Unit 7

Motivation

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

Instinct

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

Physiological Need

a basic bodily requirement

Drive-Reduction Theory

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

Homeostasis

a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level

Incentive

a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

Yerkes-Dodson Law

the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before people can fulfill their higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs

Glucose

the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues; when its level is low, we feel hunger

Set Point

the point at which the “weight thermostat” may be set; when the body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore lost weight

Basal Metabolic Rate

the body’s resting rate of energy output

Asexual

having no sexual attraction toward others

Testosterone

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

Estrogens

sex hormones, such as estradiol, that contribute to female sex characteristics and are secreted in greater amounts by females than males; estrogen levels peak during ovulation

Sexual Response Cycle

the four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson—excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution

Refractory Period

in human sexuality, a resting period that occurs after orgasm, during which a person cannot achieve another orgasm

Sexual Dysfunction

a problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning at any point in the sexual response cycle

Erectile Disorder

inability to develop or maintain an erection due to insufficient blood flow to the penis

Female Orgasmic Disorder

distress due to infrequently or never experiencing orgasm

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)

a life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a sexually transmitted infections; depletes the immune system, leaving the person vulnerable to infections

Sexual Orientation

the direction of our sexual attractions, as reflected in our longings and fantasies

Affiliation Need

the need to build and maintain relationships and to feel part of a group

Self-Determination Theory

the theory that we feel motivated to satisfy our needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness

Ostracism

deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups

Narcissism

excessive self-love and self-absorption

Achievement Motivation

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

Grit

in psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals

Intrinsic Motivation

the desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

Extrinsic Motivation

the desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

Emotion

a response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and, most importantly, (3) conscious experience resulting from one’s interpretation

James-Lange Theory

the theory that our experience of emotion occurs when we become aware of our physiological responses to an emotion-arousing stimulus

Cannon-Bard Theory

the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion

Two-Factor Theory

the Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal

Polygraph

a machine used in attempts to detect lies; measures emotion-linked changes in perspiration, heart rate, and breathing

Facial Feedback Effect

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

Behavior Feedback Effect

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

Catharsis

the idea that “releasing” aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

Feel-Good, Do-Good Phenomenon

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

Positive Psychology

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

Subjective Well-Being

self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life; used along with measures of objective well-being to evaluate people’s quality of life

Adaptation-Level Phenomenon

our tendency to form judgments relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience

Relative Deprivation

the perception that we are worse off relative to those with whom we compare ourselves

Stress

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

Approach and Avoidance Motives

the drive to move toward or away from a stimulus

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases—alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Tend-and-Befriend Response

under stress, people often provide support to others and bond with and seek support from others

Psychoneuroimmunology

the study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect our immune system and resulting health

Coronary Heart Disease

the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; a leading cause of death in many developed countries

Type A

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people

Type B

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people

Coping

alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods

Problem-Focused Coping

attempting to alleviate stress directly—by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor

Emotion-Focused Coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction

Personal Control

our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless

Learned Helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation humans and other animals learn when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

External Locus of Control

the perception that outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate

Internal Locus of Control

the perception that we control our own fate

Self-Control

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards

Aerobic Exercise

sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; also helps alleviate depression and anxiety

Personality

an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

Psychodynamic Theories

theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

Psychoanalysis

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

Unconscious

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories; according to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware

Free Association

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, not matter how trivial or embarrassing

Id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

Ego

the partly conscious, “executive” part of the personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, the superego, and reality; operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

Superego

the partly conscious part of personality that, according to Freud, represents the internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations

Psychosexual Stages

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

Oedipus Complex

according to Freud, a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and the feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

Identification

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos

Fixation

in psychoanalytic theory, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

Defense Mechanism

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Collective Unconscious

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history

Terror-Management Theory

a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

Projective Test

a personality test, such as the TAT or Rorschach, that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of people’s inner dynamics

Rorschach Inkblot Test

a projective test designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing how they interpret 10 inkblots

Humanistic Theories

theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth

Self-Actualization

according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential

Self-Transcendence

according to Maslow, the striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self

Unconditional Positive Regard

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance

Self-Concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”

Trait

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act in certain ways, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

Personality Inventory

a questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests; originally developed to identify emotional disorders, this test is now used for many screening purposes

Empirically Derived Test

a test created by selecting from a pool of items those that discriminate between groups

Big Five Factors

researchers identified five factors—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism—that describe personality (also called the five factor model)

Social-Cognitive Perspective

a view of behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context

Reciprocal Determinism

the interacting of influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

Self

in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

Spotlight Effect

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

Self-Esteem

our feelings of high or low self-worth

Self-Efficacy

our sense of competence and effectiveness

Self-Serving Bias

a readiness to perceive ourselves favorably