Motivation Review Guide for Exam 1 PDF

Review Guide for Exam 1 Chapter 1: Introduction to Motivation A Motivation Example 1. How does the expectancy-value theory explain why we procrastinate when tasks are unpleasant or difficult? - The theory states that we do things that we e...

Review Guide for Exam 1 Chapter 1: Introduction to Motivation A Motivation Example 1. How does the expectancy-value theory explain why we procrastinate when tasks are unpleasant or difficult? - The theory states that we do things that we expect to be rewarding and that we expect we’ll be successful at. 2. Using expectancy-value theory, explain why just getting started on a task makes us more motivated to complete it. - You will acquire first-hand evidence that the task was not as unpleasant as you originally thought and that you possess the skill to successfully complete it. Introduction 1. Why is it useful to study motivation? - Makes useful contributions to psychological theories and provides practical benefits - Practical benefits examples: how to motivate employees effectively and how to improve people’s happiness 2. What are the two central questions when studying motivation? - What causes a person to choose to engage in a behavior? - Why does behavior vary in intensity among different people? Detailed Analysis of Motivation 1. What is the definition of motivation? - The study of psychological processes that influence the energy, direction, and persistence of behavior 2. In relation to the framework to understand the study of motivation, what are motives, needs, cognitions, emotions, and external motives, and how do they fit in the framework? - Motives: needs, cognitions, or emotions that are inside a person that are the immediate cause of a behavior, they can be strengthened or weakened by external events or situations - Needs: reflect essential qualities that your body or mind needs to possess in order to function properly, if a need is lacking you will become motivated to change your behavior to address the deficit - Cognitions: any sort of thinking that can influence motivation, can have a strong influence on what goals you choose and how you pursue them  - Emotions: responses to environmental stimuli that are typically associated with physiological changes, non-verbal expressions, and motivated behavior; emotions are thought to aid in survival and optimal functioning - External motives: anything occurring in the environment that can influence internal motives Some Unifying Themes 1. What are the six unifying themes for motivation that we discussed in class? What does each theme say about motivation? 1) Motivation and Emotion Benefit Adaptation and Functioning: motivation helps us successfully adapt to changes or challenges in our environment, if you are unmotivated your well-being will suffer and you won’t do things that keep you happy and healthy 2) Motivation and Emotion Direct Attention: motives demand attention, this helps you satisfy the motive 3) Motives and Their Influence on Behavior over Time: motivation is a constant influence on our behavior, usually one motive is dominant but we can have multiple motives at the same time, motives and emotions come and go leading to a variety of changes in behavioral priorities 4) We are Not Always Consciously Aware of our Motives: we are very aware of some motives (goals) but not others (fear of failure), people generally can’t explain what motivated their behavior 5) To Flourish, Motivation Needs Supportive Conditions: a person’s environment plays an important role in creating healthy, optimal motivation 6) Motivating Others is Not Easy: the easy way to motivate people is usually not the most effective way Only in the Textbook 1. What are the five different ways we can see motivation being expressed (behavior, engagement, psychophysiology, brain activations, self-report)? Have a basic understanding of each. - Behavior: actions taken by a person that demonstrate their motivation - Engagement: the levels of enthusiasm, interest, and commitment a person shows toward a task, - Psychophysiology: physiological changes that demonstrate motivation (heart rate, pupil dilation, etc.) - Brain Activations: using an fMRI to see what neural processes and brain regions are involved in motivation - Self-report: using questionnaires, interviews, etc. to ask individuals directly about their goals, motivations, and feeling  2. What are the four unifying themes for motivation that are only in the textbook? What does each one say about motivation? - Motivation and emotion are “intervening variables”: Motivational and emotional processes arise in response to environmental events and, once aroused, cause behavior and outcomes - Types of motivations exist: different types of motivation exist and these different types have different antecedents (causes) and different consequences (outcomes) - Motivation study reveals what people want: reveals what people want and why they want it. It reveals what people need, and it reveals what makes people be happy. It literally reveals the contents of human nature. - There is nothing so practical as a good theory: Theories are useful because they provide empirically validated (evidence-based) guidance in how to understand a phenomenon and how to solve a problem. Chapter 15: Growth Motivation and Positive Psychology Introduction 1. What is the holistic approach? - Describes both humanistic and positive psychology, looking at the whole person not just the parts of a person - Concerned with big picture, person=defining motives, focuses on what is healthy and functioning in people 2. How are humanistic and positive psychology related to each other? - They are both focused on positive experiences, human potential, and growth Humanistic Psychology 1. How did Freud and the behaviorists inspire the creation of humanistic psychology? - Psychologists began to reject the views that we only respond to rewards and punishments, they also began to reject Freud’s view that people are motivated by sex and psychological dysfunction 2. What is humanistic psychology? - Focuses on the healthy development of human potential (self-actualization) 3. What are the defining characteristics of humanistic psychology? - Humanism focuses on higher functions: People focus on improvement, development, goals, achieving potential after their basic needs are met  -Humanism views people as active: People don’t just respond to the environment like a rat in a cage, they make things happen - Humanism views people positively: we have free will, we are sensible, we are basically good, we want to improve ourselves - Humanism focuses on self-actualization: involves a basic psychological need, realizing one’s potential, improving one’s experiences - Self-actualization: the need to maintain and enhance life and this is the goal of existence 4. Why should we study humanism? - Pervasive cultural influence, important influence on counseling techniques and approaches, an important precursor for the field of positive psychology Maslow's Self-Actualization 1. What is self-actualization according to Abraham Maslow? What needs to happen in order to experience self-actualization? - Self-actualization is self-fulfillment, becoming everything one is capable of being - Physiological, safety, belonging, esteem 2. What does Maslow’s hierarchy of needs say about human motivation? What are the characteristic motivations associated with each level of the hierarchy? - All motivation comes from these needs - Physiological: homeostasis, food, water, sleep, shelter - Safety: strive for absence of fear and anxiety, law and order, dependency - Belonging: establish social relationships with groups, friends, lovers, etc. - Esteem: self-respect, others respect, recognition, glory 3. What’s the difference between deficit and growth motives in Maslow’s hierarchy? - First four levels are deficit motives, the goal is to reduce tension and eliminate a need - Self-actualization is a growth motive; process-oriented, centered on inner values, becoming something 4. What are aesthetic and cognitive needs in Maslow’s hierarchy? - Aesthetic: need to experience beauty, need to be in pleasant surroundings - Cognitive: desire to think and solve problems - Both are required to progress through the hierarchy 5. What are the other candidates for ultimate needs in Maslow’s hierarchy (reproduction, meaning, and pursuit of happiness)? - Reproductive goals: mate acquisition, mate retention, parenting  - Search for meaning, making sense and feeling significance of one's' being and way of life - Pursuit of happiness or subjective well-being 6. What are peak experiences, and why do self-actualized people have them? - Peak experiences are intense, powerful experiences where a person feels optimism, experiences perceived control, has a sense of awe, and can lose track of time. Self-actualized people have peak experiences because they have few distractions so they are able to experience life fully. 7. Does research support Maslow’s hierarchy? What does modern research suggest is actually going on? - Not really. Research suggests that a two-tiered version would work where you must take care of deficiencies before you can grow and develop as a person. Roger's Self-Actualizing Tendency 1. What is self-actualization according to Carl Rogers? What needs to happen in order to experience self-actualization? - Knows what is best for you and guides you toward optimal experience, people self-actualize when they follow their inner guide to be the person they want to be. 2. What are the components of Rogers’ theory: self-actualizing tendency, organismic valuing process, conditions of worth, unconditional positive regard, and congruent self-concept? What are they and why do they matter? - Organismic Valuing Process: we can judge if our experiences are helping us grow or are preventing growth, as you try to self-actualize the OVP helps guide you in a healthy direction - Unconditional Positive Regard: in order to self-actualize we need people to love us without any expectations, this becomes a model for how we should treat ourselves - Contingencies of Self-worth: whether we think our behavior will lead to being accepted or rejected by other people - Congruent Self-Concept: a congruent person accepts who they are, they live their life in a way that is consistent with their deepest personal beliefs 3. According to Rogers, what is a fully functioning individual, and how does one become one? - A fully functioning individual trusts and follows the Organismic Valuing Process, accepts who they are and doesn’t believe in conditions of worth, lives, acts in ways that are congruent with their inner beliefs, take responsibility for choices, perceives the world and themselves honestly,  faces the world without fear or self-doubt, open to new experiences, and are authentic, 4. What defines the humanistic approach to psychotherapy? - The therapist does not tell you what to do but helps you figure out what you want, provides a supportive environment, and helps you understand who you are. Criticism of Humanistic Theories 1. What are the major criticisms of humanistic psychology? - The inner guide: Naive and to optimistic, emphasis on being true to self could lead to selfishness, and how is one to know what is really wanted or what is really needed by the actualizing tendency, - The problem of evil: the potential to do harm - methodology and research: vague and ill-defined constructs that lack objective measuring, lack empirical data Positive Psychology 1. What is positive psychology, and how is it a change of focus for the field of psychology? - Positive psychology changed the focus to building health rather than treating illness. - It seeks to make people stronger, more productive, and have greater well-being. 2. What are personal strengths, and why are they important? - Wisdom, courage, humanity, transcendence, justice, moderation - Developing these strengths fosters personal growth and well-being. These strengths can also prevent psychological problems from occurring. 3. What is optimism, and why is it important? - A positive attitude or good mood that is associated with what one expects to unfold in his or her immediate and long-term future. - Optimism is related to better psychological and physical health, more health-promoting behaviors, greater persistence, and more effective problem-solving. 4. What is eudaimonic well-being? - Happiness that isn’t due to pleasure or hedonism, but due to purpose and meaning. What is a Good Life? 1. What did Diener et al (2018) discover about world-wide happiness? - There are more happy than unhappy people  - Extreme stressors can reduce happiness. 2. How happy are people in the United States? - 83% of Americans are above the midpoint in their happiness scores Is Money the Key to Happiness? 1. Why would money NOT make you happy? - Making money can cause stress or depression - Hedonic treadmill: you get used to the money - Other things are more important for happiness 2. What is the relationship between income and happiness? - Wealthy countries are happier than poor ones - Income inequality is associated with less happiness in a country - Money increases happiness up to $100,000 per year income. After that, it doesn’t matter. Essential Parts of a Good Life 1. What does it mean when we say that well-being is a theoretical construct? - It is not tangible, it is a combination of multiple things, each thing is different than the other 2. What is the PERMA model, and what are each component of the model? - PERMA is the model that represents the Ingredients of Well-being - P= positive emotions E= engagement R= relationships M= meaning A= achievement 3. Which component of the PERMA model is essential for well-being? - Every recipe for happiness must include positive relationships How Can We Increase Happiness? 1. How much of your happiness is determined by: genetic factors, life events, and your individual choices? What does this tell us about whether you can increase your happiness? - 50% of happiness is due to genetics - 40% of happiness is due to intentional activities/life choices - 10% of happiness is due to life events - You can affect 40% of your happiness by the choices you make 2. What is the hedonic treadmill? What events can't be adjusted to? - people's ability to adapt to any event - unemployment, disability 3. What are the techniques for increasing happiness?  - the gratitude visit, what-went-well exercise, acts of kindness, spend more time with people you care about, take time out of your day to focus on doing something you enjoy Only in the Textbook 1. Why is the study of meaning important in positive psychology? - Meaning is a fundamental component of a fulfilling life. A strong sense of meaning is strongly linked to increased well-being, happiness, resilience, and quality of life. 2. What is the broaden-and-build theory of positivity? - positive emotions "broaden" our perspective, enabling us to "build" upon our personal strengths and capabilities Chapter 3: The Motivated and Emotional Brain Why Study the Brain? 1. What is neuroscience? - The scientific study of the brain and nervous system 2. Why do we need to study the brain? - All motivation comes from the brain, brain structure and neurochemistry will be involved in multiple topics in motivation 3. What is fMRI and how does it work? - Functional MRI: uses magnetic resonance to get a picture of your brain anatomy, functional meaning it creates a map of the energy use of your brain cells - Identifies brain activity and exactly where the activity is occurring Dual Process Theories 1. From an evolutionary standpoint, what are the brain's primary jobs? - Survival, thriving, and reproduction 2. What is the subcortical region of the brain, and how is it related to motivation? - subcortical= primitive brain systems; unconscious, automatic, impulsive responses - Fight or flight response, physiological needs, emotions related to avoiding dangers in the environment, emotions relating to engaging with the environment 3. What is the cortical region of the brain, and how is it related to motivation? - cortical= advanced brain systems; rational, conscious thought, allows us to exert some control of subcortical areas  - Cognitively rich motivations such as goals, plans, and strategies; standards and beliefs about the self including self-concept and values 4. Why is it adaptive to have these two regions working together? - Subcortical brain structures drive emotions that the cortical brain structure respond to and use - Cortical brain structures can regulate the impulses and emotions of the subcortical brain that aren’t adaptive 5. Why are teenagers prone to taking unnecessary risks? - The cortical region is not fully developed until the mid-twenties, therefore teens are driven by impulses from their subcortical brain How Neurotransmitters Work 1. How does synaptic transmission work? What is the role of the axon terminal, neurotransmitters, receptors, and reuptake? - End of the axon terminal reaches the synapse, if activated neurotransmitters are released into the synapse, the next neuron has receptor sites that the neurotransmitters may activate, the first neuron then reabsorbs the neurotransmitters it had released (reuptake) 2. How does an agonist drug increase neurotransmitter activity? - Increases the quantity of neurotransmitter released - Mimics the neurotransmitter and activates receptor sites - Prevents reuptake, keeping neurotransmitters in the synapse longer - Ex: cocaine, prozac 3. How does an antagonist drug decrease neurotransmitter activity? - Blocks neurotransmitter production or release - Attaching to receptor sites without activating them and preventing neurotransmitters from reaching them - Ex: paralytics, antipsychotics How Hormones Work 1. What are hormones, and how do they work? - Travel through the blood and stimulate or inhibit activity in various parts of the body 2. What is cortisol, and what does it do? - Stress hormone, helps your body generate more energy to deal with physical threats (fight or flight) 3. What is oxytocin, and what does it do? - Love hormone, motivates social connection and bonding with others 4. What is testosterone, and what does it do?  - Sex hormone, important for male sexual drive, competitive environments can produce more testosterone Subcortical Brain 1. What is the amygdala, and what does it do? - Part of the limbic system, Generation of emotional responses and memories, detects, learns, and responds to either threats or rewards in your environment 2. What is the hypothalamus, and what does it do? - Regulates homeostasis, controls the release of several hormones 3. What is the reticular formation, and what does it do? - Nerve network running through the brainstem and thalamus, can send sensory messages to other parts of the brain, plays an important role in controlling arousal 4. What are the basal ganglia, and what do they do? - Cluster of nuclei in the subcortical brain that provide movement and action with a motivation and emotional punch, energize or inhibit motor activity depending on the situation Cortical Brain 1. What's the overall purpose of the frontal lobes? - Centers of cognitive control, to anticipate the future and plan for it, emotional regulation and social interaction 2. What is the insula, and what does it do? - Between subcortical region and frontal lobes that is involved in understanding our body and gut feelings 3. What is the prefrontal cortex, and what does it do? How does it influence your personality? - Focuses of making plans, setting goals, intentions, conscious awareness of emotions and deciding how to respond to them - Left Lobe: positive emotions, approach motivation, extraverted people - Right Lobe: negative emotions, avoidance motivation, neurotic people 4. What is the overall purpose of the orbitofrontal, ventromedial prefrontal, dorsolateral prefrontal, and anterior cingulate cortices? - Orbitofrontal: processes information about rewards that help you establish preferences and make choices, helps delay gratification to pursue long-term goals - Ventromedial Prefrontal: integrates the feelings we have for things in the environment, helps us make decisions quickly  - Dorsolateral Prefrontal: regulating control over urges and risks, helps makes emotionally informed decisions, helps be more selfless - Anterior Cingulate Cortices: higher level control over responses to the environment, if there is a conflict between choices for action, helps resolve the conflict, can prioritize attention and cognitive resources as needed The Reward Center of the Brain 1. What does the reward center of the brain do? - Motivates you to perform actions that have led to rewards in the past, rewarded for doing things needed to survive 2. What are the important parts and pathways in the reward center? - Ventral tegmental area uses dopamine pathways to activate the nucleus accumbens in the ventral striatum and the prefrontal cortex- this leads to pleasure and motivates us to engage in rewarding activities 3. What activates the dopamine pathways in the ventral tegmental area? - You have an experience that is rewarding, in unexpected rewards even more dopamine is released, dopamine is related whenever you encounter a situation that produced a rewarding experience in the past 4. What happens when the ventral tegmental is activated? - Activation of the nucleus accumbens- helps us learn the reward value of what activated VTA, more dopamine release=more reward value associated with event - Activation in the prefrontal cortex: conscious experience of pleasure, memory of the experience’s reward value for future use - Activation of the reward center does NOT cause the experience of pleasure 5. What are three things that dopamine is doing in the reward center of the brain? - Helps create memories of the rewarding event so we seek it out in the future - Helps generate motivation to seek out the rewarding event again, creates the drive to repeat the experience - Helps us recognize when an experience is more rewarding than we expected (reward prediction errors) 6. What do neuroscientists know about where we experience pleasure in the brain? - Unsure, likely in multiple areas of the brain (prefrontal cortex. amygdala) - There are many “hedonic hotspots” in the brain associated with pleasure but neuroscientists aren’t sure they are causing us to experience pleasure Dopamine  1. Why do we call dopamine the "motivation" neurotransmitter? - People with no motivation can still experience pleasure, so dopamine cannot only be the “pleasure” neurotransmitter 2. What is dopamine, and what functions in the body is it associated with? - Neurotransmitters and hormone created by the adrenal gland and hypothalamus - Brain activity, body functioning, behavioral choices, movement, emotion, memory, sleep, stress response, digestion, lactation 3. What happens if you have depleted dopamine levels? - Low alertness, difficulty concentrating, lack of motivation, poor coordination, inability to feel pleasure 4. What happens if you have excessive dopamine levels? - More competitive, more aggressive, poor impulse control, trouble sleeping, addiction 5. How does dopamine cause motivation? - Reward system: helps reinforce behaviors that lead to a reward, we remember and will try to repeat rewarding events - Reward prediction: dopamine is released in the presence of cues that predict the presence of a rewarding event 6. What did Westbrook et al (2020) find about ADHD drugs, dopamine, and motivation? - Stimulants can increase your motivation to complete a task by making the task seem more beneficial and rewarding Dopamine Detox 1. What is wrong to say that a "dopamine detox" reduces your dopamine levels? - Dopamine cannot be lowered, it is stored in neurons waiting to be used. Other areas in the body/brain will still be active, even if the reward center is not. 2. Why would you not want to lower your dopamine levels? - Low levels of dopamine have negative effects, can lead to serious health problems like Parkinson’s, you won’t be motivated to do anything 3. How does social media affect dopamine levels? - Increases dopamine activity by 50% to 100%, this is the same increase as any normal enjoyable experience Research Methods 1. What are psychological theories and why do we need them?  - Our best explanation for an aspect of a behavior makes predictions regarding how people will act or respond 2. What is the scientific method? - Hypothesize: make a prediction based on observation, research, or a theory - Operationalize: decide how to measure all the relevant variables - Design: choose a research design that best tests your hypothesis - Collect: run the study and collect data using the design - Analyze: use statistics to draw conclusions about the results - Publish: describe how your findings fit with prior research or theories 3. What is the correlational method of research? What are its disadvantages? - How connected two variables are, identify correlation by studying how values for two variables relate to one another in a population - 2 disadvantages - Directionality Problem: what you think is the cause is actually the effect - Third variable problem: another variable is causing the correlation 4. What are positive and negative correlations? How do you interpret a correlation coefficient? - Positive correlation: as values of one variable goes up, the other’s go up to - Negative correlation: as values of one variable go up, the other’s go down - Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient: a statistic that describes how correlated two variables are and tests for statistical significance, a number between +1 and -1, farther from 0=stronger relationship 5. What is the directionality problem? What’s an example of it? - what you think is the cause is actually the effect, aggressive children seek out violent media when you think that violent media teaches kids to behave aggressively 6. What is the third variable problem? What’s an example of it? - another variable is causing the correlation, bad parenting causes issues with aggression and exposure to violent media 7. What is the experimental method of research? What are its advantages? - When one manipulates variables in an experiment which makes a strong argument for cause and effect 8. What is the independent variable, and why is it an essential part of an experiment? - The variable that is manipulated, hypothesized cause 9. What is the dependent variable, and why is it an essential part of an experiment?  - The variable that is measured, predicted effect 10. What is random assignment, and why is it an essential part of an experiment? - Participants have an equal chance to be in any condition