3.5 Motivation and Emotion
AP Psychology
Motivation
• General term for the biological, emotional,
cognitive and social processes involving
starting, directing and maintaining behavior
• Human behavior includes a wide range of
motives and drives
• No theory can explain the enormous variety of
human behavior. Psychologist have several
theories…
Motives
• Def – needs or desires that energize behavior
• Primary biological – need for survival
– Hunger, thirst, sex, pain, aggression
• Secondary social – learned as part of growing
up in a society or culture
– Achievement, affiliation, autonomy, curiosity, play
Instinct / Evolutionary Theory
• Instinct – fixed action patterns that are NOT
learned and occur in most members of a
species
• Animal instincts…
– Bird migrations, mating rituals, dominance
displays
Instinct / Evolutionary Theory cont.
• Charles Darwin – inspired this theory
– Behaviors are characteristics that could be passed
on
• William James
– Motivation by instinct is important in human
behavior
– Human instincts include modesty, cleanliness,
rivalry and parental love
Instinct / Evolutionary Theory cont.
• Sigmund Freud – theory of personality is
based on instincts that motivate sex and
aggression
Instinct / Evolutionary Theory cont.
• Konrad Lorenz
– Ethologist – animal behaviorist
– Found example of animal instinct…
– …Imprinting
– Baby geese and other birds for an attachment to
the first moving object they see or hear soon after
birth (even when it was Lorenz)
Instinct / Evolutionary Theory cont.
• Sociobiology – tries to relate social behaviors
to evolutionary biology
• Example…evolutionary mating patterns differ
between sexes
– Male is motivated to mate with multiple partners
to increase their chances of passing their genes
– Female is motivated to mate for life with males
that have the best resources to care for her
children
Instinct / Evolutionary Theory cont.
• Instinct theory has fallen out of favor with many
psychologists as it became evident that it lacked
the ability to fully explain human motivation
– Are there human behaviors considered true
instincts??
• Rooting?? Suckling??  INSTINCT OR REFLEX??
• Today they are trying to explore the influence of
evolution on eating, selection of mates,
expression of emotion, and other patterns of
human behavior
Drive Reduction Theory
• Replaced instinct theory during the 1930s
• Based on homeostasis
– “standing still”
– Body seeks to maintain a stable internal state
– Ex…constant internal temp / fluid levels
– Ex…after a marathon runners drink a large
quantity of water to restore homeostasis
Drive Reduction Theory cont
• “need” – motivated state caused by a
physiological deficit
– Ex…lack of food or water
• “drive”- State of psychological tension,
induced by need, the body creates if any
needs are unmet
– Ex…a person will drink water as a result of a drive
for satisfying thirst and eat food to satisfy hunger
GREATER THE NEED…STRONGER THE DRIVE!!!
Drive Reduction Theory cont
• Used to explain behavior that have a biological
basis
• Cannot account for ALL human behaviors
• Ex…buying the newest cell phone,
contributing to a charity, participating in an
extreme sport (NOT biological needs!)
Arousal Theory
• Humans (and other animals) are innately
curious and seek out complexity and novelty
(new and unusual)
Arousal Theory cont
• Yerkes-Dodson law
• An optimal level of psychological arousal helps
performances (activity in CNS)
• Level too low – mind wanders and we become
bored
• Level too high – we become anxious and
“freeze-up”
Arousal Theory cont
• Yerkes-Dodson law cont
• People are motivated to seek moderate level of
stimulation that is neither too easy nor too
difficult
• Ex…Youth Soccer
– Play games without keeping score
– May improve performance of those who were too
anxious
– May cause highly competitive players to become bore,
undermining their performance
Arousal Theory cont.
• Yerkes-Dodson law cont
• Optimal level of arousal varies with the person
and the activity
• Easy Tasks  moderately high arousal
• Difficult Tasks  moderately low arousal
• Most avg. tasks  moderate arousal
• Ex… Driving
– Learning – you want low arousal
– Years later – music helps raise arousal
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Humanistic Perspective
• Abraham Maslow
• Hierarchy of Needs that combines and
prioritizes biological, psychological and social
needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Identified the progression of five needs
• People begin with basic physiological and
safety needs
• Once those needs are met…the individual
“moves up” to high level needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Physiological Needs
– Food, water, warmth, homeostasis
• Safety Needs
– Security, safety, avoidance of pain
• Belonging Needs
– Acceptance, affection, friendship
• Esteem Needs
– Feelings of accomplishment, approval, recognition
• Self-actualization Needs
– Fulfilling one’s potential by being all that you can be
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Mnemonic  PS BES
• Physiological Safety Belonging Esteem SelfActualization
• Criticisms
– Vague definition of self-actualization
– It is possible for people living in poverty to
nonetheless develop strong social ties and selfesteem
Hunger Motivation
• Biological basis…
• Hypothalamus – regulates eating and drinking
Hunger Motivation
• Biological Basis…
• Lateral Hypothalamus (hunger center)
– Stimulation causes an animal to eat
– If destroyed, an animal will starve to death
• Ventromedial Hypothalamus (satiety center)
– Stimulation causes animal to stop eating
– If destroyed, an animal will eat constantly and gain
more and more weight
Hunger Motivation
• Biological Basis…
• Set-Point Theory
• Humans and animals have a natural or optimal
body-fat level
• Like a thermostat, the body defends this setpoint weight by regulating feelings of hunger
and body metabolism
Hunger Motivation
• Obesity…
• 2/3 of adult Americans are officially overweight
(1/2 of them are obese)
• 1 in 6 Americans between the ages of 6 and 19
are overweight
• Contributes to heart disease, diabetes, kidney
failure and many forms of cancer
• 300,000 deaths a year are contributed to obesity
Hunger Motivation
• Obesity…
• Factors contributing…
• Live in an environment with abundant easily
attainable high-fat, high calorie foods
• Caloric intake in the last 20 years has
increased nearly 10% for men / 7% for women
Hunger Motivation
• Obesity…
• Factors contributing…
• Live a sedentary lifestyle
• 4 out of 10 Americans report they never
exercise!
Hunger Motivation
• Obesity…
• Factors contributing…
• Lack of adequate sleep
• increase the production of appetite-increasing
hormone ghrelin and decrease the production
of the appetite-suppressing hormone leptin
Hunger Motivation
• Obesity…
• Factors contributing…
• Many people are genetically predisposed
• two to three times more likely than people
with not such history to become obese
Hunger Motivation
• Anorexia Nervosa…
• Eating disorder characterized by severe loss of
weight resulting from self-imposed starvation and
an obsessive fear of obesity
• Most anorexics are women
• Psychologists believe that pervasive cultural
images of “thin ideal” of physical beauty create a
distorted body image and need for physical
perfection
Hunger Motivation
• Bulimia Nervosa
• Eating disorder involving binge eating followed by
vomiting, excessive exercise or the use of
laxatives
• Difficult to initially detect because of weight
fluctuations within or just above the normal
range
• Causes cardiac arrhythmias, severe damage to
the throat and serious digestive disorders
Social Motivation
• Achievement Motivation…
• Drive to succeed, especially in competition
with others
• David McClelland (1917-1998)
– Individuals with a high need for achievement
(nAch) typically seek out tasks that are moderately
difficult
Social Motivation
• Achievement Motivation…
• Learned early in life – typically from parents
• Highly motivated people are willing to work
long hours, overcome obstacles, and delay
gratification to focus on a goal
Social Motivation
• Achievement Motivation…
• Example…
• Taking practice tests for the ACT shows a high
level of achievement motivation
• If they score a 30, they would probably take
the test again to achieve a higher score
Social Motivation
• Achievement Motivation…
• Takes different forms in individualistic and
collectivistic cultures
• Individualistic Culture (United States)
– Achievement motivation emphasizes personal success
• Collectivistic Culture (China)
– Achievement motivation emphasizes promoting the
status or well-being of the family and other relevant
social groups
Social Motivation
• Extrinsic Motivation
• Based on external rewards or threats of
punishment
• Examples…
– Students who work for grades, employee who
works for bonuses, athletes who work for
scholarships, athletes who work hard so they will
not be benched
Social Motivation
• Extrinsic Motivation
• When extrinsic rewards or punishments are
removed, behavior often falls to a lower level
• Example…
– Senioritis
– Seniors receive their letters of college acceptance
they study less and their grades drop
Social Motivation
• Intrinsic Motivation
• Based upon personal enjoyment of a task or
activity
• Example…
– Artists who paint for enjoyment, volunteers who
donate time to community projects, runners who
strive to achieve their personal best time
Social Motivation
• Overjustification
• What happens when people are given
extrinsic rewards for behavior that had been
intrinsically motivated?
• Will the extrinsic reward encourage or
discourage performance?
Social Motivation
• Overjustification
• Answer…
• Research indicates that extrinsic motivation
will displace a person’s internal motivation
• Call THE OVERJUSTIFICTION EFFECT!
Social Motivation
• Overjustification
• Example…
• Can be seen when a musician makes the transition
from being an amateur to a professional recording
artist
• The musician who once played for the joy of making
music now performs solely to please producers and
make $$$$
• As the motivation changed from intrinsic to extrinsic,
the performers shoes decreased interest and views
making music as a job
Emotion
• Def  psychological feeling that involves a
mixture of physiological arousal, conscious
experience and overt behavior
• Closely related to motivation and some
psychologist define a specific motivated states
• Examples…
– Love, hate, fear, jealously
Neuroscience of Emotion
• Brain
• Limbic system (hippocampus, hypothalamus,
amygdala)
– Group of brain structures involved in emotion,
memory, and basic motivation drives (hunger,
thirst, sex)
• Amygdala  plays a key role in emotional
responses (especially fear)
The Neuroscience of Emotion
• Autonomic Nervous System
• Divided into Sympathetic and Parasympathetic
The Neuroscience of Emotion
• Sympathetic Nervous System
• Arouses body responses (“fight-or-flight”
• When you are emotionally aroused…
– Blood pressure surges, breathing and heart rate
accelerate
– Dry mouth, dilating pupils, heavy perspiration
The Neuroscience of Emotion
• Parasympathetic Nervous System
• Calms body responses and returns body to a
relaxed state
– P = Placid which means calm
• Restores homeostasis immediately after fightor-flight response
The Neuroscience of Emotion
• Polygraph Testing
• Measure sympathetic and parasympathetic
nervous system responses
• Heart rates, breathing rate, galvanic skin
response (electrical properties)
The Neuroscience of Emotion
• Polygraph Testing
• Autonomic responses change under stress
• Polygraph does NOT measure lying, it records
arousal patterns associated with arousal and fear
• The inference that a person failing a polygraph
test has told a lie is based upon the assumption
that lying produces arousal of the sympathetic
nervous system
The Neuroscience of Emotion
• Polygraph Testing
• Lying is ONLY loosely related to anxiety and fear
• Some people remain calm when lying while
others become nervous telling the truth while
being questioned in a stressful situation
• As a result, polygraph tests cannot infallibly
distinguish between innocent and guilty people
Emotional Expression
• Facial expression and emotion…
• Paul Ekman (b1934) – has conducted the most
extensive research on the facial expression of
basic emotions
• Believes “facial language” for basic emotions
is innate and thus universal
– Children who are born deaf and blind exhibit facial
expressions identical to those of other children
Emotional Expression
• Facial expression and emotions
• Ekman argues there are six basic emotions…
– Happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust
• Each emotion is expressed by specific facial
expressions
• Example  smile = happiness all across the
world
Emotional Expression
• Display rules of facial expressions
• Although facial expressions for basic emotions
are universal, cultural display rules influence
how and when emotional responses are
displayed
Emotional Expression
• Display rules of facial expressions
• Ekman’s classic experiment…
– Showed American and Japanese students films
depicting grisly images of surgical procedures
– When watching the film alone, the students ALL
grimaced with disgust at gruesome scenes
– When an “official” looking scientist was present,
American students continuued to show disgust, but
Japanese students masked their disgust with a smile
– Japanese students followed an important display rule
of their culture  it is not appropriate to display
negative emotions that offend an authority figure
Theories of Emotion
• Continuing debate…
• Psychologists agree that emotions include
physiological, cognitive, and behavioral
components
• Psychologists disagree on how we become
emotional and which component of emotion
receives the most emphasis
Theories of Emotion
• James-Lange Theory of Emotion
• Named after William James (1842-1910) and
Carl Lange (1834-1900)
Theories of Emotion
• James-Lange Theory of Emotion
• Three-part sequence…
• First  you perceive a stimulus
– Ex…you see a shadowy figure in the back yard
• Second  the stimulus triggers physiological arousal
– Ex…when you see the shadowy figure, your heart rate
jumps and you begin to tremble
• Third  you interpret the bodily changes as a specific
emotion
– Ex…you interpret your pounding heart and trembling as
being afraid
Theories of Emotion
• James-Lange Theory of Emotion
• Arousal immediately precedes emotion
• William James  “We feel sorry because we
cry, angry because we strike, afraid because
we tremble.”
Theories of Emotion
• Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
• Named after Stanley Schachter (1922-1997) and
Jerome Singer
• Agreed with James's view that physiological
arousal is the key element in emotion
Theories of Emotion
• Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
• The difference from James…
• Physiological arousal is similar for different
emotions
• Emotions depend on physical arousal and the
cognitive labeling (not part of James-Lange) of
that arousal
Theories of Emotion
• Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
• Sequence of steps…
• First  you perceive a stimulus
– Ex…you see a shadowy figure in your backyard
• Second  the stimulus triggers both physiological
arousal and a cognitive label that makes the best
sense of the arousal
– Ex…your heart rate jumps and you begin to tremble. You
make cognitive sense of the shadowy figure by thinking.
“I feel afraid.”
Theories of Emotion
• Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
• Emotion is the result of the interaction of
physiological arousal and the cognitive label we use
to explain our condition
• Example…
– You introduce yourself to new peers at college
– The peers are the stimulus and your heart rate increases
as you introduce yourself
– You simultaneously make cognitive sense of this
physiological response by thinking…”I am anxious about
meeting new people”
Theories of Emotion
• Cannon-Bard Theory
• Simultaneous reaction to stimuli
• Thalamus (relay station) sends immediate
message to emotional region (limbic system)