Chapter 10 Motivation and Emotion

Defining Motivation, and a Model

• Dynamics of behavior that initiate, sustain, direct, and terminate actions

• Model of motivation– Need: Internal deficiency; causes drive– Drive: Energized motivational state (e.g.,

hunger, thirst); activates a response– Response: Action or series of actions

designed to attain a goal– Goal: Target of motivated behavior

Incentive Value

• Goal’s appeal beyond its ability to fill a need• Example: taste in addition to food as fuel• Style in addition to basic clothes protecting us

from the elements

Fig. 10-1ab, p. 321

Needs and incentives interact to determine drive strength. (a) Moderate need combined with a high-incentive goal produces a strong drive. (b) Even when a strong need exists, drive strength may be moderate if a goal’s incentive value is low. It is important to remember, however, that incentive value lies “in the eye of the beholder”

Fig. 10-1 (photo), p. 321

No matter how hungry, few people would be able to eat the pictured grub worms.

Types of Motives

• Biological motive: Innate (inborn) motives based on biological needs that must be met to survive e.g., hunger, thirst

• Stimulus motive: Needs for stimulation and information; appear to be innate, but not necessary for survival, overcoming boredom

• Learned motive: Based on learned needs, drives, and goals e.g., blogging, facebook updates

Homeostasis

• Steady state of body equilibrium; balance• We are generally trying to seek this in some

format when we alter our state of being or consciousness

Circadian Rhythms• Cyclical changes in bodily functions and arousal

levels that vary on a schedule approximating a 24-hour day, one way to assess circadian rhythms

• Our body temperatures change gradually when we are in deep sleep, we get a few degrees colder

• Pre-adaptation: Gradual matching of sleep-waking cycles to a new time schedule before an anticipated circadian rhythm change– e.g., trying to adjust to new time zone to avoid jet

lag• Melatonin: Hormone produced by pineal gland in

response to light (production suppressed) and dark (production increased)

Jet Lag

• Disturbed body rhythms caused by rapid travel east or west

• Major time shifts (5 hours or more) can cause very slow adaptation

• Direction of travel affects adaptation, and thus, severity of jet lag– Much easier to go east to west than west

to east

Hunger

• Hypoglycemia: Low blood sugar• Hypothalamus: Brain structure; regulates

many aspects of motivation and emotion, including hunger, thirst, and sexual behavior

• Feeding system: Area in the lateral hypothalamus that, when stimulated, initiates eating

• Satiety system: Area in the ventromedial hypothalamus that terminates eating

• keeps blood sugar levels steady by starting and stopping eating

Fig. 10-5, p. 324

More on Eating Behavior

• Neuropeptide Y (NPY): Substance in the brain that initiates eating; works on paraventricular nucleus in hypothalamus

• Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1): Substance in brain that terminates eating

• Set point: Proportion of body fat that is maintained by changes in hunger and eating; point where weight stays the same when you make no effort to gain or lose weight

Fig. 10-6, p. 325

Fig. 10-7, p. 325

Damage to the hunger satiety system in the hypothalamus can produce a very fat rat, a condition called hypothalamic hyperphagia (hi-per-FAGE-yah: overeating).

The Final Word on Eating Behavior

• Leptin: Substance released by fat cells that inhibits eating

• External eating cues: Signs and signals linked with food

Taste

• Taste aversion: Active dislike for a particular food – VERY difficult to overcome

• Bait shyness: Unwillingness or hesitation by animals to eat a particular food

Behavioral Dieting

• Weight reduction based on changing exercise and eating habits and not on temporary self-starvation

• Some keys– Start with a complete physical– Exercise– Be committed to weight loss

Behavioral Dieting (cont)

• Observe yourself, keep an eating diary, and keep a chart of daily progress

• Eat based on hunger, not on taste or learned habits that tell you to always clean your plate

• Avoid snacks• Learn to weaken personal eating cues

Fig. 10-8, p. 326

A near epidemic of obesity has occurred in the United States during the last 20 years, with 65 percent of all Americans now classified as overweight

What is the operational definition for “obese”?

Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa

• Active self-starvation or sustained loss of appetite that seems to have psychological origins– Control issues seem to be involved– Very difficult to effectively treat– Overwhelmingly affects adolescent

females• About 10% are male

Eating Disorders: Bulimia Nervosa

• Excessive eating (gorging) usually followed by self-induced vomiting and/or taking laxatives– Difficult to treat– Prozac and Zoloft approved by FDA to

treat bulimia nervosa• Affects more females than males

– About 25% are male

Table 10-1, p. 330

Causes of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa

• Anorexics and bulimics have exaggerated fears of becoming fat; they think they are fat when the opposite is true

• Bulimics are obsessed with food and weight; anorectics with perfect control

• Anorexics will often be put on a “weight-gain” diet to restore weight

• Treat with cognitive-behavioral techniques

Thirst

• Extracellular thirst: When water is lost from fluids surrounding the cells of the body

• Intracellular thirst: When fluid is drawn out of cells because of increased concentration of salts and minerals outside the cell – Best satisfied by drinking water

Pain Avoidance

• An episodic drive• Occurs in distinct episodes when bodily

damage takes place or is about to occur

p. 332

Tolerance for pain and the strength of a person’s motivation to avoid discomfort are greatly affected by cultural practices and beliefs

Sex Drive

• Sex drive: Strength of one’s motivation to engage in sexual behavior

• Estrus: Changes in sex drives in animals, which creates a desire for sex; females in heat

• Estrogen: A female sex hormone• Androgens: Male hormones• Non-homeostatic drive: Independent of bodily

need states or physical deprivation cycles

Non Sexual-Stimulus Drives

• Reflect needs for information, exploration, manipulation, and sensory input

• Arousal: Activation of the body and nervous system

• Hypo-stress: not enough arousal can make you bored, or tired, example with jobs

Yerkes-Dodson Law

• If a task is simple, it is best for arousal to be high; if it is complex, lower levels of arousal provide for the best performance

• Arousal theory: Assumes people prefer to maintain ideal, or comfortable, levels of arousal

• Sensation seeking: Trait of people who prefer high levels of stimulation, adventurers

Fig. 10-10, p. 333

Monkeys happily open locks that are placed in their cage. Because no reward is given for this activity, it provides evidence for the existence of stimulus needs.

Fig. 10-11, p. 335

The general relationship between arousal and efficiency can be described by an inverted U curve. The optimal level of arousal or motivation is higher for a simple task (b) than for a complex task (c).

Test Anxiety

• High levels of arousal and worry that seriously impair test performance

• How to Cope With Test Anxiety• Preparation• Relaxation• Rehearsal• Restructuring thoughts

Learned Motives

• Opponent-process theory: Strong emotions tend to be followed by an opposite emotional state; strength of both emotional states changes over time

• Social motives: Acquired by growing up in a particular society or culture

Some Needs

• Need for achievement (nAch): Desire to meet some internal standard of excellence

• Need for power: Desire to have social impact or control over others

Abraham Maslow and Needs

• Hierarchy of human heeds: Maslow’s ordering of needs based on presumed strength or potency; some needs are more powerful than others and thus will influence your behavior to a greater degree

Maslow’s Needs

• Basic needs: First four levels of needs in Maslow’s hierarchy – Lower needs tend to be more potent than

higher needs• Love and belonging• Need for esteem and self-esteem

• Growth needs: Higher-level needs associated with self-actualization

• Meta-needs: Needs associated with impulses for self-actualization

Fig. 10-13, p. 338

Types of Motivation

• Intrinsic motivation: Motivation coming from within, not from external rewards; based on personal enjoyment of a task or activity

• Extrinsic motivation: Based on obvious external rewards, obligations, or similar factors

Emotions

• State characterized by physiological arousal and changes in facial expressions, gestures, posture, and subjective feelings

• Adaptive behaviors: Aid our attempts to survive and adjust to changing conditions

• Physiological changes (in emotions): Include heart rate, blood pressure, perspiration, and other involuntary responses

More on Emotions

• Adrenaline: Hormone produced by adrenal glands that arouses the body

• Emotional expression: Outward signs of what a person is feeling

• Emotional feelings: Private emotional experience

Primary Emotions and Mood (Plutchik, 2003)

• Eight primary emotions– Fear– Surprise– Sadness– Disgust

– Anger– Anticipation– Joy– Trust

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)Door

• Neural system that connects brain with internal organs and glands– Activity’s automatic, not voluntary

• Sympathetic branch: Part of ANS that activates body for emergency action

• Parasympathetic branch: Part of ANS that quiets body and conserves energy– Parasympathetic rebound: Overreaction to

intense emotion

Fig. 10-17, p. 343

The parasympathetic branch of the ANS calms and quiets the body. The sympathetic branch arouses the body and prepares it for emergency action.

Lie Detectors

• Polygraph: Device that records changes in heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and galvanic skin response (GSR); lie detector

• GSR: Measures sweating

Questions Asked While Taking a Polygraph

• Irrelevant questions: Neutral, nonthreatening, non-emotional questions in a polygraph test

• Relevant questions: Questions to which only someone guilty should react

• Control questions: Questions that almost always provoke anxiety in a polygraph (e.g. “Have you ever taken any office supplies?”)

Fig. 10-18a, p. 344

(a) A typical polygraph includes devices for measuring heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and galvanic skin response. Pens mounted on the top of the machine make a record of bodily responses on a moving strip of paper.

Fig. 10-18b, p. 344

(b) Changes in the area marked by the arrow indicate emotional arousal. If such responses appear when a person answers a question, he or she may be lying, but other causes of arousal are also possible.

Body Language (Kinesics)

• Study of communication through body movement, posture, hand gestures, and facial expressions

• Facial blends: Mix of two or more basic expressions

Three Basic Dimensions of Facial Expressions

• Pleasantness–unpleasantness• Attention–rejection• Activation: Degree of arousal a person is

experiencing

Chameleon Effect

• Unconsciously imitating the postures, mannerisms, and facial expressions of others as we interact with them

Detecting Lies

• Illustrators: Gestures people use to illustrate what they are saying– Tend to decrease when person is lying

• Emblems: Gestures that have widely understood meanings within a particular culture– Tend to increase when person is lying

Theories of Emotion

James-Lange Theory

• Emotional feelings follow bodily arousal and come from awareness of such arousal

• Schachter’s Cognitive Theory Emotions occur when physical arousal is labeled or interpreted on the basis of experience and situational cues

• Cannon-Bard Theory Activity in the thalamus (in brain) causes emotional feelings and bodily arousal at the same time

Fig. 10-21, p. 349

Attribution

• Mental process of assigning causes to events; attributing arousal to a certain source

• Facial Feedback Hypothesis Sensations from facial expressions help define what emotion a person feels

• A Modern View of Emotion Emotional appraisal: Evaluating personal meaning of a stimulus or situation

• Emotional intelligence: Ability to perceive, use, understand, and manage emotions

Table 10-2, p. 350