AP Psychology: Motivation, Emotion, and Stress

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

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

the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

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

a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

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

a response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience.

the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli.

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

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

a machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion (such as perspiration and cardiovascular and breathing changes).

the effect of facial expressions on experienced emotions, as when a facial expression of anger or happiness intensifies feelings of anger or happiness.

an emotional release. The hypothesis for this maintains that "releasing" aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges.

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

self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with objective measures (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life.

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

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

literally, "mind-body" illness; any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches.

the two types of white blood cells that are part of the body's immune system. The B type of this form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections; The T type of this form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances.

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

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

Friedman and Rosenman's term for easygoing, relaxed people.

our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience.

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

an interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease.

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

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

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

cross-cultural guidelines for how and when to express emotions

the evaluation of the significance of a situation or event as it relates to a person's well-being

Portion of brain involved in the cognitive processing as well as reward perception and positive reinforcement effects, especially effects of drug and naturally rewarding stimuli

In psychology, it is the intrinsic attractiveness (positive) or aversiveness (negative) of an event, object, or situation

the property whereby the benefit from an extra unit of an input declines as the quantity of the input increases

The impairment of effective decision making when confronted with an overwhelming number of options

Maslow's pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active

the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues

the point at which an individual's "weight thermostat" is supposedly set. When the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight

the body's resting rate of energy expenditure

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

a resting period after an orgasm in which a man cannot achieve another orgasm

a problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning

sex hormones, such as estradiol, secreted in greater amounts by females than by males and contributing to female sex characteristics. In nonhuman female mammals, levels peak during ovulation, promoting sexual receptivity.

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