Motivation and Emotion

1. Motivation and Emotion Monica Grimanelis Period 1 AP Psychology

2. Biological Bases • Primary drives include: hunger, thirst, the need to sleep and the drive to reproduce • Secondary drives include: desire to obtain learned reinforcers, such as money or social acceptance • The interaction between the brain and motivation was noticed when Olds and Milner discovered that rats would press a bar in order to send a small electrical pulse into certain areas of their brains • The 3 primary theories that attempt to explain the link between neurophysiology and motivated behavior are the arousal theory, the opponent process theory, and the homeostatic regulation theory

3. Arousal Theory • States that there is an optimum level of arousal, that is, of alertness and activation, at which performance on a given task is optimal • Arousal is a direct correlate of nervous system activity • Most tasks are done with a moderate arousal level • The Yerkes-Dodson Law states that tasks of moderate difficulty, neither too easy nor too hard, elicit the highest level of performance

4. Opponent Process Theory • Is a theory of motivation that is relevant to the concept of addiction • We start off at a motivational baseline (but are not motivated to act), until we encounter a pleasurable stimulus, such as a drug or even a positive social interaction. The pleasurable feelings come from neuronal activity in the pleasure centers of the brain. We now have acquired a motivation to seek out the stimulus that made us feel good. • Our brains tend to revert back to a state of emotional neutrality. This reversion is a result of the opponent process, which works in opposition to the initial motivation toward seeking the stimulus

5. We are motivated to seek stimuli that make us feel emotion, after which an opposing motivational force brings us back in the direction of a baseline • After repeated exposure to a stimulus, the emotional effects begin to wear off • The opponent process overcompensates, producing withdrawal • With drugs, we would need larger amounts of the stimuli to maintain a baseline state, then you are an addict

6. Homeostatic Regulation Theory • Much of the motivation we experience is a result of our bodies trying to maintain homeostasis • Homeostasis = a state of regulatory equilibrium • When the balance of that equilibrium shifts, we are motivated to maintain an equal state • A good example is hunger. The body needs fuel and when you don’t eat for a while you will feel hungry. You will be very motivated to eat after not eating for a long period of time. Metabolic signals are generated and tell us to eat. When the supply is replenished, a signal is issued to stop eating.

7. Hunger, Thirst, and Sex • The hypothalamus is an area that controls feeding • If the ventromedial hypothalamus is lesioned, the animal eats constantly • If the lateral hypothalamus is damaged, then the animal stops eating, often starving to death

8. What is monitored and regulated in normal feeding behavior? • Glucostatic hypothesis – glucose is the primary fuel of the brain and other organs • This theory gains support because the hypothalamus has cells that detect glucose • Lipostatic hypothesis – states that fat is the measured and controlled substance in the body that regulates hunger • This theory gains support because of the discovery of leptin, the hormone secreted by fat cells • Leptin may be the substance used by the brain to monitor the amount of fat in the body

9. Glucose and body fat are probably both monitored, with glucostatic homeostasis responsible for the starting and stopping of meals, and lipostatic homeostasis responsible for larger long-term patterns of eating behavior • The hypothesis states that everyone has a biologically determined body weight, and the body attempts to defend this pre-set weight

10. Thirst is also a great motivator • A human can only go a few days without water, even though a human can go weeks without food • Water leaves the body through sweat, urine, and exhalation • All of this water needs to be replaced, and the body regulates our patterns of intake so that water is consumed before we are severely water depleted

11. Osmoreceptors: sensitive to intracellular water levels, or the amounts of water within cells • Volumetric receptors: monitor extracellular water levels, particularly the fluid volume of the circulatory system • A antidiuretic hormone is released when the osmoreceptors detect a low water level • This hormone reduces urine output to conserve water

12. Angiotensis is released when the volumetric receptors detect a low water level • Angiotensin acts directly on brain receptors to stimulate thirst • Like feeding and drinking, the motivation to reproduce also relies on the hypothalamus, which stimulates the pituitary gland and which results the production of androgens and estrogens • Androgens and estrogens are the primary sexual hormones in males and females • Without these hormones, sexual desire is eliminated in animals and greatly reduced in humans

13. Theories of Motivation • Animals are motivated by instincts, genetically programmed patterns of behavior • Konrad Lorenz observed the imprinting process in newly hatched chicks. According to this instinctual behavior, chicks recognize the first thing they see as their mother • Drive reduction theory: based on the premise that physiological needs put demands on the body; the need to fulfill these demands is known as drive

14. Henry Murray 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. Murray proposed that human needs could be broken down into 20 specific types. • Ex- People have a need for affiliation. People with a high level of this need like to avoid conflicts, like to be members of groups, and dislike being evaluated

15. David McClelland conducted research on the need for achievement • People with high achievement seek out challenging tasks, but challenging tasks they are likely to succeed • These people do not choose tasks that would be too easy, nor too hard • Abraham Maslow believed there is a hierarchical system for organizing needs • It is divided into 5 levels and each lower level need must be met in order for an attempt to be made to fill the next category of needs in the hierarchy

16. Self actualization: occurs when people creatively and meaningfully fulfill their own potential • According to Maslow, self-actualization is the ultimate goal of human beings • Intrinsic factors: factors originating from within ourselves • Extrinsic factors: factors originating from the outside world • Self-determination: the need to feel competent and in control • Self-efficacy: the belief we can or cannot attain a particular goal

17. Cognitive consistency: when people are motivated to reduce tension produced by conflicting thoughts or choices • Kurt Lewin classified conflicts as approach-approach conflicts (choosing from two desirable options), avoidance-avoidance (choosing from two unpleasant options), approach-avoidance (one choice, but carries both pluses and minuses), and multiple approach-avoidance (many options available, but each has positives and negatives).

18. Theories of Emotion • Emotions: experiential responses to certain internal and external stimuli • James-Lange theory- environmental stimuli cause physiological changes and responses • The experience of emotion is a result of physiological change • This is incorrect because we know that a given state of physiological arousal is common to many emotions • Ex- cutting onions make you cry, but you are not sad

19. Cannon-Bard theory: emption is the result of neural activity, particularly in the thalamus • Both body and brain mechanisms interact to produce the subjective experience of emotion • Two-Component theory: first- physiological arousal, second- how we label that experience of arousal • Temporal sequence theory: we go through repeated cycles of appraisal and reappraisal when confronted with a new stimulus

20. Stress • Causes a person to feel challenged or endangered • Stressors (events that cause stress) are everyday events or situations that challenged us in subtle ways • Ex- a death of a loved one, divorce, holidays, the birth of a child, a wedding • Stressors can be transient (temporary) or chronic and have a negative impact on health

21. Fight or Flight Response • Three stages= alarm, resistance and exhaustion • Alarm- the arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in the release of various stimulatory hormones • The body is energized for immediate action • Resistance- result of parasympathetic rebound. The parasympathetic system reduces arousal and if the stressor does not relent, the body does not reduce its arousal state to baseline. If the stressor continues, the body goes into exhaustion phase • Exhaustion- the body’s resources are exhausted, and tissue cannot be repaired. The immune system becomes impaired in its functioning, which is why we are more susceptible to illness during prolonged stress

22. Richard Lazarus developed a cognitive theory of how we respond to stress • The individual evaluates whether the even appears to be stressful (this is primary appraisal) • If the even is seen as a threat, a secondary appraisal takes place, assessing whether the individual can handle the stress

23. Behavior Types • Type A – pattern of behavior is typified by competitiveness, a sense of time urgency, and elevated feelings of anger and hostility • Act in ways that tend to increase stress • More susceptible to stress-related diseases, including heart-attacks • Type B – pattern of behavior is characterized by a low level of competitiveness, low preoccupation with time issues, and a generally easy-going attitude • Get stressed more slowly and stress levels do not seem to reach the same heights as Type-A pattern behavior