Motivation and Emotion

1
Motivation and Emotion
2
PRIMES (primary motivational and emotional
systems)

• Ross Buck, 1999 A hierarchy of special purpose
  processing systems that interact with and guide
  more general purpose processes like learning and
  cognition
• Reflexes
• Fixed Action Patterns
• Drives like hunger, thirst, lust
• Primary Emotions (Fear, Rage, Curiosity)
• Social Emotions (Panic-attachment, Love)

3
Defining Motivation, and a Model

• Internal processes that initiate, sustain and
  direct activities
• Model of how motivated activities work
• Need Internal deficiency causes
• Drive Energized motivational state e.g. hunger,
  thirst. Activates a response
• Response Action or series of actions designed to
  attain a goal
• Goal Target of motivated behavior
• Arousal Activation of the body and nervous
  system

4
Arousal Theory Assumes that people prefer to
maintain ideal levels of arousal
(a) The general relationship between arousal and
efficiency can be described by an inverted U
curve. The optimal level of arousal or motivation
is higher for a simple task (b) than for a
complex task (c).
5
Other motivation concepts

• Intrinsic Motivation Motivation coming from
  within, not from external rewards based on
  personal enjoyment of a task
• Extrinsic Motivation Based on obvious external
  rewards, obligations or similar factors
• Biological needs
• Social needs (are these really not biological?)

6
(No Transcript)
7
Hunger

• Homeostasis Body equilibrium balance
• Hypoglycemia Low blood sugar stimulates
  feelings of hunger
• Hypothalamus Brain structure regulates many
  aspects of motivation and emotion including
  hunger, thirst, and sexual behavior
• Feeding System Areas in the hypothalamus that
  initiate eating when stimulated
• Satiety System Areas in the hypothalamus that
  terminate eating

8
This is a cross section through the middle of the
brain (viewed from the front of the brain).
Indicated areas of the hypothalamus are
associated with hunger and the regulation of body
weight.
9
More on Eating Behavior

• Neuropeptide Y Substance in the brain that
  initiates eating
• Glucagon-like Peptide 1 Substance in brain that
  terminates eating
• Set Point Proportion of body fat that is
  maintained by changes in hunger and eating point
  where weight stays same when you make no effort
  to gain or lose weight
• Leptin Substance released by fat cells that
  inhibits eating presently being studied for
  possible importance in controlling and losing
  weight

10
In Cannons early study of hunger, a simple
apparatus was used to simultaneously record
hunger pangs and stomach contractions. (After
Cannon, 1934.) There are some things I just
wouldnt do for science and this is one of them.
11
Figure 10.5 Dietary intake in modern versus
paleolithic times. Eaton, Shostak, and Konner
(1988) estimated the makeup of our paleolithic
ancestors typical diet and compared it to that
of the average person in modern society. They
maintain that there have been some striking
shifts in dietary intake, and that modern humans
ignore nutritional requirements that are the
product of millions of years of evolution.
12
Taste

• Taste Aversion Active dislike for a particular
  food.
• VERY difficult to overcome
• Bait Shyness Unwillingness or hesitation of
  animals to eat a particular, tainted food.
• One reason why it is so hard to kill vermin and
  pests

13
Eating Disorders Anorexia Nervosa

• Anorexia Nervosa Active self-starvation or
  sustained loss of appetite that seems to have
  psychological origins
• Control issues seem to be involved
• Very difficult to effectively treat
• Overwhelmingly affects females

14
Eating Disorders Bulimia Nervosa

• Bulimia Nervosa (Binge-Purge Syndrome) Excessive
  eating usually followed by self-induced vomiting
  and/or taking laxatives
• Also difficult to treat
• Prozac approved by FDA to treat bulimia nervosa
• Overwhelmingly affects females

15
Women with abnormal eating habits were asked to
rate their body shape on a scale similar to the
one you see here. As a group, they chose ideal
figures much thinner than what they thought their
current weights were. (Most women say they want
to be thinner than they currently are, but to a
lesser degree than women with eating problems.)
Notice that the women with eating problems chose
an ideal weight that was even thinner than what
they thought men prefer. This is not typical of
most women. In this study, only women with eating
problems wanted to be thinner than what they
thought men find attractive (Zellner, Harner,
Adler, 1989).
16
Sexual Motivation and Behavior Determining Desire

• The alchemy of desire
• Endorphins, the bodys opiates
• Phenethylamine (PEA)- the bodys natural
  amphetamine, it makes us feel giddy and lose our
  appetites
• Hormonal regulation
• Estrogens
• Androgens
• Testosterone
• Pheromones
• Synchronized menstrual cycles
• Aphrodisiacs

17
Parental investment theory and mating
preferences. Parental investment theory suggests
that basic differences between males and females
in parental investment have great adaptive
significance and lead to gender differences in
mating propensities and preferences, as outlined
here.
18
Gender and potential mates financial
prospects. Consistent with evolutionary theory,
Buss (1989) found that females place more
emphasis on potential partners financial
prospects than males do. Moreover, he found that
this trend transcended culture. The specific
results for 6 of the 37 cultures studied by Buss
are shown here.
19
Gender and potential mates physical
attractiveness. Consistent with evolutionary
theory, Buss (1989) found that all over the
world, males place more emphasis on potential
partners good looks than do females. The
specific results for 6 of the 37 cultures studied
by Buss are shown here.
20
Evolutionary hypotheses about gender differences
in relationship jealousy. Evolutionary theory
suggests that the issue of paternity uncertainty
creates basic differences between males and
females in the types of infidelity that will
elicit the strongest feelings of jealousy, as
outlined here.
21
The gender gap in jealousy. Buss et al. (1992)
asked subjects to vividly imagine scenarios
involving either sexual or emotional infidelity
by their partner. Subjects distress while
imagining these scenarios was assessed by
monitoring various indexes of emotional and
physiological arousal. As these results show,
sexual infidelity generated the most distress in
males, whereas emotional infidelity elicited the
most arousal in females.
22
Abraham Maslow and Needs

• Hierarchy of Human Needs Maslows ordering of
  needs based on presumed strength or potency some
  needs are more powerful than others and thus will
  influence your behavior to a greater degree
• Basic Needs First four levels of needs in
  Maslows hierarchy.
• Lower needs tend to be more potent than higher
  needs
• Growth Needs Higher level needs associated with
  self-actualization
• Meta-Needs Needs associated with impulses for
  self-actualization

23
  Maslow believed that lower needs in the
hierarchy are dominant. Basic needs must be
satisfied before growth motives are fully
expressed. Desires for self-actualization are
reflected in various meta-needs (see text).
24
(No Transcript)
25
Emotions

• Physiological Changes Include heartrate, blood
  pressure, perspiration and other involuntary
  responses
• Adrenaline Hormone produced by adrenal glands
  that arouses the body
• Emotional Feelings Private subjective experience
  of having an emotion
• Emotional Expression Outward signs that an
  emotion is occurring

26
Brain and Emotion

• Amygdala Part of limbic system in the brain that
  produces fear responses
• Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) Neural system
  that connects brain with internal organs and
  glands
• Sympathetic branch Part of ANS that activates
  body for emergency action
• Parasympathetic Branch Part of ANS that quiets
  body and conserves energy
• Parasympathetic Rebound Excess activity
  following a period of intense emotion

27
An amygdala can be found buried within the
temporal lobes on each side of the brain (see
Chapter 3). The amygdala appears to provide
quick and dirty processing of emotional stimuli
that allows us to react involuntarily to danger.
28
Emotion and the polygraph. A lie detector
measures the autonomic arousal that most people
experience when they tell a lie. After using
nonthreatening questions to establish a baseline,
a polygraph examiner looks for signs of arousal
(such as the sharp change in GSR shown here) on
incriminating questions. Unfortunately, the
polygraph is not a very dependable index of
whether people are lying.
29
Theories of Emotion

• James-Lange Theory Emotional feelings follow
  bodily arousal and come from awareness of such
  arousal
• Cannon-Bard Theory The thalamus (in brain)
  causes emotional feelings and bodily arousal at
  the same time
• Schachters Cognitive Theory Emotions occur when
  a label is applied to general physical arousal
• Facial Feedback Hypothesis Sensations from
  facial expressions and becoming aware of them is
  what leads to the emotion someone feels

30
(No Transcript)
31
(No Transcript)
32
Primary emotions. Evolutionary theories of
emotion attempt to identify primary emotions.
Three leading theoristsSilvan Tomkins, Carroll
Izard, and Robert Plutchikhave compiled
different lists of primary emotions, but this
chart shows great overlap among the basic
emotions identified by these theorists. (Based on
Mandler, 1984)
33
Emotional intensity in Plutchiks
model. According to Plutchik, diversity in human
emotion is a product of variations in emotional
intensity, as well as a blending of primary
emotions. Each vertical slice in the diagram is a
primary emotion that can be subdivided into
emotional expressions of varied intensity,
ranging from most intense (top) to least intense
(bottom).