Notes by E & V 2015 Unit 10: Motivation & Emotion Motivation What is Motivation? Motivation: the factors that energize and direct the behavior of organisms (includes day-to-day things); a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior Instincts: inborn patterns of behavior that are biologically determined rather than learned not learned; a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned Motivation Without motivation, action and learning do not occur ^Learning=learning behavior (not just learning in school) o We are motivated to action by basic needs critical to survival (food, water, sleep, reproduction Freud). These are primary drives 1 st level on Maslow s hierarchy You can overcome primary drives- eg: fasting (not eating) o We are motivated to obtain learned reinforcers (money, social acceptance, stuff). These are secondary drives Theories of Motivation Evolutionary Instinct Theory/Sociobiological Theory: organisms follow their innate tendencies for survival motivated to survive o Darwin-survival of the fittest Freudian Instinct Theory: All behavior is driven by the unconscious goals of survival or preventing our destruction motivated by unconscious drives o Unconscious drives: Eros (life)- mate, reproduce Thanatos (death)- prevent death and destruction Libido- sex drive Drive-Reduction Theory (Clark Hull): physiological needs drive the organism to regain homeostasis (E=H x D) you are motivated to always maintain homeostasis o The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need o 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 o E=likelihood of performing an action (excitatory response) o H=Habit, D=Drive (both primary and secondary) More likely to do something if it is a habit and/or if there is a strong drive o Primary Drive- Physiological need Food, water, temperature o Secondary Drive- Physiological want Education, money
Eg: why do we feel hungry after 4 th period on a half day? we are used to eating after 4 th period so we expect to eat then even if it is at a different time (we aren t actually hungry, we just think we are) o 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 o Hypothalamus: regulates hunger, thirst and body temperature Ventromedial Hypothalamus: tells you when you re full Lateral Hypothalamus: tells you when you re hungry o Set point: 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 o Basal metabolic rate: the body s resting rate of energy expenditure Arousal Theory o Humans desire a certain amount of stimulation and activity which drives behavior Mental/sensory stimulation o Yerkes-Dodson Law Too much/too little arousal can negatively affect motivation need the perfect amount of stimulation- just right Eg: amount of milk in your cereal Incentive Theory: organisms behavior is driven by rewards If rewarded, more likely to repeat; more likely to repeat if know the positive consequences at the end o Incentive: a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates a behavior o Intrinsic Motivation: comes from within you, for your benefit, don t want an object as reward Eg: interested in learning-not just for the grade Eg: play a sport because you enjoy it More powerful than extrinsic motivation o Extrinsic Motivation: comes from external factors; motivated by reward (object) Eg: play a sport for the money Over-justification Effect: someone who is intrinsically motivated this motivation is replaced by extrinsic motivation level of performance drops o Eg: pro-athletes start playing for the money and their performance level drops
Cognitive Consistency Theory: Individuals seek to maintain consistency in their thoughts- if thoughts do not align creates stress try to make consistent through our actions (we don t like mental tension- we are motivated to reduce it) o Cognitive Dissonance Thoughts and actions don t align causes tension Must reduce tension (we are motivated to reduce tension) by: o Changing your thoughts or o Changing your actions o Eg: o Approach-Approach Conflict 2 appealing choices More motivated to choose one over the other Must choose one to remove the tension (there is something more appealing about one of the options) o Approach-Avoidance Something appealing and unappealing Something very motivating that has a bad part you overcome this bad part of the appealing part is motivating enough You overcome the avoidance aspect to remove the tension Ex: get buff but pain o Avoidance-Approach Something unattractive with attractive feature Something not motivating that has a motivating aspect you are willing to do what you don t want to do if the additional motivating part is attractive enough Eg: school- learn, but see friends o Avoidance-Avoidance Two unappealing things Lesser of two evils Choose whatever reduces the most tension Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs: Humanist- all people are born good; if needs are met, they stay good o Maslow s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then physiological needs become active 5. Self-Actualization Cognitive & Aesthetic needs
4. Esteem needs 3. Love & Belongingness needs 2. Safety needs 1. Basic needs Humanist Theory (Maslow) o Seek self-actualization need to satisfy lower needs to be able to focus on self-actualization o 2 needs not on his hierarchy Cognitive: align your thoughts (deeper meaning in life) o Satisfy curiosity, search for meaning (mental curiosity) Aesthetic: presence of our world o Search for beauty, symmetry, and closure (Gestalt) o Peak Experiences: peak experience of self actualization You are self-actualized in that moment-euphoria You understand your purpose in life Eg: childbirth, wedding, etc. We all experience an average of 3-4 in our lifetime Humanist Theory (Rogers) o Self-Theory Real self (your actual self) vs. Ideal self (how you should be to reach selfactualization) o Congruence: when both are identical- headed toward self-actualization o Incongruence: not the same Conditions of worth: conditions that people around you set in order for you to feel like you are respected, valued, worth something, etc. steer you off your path to self-actualization o Eg: parents tell you that you have to be a doctor your parents love is attached to that goal Unconditional Positive Regard: unconditional love, people will support you, be there for you no matter what you do (usually comes from friends and family) Emotion Real or Fake Smile Real smile=duchene smile Fake smile=non-duchene Real smiles use different muscle more above the nose Fake smiles use muscles below your nose Look at how much skin on the outer eye comes together What is Emotion? Emotion: state of feeling involving thoughts, physiological changes and an outward expression or behavior; a response of the whole organism, involving physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience Catharsis: emotional purge o Eg: screaming into a pillow
o Feel better in the short term, but not dealing with the route of the problem feel worse in the long term o Emotional release. In psychology, the catharsis hypothesis maintains that releasing aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges Feel-good, do-good phenomenon: people s tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood Subjective well-being: self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people s quality of life Adaptation-level phenomenon: our tendency to form judgements (of sound, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience Relative deprivation: the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself General Factors of Emotion Biological- some theories say the only way you experience emotion is if you experience biological changes o Physiological Arousal Fight or Flight; state of excitement- fear, anger, etc. Heartbeat, perspiration o Autonomic Nervous System: unconscious control o Sympathetic Nervous System- Fight or Flight o Parasympathetic Nervous System- Rest and Digest Evolutionary Adaptation: we have certain emotions because we ve adapted to use them to survive o Eg: why do babies cry? form of communication There are different cries that only a mother can understand Psychological o Cognitive labeling: the way you think and label things affects emotions o Gender differences: restrictive and liberating Men and women experience emotions differently Eg: women have higher EQ (emotional intelligence- understanding emotions) Social-Cultural influences o Expressiveness: how expressive you can be If your body and face is involved it will be a stronger emotion o Presence of others (situational factor) Presence of others may decrease OR increase emotions Eg: awkwardness; some people are more shy o Cultural Expectations- the norm Eg: weddings should be happy (show that you are happy) even if resentful Theories of Emotion Evolutionary Theory: Emotions develop because they serve a survival purpose o Facial Feedback Theory: Facial movement can impact emotional experience Eg: if you force yourself to smile you will start to feel happy o Paul Ekman-Universal Facial Expressions: 6 facial expressions that you can recognize anywhere- they look the same and are interpreted the same anywhere Anger, happiness, disgust, surprise, sadness, fear Infants have naturally occurring emotions & expressions as well
Theories of How We Feel Emotion James-Lange Theory: Emotions are the result of our interpretation of physiological arousal (strictly physiological) o Event Arousal Emotion o Your body s response to the stimuli causes the emotion o Eg: Argument leads to increased heart rate and increased respiration rate leads to anger o Eg: See a bear heart rate goes up you feel fear o The theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli Cannon-Bard Theory: Emotion and Arousal happen simultaneously o Event Arousal Emotion o Something hits the amygdala, you feel fear and starts fight or flight o One does not cause the other as in James-Lange o Eg: see bear feel fear and heart rate goes up at same time o The theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers physiological responses and the subjective experience of emotion Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory: Emotions arise from both our physical arousal and our cognitive labeling o Event Arousal Reasoning Emotion Context o Has an arousal component and a cognitive component o Can explain false positives on lie detectors- lie detectors detect heart rate, which goes up if nervous (even if not lying) Polygraph: 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) o Eg: Bridge experiment: two groups- tour guide talked to people about school and gave them her number for further questions one group she talked to before crossing a bridge, the other group she talked to after crossing the bridge the group she talked to after the bridge- their heart rate was up from crossing the bridge, but put the increased heart rate in context and thought they were in love with the pretty girl o The theory that to experience emotion one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal Lazarus Contemporary (Cognitive) Model: Physiological arousal and emotion both stem from cognition o Event Thought Emotion Arousal o Eg: Roller coaster: one person thinks roller coasters are scary increased heart rate feel fear o Another person thinks roller coasters are fun increased heart rate feel excitement