Unit 8

Motivation: A need or desire that energizes behavior and directs it towards a goal.

Perspectives on motivation include:

Instinct Theory

Drive-Reduction Theory

Arousal Theory

Hierarchy of Needs

Instinct: Complex behaviors that have fixed patterns throughout different species and are not learned.

Drive-Reduction Theory: A psychological need creates an aroused tension state (drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need (Hull, 1951).

Homeostasis: The goal of drive reduction, maintaining a steady internal state (e.g., steady body temperature, blood sugar).

Incentive: Positive or negative stimuli that pull us towards reducing our drives.

Example: A food-deprived person who smells baking bread feels a strong hunger drive.

Yerkes-Dodson Law: Simple tasks → higher arousal = better performance; difficult tasks → lower arousal = better performance.

Abraham Maslow: Suggested that certain needs take priority over others. Physiological needs precede psychological ones.

Hierarchy of Needs: Maslow’s hierarchy, depicting human survival needs and psychological growth.

Glucose: Blood sugar level, regulated by insulin. Lower glucose triggers hunger. Neurons in stomach, liver, and intestines monitor levels and signal the hypothalamus.

Set Point: The body's “weight thermostat”; below this point, hunger increases and metabolism slows.

Basal Metabolic Rate: The body’s resting rate of energy expenditure.

William Masters: Described human sexual response cycle.

Virginia Johnson: Collaborated with Masters on human sexual response.

Sexual Response Cycle:

Excitement: Genitals prepare; breathing & heart rate increase.

Plateau: Excitement changes reach a peak.

Orgasm: Full-body contractions; sexual climax.

Resolution: Body returns to normal; males experience a refractory period.

Refractory Period: Post-orgasm period in males where the body returns to baseline.

Sexual Dysfunction: Abnormalities in sexual response.

Estrogen:

Males: Low, constant.

Females: Released from ovaries, peaks during fertility.

Testosterone:

Males: Primary hormone, high levels.

Females: Low levels from adrenal glands.

Emotion: A mix of:

Physiological activation

Expressive behaviors

Conscious experience

William James: Proposed, with Carl Lange, that physiological activity precedes emotional experience.

James-Lange Theory: Stimuli → arousal → emotion.

Cannon-Bard Theory: Stimuli → subcortical (thalamus) activity → emotion and arousal simultaneously.

Two-Factor Theory: Stimuli → cognitive thought + arousal → emotion.

Stanley Schachter: Along with Jerome Singer, proposed that emotions arise from physical arousal and cognitive labeling.

Polygraph: Lie detector that measures heart rate and breathing. Detects deception only 54% of the time.

Facial Feedback Effect: Manipulating facial expressions (e.g., furrowing brows) influences emotional experience (e.g., sadness).

Health Psychology: The study of biological, social, and psychological factors affecting health.

Stress: The process of perceiving and responding to stressors (events seen as threatening/challenging).

Hans Selye: Extended Cannon’s work on fight-or-flight response (1936, 1976). Proposed the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS).

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS):

Alarm Stage

Resistance Stage

Exhaustion Stage

Tend and Befriend Response:

People seek support under stress; more common in women.

Men tend to withdraw, use alcohol, or become aggressive.

Influenced by endorphins, oxytocin, and social factors.

Psychophysiological Illness: Stress-related physical illnesses (e.g., hypertension, headaches).

Psychoneuroimmunology: Study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes affect the immune system and health.

Lymphocytes: White blood cells in immune response:

B lymphocytes: Made in bone marrow; fight bacterial infections.

T lymphocytes: Formed in thymus; attack viruses, cancer, foreign substances.

Coronary Heart Disease: Blockage of the heart’s blood supply due to fatty build-up in coronary arteries.

Type A and B Personalities:

Type A: Competitive, aggressive; higher heart disease risk due to stress.

Type B: Relaxed, easygoing; lower stress-related health risks.