Psychology in Your Life: Chapter 9

Extrinsic Motivation

A desire to perform an activity because of the external goals that activity is directed toward.

Intrinsic Motivation

A desire to perform an activity because of the value or pleasure associated with that activity, rather than for an apparent external goal or purpose.

Resolution period (SRC)

A dramatic release of sexual tension and a slow return to a normal state of arousal.

James-Lange theory

Bodily responses are the basis for feeling emotions.

Excitation transfer

Leftover physiological arousal caused by one event is transferred to a new stimulus.

Habit

A behavior that consistently reduces a drive over time.

Estrogens

A class of hormones that are associated with sexual behavior and are more prevalent in females; estradiol is one example.

Androgens

A class of hormones that are associated with sexual behavior and are more prevalent in males; testosterone is one example.

Drive

A psychological state that, by creating arousal, motivates an organism to engage in a behavior to satisfy a need.

Need

A state of biological or social deficiency.

Need Hierarchy

An arrangement of needs, in which basic survival needs must be met before people can satisfy higher needs.

Secondary Emotions

Blends of primary emotions; they include remorse, guilt, shame, submission, and anticipation.

Homeostasis

Coined by Walter Cannon in the 1920s to describe the tendency for bodily functions to remain in equilibrium.

Orgasm phase (SRC)

Consists of involuntary muscle contractions throughout the body, dramatic increases in breathing and heart rate, rhythmic contractions of the vagina for women, and ejaculation of semen for men.

Self-determination theory

Extrinsic rewards may reduce the intrinsic value of an activity because such rewards undermine our feeling that we are choosing to do something for ourselves.

Motivation

Factors of differing strength that energize, direct, and sustain behavior.

Emotion

Feelings that involve subjective evaluation, physiological processes, and cognitive beliefs.

Schacter-Singer two-factor theory

How a person thinks about and labels bodily responses is the basis for emotions.

Misattribution of arousal

Mistaken identification of the source of arousal.

Pleasure Principle

Motivates people to seek pleasure and avoid pain.

Directive

Motivation guides our behaviors toward meeting specific goals or needs.

Sustain

Motivation helps one sustain behavior until they achieve goals or satisfy needs.

Activating

Motivation simulates us to do something.

Differ in Strength

Motives differ in strength depending on person and situation.

Self-actualization (Maslow)

Occurs when people achieve their personal dreams and aspirations.

Excitement phase (SRC)

Occurs when people contemplate sexual activity or when they begin kissing and touching in a sensual manner.

Humor

Simple, effective method of regulating negative emotions.

Self-perception theory

States that we are seldom aware of our specific motives but instead make inferences about our motives according to what seems to make the most sense.

Self-efficacy

The expectation that your efforts will lead to success.

Need to belong theory

The need for interpersonal attachments is a fundamental motive that has evolved for adaptive purposes.

Achievement Motivation

The need, or desire, to attain a certain standard of excellence.

Creativity

The tendency to generate ideas or alternatives that may be useful in solving problems, communicating, and entertaining ourselves and others.

Double Standard

This unwritten law stipulates that premarital or casual sex is morally and socially acceptable for men but not for women.

Sexual Response Cycle

A four-stage pattern of physiological and psychological responses during sexual activity.

Leptin

A hormone that is associated with decreasing eating behavior based on long-term body fat regulation.

Ghrelin

A hormone that is associated with increasing eating behavior based on short-term signals in the bloodstream.

Guilt

A negative emotional state associated with anxiety, tension, and agitation.

Yerkes-Dodson law

Describes the relationship between arousal, motivation, and performance. It states that performance increases with arousal up to an optimal point after which more arousal will result in decreasing performance.

Set point

Desired point

Reappraisal

Directly alter our emotional reactions to events by thinking about those events in more neutral terms.

Refractory period (SRC)

During which the man is temporarily unable to maintain an erection or have an orgasm.

Rumination

Involves thinking about, elaborating, and focusing on undesired thoughts or feelings.

Primary Emotions

Evolutionary adaptive emotions that are shared across cultures and associated with specific physical states; they include anger, fear, sadness, disgust, happiness, and possibly surprise and contempt.

Incentives

External objects or external goals, rather than internal drives, that motivate behaviors.

Emotion label (SS)

In other words, when we experience arousal, we search for its source so we can explain it cognitively.

Humanistic Psychology

People strive toward personal fulfillment (Maslow's theory).

Affect-as-information theory

People use their current moods to make decisions, judgments, and appraisals, even if they do not know the sources of the moods.

Arousal

Physiological activation (such as increased brain activity) or increased autonomic responses (such as increased heart rate, sweating, or muscle tension).

Cannon-Bard theory

Processing in the brain is the cause of emotions and bodily responses at the same time.

Plateau phase (SRC)

Pulse rate, breathing, and blood pressure increase, as do various other signs of arousal.

Display Rules

Rules that are learned through socialization and that dictate what emotions are suitable in certain situations.

Distraction

The best way to avoid the problems that come with those mistakes.

Sexual Strategies Theory

Women and men have evolved distinct mating strategies because they have faced different adaptive problems over the course of human history. The strategies used by each sex maximize the probability of passing along their genes to future generations.