Monday, March 3, 2014

Motivation and Emotion Notes

Motivation and Emotion

  • Motivation
    • A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior
    • Instinct Theory: We are motivated by our inborn automated behaviors
      • Instincts only explain why we do a small fraction of our behaviors
    • Drive-Reduction Theory: The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need
      • The need is usually to maintain homeostasis
    • Pulled by our incentives (Positive or Negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior)
    • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs- Abraham Maslow said we are motivated by needs and all needs are not created equal. We are driven to satisfy the lower needs first.
  • Hunger
    • Hunger is both physiological and psychological
      • Hunger does not come from our stomach
      • Comes from our brain- The Hypothalamus
  • Hypothalamus
    • Lateral Hypothalamus
      • When stimulated it makes you hungry
      • When lesioned (destroyed) you will never feel hungry again
    • Ventromedial Hypothalamus
      • When stimulated you feel full
      • When lesioned (destroyed) you will never feel full again
    • How does it work?
      • Leptin
        • Leptin is a protein produced by bloated fat cells
        • Hypothalamus senses rises in leptin and will curb eating and increase activity
      • Set Point
        • Hypothalamus acts like a thermostat
        • We are meant to be in a certain weight change
        • When we feel below weight our body will increase hunger and decrease energy expenditure (Basic Metabolic Rate)
  • Body Chemistry
    • Glucose; the hormone insulin converts glucose to fat
      • When glucose levels drop, hunger increases
  • Psychology of Hunger
    • Externals: People whose eating is triggered more by the presence of food than internal factors
  • Eating Disorders
    • Bulimia Nervosa:
      • Characterized by binging (eating large amounts of food) and purging (getting rid of food)
    • Anorexia Nervosa:
      • Starve themselves to below 85% of their normal body weight
      • See themselves as fat
      • Vast majority are women
    • Obesity:
      • Severely overweight to the point where it causes health issues
      • Mostly eating habits but some people are predisposed toward obesity
  • Achievement Motivation
    • Intrinsic Motivators: Rewards we get internally, such as enjoyment/satisfaction
    • Extrinsic Motivators: Rewards that we get for accomplishments outside of ourselves (Good Grades -> Money)
  • Management Theory
    • Theory X:
      • Manager believes that employees will work only if rewarded with benefits or threatened with punishment
      • Think employees are Extrinsically Motivated
      • Only interested in Maslow’s lower needs
    • Theory Y:
      • Managers believe that employees are internally motivated to do good work and policies should encourage this internal motive
      • Interested in Maslow’s higher needs
  • James-Lange Theory of Emotion
    • Experience of emotion is awareness of physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli
    • We feel emotion because of biological changes caused by stress
    • The body changes and our mind recognizes the feeling
  • Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
    • Emotion-arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger:
      • Physiological Responses
      • Subjective experience of emotion
    • (Both happen at the same time, not one after the other)
  • Schachter’s Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
    • To experience emotion one must:
      • Be physically aroused
      • Cognitively label the arousal
    • Biology and Cognition interact with each other to increase the experience
    • (Adds that you must label and express your fear to Cannon-Bard’s theory)
  • Emotion-Lie Detectors
    • Polygraph
      • Machine commonly used in attempts to detect lies
      • Measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion
        • Perspiration
        • Cardiovascular
        • Breathing Changes
  • Experienced Emotion
    • Catharsis
      • Emotional Release
      • Catharsis Hypothesis
        • “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
      • You feel good, and bestow it on other people
    • Adaptation-Level Phenomenon
      • Tendency to form judgements relative to a “neutral” level
        • Brightness of lights
        • Volume of sound
        • Level of income
      • Defined by our prior experience
    • Relative Deprivation
      • Perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself

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