Unit VIII Test, Motivation and Emotion

Test information:

About 40 m.c. questions and

several essays

Study Reminders

• The textbook website has flashcards and practice questions after each module and at the end of the unit

• The course website also has the learning targets

Motivation

• Mods 37-40

Instinct/evolutionary 391

• Instinct complex, unlearned behavior exhibited by all members of a species

• Ex: bears hibernating

• Ex: birds building nests

Do humans have instincts?

• After Darwin explained ho evolution works psychologists tried to link every human behavior to an instinct

• Few if any human instincts exist

What we know: Genes predispose you to display specific behaviors

• This emphasizes biological factors

Drive-Reduction Theory, 391

A physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need (Hull, 1951).

Drive reduction theory and Homeostasis, 391

FoodDrive

Reduction

Organism

The physiological aim of drive reduction is homeostasis, the maintenance of a steady internal state (e.g., maintenance of steady body temperature).

Stomach FullEmpty Stomach(Food Deprived)

Drive Reduction and Incentives, 392

• A positive or negative stimulus that motivates behavior

• Fresh baked pizza to a hungry person as an example (if they like pizza!)

• Or money for a motivated employee

Optimum Arousal Theory, 392

Human motivation aims to seek optimum levels of arousal, not to eliminate it. Young monkeys and children are known to explore the environment.Optimal arousal explains why we exhibit curiosity, taking risks, and exploring. These reduce boredom.

Harlow

Prim

ate Laboratory, U

niversity of Wisconsin

Randy F

aris/ Corbis

Optimal arousal and the Yerkes Dodson law 392

• There’s an optimal level of arousal for performance

• Too much or not enough lead to lesser results

Hierarchy of Needs Theory, 393

Abraham Maslow (1970) suggested that certain needs have priority over others.

Physiological needs like breathing, thirst, and hunger come before psychological needs such as achievement, self-esteem, and the need for recognition. (1908-1970)

Challenging orthodoxy• Freud’s view of motivation was physiological.

• Skinner saw motivation as nothing more than “repertoires of behaviors” that are determined by reinforcements or punishments

• Maslow challenged these views: we are motivated by forces from within by our wishes and plans.

Hierarchy of Needs, 393

Hurricane Survivors

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David P

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Joe Skipper/ R

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The hypothalamus, 398

The hypothalamus controls eating and other body maintenance functions (body temp, thirst, sexual behavior, etc.)

The Physiology of Hunger

Body Chemistry and the Brain

Set-Point Theory, 398

Manipulating the lateral and the ventromedial hypothalamus alters the body’s “weight thermostat.”If weight is lost, food intake increases and energy expenditure decreases.

If weight is gained, the opposite takes place.

Ostracism and brain activity, 414• Social exclusion leads to

demoralization, depression, and at times nasty behavior.

• Can lead to changes in brain activity

• One example is cyber ostracism: unanswered email leads one to develop increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex

http://www.gluecksforschung.de/Hirnforschung/Anterior-Cingulate-Cortex.jpg

Social network influence, 416

• Social networking strengthens connections to people we already know.

• It also consumes a lot of our time.

Healthy disclosure, 417

• Narcissism:

• those who score high on this measure of self-esteem are active on social networking sites.

Module 82

Flow & Rewards, 827

Flow is the experience between no work and a lot of work. Flow marks immersion into one’s work.

Csikszentmihalyi, 828• People who “flow”

in their work (artists, dancers, composers etc.) are driven less by extrinsic rewards (money, praise, promotion) and more by intrinsic rewards.

82-5: Human Factors, 840

Human Factor Psychologists design machines that assist our natural perceptions.

The knobs for the stove burners on the right are easier to understand than those on the left.

Photodisc/ P

unchstock

Courtesy of G

eneral Electric

The Interviewer Illusion, 831Richard Nisbett: Interviewers often

overrate their discernment.1. Intention vs. Habits: Intensions matter, but

long- lasting habits matter even more.2. Successful Employees: Interviewers are

more likely to talk about those employees that turned out successful.

3. Presumptions about Candidates: Interviewers presume (wrongly) that what we see (candidate) is what we get.

4. Preconceptions: An interviewer’s prior knowledge about the candidate may affect her judgment.

360 degree feedback, 833

Appraising performance from multiple sources results in two things: 1) employee retention, and 2) the encouragement of better performance.

Achievement motives, 833

Achievement Motivation a desire for significant

accomplishment

Desire for control for mastery of things, people, ideas

or skills for attaining a high standard

Defined by Henry Murray, 1938

http://www.infoamerica.org/teoria/imagenes/murray_henry.jpg

Duckworth and grit, 834• Angela Duckworth:

this is essential for achievement

• Passion and perseverance in pursuing long term goals

Emotion

• Modules 41-42 and 83

James-Lange Theory, 421

William James and Carl Lange proposed an idea that was diametrically opposed to the common-sense view. The James-Lange Theory proposes that physiological activity precedes the emotional experience.

Cannon-Bard Theory

Walter Cannon and Phillip Bard questioned the James-Lange Theory and proposed that an emotion-triggering stimulus and the body's arousal take place simultaneously.

Two-Factor Theory (cognitive labeling), 422

Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer proposed yet another theory which suggests our physiology and cognitions create emotions. Emotions have two factors–physical arousal and cognitive label.

Spillover effect, 422Arousal from one event influences your emotional perception of the next event

Example: after an invigorating run you find a message on your phone that you got that long-sought job offer. You are much more excited than you would be if it was after waking up from a nap.

Cognition and Emotion

Cognition May Not Proceed Emotion: Zajonc, LeDoux & Lazarus

• Robert Zajonc

• LeDoux’s high and low road

Robert Zajonc’s theory

• Zajonc (zee-ons) says some emotion occurs before cognition

• For example, likes, dislikes and fears all involve no conscious thinking

http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2002/january23/911dialogue-a.html

Cognition and Emotion

Cognition May Not Proceed Emotion: Zajonc, LeDoux & Lazarus

• Lazarus

Cognition and Emotion, 423The brain’s shortcut for emotions

Richard Lazarus, 424

• Emotional responses can occur without thinking.

• We often “appraise” things without consciously thinking of them.

• He basically agrees with Schacter and Singer.

• There’s a labeling of an event.

Embodied Emotion

Emotions and the Autonomic Nervous System

Emotions, fear, and the Limbic System

A.   most human fears are learned

1. Biology predisposes us to learn some fears quickly

2. The amygdala associates fear with certain situations (part of the limbic system)

3. A limbic system response deep in the brain

Lie Detector

Polygraph machine commonly used in attempts to

detect lies measures several of the physiological

responses accompanying emotion perspiration heart rate blood pressure breathing changes

On what theory does the polygraph rest?

• Changes in physiological responses to questions indicate deception.

Guilty knowledge: only the person with knowledge of the crime would respond physiologically to the relevant questions.

What are several problems with the polygraph?

• 1. Responses could indicate nervousness or anxiety

• 2. It more often labels the innocent guilty than the guilty innocent

• 3. Pathological liars can defeat it

Gender and emotion detection, 434-435

• Women are generally better than men at detecting emotional cues.

• Also better at spotting a phony couple.• Women are more expressive when describing

felt emotion.• Women more likely to describe themselves

as empathic, having an emotional understanding of others’ feelings

• And they actually are more open to feelings.

Emotional Expression is universal, 435

When culturally diverse people were shown basic facial expressions, they did fairly well at

recognizing them (Ekman & Matsumoto, 1989).

Elkm

an & M

atsumoto, Japanese and

Caucasian F

acial Expression of E

motion

Culture, gestures and facial expressions

1. Gestures/ hand signals differ from culture to culture

2. All peoples interpret facial expressions similarly: genetic similarity

Gestures are not universal, 435

• Thumb and forefinger: • Most countries, money • France, something is

perfect

• Mediterranean countries, vulgar gesture

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

1. Relates to the James-Lange theory of emotion.

2. Physical reactions to events are the cause of the emotion.

3. In our class experiment: those in the “teeth” group should rate the cartoons as more funny as indicated by a higher mean (ave.) Likert scale score. Did they?

What does the research say?

• McCanne & Anderson, 1987: Experiments “yielded data consistent with the hypothesis that facial muscle activity contributes to the experience of emotions.”

• This is known as the facial feedback effect

Catharsis Hypothesis

•Catharsis– emotional release– catharsis hypothesis

• “releasing” aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

Catharsis research

Expressing anger breeds more anger, and through reinforcement it is habit-forming.It is only helpful to express it when you first wait for it to subside and then deal with the situation later in a civil manner.

Feel-Good, Do-Good Phenomenon

When we feel happy we are more willing to help others.

People’s tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood.

Happiness is not only relative to our past, but also to our comparisons with others.

Relative Deprivation is the perception that we are relatively worse off than those we compare ourselves with.

Relative deprivation

Experiencing Emotion, 851

Adaptation-Level Phenomenon 851 tendency to form judgements relative to a

“neutral” level brightness of lights volume of sound level of income

defined by our prior experience

Relative Deprivation 852 perception that one is worse off relative to

those with whom one compares oneself

Predictors of Happiness, 852

Why are some people generally more happy than others?