Psych Final Exam- Motivation

Anxious-avoidant style attachment

-children who display only limited interaction with caregivers, show minimal distress when caregivers leave, and refrain from seeking support -kids would continue playing with toys in the room when their caregiver left (instead of crawling to the door)

Anxious-ambivalent attachment

-children who have overly active attachment styles, resulting in excessive concerns regarding proximity, clingy behavior, and reluctance to leave the attachment figure and explore -inconsistent figures increase a child's risk for this form of insecurity

Psychological needs

-desired states -studied by Murray and McClelland -have roots in biological needs but came to be somewhat independent as we develop

Secure attachment style

-develops when caregivers are reasonably available and responsive to the infant's needs -children balance desires for exploring and developing themselves with connecting with their caregivers and relying on them for support

Motivation- 3 internal drives/desires

-drive/desire -aims -activation

Internal working models

-explicit and implicit neural networks that are organized from developmental experiences with attachment figures and which are used to navigate future close relationships -contain cognitive, emotional, and behavioral elements -adults with higher levels of attachment security tend to have better outcomes than those with high levels of insecurity

Incentives

-external stimuli that activate motives because they are rewarding or desirable -do two things: 1) influence the specific ways we go about satisfying motives, and 2) they may trigger a drive

Attachment theory

-focuses on the biological drive to form close bonds with caregivers in humans and explains how individual differences in the quality of those bonds influence emotion regulation, motivation, and relationship functioning -Ainsworth and Bowlby (1991)

What variables does Settling Point Theory emphasize?

-genes DO influence set point and BMI -social norms regarding physical activity and exercise -stress in cultures -sleep (poor sleep can lead to obesity)

Genetics and weight

-higher heritability coefficients for BMI in identical twins that non-identical -adopted children's BMIs show greater agreement with bio parents than adopted parents -55-70% of variance in BMI is accounted for by genetics

Optimal arousal theory

-holds that humans seek to regulate their arousal by adjusting their behaviors in a manner that fits the individual and the situation -focus on maintaining a balance of physiological arousal within an optimal range (adjust our motives to maintain an optimal level, even when this goes against other goals or desires) -what is optimal? -there are within-person differences in what is considered optimal

Activation

-motives activate us by influencing our physiology in some way -increase our arousal or create tension states

Aims

-motives are inherently goal-seeking (drive us to seek desired states) -select behaviors to help us achieves our aims

Drive/desire

-motives exert an internal pressure that increases the likelihood of some action -could stems from a biological imperative, psychological need, or a simple want

Mindful eating

-non-judgmental observation of the physical and psychological sensations that occur while eating (those who engage in this tend to have lower BMI's) -can adjust set point

Blind raters

-raters know nothing of the participants and don't know what the other raters are rating the stories

Leptin

-secreted by fat cells -plays a role in regulating food consumption and energy use -when levels decrease, your brain slows the rate at which you burn energy and increase your hunger levels -chronically high levels lead to leptin resistance (cells that absorb resist absorption, the brain feels as if it doesn't have enough, we feel hungry more easily) -crucial role in set point theory -those with more body fat have higher leptin levels and less fat have lower levels

Attachment figures serve what functions for a child?

-separation distress: the infant shows signs of distress when separated from attachment figures -proximity maintenance: the infant monitors the location of the figure and maintains a close distance -safe haven: seeks comfort from the figure when distressed or threatened -secure base: when the caregiver is reliable, the infant will have a sense of attachment in times of need

Need for power

-strong desires to be influential, capable of impacting one's environment, and wishes to be recognized -higher power motivation is linked with greater professional status -McClelland

Harry Harlow

-studied attachment in monkeys with artificial mothers (a cloth "mother" and a metal "mother" that fed the monkey) -the monkey chose the wire mother to feed him but runs to the cloth mother as soon as that is over- also ran to the cloth mother when the monkey was scared -theorized that children loved their parents because they fed them, which resulted in positive emotions

Murray and McClelland

-studied how motives impact mental states -formed the notion of psychological needs which refer to desired states -discrepancy between current states and desired states creates a motive -Murray believed that psychological needs had roots in biological needs but came to be somewhat independent as we develop -Murray came up with picture story exercises which were further refined by McClelland who focused more on basic motives which helped outline ways in which implicit and explicit motives are similar/different -McClelland viewed psychological motives as self-reinforcing

Settling Point Theory

-suggests that our set point is more flexible and more greatly impacted by lifestyle, environment, and culture -things in common with Set Point Theory: assumes that the body develops and internal sense of what is "normal" and uses this to determine hunger AND it also recognizes that leptin is highly involved -differs as it seeks to further integrate cultural, behavioral, and lifestyle factors into it -claims that our level of fat reaches a settling point based on how much we are consuming and burning

Attachment system

-the inborn biological systems regulating the attachment drive -promotes children to engage in behavior to gain proximity to caregivers -turns on when there is unwanted separation (see "attachment figures serve what functions for a child")

TOFI

-thin on the outside, fat on the inside -individuals often have a BMI in the normal or slightly overweight range, but have large quantities of fat inside (leads to negative health outcomes even if the person looks skinny) -done using MRI procedures

Explicit motivation

-thought/value based -more impacted by social norms -aware and/or self-attributed -predict the shorter-term

Drive-reduction theory

-views motivation as an arousal state that accompanies a deficit or deprivation state for a given need -when deprived of something we need, we experience uncomfortable arousal -built on the idea of homeostasis (our desire to seek equilibrium) -evokes a sort of negative-reinforcement approach -goal: homeostasis

Do higher or lower levels of arousal lead to better performance when one is performing a task that they find easy? Hard?

-when a task is easy or simple, higher levels lead to improved performance -when a task is hard, we perform better when our arousal is lower.

CCK (cholecystokinin)

a hormone secreted by the gastrointestinal system that aids in digestion and reduces hunger (counters the effects of ghrelin, which reduces feelings of hunger) -the release of this also triggers the release of peptide YY -when we fast, this decreases and makes up hungry

Insulin

a hormone secreted by the pancreas that helps cells absorb glucose and it also acts to suppress hunger (increases after we eat which decreases hunger)

Peptide YY

a hormone secreted by the small intestine that reduces the hunger drive (low levels allow us to feel hungry)

Felt security

the attachment theory term that refers to the individual's inner sense of feeling safe, calm, and loved, which satisfies attachment-related motives (attachment behavior is discontinued after this is reached)

Industrial-organizational (I/O) Psychology

the division of psychology that studies variables that impact workplace organization, performance, and satisfaction (apply psychology research to the workplace and use research methods to determine what is effective and what is not)

Explicit motives

the drives and striving of which we are consciously aware and may even consciously elect to pursue (more greatly influenced by social demands and self-serving bias, also guide deliberate behavior)

Satiety

the feeling we have when we have eaten enough

Motivation

-a theoretical construct -internal drives and desires that activate the organism to purse some goal

Implicit motivation

-associative in nature -less impacted by social norms -unaware or less aware of motivation/influence -predict longer term variables

Ghrelin

the "hunger hormone" which stimulates the lateral hypothalamus to create hunger motivation (secreted by the stomach lining and absorbed by the lateral hypo.)

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

(level 1) Physiological Needs, (level 2) Safety and Security, (level 3) Relationships, Love and Affection, (level 4) Self Esteem, (level 5) Self Actualization -initially studied human motivation by studying the lives of those who he viewed to be highly successful -created the hierarchy with the most primitive needs at the bottom (deficit needs) and the more advanced motives on top (being needs) -Maslow felt that when we viewed ourselves as competent to obtain the necessary resources at one level, this would allow us to move up the hierarchy and begin to cultivate new motives

WWII Deprivation Study

-Ancel Keys and Co (1950) -36 conscientious objectors participated -study on starvation -the participants experiences semi-starvation which resulted in losing about 25% of their body weight -the men experienced fatigue, listlessness, and slowed metabolic rates -psychologically, they became more irritable and their cognitive abilities declined -within a day, they became obsessed with food (mental lives became entirely focused on food)

Eating Studies

-Castro (1994, 2000) -demonstrated that people have a tendency to eat more when they are around more people

Set Point Theory

-Kennedy (1953) -suggests that over time, the body develops a sense of how much energy it needs in relation to how much energy it burns and uses this information to adjust hunger motivation over time (usually a range of about 10-pounds) -not entirely permanent by not easily changed -regulated by leptin

Strange situation

-Mary Ainsworth -researched in Uganda to study infant-caregiver interactions -a lab procedure used to study individual differences in attachment and to identify a child's attachment style -done using a series of separations and reunions between child and caregiver (the reunion is the part that is studied)

Ring Toss Study

-McClelland -participants completed a picture story exercise and their narratives were later coded by blind-raters for achievement motivation -the participants then played a ring toss game -they were allowed to choose where they stood and those with low achievement motivation stood either very close or very far from the ring -those with high achievement motivation selected distances where they are sometimes successful and sometimes not

Motivation Test Study

-McClelland -randomly assigned participants to experimental or control groups -those in the experimental group were told that they would take an important test that tapped their abilities while the control was told nothing -those in the experimental group had stories to the pictures that contained more achievement words and themes than those in the control group

Needs theory

-Murray (1938) -psychological drives act "as if" they are needs -when you feel that you haven't achieved something in a while, you grow "hungry" to satisfy the need for achievement -explains how psychological drives can act like biological motives

Picture Story Exercise (PSE)

-Murray (1943): also used by McClelland -participants or patients are shown an image and asked to think for a bit and then make up a story with a beginning, middle, and end based on the image

Internal Balloon Study

-Walter Cannon and A.L. Washburn (1912) -Washburn swallowed a balloon connected to a tube (when his stomach contracted, the pressure in the balloon changed) -pressed a button every time he felt a hunger sensation -showed a clear association between stomach contractions and hunger sensations

Yerkes-Dodson law

-Yerkes and Dodson (1908) -says that task performance is best when we have a moderate level of arousal (a bit aroused, but not overly) -accurate for tasks of moderate difficulty, but may not be for easy or difficult tasks (in easy situations, higher levels of arousal improve performance while low levels are better in difficult situations)

Need for affiliation

-a desire to connect with others, to interact socially, and to form mutually dependent relationships -higher implicit affiliation motivation has been linked to greater enjoyment of social interactions -McClelland

Need for achievement

-a desire to perform well based on some standard, to feel challenged, to develop a sense of mastery, and to avoid failure -high implicit achievement motives are linked to persisting on tasks, actively seeking out performance feedback, and striving for improvement -McClelland

Obesity

-a medical condition involving elevated levels of body fat that put an individual at risk for several health-related problems -consistently in the top-3 of preventable diseases in America -on the rise all over the world

Drives

Urges to perform certain behaviors in order to resolve physiological arousal when that arousal is caused by the biological needs of the organism

Motives are to ____________, as behaviors are to _____________.

a construct, observable actions

Intrinsic motivation

a desire to engage in some activity or behavior as a function of internal interest and/or to achieve a desired internal state (like pleasure)

Orexin

a hormone-like substance released by the lateral hypothalamus which regulates many basic motives including hunger (also makes us more sensitive to food-related cues like smell)

Waist circumference

a numerical measurement of the waist, used to assess an individual's abdominal fat and establish ideal body weight (used by some instead of BMI)

Body mass index (BMI)

a person's weight-to-heigh ratio which is calculated by taking a person's weight (in kilos) and dividing it by the square of that person's height (in meters) -obesity is >30 while <18 is underweight

Motivational interviewing

a psychotherapeutic treatment that helps people identify their goals and values and reflect on if their current actions are helping them achieve their goals or not (shown to be an effective treatment for substance abuse)

Glucose

a type of sugar in your bloodstream that supplies energy for your body tissues and cells (when levels get low, the liver sends signals to your lateral hypo. that tells it to create hunger sensations)

Instinct

an innate, fixed pattern of behavior automatically elicited by environmental stimuli

Bowlby and Ainsworth argued that the attachment system in humans is designed to...

balance needs for protection with needs for exploration

Ostracism

being actively excluded from a group (can lead to aggression, depression, and health issues) -proven that when we experience social rejection, the feeling is similar to actual physical pain

Extrinsic motivation

engaging in some activity or a behavior that brings something external that the individual needs or desires (like going to the opera with your parents so they'll let you go to a party later)

Basal metabolic rate

how much energy your body is using when it is at rest (more muscle raises the rate)

Long-term outcomes are better predicted by ____________ motives

implicit

How are explicit and implicit motives measured?

implicit- measured indirectly through free-response tasks (picture story exercises) explicit- assessed by asking individuals what they believe is motivating them, through interviews or self-report tests -small correlation between the two

Measures of implicit motives are _______ impacted by social Normas than measures of explicit motives.

less

People tend to eat ________ when there is more variety.

more

Implicit motives

motives that either exist outside of our awareness of influence us without our direct awareness (influence behavior in unstructured situations, respond to task-instrinsic incentives)

Sensation seeking

preferences for higher levels of arousal and a tendency to pursue sensory experiences

Ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus

the inner portion of the hypothalamus that is closer to the front which terminates feelings of hunger and creates feelings of satiety (when this part is lesioned, the individual has difficulty feeling full and discontinuing eating behaviors) -impacted by leptin, PYY, and insulin

Hunger

the motivational state (discomfort) that increases desire for food

Lateral hypothalamus

the outer portions of the hypothalamus that send signals that activate hunger and thirst motives (a disruption may result in you never feeling hunger or aphasia)

Metabolism

the process by which the food and liquids you consume are transformed and converted into energy

Unit bias

the tendency to think of food in terms of "units" rather than in terms of the actual amount when determining how much to consume (i.e. thinking of a 12 or 16-ounce soda as a unit)