Psychology Final Exam

the model of adaptation that says there is stability through change is the

allostatic view

drives

the perceived states of tension that occur when our bodies are deficient in some need, creating an urge to relieve the tension

emotional response

the physiological, behavioral/expressive, and subjective changes that occur when emotions are generated

Yerkes-Dodson law

the principle that moderate levels of arousal lead to optimal performance

homeostasis

the process by which all organisms work to maintain physiological equilibrium, or balance, around an optimal set point

needs

inherently biological states of deficiency (cellular or bodily) that compel drives

expressive suppression

a response focused strategy for regulating emotion that involves a deliberate attempt to inhibit the outward manifestation of an emotion

which kind of emotion phrases are women more apt to use than men

more specific comments such as "i am upset and angry"

extrinsic motivation

motivation that comes from outside the person and usually involves rewards and praises

intrinsic motivation

motivation that comes from within a person and includes the elements of challenge, enjoyment, mastery, and autonomy

bulimia nervosa

prone to binge eating and feeling a lack of control during the eating session

this view of stress focuses on the physiological changes that occur when someone encounters an excessively challenging situation

response

alarm stage

upon exposure to a stressor, an animal enters a state of physiological shock called the alarm stage which is the body's emergency response to a threat -the alarm stage mobilizes the body's resources to act via the effects of adrenal medullary activation of the sympathetic nervous system -during this stage the HPA axis is active as well and the sustained release of cortisol from the adrenal glands may move from being helpful (by making more fuel available) to being harmful in the long run (by suppressing certain aspects of immune function) -animals however cannot persist in the alarm stage for long -with continued exposure to the stressor, they will either die or find other ways of coping with the enduring threat

the drive reduction model

when our physiological systems are out of balance or depleted, we are driven to reduce this depleted state -recall that a drive is the perceived internal state of tension that arises when our bodies are lacking in some basic physiological capacity, such as food or water -central to drive reduction is the idea of maintaining physiological balance or homeostasis -all organisms are motivated to maintain physiological equilibrium around an optimal set point (the ideal, fixed setting of a particular physiological system) -set points are important mechanisms that allow homeostasis to work -we have set points for hunger, thirst, respiration, and many other drives -for ex: if we get too cold, we shiver to warm up -the normal human body temperature of 98.6 degrees F is like setting your thermostat to 68 degrees F to warm your home -when the temperature in the room has fallen more than a degree or two lower than the set point, the thermostat switches on the heater -once the temperature has been brought back within the ideal set point range, the thermostat turns off -in short, set points guide us to a "happy medium" in our needs -we automatically seek states that are "just right" -for homeostasis to work, our bodies must have sensors that detect their current states and any changes that cause them to deviate from the set point -most of these sensory detectors are mechanisms in the brain -if our bodily states move too far from the set point, these mechanisms motivate us to take action (to raid the refrigerator, for ex) to reduce our state of discomfort -certain brain mechanisms evaluate the options and decide what to do to meet a biological need based on the information the brain is getting from our organs and tissues

the physiology of stress

when we experience situations as stressful, physiological changes occur in our bodies -most notably, the autonomic nervous system ANS, the endocrine system, and the brain interact to create a range of changes in bodily systems -the ANS consists of all neurons that serve the organs and the glands -because it is linked to the body systems that support action, the ANS plays a crucial role in the stress response -these systems include the circulatory system, to pump blood to large muscle groups during times of emergency, and the respiratory system, to provide the oxygen required so that those muscles can function -the second major system involved in stress is the endocrine system, which consists of the major hormone-releasing glands -the term neuroendocrine system refers to the hormonal systems involved in emotions and stress -the interactions among various organs, glands, and nervous system chemicals lay the groundwork for the dynamic interplay between psychological experience and physiological functioning -the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland and the adrenal glands are key structures in the neuroendocrine regulation of stress responses -the hypothalamus links the nervous system to parts of the endocrine system relevant to emotions: hypothalamic neurons release chemicals that stimulate the release of hormones from the pituitary gland, which sits just beneath it and is connected to brain stem structures that control the ANS -the pituitary releases hormones that play a key role in the stress response -the adrenal glands, which sit atop the kidneys, release several stress related hormones: the catecholamines, which control ANS activation, and the glucocorticoids, which maintain the activation of physiological systems during emergencies -once activated, the hypothalamus initiates a series of endocrine events that profoundly affect the body -two major neuroendocrine pathways are activated: the adrenal medullary system and the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis -first in line is the adrenal medullary system, in which the hypothalamus sends instructions to the brain stem to activate sympathetic neurons -then sympathetic neurons tell the adrenal gland to release the important catecholamine norepinephrine -norepinephrine activates the sympathetic response, increasing heart rate, rate of respiration and blood pressure to make the body ready for action -the sympathetic response evolved because rapid mobilization of the body's resources in emergency situations had clear survival and reproductive benefits -in cases of stress, however, this activation is prolonged -moreover, if we live with prolonged stress inducing situations, our bodies remain in emergency mode for long periods of time -thus, a response that is adaptive in the short term can take a toll on the body in the long term, leading, for ex, to sustained increases in blood pressure and heart rate -the other major neuroendocrine pathway in stress responses is the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis -during emotional arousal and stress, the hypothalamus releases a substance called corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), which stimulates the pituitary to release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) -ACTH then stimulates the cortex of the adrenal gland to release cortisol, the major glucocorticoid produced in humans, which is commonly known as the "stress hormone" -when the level of cortisol in the blood adequately meets the body's metabolic needs, the hypothalamus stops releasing CRF, thereby reducing the release of cortisol -this kind of negative feedback occurs throughout the neuroendocrine system

motivation in the workplace

-Industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologists study motivation and behavior in work contexts -consider an I/O question very important to businesses: What motivates employees to work at their best?

emotion focused coping

-aims to regulate the experience of distress -Lazarus and Folkman describe several forms of emotion focused coping including reappraisal (the reevaluation of a situation in light of new information or additional thought); distancing or attempting to separate oneself from an emotional experience; escape avoidance, wishful thinking or doing something to get one's mind off of the situation (such as going to the movies); seeking social support by talking with friends for purposes of emotional support; self control or trying to regulate one's feelings or actions regarding the problem; and accepting responsibility, acknowledging one's role in the stress eliciting situation -willful suppression of upsetting emotions, which is a form of self control can lead to chronic physiological arousal and is associated with poor psychological adjustment -some strategies that we use to reduce the experience of distress such as drinking, smoking and other forms of drug use may be maladaptive -it is widely believed that a good way to cope with stress is to let it all out -James Pennebaker developed a technique known as emotional disclosure that enables people to unburden

hunger: survival of the individual

-all animals need to replenish the energy continuously being used by their bodies -the rate at which we consume energy is known as metabolism -when our energy has been depleted, hunger drives us to replenish it by eating -hunger is not just an internal biological process, however -it is the product of biological processes interacting with external, environmental ones

cultural variability

-anthropologists have offered numerous examples of cultural variability in emotion expression, such as the case of Samurai women who smiled broadly after learning that their husbands or sons had died in the battle -such exs suggest that facial expressions of happiness and sadness are not universal -Ekman and Friesen proposed the concept of display rules to address the dilemma of the universality of facial expressions upon cultural differences in emotions -display rules are learned norms and rules, often taught very early about when it is appropriate to show certain expressions of emotion and to whom one should show them -as it turns out, Samurai women were expected to be proud of a son or husband who had been killed in battle and the society required them to display joy at the news -in the US we expect winners not to boast, losers not to mope, and men not to cry in public (although this last norm is changing)

natural immunity

-consists of a number of inborn processes that help remove foreign substances from the body -these responses typically are very quick, and they provide the first line of defense upon exposure to antigens -forms of natural immunity include phagocytosis and inflammation -phagocytosis is a process by which a white blood cell engulfs a substance (usually an antigen or another cell) and digests it or moves it to a place where it will be destroyed -inflammation is a process by which tissues are restored following injury -after you cut your finger for ex blood vessels at the injured area contract and dilate to increase blood flow to the area, creating warmth and redness -the damaged cells release enzymes to destroy invading microorganisms

why dieting does not work--- and what does

-dieting generally does not work, not in the long term atleast -Traci Mann and colleagues conducted a meta analysis of 31 high quality published studies on long term weight loss from dieting and reported that diets work only for a minority of the population -even worse, the dieters in the studies would have been better off if they had never dieted at all -their weight would have been the same but their bodies would not have gone through the stressful yo yoing in weight -losing and regaining weight is associated with heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and altered immune function -people typically lose about 5 to 10 pounds within the first 6 months they start dieting -within 2 to 5 years, the vast majority has not only gained all of the weight back but also weigh more than when they started dieting -in one study of more than 19000 older men over a 4 year period, the single best predictor of weight gain was whether or not the men had lost weight on a diet soon before the study began

appraisal and reappraisal of emotion

-due to its involvement in planning, impulse control and working memory, the prefrontal cortex plays a role in the appraisal and reappraisal of emotion -Kevin Ochsner and colleagues reported that the amygdala is more involved in determining whether a situation merits an emotional response at all, whereas the prefrontal cortex may be more involved in determining options for response, regulation or reappraisal -given that there are neural connections between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, this finding and others like it may indicate that certain regions of the prefrontal cortex influence the emotional responses produced by the amygdala -increasing evidence suggests that the medial prefrontal cortex is crucially involved in evaluating the personal relevance of events which is, in essence, appraisal

how to lose weight

-eat slowly; it takes 20 minutes after eating before the brain knows you are full -write down what you eat for atleast one month -monitor your weight regularly (atleast a few times a month) -choose low fat and/or whole grain foods (a low glycemic diet) as snacks -eat what you want but in moderation -stop eating when you feel full -drink lots of water, which among other things, fills your stomach and decreases a tendency to overeat -ensure at least moderate physical activity each day totaling approx 30 min -get support from friends and family -get good sleep

the physiological reactivity model

-examines how the sustained physiological activation associated with the stress response can affect body systems in such a way as to increase the likelihood that illness or disease will occur -as such, this model is rooted in psychosomatic medicine -in this model, the activation of the sympathetic nervous system persists and creates sustained physiological arousal -a wide array of body systems may be affected by sustained stress -this model starts with sustained physiological arousal -the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system activates organ systems to enable an animal to respond to emergency situations -the effects of sympathetic arousal on the heart and lungs (increasing pumping and oxygen intake) help the animal act quickly and thus survive -from an evolutionary perspective, these effects were advantageous because of their ability to enable a quick and efficient response; however the same type of emotional response occurs in daily life, in most cases without an outlet for action as when you are stuck in traffic or annoyed with a coworker -thus the activation persists for hours or days or it is elicited repeatedly in similar situations over many years -under such conditions you can become ill as a result of the recurring arousal produced by stress related body changes

extrinsic motivation

-extrinsic motivation: some models, influenced by Skinner's discoveries of the power of reinforcement to shape behavior, argue that reward, money and feedback are all important as powerful shapers of the workplace behavior -Extrinsic motivation: comes from outside the person and usually involves rewards and praises -extrinsic motivators are used to get people to do things they themselves wouldn't normally do or perhaps don't like doing, as when children get an allowance for cleaning their rooms and doing the dishes -psychological research offers much support for the power of reward and extrinsic motivation on behavior -reward not only can increase a particular behavior but can also increase performance and feelings of competency -when rewards are connected directly to performance, workers will be more motivated to do a job well than when they simply receive positive feedback without a reward -however, extrinsic motivation has its drawbacks; it requires the reward to be constant -if the reward goes away, the motivation continues to go away and the worker stops doing the rewarded behavior -similarly, if the reward stays the same and doesn't increase, motivation will drop -the bar must constantly be raised and pay must continue increasing -in addition, reward has a way of narrowing focus, so it works for simple tasks but narrow focus hinders creative thinking and the expanded focus required to solve difficult problems -finally, reward can sometimes remove a person's own desire to perform a task out of pure enjoyment -if people perceive that they are being controlled by others, then their own intrinsic interest in doing the task dwindles, because reward and evaluation by other people undercut one's own pleasure in doing a task -for ex: if you enjoyed reading in middle school and then your parents started paying you for every 25 pages you read, you might start reading for money rather than pleasure

the motive to be thin and the tendency toward obesity

-fat provides a way of storing energy for future use -in our evolutionary past, this was important in case food became scarce, but in modern, industrialized societies with abundant food, fat is a liability -because our lifestyle generally is sedentary compared with earlier times, we need less food to be healthy -our ideas about beauty have also been transformed as a result of having more food available than we need -thinness has come to define attractiveness, and being thin has become a cultural obsession -for ex: 61% of high school girls in the US are trying to lose weight -among US adults, 73% of women and 55% of men wish to weigh less -the obsession with thinness sometimes leads to the development of eating disorders -at the same time, obesity rates have increased dramatically over the last 50 years -obesity is defined as being overweight considering both height and weight -therefore, in evaluating an individuals weight, the US government and medical doctors use body mass index (BMI), which is determined by dividing weight by height squared to yield a weight to height ratio -the ideal BMI is between 19 and 24, with 25 to 29 considered overweight and 30 or above considered obese -according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2008, more than one third of adult americans were obese, one third were overweight, and less than one third were of ideal weight -moreover, rates of obesity have climbed rapidly over the last 20 years from 12% in 1991, to 18% in 1998, to 34% in 2008 -to be sure, BMI alone is not a complete measure of fitness, because it does not take muscle mass into account -a better all around index therefore takes waists circumference into account as well as BMI -for men, the atrisk waist of circumference is 40 inches or more; for women, it is 35 inches or more -people who are overweight tend to misperceive their body image as lighter than it really is -in a recent study of more than 3500 young mexican adults (ages 18-20), most of the normal weight people (79%) accurately perceived their weight as normal by BMI standards -the obese people greatly underestimated their weight -only 9.5% accurately classified themselves as obese -similar misperceptions of body image overweight Canadian children and adolescents have been reported -weight gain is subject to environmental influence, but biological factors also play a role -genes appear to be responsible for about 70% of adult weight -one study found that adults who had been adopted as children were much closer in weight to their biological parents than to their adoptive parents -in addition, in some obese people the gene that produces the hormone leptin, which normally suppresses appetite, has suffered a mutation and therefore does not function properly -genes also control the number of fat cells a person has, which has been set by childhood and adolescence and does not change much after that -each year, about 10% of our fat cells die, but they are replaced by roughly the same number of new ones -dieting does not change this -when people diet, they are not decreasing the number of fats cells they have but rather how much fat each cell stores -the stable number of adult fat cells may explain why it is so hard to keep off weight that has been lost

Type A and Anger

-for centuries scientists have argued that personality and emotion play a role in the development of heart disease -Friedman and his colleague Ray Rosenman decided to study the effects of such an emotional style on a person's risk of developing heart disease -they described a set of psychological characteristics they believed put people at risk for heart disease: impatience, competitiveness, hostility and time urgency -they named it the type A Behavior patter (TABP) and explained that this pattern emerges when under conditions of challenge or stress -type A people are not always impatient and hostile but when they find themselves in high pressure situations they exhibit this pattern of behavior -they hypothesized that people who exhibit TABP under provocation are at greater risk for heart disease than those who do not -they found that type A behavior predicted the incidence of coronary heart disease over and above such traditional risk factors as blood pressure, cholesterol, and age -hostility eventually turned out to be the only component that predicted death from heart disease at a 22 year follow up by Matthews -as a result, the measurement of global type A has been abandoned for the most part in favor of more specific measures of hostility

psychological risk factors for heart disease

-heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women in the US -there are a number of psychological risk factors for heart disease including hostility, anger and depression

perceived support by supervisors and organizations

-how much employees believe that the organization appreciates and supports their contributions and well being -plays a big role in keeping them motivated and committed to working at that company -few things can be more deflating than working hard at something and then having it taken for granted or not appreciated by the people whose opinions matter most to you -Eder and R Eisenberger reported research that supports the idea that when employees work at companies that care about their well being, they are happier at their jobs, experiences less stress, and are more motivated to stay at their jobs ---in addition, they are less likely to miss workdays, be late for work, or take long lunch breaks -In another study, Allen, Shore, and Griffeth predicted that perceived organizational support would be positively related to both how committed employees were to their company and how satisfied with their jobs they would be -two samples were studied: first, 264 salespeople at a large department store in the southeastern US and second 442 insurance agents at a large national insurance company -Allen and colleagues found that perceptions of fairness and opportunity affect perceptions of organizational support, which affect the likelihood of commitment to a company

processes involved in emotion

-imagine you are hiking in the mountains and a cougar crosses your path -your heart starts racing, your breathing speeds up, and you start sweating -you want to get away as fast as possible but you are not sure if you should run or freeze -you are frightened -fear provides one example of how emotions quickly change our experience, physiology, and behavior -most researchers today agree that emotions are characterized by all of these components, which unfold in time -the emotion process: shows us how the components of emotion emerge -emotions emerge in response to situations we encounter in the world or in our thoughts, called antecedent events -not everyone responds to the same situation in the same way -an individual evaluates the antecedent event to determine whether it is potentially harmful or beneficial as per such criteria as safety or personal goals -depending on the results of appraisal, he or she may experience an emotional response

emotional disclosure

-in a typical emotional disclosure task, people are instructed to write for about 15 min about a recent emotional experience -in particular one that they have found troubling that still bothers them from time to time and that they have not discussed much with others -emotional disclosure improves well being and quality of life as well as improves a number of physical health outcomes including health variables related to HIV/AIDS, immune function and cancer

health psychology

-is the study of psychological factors related to health and illness -it includes disease onset, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation and involves clinical practice as well as research -research in health psychology ranges from studies of how psychological variables enhance health or increase susceptibility to disease to the role of social factors in doctor-patient communication -two models can explain the relationship between stress and illness -both illustrate the dynamic interplay among environmental situations, people's interpretations of them and changes in body functioning -these are physiological reactivity model and health behavior approach

coping strategies

-psychologists Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman differentiated between two types of coping strategies and labeled them problem-focused and emotion-focused coping

how stress and coping affect health

-psychosomatic theory: the idea that emotional factors can lead to the occurrence or worsening of illness -psychosomatics deal with how emotional factors can increase the likelihood of certain disorders occurring or worsening -stress increases the likelihood of ulcers by changing the chemical balance in the gut but certain preconditions must be met for that internal environment to produce ulcers -the field of health psychology grew out of psychosomatic medicine

experiencing positive emotions

-several studies suggest that the left prefrontal cortex is more involved in positive emotions than the right -these regions are primarily involved in emotions that have approach components (emotions that impel the organism to move toward something or someone), which includes the negative emotion of anger as well as positive emotions -the hypothalamus also appears to be a pleasure or reward center, because animals will forgo food and drink to receive stimulation there -similarly, humans report feeling pleasure when this region is stimulated

human sexual response

-sexual behavior is defined as actions that produce arousal and increase the likelihood of orgasm -Masters and Johnson were the first scientists to study the human sexual response systematically and directly -one of their major findings was that men and women go through four phases of sexual arousal (excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution) but they do so somewhat differently -the major signs of the initial excitement phase are vaginal lubrication in females and erection in males -in the plateau phase, excitement level remains high but is preorgasmic -in men, the plateau phase might be rather short but orgasm almost always follows -in women, the plateau phase often lasts longer than in men but is not necessarily followed by orgasm -some women stay in the plateau phase for a while, then pass to the resolution phase without achieving orgasm -these women also have a gradual resolution phase -an even more striking gender difference is the ability of women to have multiple orgasms -men always have a refractory period immediately following orgasm in which erection is lost and orgasm is not possible -updated models of sexual arousal suggest that the initial sexual response in women involves more psychological processes than simply desire and arousal -desire and arousal do not happen spontaneously in many women, who often require the right balance of thoughts and feelings dealing with intimacy, closeness, trust, and lack of fear and anxiety -these thoughts and feelings play off and feed arousal, which in turn leads to deeper feelings of intimacy and closeness -arousal continues to increase and may or may not lead to orgasm, but arousal and excitement are important and meaningful even without orgasm

the immune system

-suffers from the effects of sustained arousal and impaired immune function increases susceptibility to disease -sustained activation of the HPA axis leads to sustained release of cortisol which inhibits the production of certain immune cells -in the short term the suppression of immune cell production makes sense because in an emergency immune cells might not be immediately necessary -over the long term however immune suppression makes a person more susceptible to certain diseases

the case of Phineas Gage

-the 19th century railroad worker who survived a severe injury to his prefrontal cortex -provided early evidence of the importance of the prefrontal cortex in emotion and personality -Gage's prefrontal cortex injury transformed him from a relatively mild mannered man into an impatient, easily enraged individual -more recently, studies show that the prefrontal cortex is one of the more active regions of the brain in the experience of emotions -damage to the left prefrontal cortex results in depression -according to EEG studies that measure cortical activity, clinically depressed people show less activity in the left prefrontal cortex than do nondepressed people

emotion and the brain

-the brain participates in every aspect of the emotion process -affective neuroscience, the field devoted to studying the brain's role in emotion, is rapidly growing -most current evidence tells us that emotional information is processed in brain circuits that involve several brain structures and emotion processing is highly interlinked with cognitive processing -although there is no main emotion center in the brain, some key areas for emotion processing include the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex -anatomically, the amygdala has connections with many important brain regions, including structures that appear to be involved in emotion and memory: the hypothalamus (which controls the ANS), the hippocampus (which plays a crucial role in memory), the thalamus (which receives information from the sense organs), and the cerebral cortex -the amygdala appears to contribute to appraisal of the emotional significance of stimuli, with a specialized function for noticing fear relevant information -much of the research on the amygdala has centered on its pivotal role in quick appraisals during threatening or fear inducing situations -along these lines, Joseph LeDoux and his colleagues have used classical conditioning of fear in rats as a model for studying emotion in the human brain -in their experiment, a rat is exposed to a tone, which is emotionally neutral at first -then the tone is repeatedly paired with an aversive stimulus, an electric shock (the unconditioned stimulus or UCS) -after repeated pairings with the shock, the tone itself becomes a fear eliciting stimulus (the conditioned stimulus CS) -when the researchers examined the circuitry of fear conditioning in the rat brain, they found that the side and middle of the amygdala are most active in learning to be afraid of the tone

emotion regulation

-the cognitive and behavioral efforts people make to modify their emotions

emotional response

-the emotional response in turn produces changes in physiology, behavior, expression and felt experience -the activation of facial and physiological responses might enhance the emotion, becoming yet another kind of input for a new emotional experience -Levenson points out that in addition to the antecedent events that are external to us, there may be internal inputs into the emotion process, inputs provided by facial and physiological changes -once we generate emotions, we sometimes attempt to modify them, regulate them, or make them go away, which in turn involves new appraisals and new responses -to some extent, then, the emotion process moves in a loop rather than in a single direction

overview of the immune system

-the human immune system defends the body against invasion by disease, inspects the body for cells that may take on dangerous mutations, and performs basic housekeeping functions such as cleaning up cellular debris after an injury -two basic lines of defense: natural immunity and acquired immunity

acquired immunity

-the immune system comprises several kinds of white blood cells including those responsible for phagocytosis -other white blood cells called lymphocytes control acquired immunity -acquired immunity involves a number of endocrine and cellular processes that recognize specific antigens and then reproduce specialized cells or circulating proteins to fight those antigens and then reproduce specialized cells or circulating proteins to fight those antigens -acquired immunity is so called because it involves experience (an effective immune response occurs only after prior exposure to a particular antigen) -every cold we get leads to an acquired immune response -as a result we are less likely to get sick if we encounter that particular virus again -acquired immune responses take longer to initiate than natural immune responses because the former involve recognition processes and the duplication of cells -on subsequent exposure to a specific antigen however acquired immune responses can be rapid and efficient -vaccines for ex provide a safe initial exposure and an acquired immune response that protects us against disease -acquired immunity involves two classes of lymphocytes called B and T lymphocytes -in response to specific antigens, B lymphocytes release antibodies into the bloodstream -antibodies destroy antigens directly -the T lymphocytes or T cells fight antigens not by releasing antibodies but by means of cellular processes collectively known as cellular immunity

oxytocin

-the neuropeptide oxytocin is well known for its role in lactation and bonding in mammals, especially females -it plays a broad role in positive emotional states, especially those involving affiliation or connection with others -when adults are given doses of oxytocin, both males and females are more likely to want to be around other people, to help others, to cooperate with others, and to show greater generosity toward others -also, oxytocin makes people better at recognizing facial expressions of happiness, especially subtle ones (which are hard to read), but not the other emotions -it's as if oxytocin enhances responsiveness to positive emotional states, especially when the information is subtle

stress and the brain

-the physiological activation triggered by stress also affects the brain -cortisol has a profound effect on the hippocampus (a brain structure that plays a pivotal role in memory) -the hippocampus contains one of the greatest concentrations of cortisol receptors in the brain -unfortunately, stress related cortisol release causes hippocampal dendrites to shrink, which can interfere with several types of memory -chronic stress reduces neurogenesis in the hippocampus and it may inhibit the synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus and neocortex, impacting learning and memory formation -animal research shows that excessive stress in a pregnant mother can affect the development of several brain areas including the amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus and corpus callosum in her offspring -severely adverse experiences early in life (what we would consider serious stressors) can affect the amount of cortisol receptors in the hippocampus -they also show increased susceptibility to chronic diseases of aging -coping plays a big role in the duration of stress responses and whether they develop sufficiently to become harmful to the brain and body -in monkeys, more effective coping with stress increases neurogenesis in the hippocampus, which offers the hopeful suggestion that the adverse effects of stress on the brain may be reversible -in a fascinating study of rats researchers found that increased experience with sex, even chronic exposure to sex, also increases neurogenesis in the hippocampus

how culture impacts emotion expression

-the research on facial expression recognition from New Guinea led to an integration of the two competing perspectives, culture differences and universality -soon after returning from New Guinea, Ekman proposed the neurocultural theory of emotion to account for the fact that certain aspects of emotion, such as the facial expressions and physiological changes of basic emotions are similar in all humans, whereas other aspects, such as how people appraise situations and regulate their emotion expressions in front of others, vary from one culture to another

common myths about dieting: challenging assumptions about diet

-there are some widely held beliefs about weight loss that have little or no empirical or scientific support -the most pervasive and misleading myths involve fats and carbohydrates -the thinking is that low fat and low carb diets are good and high fat and high carb diets are bad, but its not that simple -there are different kinds of fats and carbohydrates, some are good and healthy while others are not -saturated fats found in red meats, are less healthy and lead to greater weight gain than unsaturated fats, such as those found in avocado or olive oil -likewise, carbohydrates can be simple or complex, with high fiber foods being high in complex carbs and sugars being high in simple carbs -a more sound approach to losing weight and having a healthful diet is to aim for a low glycemic (blood sugar level) diet, defined as approx 40% carbohydrate, 40% fat and 20% protein -a low fat diet by comparison consists of approx 20% fat -in general, it is healthier and easier to lose weight when diets are relatively low glycemic (fruits, veggies, grains and beans), which means avoiding high glycemic foods (white bread, pasta, rice, baked goods, and low fiber cereals) -low glycemic foods are digested more slowly than high glycemic foods and hence a person feels full longer and eats less -research is clear that high glycemic diets are risk factors for coronary heart disease and adult onset diabetes -the second idea worth challenging about eating is that having smaller but more frequent meals (five or six) a day is one way to lose weight -the scientific evidence for this is mixed at best and seems contradictory -eating smaller, more frequent meals does not lead to weight loss

problem focused coping

-these strategies aim to change the situation that is creating stress -if your roommate plays a stereo loudly while you are sleeping, you might choose to discuss it with her, buy earplugs, or cut the speaker wires -each of these choices is a form of problem focused coping; each is geared toward changing the situation that created the stress -exs of problem focused coping strategies include devising a plan to solve the problem, seeking social support as a way to gather information, and taking assertive action -problem focused coping focuses attention on the stress provoking situation and we are most likely to use it when we think we can change the situation

the psychology of what we eat

-what we eat is shaped by both nature and nurture -we crave foods that are essential to our bodies but that were scarce during early periods of human evolution, but we also learn to like and crave particular foods common in our culture -food preferences are very much shaped by evolutionary forces -without realizing it, most humans crave the basic nutrients that our bodies require and that were scarce during ancestral times: sugar, salt and fat -the fast food industry capitalizes on this fact by creating foods that are rich in these substances -companies conduct research to determine precisely the optimal levels of flavors that people crave, the so called bliss point -sweets and fats are no longer scarce in industrialized society, and their easy access and overconsumption contribute to increasing problems of obesity -our choice of what we eat is also driven by culture -that some people eat cows and others worms is, for the most part, culturally determined -different cultures expose children to different flavors -different cultures expose children to unique flavor combinations or shape food preferences while people are young -for ex: people in very cold climates commonly eat raw animal fat: Icelanders eat raw whale blubber pickled in whey; the Inuit eat raw seal fat -in contrast, cow brains and tongue are commonly eaten in mexico -exposure does not immediately lead to preference, however -it often takes multiple exposures before children will come to like a food that they initially disliked -the more often people eat certain foods, the more they like them -once people develop a preference for a kind of food, they are motivated and even driven to eat that kind of food -if you develop a strong liking for mexican food, but then spend a year studying in Europe or Asia, where there is little mexican food, you will probably be driven to seek out any kind of burrito

the resistance stage

-when they develop other ways to cope, they enter the second stage of adaptation, the resistance stage -resistance implies that the organism tries to manage the threat -this extended effort however takes its toll physically and psychologically by diverting resources from the maintenance of normal bodily functions

appraisal in the emotion process

-whether an event or a situation leads to an emotion depends on how the person appraises it -appraisal is the evaluation of a situation with respect to how relevant it is to one's own welfare -appraisal need not be a conscious, deliberate thought process -most of the time it probably occurs automatically, outside of awareness, and it may occur in an instant -appraisal drives the process by which emotions are elicited -it explains why the level of happiness expressed by Olympic athletes can be greater for winners of bronze medals (third place) than for winners of silver medal (second place) -bronze medalists can easily imagine an alternative outcome: they may not have even placed -compared to that outcome, third is great -silver medalists, on the other hand, can easily imagine having won first place -compared to that outcome, second might be felt as disappointing -examples of appraisal dimensions include control (how much control you feel you have in a situation), agency (whether you or someone else made something happen), pleasantness or fairness -the type of appraisal that occurs determines the type of emotion generated -fear, for ex, arises in situations of uncertainty and over which we feel we have little control

the cardiovascular system

-which consists of the heart and all the blood vessels of the body, is especially susceptible to the effects of sustained arousal -during activation of the sympathetic nervous system, heart rate and blood pressure increase -in sustained physiological activation, heart rate and blood pressure remain elevated or are activated repeatedly over extended periods -frequent blood pressure elevations can damage arteries by reducing their elasticity and increasing the likelihood of fatty buildup -these processes set the stage for heart disease

the exhaustion stage

-with repeated exposure to a stressor, animals enter the exhaustion stage -at this stage their resources for fighting off threats have been depleted and illness becomes much more likely

sex: survival of the species

-without food, we would starve to death -without sex, individuals would not die, but if everyone went without sex, our species would die -at the species level, we have sex to propagate the species -as individuals, we have sex because it is enjoyable

facial expressions

Darwin asserted that facial expressions evolved due to their functional role in survival, which if true would speak to why some expressions may be universal -for ex: the expression of fear, with its raised brows and widely opened eyes, increased the scope of vision for someone looking for options for escape -recent research shows that people posing fear faces actually see better in tests of peripheral vision and quickness of eye movements -these appearance changes may actually reveal the function of the fear face hypothesized by Darwin (to enable people to respond more quickly to danger)

Selye's model

Selye's model laid the groundwork for research on the physiology of stress but soon it became clear that his GAS model did not fit all stress responses -first he studied extreme physical stressors such as nearly freezing an animal to death or repeatedly exposing it to severe electrical shock and subjected animals to these stressors for prolonged periods -questions arose as to whether the bodily changes that occurred in response to such severe demands in animals provided a good model for enduring the stress of, say, divorce or financial troubles in humans -second, some researchers questioned the idea that a syndrome of body responses to stress occurred regardless of the type of stressor -in the 1970s research challenged Selye's assumption that the stress response is a general one -Mason showed that an animal's response to a stressor differed depending on its psychological state -if the animal could anticipate a stressor, it showed a less severe physiological response than an animal that could not anticipate a stressor -further, research conducted during the 1980s showed that different emotions produce different patterns of ANS activation, casting further doubt on Selye's idea of a generalized physiological response to any environmental demand

three models of employee motivation

What would you prefer most in your job - money or interesting, enjoyable work? -the most sensible answer is probably both -in fact, interesting work, good wages, and job security have been the top priorities among employees in surveys from the 1940s onward -from a behavioral perspective, the bottom line for business is productivity -historically, many businesses and companies have operated using principles of operant conditioning to motivate workers to perform well (that is, good behavior is rewarded by pay increases, promotions, and incentives) -more recently, some companies have questioned whether money and reward are really the best motivators and instead have emphasized supportive and pleasant work environments, autonomy, enjoyment, and challenge in their workers -there are atleast three competing models of how to best motivate workers and make them more productive (extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, and organizational support for the well being of employees)

basic emotions

a set of emotions that are common to all humans: they include anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise

glucose

a simple sugar that provides energy for cells throughout the body, including the brain

Duchenne smile

a smile that expresses true enjoyment, involving both the muscles that pull up the lip corners diagonally and those that contract the band of muscles encircling the eye

the evolutionary model

a third model of motivation that focuses on internal drive states is evolutionary theory -the biological purpose of any living organism is to survive and perpetuate itself -the processes of natural and sexual selection have shaped motivation over time to make all animals, including humans, want those things that help them survive and reproduce -as a result, the major motives involve basic survival and reproduction needs and drives: hunger, thirst, body temperature, regulation, oxygen, and sex -our bodies "know" they want food, water, oxygen, and (after adolescence) sex -desires, wants, and needs have been shaped over the course of human evolution to guide behavior either toward adaptive or away from maladaptive actions -in most cases, we are unaware that our behavior is related to these drives -we tend to do something because it is pleasing and we stop doing something to remove ourselves from some undesirable state

Facial action coding system (FACS)

a widely used method for measuring all the observable muscular movements that are possible in the human face

sexual behavior

actions that produce arousal and increase the likelihood of orgasm

basic emotions

although humans experience an infinite variety of emotional states, a small set of emotions appears to be common to all humans and thus may be a product of our evolutionary past -these basic emotions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise are fundamental states that play a role in essential life tasks such as protecting oneself and loved ones from harm (fear), progressing toward the realization of a goal (happiness), or experiencing irrevocable loss (sadness) -the basic emotions are not single states; rather, they are categories or groups of related emotions, what Ekman describes as emotion families -for ex: the fear family, which includes anxiety, trepidation, and nervousness, may arise in response to a threat to physical safety -the happiness family includes joy, contentment, elation, amusement, and exhilaration, among others

the ________ appears to play a very important role in appraisal of the emotional significance of stimuli with a specialized function of noticing fear relevant information

amygdala

reappraisal

an emotion regulation strategy in which one reevaluates an event so that a different emotion results

anorexia nervosa

an extreme fear about being overweight that leads to a severe restriction of food intake

the hierarchical model

another model of motivation, which combines drives and incentives, is Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs -the essence of Maslow's hierarchy is simple: needs range from the most basic physiological necessities to the highest, most psychological needs for growth and fulfillment -at the lowest level of the hierarchy are physiological needs, such as the needs for food, water, oxygen, and adequate body temperature -the the next level are safety needs, which include physical security, stability, dependency, protection, and freedom from threats, such as war, assault, and terrorism -we need to be fed and out of danger's way before we can pay attention to higher-level needs -the third level in the hierarchy consists of the love and belongingness needs, including the desire for friendship, sex, a mate, and children, as well as the desire to belong to a family or social group -the fourth level in Maslow's hierarchy of needs is the need for esteem: that is, the need to appreciate oneself and one's worth and to be appreciated and respected by others -the top level in the hierarchy is the need for self-actualization (the full realization of one's potentials and abilities in life -only when lower level needs have been satisfied can people focus on higher level needs. For ex: hunger and safety needs must be met before self-actualization needs can be fulfilled -Maslow's hierarchy, as well known as it is, has had relatively little scientific support or updating -in 2010, however, Doug Kenrick and colleagues bridged the evolutionary and hierarchical models of motivation by modifying Maslow's hierarchy from an evolutionary perspective -the new model builds on the basic needs (physiological, safety {protection}, love and belongingness {affiliation}, and esteem) and replaces self actualization with three types of reproductive goals: acquiring a mate, retaining a mate, and parenting -in addition, in the new model, the levels overlap rather than replace earlier needs, clarifying that they do not go away but can be activated whenever needed -we have two very basic drive states: hunger and sex -hunger is the drive behind survival, and sex is the drive behind reproduction

incentive

any external object or event that motivates behavior

according to the view of emotions as a process, _________ drive(s) the process by which emotions are elicited

appraisal

the health behavior approach

by contrast, this approach focuses on the behaviors in which people engage, such as diet, exercise or substance abuse which may make them more susceptible to illness or may enhance health -these explanations are not mutually exclusive -for ex, a person might experience sustained blood pressure elevation due to stress and drink heavily during a time of intense stress, both of which would affect the person's health

universal

common to all human beings and seen in cultures all over the world

cortisol

cortisol has many important functions -it plays the role in the breakdown of complex molecules into simpler ones to release energy and so plays an important role in ensuring that more glucose is available for fuel in the bloodstream -cortisol also regulates the immune system, by reducing the number of immune cells in the bloodstream -in doing so, chronically elevated cortisol may impact the immune system's ability to protect the body against infection

the social norm set forth by our culture, which says that winners should not gloat is an example of

display rule

the fact that sexual orgasm cannot occur unless the areas of the brain involved in fear and anxiety are shut down illustrates what basic feature of emotions verses drives?

emotions can override biological drives

perceived organizational support

employee's beliefs about how much the organization appreciates and supports their contributions and well being

which of the following is not a self conscious emotion

hostility

the general adaptation syndrome GAS

in 1946, Austrian physiologist Hans Selye proposed a three stage model to describe the changes in physiology that occur during exposure to severe stressors -Selye believed that attempts to adapt to overwhelming stressors cause the body to wear down and eventually get sick -with homeostasis as his starting point, Selye viewed the changes the body goes through when confronted with extreme situational demands as manifestations of adaptation to stress -he exposed animals to stressors, such as extreme temperature change, severe electrical shock, radiation or heavy exercise -Selye proposed that all stress causes a generalized, nonspecific set of changes in the body no matter what the type of elicitor -he measured hormones, metabolism, organ function and other variables and observed a consistent pattern of responses regardless of the stressor -Selye coined the term general adaptation syndrome GAS to describe this general pattern of responses to prolonged exposure to stress The GAS consists of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion

summarized

in sum, when and how we express emotion on our face is determined both by innate, biologically determined factors and by culturally learned influences, such as display rules, that may vary from one culture to another -the evidence strongly suggests that all humans share a core set of basic facial expressions of emotion

the biology of when we eat

internal signals control the desire to eat or stop eating -from a drive reduction perspective, being hungry depends not only on how much food we have consumed recently but also on how much energy is available for organ function -hunger has four biological components: the stomach, the blood, the brain, and hormones and neurochemicals -when we get hungry, our stomach starts to growl from gastric secretions the brain activates when we think of, see, or smell food -hunger can also cause the stomach to contract when the stomach and small intestine have been relatively empty for about 2 hours -although, stomach contractions correspond with hunger pangs, the do not cause hunger -you might be surprised to learn that people who have their stomachs removed for medical reasons still feel hunger, as do rats whose nerves between the stomach and the brain have been cut -thus, the stomach does not act by itself to produce feelings of hunger; other biological systems are also involved -one of these other signals comes from blood sugar -glucose, a simple sugar in the blood that provides energy for cells throughout the body, including the brain, is the most important source of energy for the body -although fat and protein provide their own forms of energy, some organs, including the brain, can use only glucose -our blood sugar level drops when we dont eat for long periods and the hypothalamus, which monitors glucose levels, will trigger the drive to obtain food -as with almost all behavior, many regions of the brain are involved in eating -the hypothalamus regulates all basic physiological needs and acts as hunger's sensory detector -the body signals the hypothalamus about the nutritional needs of the cells -various parts of the hypothalamus in turn send signals to different brain regions to either start or stop eating -hormones and neurochemicals also play a role in hunger -some of these substances stimulate appetite; others suppress it -two of the numerous hormones that stimulate appetite are neuropeptide T (NPY) and ghrelin -when an animal is hungry or underfed, NPY is released in the hypothalamus to stimulate appetite -ghrelin stimulates the release of dopamine (the feel good neurotransmitter) and sends hunger signals to the brain, thereby stimulating hunger -ghrelin levels rise when we are hungry and fall drastically after we eat -endocannibinoids are naturally occurring neurochemicals that can also increase appetite -blocking receptor sites for endocannabinoids leads to a decrease in eating and to weight loss -among the hormones that suppress appetite are insulin and leptin -one of the most important hormonal effects on hunger comes from insulin, which is produced by the pancreas -rising glucose levels stimulate insulin production; insulin in turn transports glucose out of the blood and into the cells -as a result, hunger decreases -leptin is produced by fat cells and inhibits neurons in the hypothalamus that contain NPY (appetite stimulant), thereby signaling the body that it has had enough to eat

how we adapt to stress

most accounts of the physiology of stress (such as Selye's) think of stress as a deviation from balance -recovery from stress occurs when all systems return to normal -this view stems from the notion of homeostasis: the idea that unless we are being provoked by something, we are humming along at an even keeled baseline state and we return to the same state after the stress -moreover homeostasis implies that just one system in the body struggles to return to baseline at a time -a new concept was needed to explain the more complex and dynamic changes that occur when the body is stressed -some researchers offer an alternative explanation to how we adapt to stress -rather than a state of balance, our normal state is one of actively responding to the world around us -this more dynamic, responsive "resting" state is known as allostasis which means that the body achieves stability through change -the concept of allostasis emphasizes that your body would respond in many ways not simply by sweating -your kidneys would start producing less; mucous membranes in your eyes and skin would dry out; even your veins and arteries would constrict to maintain blood pressure with a smaller volume of blood -the concept of allostasis makes clear that our bodies can respond adaptively to challenge for only a short period of time -if we are pushed too long, the body's active attempts to adapt are sustained and we are taxed -the body starts to wear down, as the allostatic load (the amount of wear and tear on the system to which the body must adapt) becomes too much to bear -this is how stress becomes illness

stress and genes

no single "stress gene" dictates how the body responds to stress in the way that a cancer gene might turn cancer cells on and off -instead, several complex processes involving stress, genes, and endocrines regulate the relationship between stress and disease -from this complex area of research, we can distill out a few key points -first, the effects of chronic social isolation on illness appear to be regulated by genetic factors -also those genes associated with the human stress response seem critical to certain chronic diseases -finally, genes appear to play a role in the relationship between the stress of social isolation and diseases that involve inflammatory processes such as heart disease and cancer

other regions involved

other regions of the brain are involved in emotions as well -a meta analysis of more than 55 brain imaging studies reports that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is active when people either recall or imagine emotional experiences -new evidence points to the ACC being closely linked to the appraisal and expression of emotion -the ACC is also the brain region that is active in both physical pain and the pain of rejection or exclusion

models of motivation

psychologists propose many models or explanations for motivation -some focus more on internal drives, some more on external incentives, and others on both

facial feedback hypothesis

sensory feedback from the facial musculature during expression affects emotional experience

which of the following is not a basic emotion

shame

eating disorders

some people develop such concern about their bodies and how much they weigh that they develop an eating disorder -for any behavior to be disordered, it must be dysfunctional, disturbing, distressing, and deviant -dysfunction is interference with everyday functioning as well as disruption of ones personal and professional life -disturbing and distressing imply that the behavior is not wanted and causes stress for either the person suffering or the individuals family, friends and social contacts -deviant implies that these are not common, everyday behaviors but relatively rare in the population -eating disorders meet the criteria for a psychological disorder -the two primary types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa -anorexia nervosa involves an extreme fear about being overweight that leads to a severe restriction of food intake -this caloric restriction typically does not allow a person to maintain atleast 85% of the low end of his or her ideal weight (BMI of about 16 or less) -at its core, anorexia involves an extremely distorted body image, with the person believing he or she is too heavy regardless of how thin they really are -BMIs in the range of 15 or less can lead to death and about 4% of those who suffer from anorexia will die from the disorder -the second well known eating disorder is bulimia nervosa -a person suffering from bulimia nervosa is prone to binge eating and feeling a lack of control during the eating session -binge eating involves eating much more food at one time than the average person would, such as having a half gallon of ice cream as a late night snack -a person with bulimia regularly engages in self induced vomiting, the use of laxatives or diuretics, strict dieting or fasting, or vigorous exercise in order to prevent weight gain -the causes of anorexia and bulimia are unknown, although a number of factors appear to put people at risk for this disorder, such as reactivity to stress, genetics, epigenetics and personality -in short, they result from both nature and nurture -women are more likely than men to develop these disorders -women with eating disorders show higher physiological reactivity to stress -a growing body of literature has examined the genetic and epigenetic basis of eating disorders -for ex: in a review of many twin and twin adoption studies, Thornton and colleagues reported heritability coefficients that averaged around 60% suggesting that genes explain about 60% of the variance in eating disorders -moreover, people who had demonstrated a proneness to anxiety, depression and low self esteem later were more likely to develop anorexia -other studies report that many personality traits distinguish anorexics -in addition to being higher in neuroticism, anorexics are also more conscientious, more introverted, and less open to new situations than are nonanorexics -recent questionnaire data suggest that both men and women with eating disorders seek approval from others and are more likely to have insecure attachments to their caregivers

the optimal arousal model

the "optimal level of arousal" is another model that focuses on internal drive states; it is based on research by Yerkes and Dodson -it proposes that we function best when we are moderately aroused, or energized -both low and high arousal/energy levels lead to poor performance -the finding is so common that it is now referred to as the Yerkes-Dodson law -the optimal arousal model of motivation argues that humans are motivated to be in situations that are neither too stimulating nor not stimulating enough -support for the optimal arousal model comes from sensory deprivation research -it involves having a person lie down on a bed or in a sensory deprivation (salt water) tank -classic research from the 1950s demonstrated that people could not remain in sensory deprivation for more than 2 to 3 days, even if they were paid double their daily wage for each day they remained in the tank -after long periods of sensory deprivation, people begin to hallucinate, their cognitive ability and concentration suffer, and they develop childish emotional responses -sensory deprivation in rats shrinks the brain regions most involved in the senses that have been deprived, another example of the plasticity of the brain -in the 1990s, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi introduced the concept of flow to describe how people perform best and are most creative, when they are optimally challenged relative to their abilities -others have applied a similar model to explain learning and motivation -according to this school of thought, needs such as curiosity, learning, interest, beauty-aesthetics, competence, challenge, flow states, and optimal experiences are motivated by the desire to be optimally aroused

subjective experience of emotion

the changes in the quality of conscious experience that occur during emotional responses

empirical support

the first empirical support for display rules came from a study comparing disgust expressions in American and Japanese students -both groups viewed a film showing a very graphic medical procedure, but in two different conditions: in the presence of an authority figure and alone -when alone, both groups felt perfectly comfortable expressing the obvious response (disgust) -when in the presence of an authority figure, the Japanese students did not show disgust and they masked their responses with non-Duchenne (fake) smiles -American students however showed about the same level of disgust in both conditions -the expressive differences between groups emerged in a situation in which the cultures had very different norms about expression, but not in the solo viewing condition -more recent research on display rules and expression supports and extends these original findings -there are notable variations in the intensity of facial expressions of emotion across cultures, even across smaller groups such as European Americans -overwhelmingly, people across many cultures show remarkably similar emotion displays in highly emotional situations (the Olympics for ex)

James-Lange theory of emotion

the idea that it is the perception of the physiological changes that accompany emotions that produces the subjective emotional experience

set point

the ideal fixed setting of a particular physiological system, such as internal body temperature

self-actualization

the inherent drive to realize ones full potential

the insula

the insula is the brain structure most involved in interception or the perception of sensations arising within the body -in fMRI studies, the insula is active during the experience of pain and empathy for another's pain -this brain structure also appears to play an important role in disgust, which is an emotion associated with a high degree of internal bodily sensations -visualizing disgusting scenes leads to activation of the insula as well as the ACC -insular activity is reduced when women attempt to regulate their disgust with reappraisal -certain areas of the insula are so specific to disgust that they show activation to facial expressions of disgust but not to those of distaste

Intrinsic motivation

the rock musician Tom Petty recently summed up the second model of work motivation very well: "I think any time you're making a living at what you love to do, you're blessed. That's what I try to instill in my kids. Go after what you really love and find a way to make that work for you, and then you'll be a happy person" -intrinsic motivation: happens when you want to do something simply because you enjoy doing it -this type of motivation has four components: challenge, enjoyment, mastery, autonomy and self determination -challenge: how much do you enjoy the thrill and excitement of new challenges? -enjoyment: how much pleasure do you receive from the process of doing the task? -mastery: do you gain a sense of accomplishment and pride in doing the task? -autonomy and self determination: do you believe that you are free to determine much of what you do and how you do it? -Teresa Amabile and her colleagues argue that intrinsic motivators help employees work creatively and productively -they present evidence that the companies that most successfully motivate their employees and inspire their creativity are those that: ---don't have executives who think they are the only source of good ideas but rather elicit and champion ideas from anyone in the company, as long as they are good creative ideas ---open the organization to a diverse number of perspectives, based on ethnicity, gender, age, and experience ---have managers or executives who know when to put controls on the creative process (commercialization phase) and when not to (idea generation phase) ---create positive emotions in workers, such as satisfaction, pride, and elation, because positive emotion is likely to make workers more creative, productive, and committed to the company -Intrinsic motivation is not a static attribute -it changes as life circumstances change -for ex: the need for challenge rises for employees in their 20s to 30s but then drops as they move toward late middle age and the end of their careers -however, enjoyment, which is the emotional component of intrinsic motivation, drops only a little over the course of one's career

motivation

the urge to move toward one's goals to accomplish tasks

motivation

the urge to move toward one's goals, an energetic push toward accomplishing tasks, such as getting dinner, getting rich, and getting lucky

evidence of the amygdala's role in fear

there is evidence of the amygdala's role in fear in humans as well -people with damaged amygdalae do not show normal physiological reactions under fear conditioning -they tend to trust faces that most people find to be untrustworthy and have trouble recognizing facial expressions of fear, especially in the eyes -brain imaging studies of people with intact brains reveal increased amygdala activation when they are exposed to fear faces, and an inactive amygdala when they view other facial expressions of emotion -whereas certain regions of the amygdala are more involved in fear, other regions are more involved in anger and rage -tumors of the amygdala have been found in violent criminals, such as Charles Whitman, who climbed the tower at UT and in a 90 min shooting spree, killed 19 people and wounded 38

vocalizations of emotion

there seem to be some universals in vocalizations of emotion as well -Motherese, the sing songy manner with which mothers speak to their babies, shows remarkable consistency worldwide and may be a unique adaptation particularly suited to infant perception -nonverbal vocalizations of emotion, such as grunts, retching noises, and laughs also seem to be recognized cross culturally -in a study using methods very similar to those Ekman used with a preliterate New Guinea culture to classify facial expressions, Sauter and colleagues asked Namibians to match voices with the emotion stories that may have elicited them -Namibians and native English speakers made remarkably similar judgements, despite being from widely separate cultures

the biology of sexual behavior

this newer model of sexual response matches well with brain imaging research on sexual arousal and orgasm -many of the brain regions involved in emotion are also involved in the stages of sexual arousal prior to orgasm -as is true of many physiological drives, such as hunger, the hypothalamus plays a crucial role in sexual behavior -in humans, lesions in the back portion of the hypothalamus lead to a decrease in sexual behavior, whereas electrical stimulation of the same region leads to an increase in sexual behavior, especially in males -in addition, the part of the hypothalamus involved in sexual behavior is larger in men than in women -brain activity changes during orgasm, certain brain regions actually shut down -Gert Holstege and colleagues from the Netherlands took brain images of women while they were having an orgasm (being manually stimulated by their partners) and while they were faking it -achieving a real orgasm always involved deactivation of the brain regions associated with fear and anxiety in the amygdala and hippocampus, as well as parts of the cortex involved in consciousness -during faked orgasms, these brain regions remained activated -for men, brain deactivation occurred only in the left amygdala during orgasm -testosterone, a major male sex hormone, controls sex drive in both men and women -the role of testosterone in the female sex drive was discovered accidentally when women whose adrenal glands had been removed lost their sex drive -the adrenal glands produce testosterone -moreover, younger women have both higher levels of male sex hormones and more frequent sexual activity than do older women -males and females with high baseline levels of testosterone are more sexually active at earlier ages and engage in sex more frequently than those with low baseline levels of testosterone -testosterone treatments increase sex drive in both men and women -in most species, females are not continually receptive to males -in women, there is some regular cyclical activity and sexual desire in the course of their 28 day menstrual cycle -female initiated sexual behavior peaks around ovulation and again before and after menstruation -the strongest cyclical effect for women occurs in relation to their fantasies involving men other than their regular sex partner, which increases in frequency and intensity as women approach ovulation -such an increase in sex drive makes sense from an evolutionary and biological perspective, because a woman is most likely to become pregnant during ovulation -this is a case in which biological motives drive behavior