Chapter 13
Motivation and Emotion
Motives and emotions
 Motives are specific inner needs and wants
that direct us toward a goal
 Emotions are feelings or experiences such as
joy or surprise which also activate behavior,
but in a less predictable way than motives
 Drive Reduction Theory- states that we have
certain drives like thirst, hunger, and
tiredness. When we experience those drives
we have a need to reduce those unpleasant
states of tension and return to our bodies
state of balance called homeostasis.
Primary Drive
 An unlearned drive that triggers a state of
arousal or tension is called a primary drive.
Ex. Hunger, thirst or sex.
 Hunger is caused by a drop of simple sugar
glucose in our bodies. When our level of
glucose drops below a certain level the
hunger center of the brain is triggered. The
stomach sends the message to the brain.
When food enters the small intestine,
hormones are sent to the brain to reduce the
feelings of hunger.
HOLY COW!!!
 Look at the rat on page 304!
There are two regulators of thirst…
 One regulator: Level of fluids in body’s cells.
Salt intake causes water to leave these cells.
When the level of sodium in the blood gets
low enough the thirst center of the brain is
triggered.
 Other regulator: level of water outside the
body’s cells. When the amount dips too low,
the amount of blood reaching the kidneys
gets low. Brain is then triggered by lack of
blood to kidneys and thirst is created
Sex
 Although sex is not necessary for the survival
of one person it is necessary for the survival
of a species. Because of this it is considered
a primary drive
 Men and women both have testosterone
which is the strongest biological influence of
the sex drive.
 It is also said that pheromones are given off
to affect the sexual readiness of others
Sex
 The sexual response cycle for humans
progresses through 4 stages: Arousal,
plateau, orgasm, and resolution.
 Men tend to be more aroused by visual cues
whereas women tend to be more aroused by
touch
 What we consider to be sexually attractive is
influenced by society and our culture.
Stimulus Motives
 There are two stimulus motives you need to
know. The desire to manipulate and contact.
 The desire to manipulate is related to the
need to know about something or gain
knowledge
 Manipulation involves holding something,
touching it, playing with it etc.
 Contact is needed for closeness and affection
Learned motives
 Aggression and Sexual Coercion
 Aggression is any behavior that is intended to
inflict physical or psychological harm to
others.
 Most psychologists believe aggression is a
response modeled after the behavior we see
and learn from others.
Sexual coercion
 Is a term used to describe the variety of
behaviors from rape to a less extreme form
like sexual harassment
 Research has found that when studying
convicted rapists the researchers found that
power, anger, and hatred are most commonly
given for the motives for rape.
Abraham Maslow
 Came up with a hierarchy of needs.
 The lower motives are simple motives
needed for survival. As you go up the pyramid
and move to the higher motives they become
more complex.
 Lower motives must be met first before higher
motives can be met.
Yerkes-Dodson
 This law says the more complex the task the
more chance our emotions will disrupt our
performance. For example being angry may
not effect your ability to walk but might affect
your ability to drive because that task is more
complex.
 Robert Plutchik came up with the idea that
humans and animals experience 8 basic
emotions.
Plutchik’s 8 basic emotions
 Fear
 Surprise
 Sadness
 Disgust
 Anger
 Anticipation
 Joy
 Acceptance
Plutchik’s 8 basic emotions cont.
 He believed that a combination of two of
these can produce a wider range of emotions.
For example, a combination of joy and
acceptance produce love.
Assignment
 Create a flip chart with Maslow’s Hierarchy of
needs.
 Use definitions from the book to explain each
step!
Theories in Psych
 James Lange theory says that stimuli causes
physiological changes in our bodies and
emotions result from these changes
 Canon Bard theory says that emotions and
bodily responses occur simultaneously. For
example, if we were approached by a bear in
the woods the hair would stand up on our
neck and we would become frightened at the
same time.