

Cannon-Bard theory (theories of emotion)

Answer 25

Stimulus = Emotion + Arousal - an external stimulus causes fear and a physical response at the same time

Question 26

Schachter Singer "2 factor" theory (theories of emotion)

Answer 26

Stimulus > Arousal + cognitive label > Emotion - an external stimulus elicits a psychological response and at the same time an internal analysis (or cognitive label), before emotion

Question 27

Lazarus theory (theories of emotion)

Answer 27

Stimulus > Cognitive label > Emotion + arousal - your brain analyses a situation and as a result produces an emotional and physical response

Question 28

Zajonc and LeDoux theory (theories of emotion)

Answer 28

Stimulus > Thalamus > Amygdala > Fear - instant emotional response; cognition is not always immediately involved ** think jumpscare

Question 29

How do we communicate nonverbally?

Answer 29

Expressive behavior - body language and facial expressions

Question 30

Difference between real and fake emotion

Answer 30

Hard-to-control face muscles are often signifiers of real emotion from fake ** activated under-eye muscles when expressing happiness Most people cannot detect the minute differences between liars and truth tellars

Question 31

Ekman's research on emotional detection accuracy

Answer 31

Suggests that humans can detect falsity in feigned emotion; basic emotions are innate and shared by everyone, enough that we can accurately decipher them

Question 32

Darwin's ideas on historical expression of emotion

Answer 32

in prehistoric times, as means of survival our ancestors communicated in facial expression before verbal communication, and still we have retained some of those tendencies

Question 33

Darwin's ideas on the historical expression of emotion

Answer 33

in prehistoric times, as means of survival our ancestors communicated in facial expression before verbal communication, and still we have retained some of those tendencies

Question 34

Facial feedback effect

Answer 34

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

Question 35

Behavior feedback effect

Answer 35

the tendency of behavior to influence our own and others thoughts, feelings and actions

Question 36

Stress

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Stress appraisal chart

Answer 37

Stressful event = Threat = Negative response ** math test = "I don't know anything" = stressed to distraction OR Stressful event = Challenge + Positive response ** math test + "I've got to apply all I know" = aroused, focused

Question 38

Selye's phases of the general adaptation syndrome (GAS)

Answer 38

(GAS is Selye's concept of the body's adaptive responses to stress) 1. Alarm reaction - sympathetic nervous system - fight or flight 2. Resistance - blood pressure and respiration remain high - hormones to the bloodstream; full engagement to fight 3. Exhaustion - body's reserves dwindle with no relief from stress over time - vulnerable to illness/collapse/death

Question 39

Selye's basic point

Answer 39

Idea that although the human body copes well with temporary stress, prolonged stress can damage it at a certain point

Question 40

DNA and prolonged stress

Answer 40

results in shortened telomers (DNA pieces that shorten with age) with those who suffered childhood stressors

Question 41

Tend-and-befriend response

Answer 41

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

Question 42

Health psychology

Answer 42

subfield of psychology that provides psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine

Question 43

Psychoneuroimmunology

Answer 43

Study of how physiological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health

Question 44

Two ways a poorly functioning immune system can react

Answer 44

1. Too strong of a reaction; may attack the body's own tissues, causing an allergic reaction or a self-attacking disease 2. Underreaction; bacterial infection may flare, dormant viruses may erupt, or cancer cells could multiply

Question 45

How are stress and cancer linked?

Answer 45

In healthy, functioning immune systems, lymphocytes, macrophages and NK cells search out cancer cells/cancer-damaged cells, but a weakened immune system cannot fight them NOTE: stress does not create cancer cells

Question 46

Stress and inflammation

Answer 46

Both heart disease and depression may result when chronic stress triggers blood inflammation; the more physiological trauma people experience, the more their bodies generate inflammation

Question 47

Anger management and catharsis

Answer 47

Anger management are behaviors to help quell and direct our anger examples include waiting, distraction, support, distance, and catharsis, the idea that "releasing" aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

Question 48

Three health benefits of social support

Answer 48

1. social support calms us and reduces blood pressure and stress hormones 2. social support fosters stronger immune functioning 3. close relationships give us an opportunity for "open heart therapy" - a chance to confide painful feelings

Question 49

Feel-good, do-good phenomenon

Answer 49

people's tendency to be helpful when in a good mood

Question 50

Positive psychology

Answer 50

the scientific study for human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive

Question 51

Subjective well-being

Answer 51

Self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. used along with measures of objective wellbeing (psychical/economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life

Question 52

Adaptive-level phenomenon

Answer 52

our tendency to form judgements (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neural level defined by our prior experience

Question 53

Relative deprivation

Answer 53

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself

Question 54

Personality

Answer 54

an individuals characteristic pattern of feeling, thinking, and acting

Question 55

Psychoanalysis

Answer 55

- Freud's approach - attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflict; seeks to expose/interpret unconscious tensions

Question 56

Psychodynamics

Answer 56

- The modern-day take on psychoanalytics - Views personality with a focus on the unconscious and the influence of childhood experiences; childhood tensions (not sexual, as in Freud's psychoanalysis) are crucial for personality formation (Adler, Horney, Jung)

Question 57

Three parts of the unconscious mind according to Freud

Answer 57

1. Unconcious: unacceptable information that we process, of which we are unaware 2. Preconcious: where we store some of these thoughts temporarily, from which we can retrieve them into conscious awareness 3. Conscious: what we know is happening in our mind

Question 58

How do Id, Ego, and Superego interact

Answer 58

(Freud's psychoanalytic theory) Id (unconscious energy) - instincts; strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive desires, demanding instant gratification Superego (internalized ideas) - morals; internalized ideals and standards for judgement and future aspirations The Ego (mostly conscious) is how you mediate instincts and morals into concrete decisions; the reality principle of satisfying the Id realistically to bring the most amount of pleasure without sacrificing your Superego

Question 59

Freud's psychosexual stages

Answer 59

- Oral (pleasure from mouth/sucking) - Anal (pleasure from learning to control bodily waste) - Phallic (pleasure from genitals/coping with incestual feelings) - Latent (suppressing sexual identity) - Gential (expressing sexual feelings towards others)

Question 60

Fixation in a psychosexual stage

Answer 60

a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking activities relating to a psychosexual stage in which conflicts were unresovled ** a person who had been either orally overindulged or under indulged might fixate on the oral stage, maybe smoking weed/cigarettes

Question 61

Seven defense mechanisms

Answer 61

- Regression: retreating to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated **thumb sucking brings comfort - Reaction formation: switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites ** exaggerated friendliness - Projection: disguising one's own threatening impulses by attributing them to others ** thief thinks everyone else is a thief - Rationalization: offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one's actions ** a habitual drinker says she drinks with her friends "just to be sociable" - Displacement: shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person **a boy punches the wall after his mom sends him to his room - Sublimation: transferring of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motives **man with aggressive urges becomes a surgeon - Denial: refusing to belive or even perceive painful realities ** a partner denies evidence of his loved one's afair

Question 62

How do neo-Freudians differ from Freud?

Answer 62

They adopted freuds interviewing techniques and accepted his basic ideas (personality structures, childhood influence, defense mechanisms etc.) but did not belive that sex/aggression were all-consuming motives and placed more emphasis on the conscious mind's role in interpreting and coping with experiences

Question 63

Adler's neo-Freudian theory

Answer 63

as long as someone is useful to others and overcomes feelings of inferiority, the individual feels secure and invaluable

Question 64

Horney's neo-Freudian theory

Answer 64

The view that women are infantile and emotional, and thus are incapable of responsibility/independence, is the work of the masculine tendency to lower women's self-respect

Question 65

Jungs's neo-Freudian theory

Answer 65

The collective unconscious (inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history) is the source of creative impulse

Question 66

projective tests

Answer 66

a personality test, such that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics ** thematic apperception test - people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they concoct about ambiguous images ** Rorschach Inkblot test - a set of 10 inkblots seeking to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots widely criticized for lacking reliability and validity, and differing evaluations/interpretations of responses

Question 67

Humanistic psychology

Answer 67

focuses on the constant potential for human growth/development criticized for being vague/subjecting, its overemphasis on individualism that could lead to over-self-indulgence, and it's failure to appreciate the human capacity for wrongdoing (Rogers, Maslow)

Question 68

Maslow's ideas of self-actualization and self-transcendence

Answer 68

Self-actualization: one of the ultimate psychological needs that arise after basic psychical/psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved: the motivation to fulfill one's potential self-transcendence: striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self

Question 69

Three conditions needed for growth (humanistic psychology)

Answer 69

genuineness, acceptance, empathy

Question 70

unconditional positive regard

Answer 70

an attitude of total acceptance toward another person: a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which carl rogers believed would help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance

Question 71

Trait Theory

Answer 71

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act in certain wats, as assessed by self-report or peer-report; we are genetically predisposed (Allport, Eysenck, McCrae, Costa)

Question 72

Gordon Allport's trait theory

Answer 72

Three-tiered hierarchy of traits: 1. Cardinal: rare but strongly deterministic of behavior 2. Central: influence, but do not determine, behavior 3. Secondary: traits strongly determinate on immediate context

Question 73

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Answer 73

Sorting people according to Carl Jung's personality types based on their responses to 126 questions - criticized for the absence of scientific worth and situationally varying results - used for business and career counseling

Question 74

Personality inventories

Answer 74

True/false or agree/disagree questionnaires on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to asses selected personality traits

Question 75

MMPI

Answer 75

scaled used to indicate different psychological conditions after true-false questions are administered - originally developed to identify emotional disorders - most widely researched/clinically used personality test

Question 76

McCrea and Costa's Big Five

Answer 76

A test specifying where/to what degree one identifies with one of the five dimensions (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism)

Question 77

Person-situation controversy

Answer 77

- Change and consistency can coexist - The consistency of our behaviors changes situationally even though our personalities are relatively stable e.g. As people grow older, their personality stabilizes

Question 78

Social cognitive theory

Answer 78

-We learn behaviors from conditioning, observing, and modeling --- importance on mental processing and how we react within our environment (the interaction of our traits with a situation; how do we interpret and respond to external events given our memories/expectations/behaviors?) - criticizes for focusing too heavily on situations that it fails to appreciate inner traits/thoughts (Bandura)

Question 79

Bandura's reciprocal determinism

Answer 79

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment affect one another

Question 80

Spotlight effect

Answer 80

overestimating others' noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders

Question 81

Self-esteem vs. self-efficacy

Answer 81

Self-esteem = one's feeling of high or low self-worth Self-efficacy = one's sense of acceptance and effectiveness

Question 82

Dunning-Kruger Effect

Answer 82

the ignorance of one's own incompetence **because we are unaware of what we don't hear, we naturally overestimate our hearing