1. 3.5 Motivation and Emotion
AP Psychology

3. Motivation
General term for the biological, emotional, cognitive and social processes involving starting, directing and maintaining behavior
Human behavior includes a wide range of motives and drives
No theory can explain the enormous variety of human behavior. Psychologist have several theories…

6. Motives Def – needs or desires that energize behavior
Primary biological – need for survival
Hunger, thirst, sex, pain, aggression
Secondary social – learned as part of growing up in a society or culture
Achievement, affiliation, autonomy, curiosity, play

9. Instinct / Evolutionary Theory
Instinct – fixed action patterns that are NOT learned and occur in most members of a species
Animal instincts…
Bird migrations, mating rituals, dominance displays

10. Instinct / Evolutionary Theory cont.
Charles Darwin – inspired this theory
Behaviors are characteristics that could be passed on
William James
Motivation by instinct is important in human behavior
Human instincts include modesty, cleanliness, rivalry and parental love

12. Instinct / Evolutionary Theory cont.
Sigmund Freud – theory of personality is based on instincts that motivate sex and aggression

14. Instinct / Evolutionary Theory cont.
Konrad Lorenz
Ethologist – animal behaviorist
Found example of animal instinct…
…Imprinting
Baby geese and other birds for an attachment to the first moving object they see or hear soon after birth (even when it was Lorenz)

17. Instinct / Evolutionary Theory cont.
Sociobiology – tries to relate social behaviors to evolutionary biology
Example…evolutionary mating patterns differ between sexes
Male is motivated to mate with multiple partners to increase their chances of passing their genes
Female is motivated to mate for life with males that have the best resources to care for her children

19. Instinct / Evolutionary Theory cont.
Instinct theory has fallen out of favor with many psychologists as it became evident that it lacked the ability to fully explain human motivation
Are there human behaviors considered true instincts??
Rooting?? Suckling??  INSTINCT OR REFLEX??
Today they are trying to explore the influence of evolution on eating, selection of mates, expression of emotion, and other patterns of human behavior

22. Drive Reduction Theory
Replaced instinct theory during the 1930s
Based on homeostasis
“standing still”
Body seeks to maintain a stable internal state
Ex…constant internal temp / fluid levels
Ex…after a marathon runners drink a large quantity of water to restore homeostasis

23. Drive Reduction Theory cont
“need” – motivated state caused by a physiological deficit
Ex…lack of food or water
“drive”- State of psychological tension, induced by need, the body creates if any needs are unmet
Ex…a person will drink water as a result of a drive for satisfying thirst and eat food to satisfy hunger
GREATER THE NEED…STRONGER THE DRIVE!!!

26. Drive Reduction Theory cont
Used to explain behavior that have a biological basis
Cannot account for ALL human behaviors
Ex…buying the newest cell phone, contributing to a charity, participating in an extreme sport (NOT biological needs!)

27. Arousal Theory
Humans (and other animals) are innately curious and seek out complexity and novelty (new and unusual)

28. Arousal Theory cont Yerkes-Dodson law
An optimal level of psychological arousal helps performances (activity in CNS)
Level too low – mind wanders and we become bored
Level too high – we become anxious and “freeze-up”

30. Arousal Theory cont Yerkes-Dodson law cont
People are motivated to seek moderate level of stimulation that is neither too easy nor too difficult
Ex…Youth Soccer
Play games without keeping score
May improve performance of those who were too anxious
May cause highly competitive players to become bore, undermining their performance

32. Arousal Theory cont. Yerkes-Dodson law cont
Optimal level of arousal varies with the person and the activity
Easy Tasks  moderately high arousal
Difficult Tasks  moderately low arousal
Most avg. tasks  moderate arousal
Ex… Driving
Learning – you want low arousal
Years later – music helps raise arousal

33. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Humanistic Perspective
Abraham Maslow
Hierarchy of Needs that combines and prioritizes biological, psychological and social needs

36. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Identified the progression of five needs
People begin with basic physiological and safety needs
Once those needs are met…the individual “moves up” to high level needs

37. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Physiological Needs
Food, water, warmth, homeostasis
Safety Needs
Security, safety, avoidance of pain
Belonging Needs
Acceptance, affection, friendship
Esteem Needs
Feelings of accomplishment, approval, recognition
Self-actualization Needs
Fulfilling one’s potential by being all that you can be

39. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Mnemonic  PS BES
Physiological Safety Belonging Esteem Self-Actualization
Criticisms
Vague definition of self-actualization
It is possible for people living in poverty to nonetheless develop strong social ties and self-esteem

41. Hunger Motivation Biological basis…
Hypothalamus – regulates eating and drinking

42. Hunger Motivation Biological Basis…
Lateral Hypothalamus (hunger center)
Stimulation causes an animal to eat
If destroyed, an animal will starve to death
Ventromedial Hypothalamus (satiety center)
Stimulation causes animal to stop eating
If destroyed, an animal will eat constantly and gain more and more weight

44. Hunger Motivation Biological Basis… Set-Point Theory
Humans and animals have a natural or optimal body-fat level
Like a thermostat, the body defends this set-point weight by regulating feelings of hunger and body metabolism

46. Hunger Motivation Obesity…
2/3 of adult Americans are officially overweight (1/2 of them are obese)
1 in 6 Americans between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight
Contributes to heart disease, diabetes, kidney failure and many forms of cancer
300,000 deaths a year are contributed to obesity

49. Hunger Motivation Obesity… Factors contributing…
Live in an environment with abundant easily attainable high-fat, high calorie foods
Caloric intake in the last 20 years has increased nearly 10% for men / 7% for women

51. Hunger Motivation Obesity… Factors contributing…
Live a sedentary lifestyle
4 out of 10 Americans report they never exercise!

53. Hunger Motivation Obesity… Factors contributing…
Lack of adequate sleep
increase the production of appetite-increasing hormone ghrelin and decrease the production of the appetite-suppressing hormone leptin

54. Hunger Motivation Obesity… Factors contributing…
Many people are genetically predisposed
two to three times more likely than people with not such history to become obese

56. Hunger Motivation Anorexia Nervosa…
Eating disorder characterized by severe loss of weight resulting from self-imposed starvation and an obsessive fear of obesity
Most anorexics are women
Psychologists believe that pervasive cultural images of “thin ideal” of physical beauty create a distorted body image and need for physical perfection

61. Hunger Motivation Bulimia Nervosa
Eating disorder involving binge eating followed by vomiting, excessive exercise or the use of laxatives
Difficult to initially detect because of weight fluctuations within or just above the normal range
Causes cardiac arrhythmias, severe damage to the throat and serious digestive disorders

65. Social Motivation Achievement Motivation…
Drive to succeed, especially in competition with others
David McClelland ( )
Individuals with a high need for achievement (nAch) typically seek out tasks that are moderately difficult

67. Social Motivation Achievement Motivation…
Learned early in life – typically from parents
Highly motivated people are willing to work long hours, overcome obstacles, and delay gratification to focus on a goal

68. Social Motivation Achievement Motivation… Example…
Taking practice tests for the ACT shows a high level of achievement motivation
If they score a 30, they would probably take the test again to achieve a higher score

69. Social Motivation Achievement Motivation…
Takes different forms in individualistic and collectivistic cultures
Individualistic Culture (United States)
Achievement motivation emphasizes personal success
Collectivistic Culture (China)
Achievement motivation emphasizes promoting the status or well-being of the family and other relevant social groups

72. Social Motivation Extrinsic Motivation
Based on external rewards or threats of punishment
Examples…
Students who work for grades, employee who works for bonuses, athletes who work for scholarships, athletes who work hard so they will not be benched

74. Social Motivation Extrinsic Motivation
When extrinsic rewards or punishments are removed, behavior often falls to a lower level
Example…
Senioritis
Seniors receive their letters of college acceptance they study less and their grades drop

75. Social Motivation Intrinsic Motivation
Based upon personal enjoyment of a task or activity
Example…
Artists who paint for enjoyment, volunteers who donate time to community projects, runners who strive to achieve their personal best time

81. Social Motivation Overjustification
What happens when people are given extrinsic rewards for behavior that had been intrinsically motivated?
Will the extrinsic reward encourage or discourage performance?

82. Social Motivation Overjustification Answer…
Research indicates that extrinsic motivation will displace a person’s internal motivation
Call THE OVERJUSTIFICTION EFFECT!

86. Social Motivation Overjustification Example…
Can be seen when a musician makes the transition from being an amateur to a professional recording artist
The musician who once played for the joy of making music now performs solely to please producers and make $$$$
As the motivation changed from intrinsic to extrinsic, the performers shoes decreased interest and views making music as a job

87. Emotion
Def  psychological feeling that involves a mixture of physiological arousal, conscious experience and overt behavior
Closely related to motivation and some psychologist define a specific motivated states
Examples…
Love, hate, fear, jealously

89. Neuroscience of Emotion
Brain
Limbic system (hippocampus, hypothalamus, amygdala)
Group of brain structures involved in emotion, memory, and basic motivation drives (hunger, thirst, sex)
Amygdala  plays a key role in emotional responses (especially fear)

91. The Neuroscience of Emotion
Autonomic Nervous System
Divided into Sympathetic and Parasympathetic

92. The Neuroscience of Emotion
Sympathetic Nervous System
Arouses body responses (“fight-or-flight”
When you are emotionally aroused…
Blood pressure surges, breathing and heart rate accelerate
Dry mouth, dilating pupils, heavy perspiration

93. The Neuroscience of Emotion
Parasympathetic Nervous System
Calms body responses and returns body to a relaxed state
P = Placid which means calm
Restores homeostasis immediately after fight-or-flight response

95. The Neuroscience of Emotion
Polygraph Testing
Measure sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system responses
Heart rates, breathing rate, galvanic skin response (electrical properties)

97. The Neuroscience of Emotion
Polygraph Testing
Autonomic responses change under stress
Polygraph does NOT measure lying, it records arousal patterns associated with arousal and fear
The inference that a person failing a polygraph test has told a lie is based upon the assumption that lying produces arousal of the sympathetic nervous system

99. The Neuroscience of Emotion
Polygraph Testing
Lying is ONLY loosely related to anxiety and fear
Some people remain calm when lying while others become nervous telling the truth while being questioned in a stressful situation
As a result, polygraph tests cannot infallibly distinguish between innocent and guilty people

101. Emotional Expression Facial expression and emotion…
Paul Ekman (b1934) – has conducted the most extensive research on the facial expression of basic emotions
Believes “facial language” for basic emotions is innate and thus universal
Children who are born deaf and blind exhibit facial expressions identical to those of other children

103. Emotional Expression Facial expression and emotions
Ekman argues there are six basic emotions…
Happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust
Each emotion is expressed by specific facial expressions
Example  smile = happiness all across the world

108. Emotional Expression Display rules of facial expressions
Although facial expressions for basic emotions are universal, cultural display rules influence how and when emotional responses are displayed

109. Emotional Expression Display rules of facial expressions
Ekman’s classic experiment…
Showed American and Japanese students films depicting grisly images of surgical procedures
When watching the film alone, the students ALL grimaced with disgust at gruesome scenes
When an “official” looking scientist was present, American students continuued to show disgust, but Japanese students masked their disgust with a smile
Japanese students followed an important display rule of their culture  it is not appropriate to display negative emotions that offend an authority figure

110. Theories of Emotion Continuing debate…
Psychologists agree that emotions include physiological, cognitive, and behavioral components
Psychologists disagree on how we become emotional and which component of emotion receives the most emphasis

111. Theories of Emotion James-Lange Theory of Emotion
Named after William James ( ) and Carl Lange ( )

112. Theories of Emotion James-Lange Theory of Emotion Three-part sequence…
First  you perceive a stimulus
Ex…you see a shadowy figure in the back yard
Second  the stimulus triggers physiological arousal
Ex…when you see the shadowy figure, your heart rate jumps and you begin to tremble
Third  you interpret the bodily changes as a specific emotion
Ex…you interpret your pounding heart and trembling as being afraid

114. Theories of Emotion James-Lange Theory of Emotion
Arousal immediately precedes emotion
William James  “We feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble.”

115. Theories of Emotion Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
Named after Stanley Schachter ( ) and Jerome Singer
Agreed with James's view that physiological arousal is the key element in emotion

116. Theories of Emotion Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
The difference from James…
Physiological arousal is similar for different emotions
Emotions depend on physical arousal and the cognitive labeling (not part of James-Lange) of that arousal

117. Theories of Emotion Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
Sequence of steps…
First  you perceive a stimulus
Ex…you see a shadowy figure in your backyard
Second  the stimulus triggers both physiological arousal and a cognitive label that makes the best sense of the arousal
Ex…your heart rate jumps and you begin to tremble. You make cognitive sense of the shadowy figure by thinking. “I feel afraid.”

119. Theories of Emotion Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
Emotion is the result of the interaction of physiological arousal and the cognitive label we use to explain our condition
Example…
You introduce yourself to new peers at college
The peers are the stimulus and your heart rate increases as you introduce yourself
You simultaneously make cognitive sense of this physiological response by thinking…”I am anxious about meeting new people”

120. Theories of Emotion Cannon-Bard Theory
Simultaneous reaction to stimuli
Thalamus (relay station) sends immediate message to emotional region (limbic system)