Motivation & Emotions Review Quiz

The Brain and Emotion

Two areas of our brain play a major role in our emotional experiences: The Cerebral Cortex, the outermost layer of the brain, serves as our body's ultimate control and information-processing center, including our ability to recognize and regulate emotions. The Limbic System - a set of brain structures that form the border of the cortex - is also essential to our emotions; in particular the amygdala, especially when it comes to fear.

Eating Disorders, Obesity

Clinical Obesity: Body weight 15% or more above the ideal for one's height and age.

Emotion:

A subjective feeling that includes arousal, cognitions, and expressions.

Motivation Drive-reduction theory:

All organisms have biological needs - food, water, oxygen - that must be met in order to survive; Motivation results from internal tensions - drives- a lack, or deficiency - that "push" the organism toward satisfying basic needs - and reducing the tension. The organism learns which specific behaviors will meet this goal; Once a need is met, a state of balance - homeostasis - is restored and motivation decreases;

The Polygraph as a Lie Detector

Basic theory: When people lie they feel guilty and anxious, feelings detected by the polygraph. The polygraph measures physiological arousal - increased heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and skin conductivity - to detect emotional arousal, which in turn supposedly reflects lying versus truthfulness.

achievement motivation

Desire to excel, especially in competition with others; need for success; for doing better than others; for mastering challenging tasks;

Motivation Incentive theory:

Motivation results from external stimuli that "pull" the organism in certain directions. While we begin eating due to internal factors - hunger - "pushing" us (drive-reduction), we continue eating due to external factors - sight of ice cream - "pulling" us toward eating more (incentive theory).

Intrinsic motivation:

Motivation that comes from within - resulting from personal enjoyment of a task or activity;

Extrinsic motivation:

Motivation that is learned - based on obvious external rewards or threats of punishment; Findings indicate that extrinsic rewards can lower interest in intrinsically satisfying activities and achievement motivation.

Facial Feedback Hypothesis:

Movements of the facial muscles produce or intensify emotional reactions. Contractions of the various facial muscles send specific messages to the brain, which help us identify each basic emotion.

Obese people

Are at increased risk for a number of medical problems: Heart diseases, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes, and death.

MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR of Hunger and Eating

Eating is controlled by a complex interaction of both internal and external factors - biological and psychosocial. The stomach: Cannon & Washburn's research (inflated balloon); sensory input from the stomach is not essential for feeling hungry, although receptors in the stomach do detect emptiness and fullness. Biochemistry: Chemicals, such as, neurotransmitters, hormones, and enzymes have affect on hunger and a feeling of fullness - satiation. The brain: The hypothalamus plays an important role in hunger and eating as do neural circuits that run throughout the brain. Psychosocial factors: Cultural Conditioning;

Schachter's Two-Factor Theory:

Emotions result from physical arousal and cognitive labeling (interpretations) of that arousal based on external cues.

Eating Disorders, Bulimia:

Excessive consumption of food (bingeing), followed by vomiting, extreme exercise, and/or laxative use (purging); bulimia is also related to fear of obesity;

Eating Disorders, Anorexia nervosa:

Extreme weight loss due to self-imposed starvation and an obsessive fear of obesity;

The Behavioral (Expressive) Component

Facial expressions: Are the most powerful form of emotional communication. Researchers developed techniques to detect nuances of feelings and differentiate honest expressions from fake ones: "Social smile" vs. "Duchenne (real) smile"

Instinct:

Fixed response patterns that are unlearned and found in almost all members of a species (i.e., salmons swim upstream).

Obesity in the US

Has reached epidemic proportions - over 50% of adult Americans meet the current criterion for clinical obesity.

The most effective way to lose weight

Is a combination of exercise and diet.

Motivation

Is a set of factors that activate, direct, and maintain behavior, usually toward a goal.

Four Major Theories of Emotion

James-Lange Theory (1890) Cannon-Bard Theory (1927) Facial Feedback Hypothesis Schachter's Two-Factor Theory

Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:

Maslow believed that basic physiological and survival needs must be satisfied before a person can attempt to satisfy higher needs. We are generally motivated to meet basic needs first before attempting to satisfy higher needs.

Motivation Cognitive theories:

Motivation is affected by attributions, or how we interpret or think about our own or others' actions. Attribution - an explanation for the cause of behaviors or events.

Characteristics of Anorexia Nervosa

Overwhelming fear of becoming obese, which does not diminish even with radical weight loss Disturbed body image - even a skeletal body is perceived as fat Need for control Use of dangerous measures to lose weight - self starvation, extreme exercise regimens Side effect: osteoporosis and bone fractures; menstruation often stops; computed CT scans indicate loss of brain tissue; Large percentage ultimately die; Serious and chronic condition that requires immediate and ongoing treatment;

Causes of Eating Disorders

Physical causes: hypothalamic disorders, genetic, hormonal disorders; Psychological and social factors: need for perfection, a perceived loss of control, destructive thought patterns, depression, dysfunctional families, distorted body image, and sexual abuse; Cultural factors: Studies indicate that Asian and African Americans report fewer eating and dieting disorders than do European Americans. However, even in non-industrialized cultures anorexia is reported; Both culture and biology help explain eating disorders;

Characteristics of Bulimia Nervosa

Recurrent episodes of out-of-control eating, followed by drastic measures to purge the body of the unwanted calories - such as vomiting, taking laxatives, or exercising excessively; Bulimia is often accompanied by impulsivity in other areas, such as excessive shopping, alcohol abuse, or petty shoplifting; Vomiting associated with bulimia (and possibly anorexia) causes tooth loss and erosion, severe damage to the throat and stomach, cardiac problems, metabolic deficiencies, and serious digestive disorders;

Polygraph Limitations:

Research shows that lying is only loosely related to anxiety and guilt. Some people are anxious when telling the truth, other remain calm while lying. Polygraphs can't tell which emotion is being felt - nervousness, excitement; Polygraphs can't identify whether a response is due to emotional arousal or something else - exercise, drugs, tense muscles, previous experience with polygraph tests; Studies found that people can affect the outcomes by about 50% by pressing their toes against the floor or biting their tongue. Studies show error rate ranging between 25-75%.

James-Lange Theory (1890):

Suggests that emotions result from physiological arousal and behavioral expressions ("I feel sad because I'm crying), while the emotion occurs AFTER the body is aroused;

The Physiological (Arousal) Component of Emotion

Studies find that most emotions involve a general, nonspecific arousal of the nervous system.

Motivation Instinct theories:

Suggest there is some inborn, genetic component to motivation. Motivation results from behaviors that are unlearned, uniform in expression, and universal in species.

Cannon-Bard Theory (1927)

Suggests that arousal, behavior, and emotions occur simultaneously;

The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

The ANS produces the most obvious signs of arousal - trembling, increased heart rate, sweating - which result from interconnectedness between the ANS and various glands and muscles. Arousal symptoms result from activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), a subdivision of the autonomic nervous system: The Fight-Or-Flight response. The parasympathetic system (PNS) calms the body and restores the body to "status quo."

Three Components of Emotion

The Physiological (Arousal) Component The Cognitive Component The Behavioral (Expressive) Component

The Cognitive Component

The type and intensity of our emotional responses are also determined by our thoughts, values, and expectations.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT):

one of the earliest tests for achievement motivation using a series of ambiguous pictures - participants were asked to make up a story.