Motivation and Emotion
Define motivation
- The psychological cause of an action
- A process that arouses, maintains and guides behavior toward a goal
- A need or desire that energizes or directs behavior
- Pushes and pulls behavior
What are biological motives
drive redcution theory
- needs push behavior
- drive; psychological desire
Need reduction
Satisfied need reduces drive (eating food satisfies the need for nutrients and decreases your psychological drive for food)
Ventromedial hypothalamus and hunger
Leptin - hormone released by fat cells when body fat exceeds optimal set point
- Signals to ventomedial hypothalamus to decrease release of orexin (orexin released to create hunger drive)
What are learned motives
External incentives - external stimuli that motivate behavior (signal rewards or punishment)
Drive strength - pushed by biological needs and pulled by external incentives
Thrifty gene theory
Innate, genetic preference for sugar and fat due to ancestral survival benefits
What are stimulus motives
- Need to seek stimulation and information
- Promote curiosity and exploration
example: trying oysters for the first time, a bold move considering no one knew what they would taste like before
Arousal theory
Maintaining moderate levels of arousal is optimal for performance
- performance is usually poor at low levels of arousal
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Four levels of basic needs
1. physiological needs
2. safety and security
3. love and belonging
4. esteem and self-esteem
Emotion regulation
Link between prefrontal cortex and amygdala permits emotion regulation
Two roads/neural pathways of emotions
Low road/fast pathway - automatic emotional responses without conscious input
High road/slow pathway - conscious emotional appraisal, longer pathway through cortex
Physiological aspects of emotion
Sympathetic branch
- Activated in high arousal emotions; fear and anger
- fight or flight response
Parasympathetic branch
- Reduces arousal; conserves energy