Motivation

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Motivation Emotion

• Doneisha Burke M.Sc.

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Motivation Theories

• Motivation- internal processes that activate,
  guide, and maintain behaviour over time
• Drive Theory
• Suggests that behaviour is pushed from within by
  drives stemming from basic biological needs
• Arousal Theory
• Suggests that human beings seek an optimal level
  of arousal, not minimal levels of arousal
• Expectancy Theory
• Suggest that behaviour is pulled by
  expectations of desirable outcomes
• Goal Setting Theory
• Suggests that motivation can be strongly
  influenced by goals

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Motivation and Maslow

• Maslows Needs Hierarchy
• Suggest that human motives exist in a hierarchy
  and our most basic needs must 1st be satisfied
  before we move on to satisfying those less linked
  to biological needs.
• Be cautious with this theory!

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Emotion

• Emotions- reactions consisting of subjective
  cognitive states (personal experiences we label
  as emotions), physiological reactions (shifts in
  heart rate, blood pressure) and expressive
  behaviour (smiling, posture).

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Emotion Theories

• Many theories of emotions have been put forward,
  however the 3 most influential are
• Canon-Bard Theory
• James-Lange Theory
• Schacter-Singer Theory
• Opponent Process Theory

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Emotion Theories

• Canon-Bard Theory
• Theory suggesting that various emotion producing
  events simultaneously produce physiological
  arousal and subjective reactions labeled as
  emotions.

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Emotion Theories

• James-Lange Theory
• According to this theory emotion provoking events
  produce physiological reactions and it is our
  awareness of these changes in bodily states that
  we label as emotions

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Emotion Theories

• Schacter-Singer Theory (Two Factor Theory)
• According to this theory emotion provoking events
  produce increased arousal. In response to these
  feelings we search the external environment to
  identify a cause (s) behind them
• Once this is done we attach a cognitive label
  based on what external cues tell us we should be
  feeling.
• This is in contrast to the James-Lange theory

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Emotion Theories

• Opponent Process Theory
• This theory suggests that an emotional reaction
  is followed automatically by an opposite reaction
  and that repeated exposure to a stimulus causes
  the initial reaction to weaken and the opponent
  process/opposite reaction to strengthen.

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Emotion Theories

• James-Lange vs. Canon-Bard
• Canon-Bard approach was the highly favoured
  accepted of the two
• Studies now indicate that different emotions are
  indeed associated with different patterns of
  physiological activity (e.g. muscle brain)
• The Facial Feedback (Peripheral) Hypothesis
• It gives support to the James- Lange Theory
• It suggests that changes in facial expression can
  produce changes in emotional states
• Other research includes bodily posture and tone
  of voice

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The Biological Basis of Emotions

• Different portions of the brain have been
  implicated
• The Right Cerebral hemisphere plays a very
  important role in emotional functions
• It seems to be specialized for processing
  emotional information
• It also plays a role in the expression of emotion

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The Biological Basis of Emotions

• Differences also exist between the right and left
  hemisphere with regard to 2 key aspects of
  emotion
• Valence- extent to which an emotion is
  pleasant/unpleasant
• Arousal- the intensity of emotion
• Activation of the left hemisphere is associated
  with approach, response to reward and positive
  affect
• Activation on the right hemisphere is associated
  with avoidance, withdrawal from aversive stimuli
  and negative affect
• Anterior regions are associated with valence and
  posterior with arousal
• The Amygdala plays a key role in our
  interpretation of emotional information relating
  to threat and danger

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The External Expression of Emotions

• Non-verbal cues
• Outward signs of others emotional states, such as
  facial expressions, eye contact and body language
• Facial Expressions
• 6 different basic emotions are represented
  clearly on the human face
• anger, fear, sadness, disgust, happiness and
  surprise (recent findings also suggest contempt)
• Interpretation of the above facial expressions
  have been found to be dependent on situational
  cues and the context in which the expressions
  occur
• This suggests that interpretation of facial
  expressions may not be so clear

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The External Expression of Emotions

• Gestures, Posture and Movements
• Posture, body position and movement (a.k.a. Body
  Language or KINESICS scientific term) is often
  reflective of our current mood/emotion
• Gestures
• Movements of body parts that convey specific
  meanings in a given culture

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Emotion and Cognition

• Our thoughts/cognition seem to exert strong
  effects on our emotions
• E.g. It activates schemas (cognitive frameworks
  representing our knowledge and assumptions about
  specific aspects of the world)
• Our thoughts can influence our reaction to
  emotion provoking events
• Likewise our emotions tends to make us think/feel
  happy and so on
• It can influence our plans and intentions,
  perception of ambiguous stimuli and creativity
  among others