AP PSYCH
We decided to take AP psych instead of regular psych because we were motivated to
take a challenging course and wanted to gain credit for college.
MOTIVATION
Motivation- a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior
AARON RALSTON
Aaron Ralston was an experienced mountaineer that got his wrist stuck between a
rock and a cliff. Nothing he did could remove the large rock so to escape he broke
his bones and cut off his arm.
THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
Instinct theory- focuses on genetically predisposed behaviors
Due to the popularity of Darwin’s theory popularity, early instinct psychologists were
simply naming behaviors rather than explaining them.
Drive-reduction theory- focuses on how our inner pushes and external pulls interact
THEORIES MOTIVATION 2
Arousal theory – focuses on finding the right level of stimulation
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs- describes how some of our needs take priority over
others
INSTINCT
Instinct- a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is
unlearned
 Chatper 5- imprinting in birds
Chapter 7- return of salmon to their birthplace 
DIFFERENCE OF ORGANISMS
The more complex an organism’s nervous system is, the more they are able to learn. Human’s can
change their behavior to build different houses but the bird must build one type of nest.
GENES STUDIES
Twin studies show us that genes predispose us to typical behaviors because twins
separated at birth reported having similar habits and hobbies.
John Garcia’s studies on taste aversion show us that genes predispose us to typical
behaviors because rats learned to stop drinking the water because they had
gotten radiation poisoning. Even if they got nausea several hours after receiving
radiation poisoning they still avoided the water.
HOMEOSTASIS
Homeostasis- the body's ability to physiologically regulate its inner environment to
ensure its stability in response to fluctuations in the outside environment and the
weather.
“Human’s bodies work to maintain a state of regularity”
DRIVE REDUCTION THEORY
Drive reduction theory- idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state that
drives the organism to reduce the need by, say, eating or drinking.
-when a physiological need increases, so does a psychological drive—an aroused,
motivated state
ZUCKERMAN’S STUDY
Those who enjoy high arousal are most likely to enjoy intense music, novel foods, and risky
behaviors (Zuckerman, 1979).
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Hierarchy of needs - Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with
physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs
and then psychological needs become active.
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS 2
The order of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is not universally fixed. People have starved
themselves to make a political statement. Nevertheless, the simple idea that
some motives are more compelling than others provides a framework for thinking
about motivation.
POOR VS. WEALTHY NATIONS
In poorer nations that lack easy access to money and the food and shelter it buys,
financial satisfaction more strongly predicts feelings of well-being. In wealthy
nations, where most are able to meet basic needs, home-life satisfaction is a
better predictor. Self-esteem matters most in individualist nations, whose citizens
tend to focus more on personal achievements than on family and community
identity.
ANCEL KEYS STUDY OF SEMISTARVATION
Ancel Keys conducted a study where he fed 36 male volunteers just enough to
maintain their initial weight. Then, for six months, they cut this food level in half.
The effects soon became visible. Without thinking about it, the men began
conserving energy; they appeared listless and apathetic. After dropping rapidly,
their body weights eventually stabilized at about 25 percent below their starting
weights. Especially dramatic were the psychological effects. Consistent with
Maslow’s idea of a needs hierarchy, the men became food-obsessed. They talked
food. They daydreamed food. They collected recipes, read cookbooks, and
feasted their eyes on delectable forbidden foods. Preoccupied with their
unfulfilled basic need, they lost interest in sex and social activities.
DOROTHEA DIX
“nobody wants to kiss when they are hungry” ~ Dorothea Dix
The basic needs of humans must be met before they are able to progress in life and
experience intense emotion
IRISH PROVERB
“The full person does not understand the needs of the hungry”~ Irish proverb
It is hard to understand another person’s situation if you’ve never experienced what
they are going through especially with something as devastating as hunger
TSANG’S 1938 STUDY
Over 90% of the stomach was removed from seven rats and their behavior in a maze
and in activity cages was studied. After one day's fasting the gastrectomized rats
were almost as well motivated as normals in the first trial of the maze. With
additional trials on the same day the operated rats increased much faster than
the normal rats in both time and error scores. The activity records showed that
the gastrectomized animals were three times more active one hour before
feeding than one hour after feeding; but they were less active than normal rats.
The results show that the enteric tract is the principal source of the motivation, an
empty stomach being probably the necessary condition. Contractions of the
stomach per se are not the cause of the motivation.
GLUCOSE AND INSULIN
•
main type of sugar in the blood and is the major source of energy for the body's
cells.
•
Glucose comes from the foods we eat or the body can make it from other
substances.
•
Glucose is carried to the cells through the bloodstream.
•
Several hormones, including insulin, control glucose levels in the blood
LATERAL HYPOTHALAMUS
-when stimulated, food intake is increased
-destruction ends food intake
When a rat is food-deprived, its blood sugar levels wane and the lateral hypothalamus
churns out the hunger-triggering hormone orexin. When given orexin, rats become
ravenously hungry (Sakurai et al., 1998).
VENTROMEDIAL HYPOTHALAMUS
-
Stimulating would cause you to stop eating
Destroying would cause you to be hungry
SET POINT
Set point- “weight thermostat” that alters due to hunger and weight
BASAL METOBALIC RATE
Basal metobalic rate- body’s resting rate of energy expenditure- reduces caloric intake
by half, energy level drops as well
NEOPHOBIA
Neophobia- fear trying and experiencing new things
VARIETY IN TASTE
Hot cultures like hot spices. Countries with hot climates, in which food historically
spoiled more quickly, feature recipes with more bacteria-inhibiting spices
(Sherman & Flaxman, 2001). India averages nearly 10 spices per meat recipe;
Finland, 2 spices.
UNIT BIAS
unit bias- people believe that the amount given to them is the appropriate portion
size
•
nutrition experts took 31 percent more when given a big rather than small bowl
•
15 percent more when scooping it with a big scoop rather than a small one
•
For cultures struggling with rising obesity rates, the principle—that ecology
influences eating—implies a practical message: Reduce standard portion sizes,
and serve food with smaller bowls, plates, and utensils.
ANOREXIA NERVOSA
•
¾ of diagnosed are females
•
15% below normal weight
•
Obsessed with losing weight
BULIMIA NERVOSA
•
Those diagnosed binge on fatty foods
•
Use vomiting, laxatives and fasting to lose weight after their binge
•
Exercise excessively
•
Weight fluctuations
•
Easier to hide than anorexia
BINGE EATING DISORDER
Binge eating disorder- binge eating accompanied by feelings of remorse
PIKE AND RODIN STUDY
Mothers of girls with eating disorders tend to focus on their own weight and on their
daughters’ weight and appearance
JACOBI’S STUDY
Families of bulimia patients have a higher-than-usual incidence of childhood obesity
and negative self-evaluation (Jacobi et al., 2004).
PATE AND YATES STUDY
Families of anorexia patients tend to be competitive, high-achieving, and protective
(Pate et al., 1992; Yates, 1989, 1990).
ANOREXIC SUFFERERS
•
Perfectionist standards
•
Fear the possibility of falling short of expectations
•
Intensely concerned about other’s news
•
Low self-evaluation
EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE
Genetics may influence susceptibility to eating disorders
Twins are somewhat more likely to share the disorder if they are identical rather than
fraternal
(Fairburn et al., 1999; Kaplan, 2004).
DIFFERENCE IN CULTURES
•
These disorders have cultural and gender components
•
Body ideals vary across culture and time. In India, women students rate their
ideals as close to their actual shape
•
In much of Africa—where plumpness means prosperous and thinness can signal
poverty, AIDS, and hunger—bigger seems better
GENDER DIFFERENCES
In one study of New Zealand university students and 3500 British bank and university
staff, men were more likely to be overweight and women were more likely to
perceive themselves as overweight
(Emslie et al., 2001; Miller & Halberstadt, 2005).
GENDER DIFFERENCES 2
In another study at the University of Michigan, men and women donned either a
sweater or a swimsuit and completed a math test while alone in a changing room
For the women but not the men, wearing the swimsuit triggered selfconsciousness and shame that disrupted their math performance.
(Fredrickson et al., 1998).
LEVER’S STUDY
•
9/10 women prefer to have a better body than their partner
•
6/10 men want to have a mate with a better body rather than themselves
CLINICALLY OBESE
•
Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more
•
rising obesity rates around the world trail the American rates by just a few years
and are projected to increase further, resulting in a “global epidemic” of diabetes
OBESITY
Life threatening risks
•
Diabetes
•
High blood pressure
•
Heart disease
•
Arthritis
•
Cancer
APPLE VS PEAR
Risks are greater for apple-shaped people who carry their weight in pot bellies than
for pear-shaped people with ample hips and thighs
OBESE PEOPLE
•
•
stereotype
• slow
• Lazy
• sloppy
BMI of 30 or more
ECONOMIC IMPACT
•
Obese people make $7000 less a year compared to people that aren’t obese
(Gortmaker, 1993)
•
When conducting a study on job discrimination a person who acted the same with
a fat suit on was rated as less qualified than when they were not wearing the fat
suit
(Pingitore)
LOSING WEIGHT
when caloric intake plunges,
weight will decrease and then
level off because metabolism drops
FIDGETING
Fidgeting contributes to weight loss because it is a chance to burn extra calories
GENETIC INFLUENCE ON WEIGHT
☼ Adoptive sibling’s weights are not correlated
☼ Identical twins have similar weights
☼ given an obese parent, a boy is three times, and a girl six times, more likely to be
obese than their counterparts with normal-weight parents
☼ Scientists have discovered many different genes that influence body weight. One
gene scan of 40,000 people worldwide identified a variant of a gene called
FTO, which nearly doubles the risk of becoming obese
SLEEPING AND WEIGHT GAIN
When you are sleep deprived, levels of leptin (which reports body fat to the brain) fall
and ghrelin (the stomach hormone that stimulates appetite) counts rise
SOCIAL INFLUENCE
•
One research team followed the social networks of 12,067 people whom they had
closely studied for 32 years (Christakis & Fowler, 2007).
•
They discovered that people were most likely to become obese when a friend
became obese. If the friend who became obese is a close mutual friend, the odds
of one’s likewise becoming obese almost tripled. (Their analysis showed that the
correlation among friends’ weights was not simply a matter of seeking out similar
people as friends.)
HU’S STUDY
In a massive long-term study of 50,000 nurses, researchers found—even after
controlling for exercise, smoking, age, and diet—that each two-hour increase in
daily TV watching predicted a 23 percent obesity increase and a 7 percent
diabetes increase (Hu et al., 2003).
COMPARING GENERATIONS EATING HABITS
•
Compared with our counterparts in the early 1900s, we are eating a higher-fat,
higher-sugar diet, expending fewer calories, and suffering higher rates of diabetes
at younger ages (
•
Just since 1971, women are eating 300 more calories a day and men nearly 200
calories more
•
They are eating three times as many meals in fast-food restaurants (
•
Today’s teens consume twice as much soda as milk—the reverse of a quartercentury ago
INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGISTS
In order to combat obesity, new stadiums, theaters and subway cars are widening
their seats to accommodate the population growth
ENVIRONMENTAL REFORMS
Psychologist Kelly Brownell has been campaigning for these and other environmental
reforms:
•
Establish a fast-food–free zone around schools.
•
Slap an extra tax on calorie-laden junk food and soft drinks
•
Use the revenues to subsidize healthy foods and to finance health-supportive
nutritional advertising.
LOSING WEIGHT
Millions can vouch that it is possible to lose weight; they have done it lots of
times. But short of drastic surgery to tie off part of the stomach and small
intestine, most who succeed on a weight-loss program eventually regain the lost
weight or more (Mann et al., 2007).
Ryan Benson lost 122 pounds to win the first season of the TV reality show, “The
Biggest Loser.” But then, like so many, he found maintaining the loss an even
bigger challenge.
LOSING WEIGHT 2
For those who wish to take off a few pounds, researchers have offered these tips.
Begin only if you feel motivated and self-disciplined. For most people, permanent weight loss requires
making a career of staying thin—a lifelong change in eating habits combined with gradually increased
exercise.
Minimize exposure to tempting food cues. Keep tempting foods out of the house or out of sight. Go to the
supermarket only on a full stomach, and avoid the sweets and chips aisles. Eat simple meals, with only
a few different foods; given more variety, people consume more.
Eat healthy foods. Whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats such as those found in olive oil and fish
help regulate appetite and artery-clogging cholesterol (Taubes, 2001, 2002).
Don’t starve all day and eat one big meal at night. This eating pattern, common among overweight
people, slows metabolism. Moreover, those who eat a balanced breakfast are, by late morning, more
alert and less fatigued (Spring et al., 1992).
THE PHYSIOLOGY OF SEX
•
In the 1960s, gynecologistobstetrician William Masters and
Virginia Johnson made headlines by
recording the physiological responses
of volunteers who masturbated or had
intercourse.
•
With the help of 382 female and 312
male volunteers—a somewhat atypical
sample, consisting only of people able
and willing to display arousal and
orgasm while being observed in a
laboratory—Masters and Johnson
monitored or filmed more than 10,000
sexual “cycles.”
•
Their description of the sexual
response cycle identified four
stages, similar in men and women.
SEXUAL RESPONSE CYCLE
sexual response cycle: the four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and
Johnson—excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution
MEN
WOMEN
EXCITEMENT
PHASE
-Genital areas engorged with blood
-Vagina expands and secretes
lubricant
-- Beasts and nipples may enlarge
PLATEAU
PHASE
-breathing, pulse, and blood
pressure rates continue to increase
- Penis becomes fully engorged,
fluid visible at tip
-breathing, pulse, and blood
pressure rates continue to increase
-Vaginal secretion continues to
increase, the clitoris retracts, and
orgasm feels imminent
-further increases in
breathing, pulse, and blood
pressure rates
-further increases in
breathing, pulse, and blood
pressure rates
-arousal and orgasm facilitate
conception by helping propel
semen from the penis, positioning
the uterus to receive sperm, and
drawing the sperm further inward
DURING ORGASM
GENDER SIMILARITY IN ORGASMS
When men and women undergo PET scans while having
orgasms, the same subcortical brain regions glow
REFRACTORY PERIOD
A resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm.
SEXUAL DISORDERS
•
a problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning
•
For men- premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction (inability to have or
maintain an erection)
•
For women, the problem may be orgasmic dysfunction (infrequently or never
experiencing orgasm).
GENETIC INFLUENCE
•
study of several hundred Australian identical and fraternal twins reveals that
women’s orgasm frequency is genetically influenced (Dawood et al., 2005).
•
genetic factor that accounted for 51 percent of the variation in frequency of
orgasm via masturbation could account for only 31 percent of the variation in
frequency of orgasm via intercourse.
HORMONES
Estrogen - sex hormones, such as estradiol, secreted in greater amounts by females than by males
and contributing to female sex characteristics. In nonhuman female mammals, estrogen levels
peak during ovulation, promoting sexual receptivity
Testosterone - the most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the
additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the
development of the male sex characteristics during puberty
Man embracing his estrogen: http://www.spike.com/video-clips/x8gnap/john-tucker-must-die-theyrebreezy
SEXUAL DESIRE RISES DURING OVULATION
•
One study invited partnered women not at risk for pregnancy to keep a diary of
their sexual activity. (These women were either using intrauterine devices or had
undergone surgery to prevent pregnancy.)On the days around
ovulation, intercourse was 24 percent more frequent(Wilcox et al., 2004).
•
Other studies find that women fantasize more about sex with desirable partners
and wear more sexually attractive clothing around ovulation (Haselton et
al., 2006; Pillsworth & Haselton, 2006; Sheldon et al.,2006).
•
In a study of 5300 strip-club lap dancers, their hourly tips almost doubled on the
days near ovulation, compared with days during menstruation (Miller et al., 2007)
SEXUAL AROUSAL
•
fluctuations in male hormones are partly a response to sexual stimulation.
•
When James Dabbs and his colleagues(1987, 2000) had heterosexual male
collegians converse separately with another male student and with a female
student, the men’s testosterone levels rose with the social arousal, but especially
after talking with the female.
LOSS OF SEX DRIVE
•
When men are castrated, their sex drive typically falls as testosterone levels
decline
•
When sex offenders take Depo-Prevera , a drug that reduces testosterone level to
that of a prepubertal boy, similarly lose much of their sexual urge
HUMAN NEEDS
Hunger is a greater need than sex because although sex is needed to reproduce in
order to maintain population, food is needed to keep people alive
LEVELS OF ANALYSIS FOR SEXUAL MOTIVATION
Compared with our motivation for eating, our sexual motivation is less
influenced by biological factors. Psychological and social-cultural factors
play a bigger role.
EROTICA
•
Surprising to many (because sexually explicit materials are sold mostly to men) is
that most women report or exhibit nearly as much arousal to the same stimuli
•
(Their brains do, however, respond differently, with fMRI scans revealing a more
active amygdala in men viewing erotica
EROTICA 2
•
Depictions of women being sexually
coerced—and enjoying it—tend to
increase viewers’ acceptance of the
false idea that women enjoy rape, and
they tend to increase male viewers’
willingness to hurt women (Malamuth
& Check, 1981; Zillmann, 1989).
•
Viewing images of sexually attractive
women and men may also lead people
to devalue their own partners and
relationships. After male collegians
view TV or magazine depictions of
sexually attractive women, they often
find an average woman, or their own
girlfriend or wife, less
attractive (Kenrick &
Gutierres, 1980; Kenrick et
al., 1989; Weaver et al., 1984).
•
Viewing X-rated sex films similarly
tends to diminish people’s satisfaction
with their own sexual
partner (Zillmann, 1989).Some sex
researchers suspect that reading or
watching erotica may create
expectations that few men and women
can fulfill.
SEXUAL AROUSAL DURING SLEEP
Sleep researchers have discovered that genital arousal accompanies all types of
dreams, even though most dreams have no sexual content.
In nearly all men and some 40 percent of women, dreams sometimes contain
sexual imagery that leads to orgasm (Wells, 1986).
In men, nighttime orgasm and nocturnal emissions (“wet dreams”) are more likely
when orgasm has not occurred recently.
TWIN STUDY
A recent twin study found that environmental factors accounted for almost threefourths of the individual variation in age of sexual initiation (Bricker et al., 2006).
Family and cultural values matter.
SEXUAL IGNORANCE
One survey of Canadian teens revealed that although 9 in 10 claimed to be
knowledgeable, many were unaware that STIs can be transmitted through oral
sex(which two-thirds had engaged in);
only 19 percent had heard of HPV (human papillomavirus, a leading cause of
genital warts and cervical cancer);
only 37 percent mentioned infertility as a possible result of chlamydia.
ALCOHOL AND SEXUAL ACTIVITY
•
Sexually active teens are typically alcohol-using teens
•
those who use alcohol prior to sex are less likely to use
•
By depressing the brain centers that control judgment, inhibition, and selfawareness, alcohol tends to break down normal restraints, a phenomenon well
known to sexually coercive males.
MEDIA INFLUENCE
•
An average hour of prime-time television on the three major U.S. networks
contains approximately 15 sexual acts, words, and innuendos. The partners are
usually unmarried, with no prior romantic relationship, and few communicate any
concern for birth control or sexually transmitted infections
•
The more sexual content adolescents view (even when controlling for other
predictors of early sexual activity), the more likely they are to perceive their peers
as sexually active, to develop sexually permissive attitudes and to experience
early intercourse
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS
•
A recent Centers for Disease Control study of sexually experienced 14- to 19-yearold U.S. females found 39.5 percent had STIs
•
To comprehend the mathematics of transmitting these infections, imagine this
scenario: Over the course of a year, Pat has sex with 9 people, each of whom over
the same period has sex with 9 other people, who in turn have sex with 9
others. How many “phantom” sex partners (past partners of partners) will Pat
have? Laura Brannon and Timothy Brock
PREVENTION
Thailand promoted 100 percent condom use by commercial sex workers. Over a fouryear period, as condom use soared from 14 to 94 percent, the annual number of
bacterial STIs plummeted from 410,406 to 27,362
PREDICTORS OF SEXUAL RESTRAINT
High intelligence Teens with high rather than average intelligence test scores more often
delay sex, evidently because they appreciate possible negative consequences and are
more focused on future achievement than on here-and-now pleasures(Halpern et
al., 2000).
Religious engagement Actively religious teens and adults more often reserve sex for
marital commitment (Rostosky et al., 2004; Smith, 1998).
Father presence In studies following hundreds of New Zealand and U.S. girls from age 5
to 18, a father’s absence was linked to sexual activity before age 16 and teen
pregnancy (Ellis et al., 2003). These associations held even after adjusting for other
adverse influences, such as poverty.
Participation in service learning programs Several experiments have found lower
pregnancy rates among teens volunteering as tutors or teachers’ aides or
participating in community projects, than found among comparable teens randomly
assigned to control conditions (Kirby, 2002; O’Donnell et al., 2002).
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
sexual orientation: an enduring sexual attraction toward members of either one’s own
sex (homosexual orientation) or the other sex (heterosexual orientation)
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
•
In Europe and America the most accurate figure seems to be about 3 or 4
percent of men and 1 or 2 percent of women(Laumann et al., 1994; Mosher et
al., 2005; Smith, 1998).
•
Estimates derived from the sex of unmarried partners reported in the 2000
U.S. Census suggest that 2.5 percent of the population is gay or
lesbian (Tarmann, 2002).
•
Fewer than 1 percent of survey respondents—for example, 12 people out of 7076
Dutch adults in one survey (Sandfort et al., 2001)—reported being actively
bisexual.
•
A larger number of adults in that study reported having had an isolated
homosexual experience.
FRATERNAL BIRTH EFFECT
•
Men who have older brothers are somewhat more likely to be gay, about one-third more likely
for each additional older brother
•
If the odds of homosexuality are roughly 2 percent among first sons, they would rise to nearly 3
percent among second sons, 4 percent for third sons, and so on for each additional older
brother
•
Blanchard suspects a defensive maternal immune response to foreign substances produced by
male fetuses. With each pregnancy with a male fetus, the maternal antibodies may become
stronger and may prevent the fetus’ brain from developing in a male-typical pattern. Consistent
with this biological explanation, the fraternal birth-order effect occurs only in men with older
brothers from the same mother (whether reared together or not).
•
Sexual orientation is unaffected by adoptive brothers(Bogaert, 2006).
EROTICISM
•
In men, a high sex drive is associated with increased attraction to women (if
heterosexual) or men (if homosexual).
•
In women, a high sex drive is associated with increased attraction to both men
and women (Lippa, 2006, 2007).
•
When shown pictures of heterosexual couples, in either erotic or nonerotic
contexts, heterosexual men look mostly at the woman while heterosexual women
look more equally at both the man and the woman (Lykins et al., 2008).
•
And when shown sexually explicit film clips, men’s genital and subjective sexual
arousal is mostly to preferred sexual stimuli(for heterosexual viewers, depictions
of women).
•
Women respond more nonspecifically to depictions of sexual activity involving
males or females (Chivers et al., 2007).Baumeister calls this phenomenon the
gender difference in erotic plasticity.
Gay more than straight men also express interest in occupations that attract many
women, such as decorator, florist,and flight attendant (Lippa, 2002).
SAME SEX ATTRACTION IN ANIMALS
At Coney Island’s New York Aquarium, penguins Wendell and Cass spent several
years as devoted same-sex partners.
Central Park Zoo penguins Silo and Roy show similar devotion.
Biologist Bruce Bagemihl (1999) has identified several hundred species in which
at least occasional same-sex relations have been
observed. Grizzlies, gorillas, monkeys, flamingos, and owls are all on the long list.
Among rams, for example, some 6 to 10 percent—to sheep-breeding ranchers, the
“duds”—display same-sex attraction by shunning ewes and seeking to mount
other males (Perkins & Fitzgerald, 1997). Some degree of homosexuality seems
to be a natural part of the animal world.
THE BRAIN AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION
Researcher Simon LeVay (1991) studied sections of the hypothalamus taken from
deceased heterosexual and homosexual people. As a gay scientist, LeVay wanted
to do “something connected with my gay identity.” To avoid biasing the results, he
did a blind study, not knowing which donors were gay. For nine months he peered
through his microscope at a cell cluster he thought might be important. Then, one
morning, he broke the codes: One cell cluster was reliably larger in heterosexual
men than in women and homosexual men. “I was almost in a state of shock,”
LeVay said (1994). “I took a walk by myself on the cliffs over the ocean. I sat for
half an hour just thinking what this might mean.”
SAVIC AND LINDSTROM
It should not surprise us that brains differ with sexual orientation, a finding confirmed
by a recent discovery that gay men and straight women have brain hemispheres
of similar size, whereas in lesbian women and straight men, the right hemisphere
is larger (Savic & Lindström, 2008).
GENES IN SEXUAL ORIENTATION
•
“First, homosexuality does appear to run in families,” note Brian Mustanski and
Michael Bailey (2003).
•
“Second, twin studies have established that genes play a substantial role in explaining
individual differences in sexual orientation.”
•
Identical twins are somewhat more likely than fraternal twins to share a homosexual
orientation (Lángström et al., 2008). (Because sexual orientations differ in many
identical twin pairs, especially female twins, we know that other factors besides genes
are at work.)
FRUIT FLY STUDY
•
Experimenters have, by genetic manipulations, created female fruit flies that
during courtship act like males (pursuing other females) and males that act like
females (Demir & Dickson, 2005).
•
“We have shown that a single gene in the fruit fly is sufficient to determine all
aspects of the flies’ sexual orientation and behavior,” explained Barry
Dickson (2005).
PRENATAL HORMONES AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION
•
Elevated rates of homosexual orientation in identical and fraternal twins suggest
that not just shared genetics but also a shared prenatal environment may be a
factor.
•
In animals and some exceptional human cases, abnormal prenatal hormone
conditions have altered a fetus’ sexual orientation.
•
In studies, when pregnant sheep were injected with testosterone during a critical
period of fetal development, their female offspring later showed homosexual
behavior (Money, 1987).
GAY-STRAIGHT DIFFERENCES
•
Brain asymmetry is greater in straight men than gay men
•
One hypothalamic cell cluster is large in straight men than women and gay men
•
Gay men’s hypothalamus reacts as does a straight women’s to sex related
hormones
SHOULD THE CASE OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION MATTER?
•
Those who believe—as do 41 percent of Americans (up from 13 percent in 1977
[Gallup Polls]) and most gays and lesbians—that sexual orientation is biologically
disposed also express more accepting attitudes toward homosexual people (Allen
et al., 1996; Haslam & Levy, 2006; Kaiser, 2001;Whitley, 1990).
•
To gay and lesbian activists, the new biological research is a double-edged
sword(Diamond, 1993). If sexual orientation, like skin color and sex, is genetically
influenced, that offers a further rationale for civil rights protection.
•
Moreover, it may alleviate parents’ concerns about their children being unduly
influenced by gay teachers and role models. At the same time, this research
raises the troubling possibility that genetic markers of sexual orientation could
someday be identified through fetal testing, and a fetus could be aborted simply
for being predisposed to an unwanted orientation.
BAUMRIND’S FINDINGS
•
Sex education separated from the context of human values may give some
students the idea that sexual intercourse is simply a recreational activity.
•
Diana Baumrind (1982), a University of California child-rearing expert, has
observed that an implication that adults are neutral about adolescent sexual
activity is unfortunate because “promiscuous recreational sex poses certain
psychological, social, health, and moral problems that must be faced
realistically.”
NEED TO BELONG
Human beings, contended the personality theorist Alfred Adler, have an “urge to
community”
Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary (1995) have assembled evidence for this deep need
to belong.
MARRIAGE AIDS TO SURVIVAL
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Social bonds boosted our ancestors’ survival rate.
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By keeping children close to their caregivers, attachments served as a powerful
survival impulse.
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As adults, those who formed attachments were more likely to reproduce and to
co-nurture their offspring to maturity.
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Married people are less at risk for depression, suicide, and early death than are
unattached people.
OSTRACISM
Ostracism- social exclusion
most socially excluded teens do not commit violence, but some do.
Charles “Andy” Williams, described by a classmate as someone his peers derided as
“freak, dork, nerd, stuff like that,” went on a shooting spree at his suburban
California high school, killing 2 and wounding 13
CYBER OSTRACISM
In Study a study , 1,486 participants from 62 countries accessed the authors' on-line
experiment on the Internet. They were asked to use mental visualization while
playing a virtual tossing game with two others (who were actually computer
generated and controlled). Despite the minimal nature of their experience, the
more participants were ostracized, the more they reported feeling bad, having
less control, and losing a sense of belonging.
BEING LEFT OUT
Ostracism even by strangers or by a despised outgroup, such as the Australian branch
of the KKK takes a toll and elicits increased activity in a brain area, the anterior
cingulate cortex, that also activates in response to physical pain
SCHOOL VIOLENCE
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In a series of experiments, Jean Twenge and her
collaborators (2001,2002, 2007; Baumeister et al., 2002; Maner et al., 2007) told
some students (who had taken a personality test) that they were “the type likely to end
up alone later in life,” or that people they had met didn’t want them in a group that was
forming.
They told other students that they would have “rewarding relationships throughout life,”
or that “everyone chose you as someone they’d like to work with.”
Those excluded became much more likely to engage in self-defeating behaviors and to
underperform on aptitude tests.
The rejection also interfered with their empathy for others and made them more likely
to act in disparaging or aggressive ways against those who had excluded
them (blasting them with noise, for example).
“it is disturbing to imagine the aggressive tendencies that might arise from a series of
important rejections or chronic exclusion from desired groups in actual social life.”
Indeed, reports Williams(2007), ostracism “weaves through case after case of school
violence.”
JOB VS. CAREER
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Amy Wrzesniewski and her colleagues have identified person-to-person variations
in people’s attitudes toward their work.
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Across various occupations, some people view their work as a job, an unfulfilling
but necessary way to make money.
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Others view their work as a career, an opportunity to advance from one position
to a better position.
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The rest—those who view their work as a calling, a fulfilling and socially useful
activity—report the highest satisfaction with their work and with their lives.
FLOW
flow: a completely involved, focused state of consciousness, with diminished
awareness of self and time, resulting from optimal engagement of one’s skills.
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Flow experiences boost our sense of self-esteem, competence, and well-being.
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Microsoft is developing an attentional user interface that aims to “detect when
users are available for communication, or when the user is in a state of flow”
LEVEL OF SATISFACTION WITH LIFE
To want work but not have it is to feel less satisfied with life. These data are from
169,776 adults in 16 nation
INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology: the application of psychological concepts
and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces
PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY
personnel psychology: a subfield of I/O psychology that focuses on employee
recruitment, selection, placement, training, appraisal, and development
ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
organizational psychology: a subfield of I/O psychology that examines organizational
influences on worker satisfaction and productivity and facilitates organizational
change.
HIRING NEW PEOPLE
As a new AT&T human resource executive, psychologist Mary Tenopyr (1997) was
assigned to solve a problem: Customer service representatives were failing at a
high rate. After concluding that many of the hires were ill-matched to the
demands of their new job, Tenopyr developed a new selection instrument:
1. She asked new applicants to respond to various questions (without as yet making
any use of their responses).
2. She followed up later to assess which of the applicants excelled on the job.
3. She identified the individual items on the earlier test that best predicted who
would succeed.
INTERVIEWER ILLUSION
Interviewers often overrate their discernment, a phenomenon psychologist Richard Nisbett (1987) has
labeled the interviewer illusion. “I have excellent interviewing skills, so I don’t need reference
checking as much as someone who doesn’t have my ability to read people,” is a comment
sometimes heard by I/O consultants.
Four factors explain this gap between interviewers’ intuition and the resulting reality:
Interviews disclose the interviewee’s good intentions, which are less revealing than habitual behaviors
Interviewers more often follow the successful careers of those they have hired than the successful
careers of those they have rejected and lost track of.
Interviewers presume that people are what they seem to be in the interview situation. details of the
particular situation (such as wanting to impress in a job interview).
Interviewers’ preconceptions and moods color how they perceive interviewees’ responses
STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
structured interviews: interview process that asks the same job-relevant questions of
all applicants, each of whom is rated on established scales.
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A review of 150 findings revealed that structured interviews had double the
predictive accuracy of unstructured seat-of-the-pants interviews (Schmidt &
Hunter, 1998;Wiesner & Cronshaw, 1988).
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Structured interviews also reduce bias, such as against overweight applicants
APPRAISING EMPLOYEES
Performance appraisal methods include
checklists on which supervisors simply check specific behaviors that describe the
worker (“always attends to customers’ needs,” “takes long breaks”).
graphic rating scales on which a supervisor checks, perhaps on a five-point scale,how
often a worker is dependable, productive, and so forth.
behavior rating scales on which a supervisor checks scaled behaviors that describe a
worker’s performance. If rating the extent to which a worker “follows procedures,”
the supervisor might mark the employee somewhere between “often takes
shortcuts” and “always follows established procedures” (Levy,2003).
360 DEGREE FEEDBACK
If you join an organization that practices 360-degree feedback , you will rate
yourself, your manager, and your other colleagues, and you will be rated by your
manager, other colleagues, and customers. The net result is often more open
communication and more complete appraisal.
HALO ERRORS
Halo errors occur when one’s overall evaluation of an employee, or of a personal trait
such as their friendliness, biases ratings of their specific work-related behaviors
such as their reliability
LENIENCY AND SEVERITY ERRORS
Leniency and severity errors reflect evaluators’ tendencies to be either too easy or too
harsh on everyone.
RECENCY ERRORS
Recency errors occur when raters focus only on easily remembered recent
behavior. By using multiple raters and developing objective, job-relevant
performance measures, personnel psychologists seek to support their
organizations while also helping employees perceive the appraisal process as fair.
ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION
achievement motivation: a desire for significant accomplishment; for mastery of
things, people, or ideas; for rapidly attaining a high standard.
MOTIVATION FROM CHALLENGES
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One study followed the lives of 1528 California children whose intelligence test scores
were in the top 1 percent. Forty years later, when researchers compared those who were
most and least successful professionally, they found a motivational difference. T
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Those most successful were more ambitious, energetic, and persistent. As children, they
had more active hobbies. As adults, they participated in more groups and favored being
sports participants to being spectators (Goleman, 1980).
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Gifted children are able learners. Accomplished adults are tenacious doers.
10 YEAR RULE
10-year rule: world-class experts in a field typically have invested “at least 10 years of
hard work—say, 40 hours a week for 50 weeks a year.”
A study of outstanding scholars, athletes, and artists found that all were highly
motivated and self-disciplined, willing to dedicate hours every day to the pursuit of
their goals (Bloom, 1985).
These superstar achievers were distinguished not so much by their extraordinary
natural talent as by their extraordinary daily discipline. Great achievement, it
seems, mixes a teaspoon of inspiration with a gallon of perspiration.
ROBERT OWEN
On a visit to Glasgow, Welsh-born Robert Owen—an idealistic young cotton-mill manager—chanced
to meet and fall in love with the mill owner’s daughter. After their marriage, Owen, with
several partners, purchased the mill and on the first day of the 1800s took control as its
manager. Before long, he began what he said was “the most important experiment for the
happiness of the human race that had yet been instituted at any time in any part of the
world” (Owen, 1814). The exploitation of child and adult labor was, he observed, producing
unhappy and inefficient workers. Believing that better working and living conditions could pay
economic dividends, he undertook (with some resistance from his partners, whom he
ultimately bought out) numerous innovations: a nursery for preschool children,
education (with encouragement rather than corporal punishment), Sundays off, health
care, paid sick days, unemployment pay for days when the mill could not operate, and a
company store selling goods at reduced prices.
TYPES OF EMPLOYEES ACCORDING TO CRABTREE
Three types of employees
Engaged: working with passion and feeling a profound connection to their company or
organization.
Not-engaged: putting in the time, but investing little passion or energy into their work.
Actively disengaged:unhappy workers undermining what their colleagues accomplish.
ENGAGED EMPLOYEES
GREAT MANAGERS (KENNETH TUCKER)
☺ start by helping people identify and measure their talents.
☺ match tasks to talents and then give people freedom to do what they do best.
☺ care how their people feel about their work.
☺ reinforce positive behaviors through recognition and reward.
TASK LEADERSHIP
task leadership: goal-oriented leadership that sets standards, organizes work, and
focuses attention on goals.
SOCIAL LEADERSHIP
social leadership: group-oriented leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict,
and offers support
SMITH AND TAYEB STUDY
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Peter Smith and Monir Tayeb (1989) compiled data from studies in
India, Taiwan, and Iran indicating that effective managers—whether in coal
mines, banks, or government offices—often exhibit a high degree of both task and
social leadership.
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As achievement-minded people, effective managers certainly care about how well
work is done, yet at the same time they are sensitive to their subordinates’
needs.
VOICE EFFECT
Although managers often think better of work they have directly supervised, studies
reveal a voice effect: If given a chance to voice their opinion during a decisionmaking process, people will respond more positively to the decision (van den Bos
& Spruijt, 2002).
Positive engaged employees are a mark of thriving organizations.
HARLEY DAVIDSON
CEO, Jeffrey Bleustein helped Harley-Davidson thrive, in part by replacing the
organization’s command-and-control management style with one based on
company-wide consensus planning and decision making.