Class notes
Psych 111 Motivation and Emotion Notes
- Course
- Psych 111
- Institution
- State University Of New York - Binghamton
This is a comprehensive and detailed note motivation and emotion for psych 111. *Essential Study Material!!
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Chapter Objectives:● To provide a framework for understanding how basic emotional processes are
used to guide behavior in an adaptive manner, emphasizing historical views of
emotional processes.
● To describe motivation (why we do what we do) and its conflicts from the basic
biological needs (hunger, thirst, sex) to uniquely human motivational issues
(achievement, needs, etc).
Brief Lecture Outline:
I. Emotion
● Emotion: positive or negative affective states
● Consist of cognitive, physiological and behavioral reactions to events that have
relevance to our goals
● Emotions are responses , while motivations are stimuli to action
A. Adaptive function of emotions
● Adaptive function of Emotions (Fredrickson, 1998)
○ Negative emotions narrow attention, enabling a response to threat
through increased physiological activation
○ Positive emotions broaden thinking and behavior, enabling exploration
and skill learning
B. Emotions as a social communication
● They provide observable information about internal states and influence other’
behavior toward us
C. Emotions: eliciting stimuli
● Biological Factors: We come equipped to respond to stimuli that may have
evolutionary significance
● Learning: Previous experiences can affect current emotional experiences
D. The nature of emotions: four common features of emotions
● 1. Emotions are responses to eliciting stimuli
● 2. Emotions involve cognitive appraisal
● 3. Bodies respond physiologically
● 4. Emotions include behavioral tendencies (expressive and instrumental
behaviors)
E. The appraisal process
● Appraisals relate to what we think is desirable (or not)
● Unique appraisal processes cause individuals to have different emotional
reactions to the same situation
● Appraisals can influence emotional experiences differently across cultures
F. Psychological process of happiness
● Downward comparison promotes increased satisfaction, while upward
comparison promotes dissatisfaction
○ Feel good, do good Phenomenon: people are more likely to help others
, when they feel good
○ Adaptation level principle: our conceptualization of happiness or
satisfaction is relative to our previous experiences
○ Relative deprivation principle: happiness by our past experiences AND
relative to others attachments
G. Physiological components of emotions
● (LeDoux, 1996)
● Thalamus sends sensory input along two independent neural pathways
○ One directly to the amygdala→ emotional and behavioral
reaction
○ One to the cerebral cortex → conscious interpretation
○ Affective Neuroscience
H. Evolution and emotional expression
● Evidence for innate fundamental emotional patterns
○ The expression of certain emotions is similar across a variety of cultures
○ Children blind from birth express basic emotions as sighted children do
I. Facial feedback hypothesis
○ Muscular feedback to the brain plays a key role in emotional experience
J. Culture and emotions
● Emotional display rules elicit different emotional reactions to the same event
○ Ex: “A-ok” symbol
● Universal facial expressions
○ Disgust, Anger, Fear, Happiness, Sadness, Surprise
● What makes a person happy?
○ Researchers have found that happy people tend to: have high self
esteem, be optimistic and outgoing, have a satisfying marriage or other
lover relationship, sleep well, exercise
○ However, other factors that seem UNRELATED to happiness include:
age, race, gender (women are more often depressed but also have more
joyful), education level, having vs not having children
K. Theories of emotion
● James-Lange: Feel afraid because pulse is racing(underlying physiological
stimuli is driving the emotional state)
● Cannon-Bard: Thalamus sends signals simultaneously to the cortex and the
autonomic nervous system
● Schachter's Two Factor Theory: look to external cues to decide what to feel
● Evolutionary Theories: innate reactions with little cognitive interpretation
II. Motivation
A. General Overview: definition, sources
● A process that influences the direction, persistence, and vigor of goal-directed
behavior
○ Adaptive significance: we are motivated to engage in behavior that
promotes survival advantages
● Sources of motivation
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