Chapter 14: Motivation and Emotion

is defined as a need or desire that serves to energize or direct behavior.

states that animals are motivated to act by basic needs critical to the survival of the organism.

Hunger, thirst, sleep, and reproduction needs are

The desire to obtain learned reinforcers, such as money or social acceptance, is a

discovered that rats would press a bar in order to send a small electrical pulse into certain areas of their brains.

supported by evolutionary psychology, posits that the learning of species-specific behavior motivates organisms to do what is necessary to ensure their survival.

states that the main reason people are motivated to perform any action is to maintain an ideal level of physiological arousal.

states that tasks of moderate difficulty, neither too easy nor too hard, elicit the highest level of performance.

is a theory of motivation that is clearly relevant to the concept of addiction.

posits that psychological needs put stress on the body and that we are motivated to reduce this negative experience.

is a state of regulatory equilibrium.

target temperature is called

will send messages to the brain to eat less and to exercise more.

When body weight falls below the set point, the brain sends messages to eat more and exercise less through the

has been identified as an area controlling feeding.

plays a role in the feedback loop between signals from the hypothalamus and those from the stomach.

is the primary fuel of the brain and most other organs.

A second candidate hypothesis is called the

which is more prevalent in females, is an eating disorder characterized by an individual being 15 percent below ideal body weight.

or a distorted body image, is key to understanding this disorder.

which is characterized by alternating periods of binging and purging.

are the primary sexual hormones in males and females, respectively.

As discussed in the “biological bases” of motivation, early theories on motivation relied on a purely biological explanation of motivated behavior.

proposed a hierarchical system for organizing needs.

occurs when people creatively and meaningfully fulfill their own potential.

are often associated with the pressures of society, such as getting an education, having a job, and being sociable.

are associated with creativity and enjoyment.

Over time, our intrinsic motivation may decrease if we receive extrinsic rewards for the same behavior.

important intrinsic motivator

the belief that we can or cannot attain a particular goal.

the need to reach realistic goals that wintrinsic motivatore set for ourselves.

believed that, although motivation is rooted in biology, individual differences and varying environments can cause motivations and needs to be expressed in many different ways.

conflict, one has to decide between two desirable options, such as having to choose between two colleges of similar characteristics.

is a similar dilemma.

one choice is presented, but it carries both pluses and minuses.

are experiential and subjective responses to certain internal and external stimuli.

posits that environmental stimuli cause physiological changes and responses.

arose as a response to the James-Lange theory.

proposed by Schachter and Singer, adds a cognitive twist to the James-Lange theory.

observed facial expressions from a variety of cultures and pointed out that, regardless of where two persons were from, their expressions of certain emotions were almost identical.

the idea that a person’s facial expression can influence the actual emotion being experienced.

is a collection of brain structures that lie on both sides of the thalamus; together, these structures appear to be primarily responsible for emotional experiences.

plays an especially key role in the identification and expression of fear and aggression.

Similar circumstances to a traumatic event can lead to recall of the memory of the experience

is critical for emotional experience, and it is also important in temperament and decision-making.

is responsible for controlling the activities of most of the organs and glands, and it controls arousal.

provides the body with brief, intense, vigorous responses.

provides signals to the internal organs during a calm resting state when no crisis is present.

causes a person to feel challenged or endangered.

meaning that they are temporary challenges.

refers to the arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in the release of various stimulatory hormones

which is used as a physiological index of stress.

is the result of parasympathetic rebound.

developed a cognitive theory of how we respond to stress.

behavior is typified by competitiveness, a sense of time urgency, and elevated feelings of anger and hostility.

behavior is characterized by a low level of competitiveness, low preoccupation with time issues, and a generally easygoing attitude.