Motivation
(Internal processes that activate, guide, and maintain
behavior over time)
 Theories of Motivation
- Instinct Theory: Humans behave the way they do
because of instinct.
(instinct: complex behavior that is rigidly patterned
throughout a species and is unlearned)
Critique >
This provides a description rather
than an explanation.
Also, it fails to address learning
in human behavior.
- Drive-Reduction Theory: the idea that a
physiological need creates an aroused
tension state (a drive) that motivates an
organism to satisfy the need
Critique > People will skip snacks
and/or meals to enjoy a
special meal more.
Need
(e.g., for
food, water)
Drive
(hunger, thirst)
Drive-reducing
behaviors
(eating, drinking)
- Incentive Theory (Expectancy Theory): Behavior is
pulled by expectations of desirable outcomes.
[cognitive]
- Arousal Theory: Humans seek an optimal level of
arousal
Optimal Arousal
(Rather than reducing a physiological need or
tension state, some motivated behaviors increase
arousal.)
Yerkes-Dodson Law
There is an optimal level of arousal for the best
performance of any task; the more complex the
task, the lower the level of arousal that can be
tolerated before performance deteriorates.
Best performance = moderate level of arousal
Motivation-Hunger
 The
hypothalamus
controls
eating and
other body
maintenance
functions
Hunger Drive
Two areas of the
hypothalamus,
the lateral and
ventromedial
areas, play a
central role in
the hunger
drive
Hypothalamus
Hypothalamus
Lateral Area
The lateral hypothalamus
registers hunger. When
electrically stimulated
there, a well-fed animal
would begin to eat; when
the area was destroyed,
even a starving animal
had no interest in food.
Hypothalamus
Hypothalamus
Ventromedial Area
The ventromedial
hypothalamus
depresses hunger.
Stimulate this area and
an animal will stop
eating; destroy it and
the animal will not feel
satiated, causing it to
eat more and to
become extremely
overweight.
Hypothalamus
Hypothalamus
A lesion near
the ventromedial
portion of the
hypothalamus
caused this rat’s
weight to triple.
Motivation-Hunger
- Set Point: the point at which an
individual’s “weight thermostat” is
supposedly set
(When the body falls below this weight,
an increase in hunger and a lowered
metabolic rate may act to restore the
lost weight.)
- Basal Metabolic Rate: body’s base
rate of energy expenditure
 Basal Metabolic Rate: the rate at which
the body uses energy for vital functions
while at rest
- Factors that influence BMR
> Age
> Sex
> Size
> Genetics
> Food intake
Eating Disorders:
Anorexia Nervosa
An anorexic is defined as a person who has
stopped eating and is at least 25% underweight.
Anorexics have low self-esteem and a distorted
body image. They see themselves as being
overweight.
 Every system in the body can be damaged.
 As the body adjusts to extremely low food
intake, it becomes unable to handle nourishment
except in very, very small amounts.
 As with bulimia, most victims are female.
Eating Disorders:
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia is characterized by overeating (bingeing)
and induced (forced) vomiting.
 80-85% of bulimics are female
 Low self-esteem is a major factor
 Males lose weight for sport competition
 Causes irritation to the throat and
mouth and future digestive problems
 Causes erosion to the teeth enamel
Women’s Body
Images
Aggressive Motivation

- The desire to harm or injure others in some manner
It is caused by any of a wide range of external stimuli
or events.
- Thus, it is not dues to inherited tendencies.
1. It is often caused by frustration.
(the blocking of ongoing, goal-directed behavior)
> However, many people become depressed
rather than aggressive when frustrated.
2. People also aggress against others when it is part
of their role or job.
(Example: Bully, KGB, Gestapo, Loan Shark, etc.)
3. Provocation from another person - expletives, etc.
- is another cause.
4. Observational Learning from media violence is
also a possible cause.
Desensitization
5. Uncomfortable or unpleasant environmental
conditions also play a part.
(Example: hot day, alarm/buzzer going off, etc.)
6. Higher levels of the hormone testosterone have
been correlated with a greater tendency to aggress
{The rates of violent crime vary tremendously from
country to country, thus it appears that social and
cultural forces greatly influence aggressive behavior.}
Aggression Questionnaire
 Which statement illustrates an aggressive act?
1. A spider eats a fly.
2. Two wolves fight for the leadership of the pack.
3. A soldier shoots an enemy at the front line.
4. The warden of a prison executes a convicted criminal.
5. A juvenile gang member attacks members of another gang.
6. Two men fight for a piece of bread.
7. A man viciously kicks a cat.
8. A man, while cleaning a window, knocks over a flowerpot,
which, in falling, injures a pedestrian.
9. Mr. X, a notorious gossip, speaks disparagingly of many people
he knows.
10. A man mentally rehearses a murder he is about to commit.
11. An angry son purposely fails to write to his mother, who is
expecting a letter and will be hurt if none arrives.
12. A Girl Scout tries to assist an elderly woman, but trips her.
13. A person commits suicide.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Self-Actualization
- need to live up to one’s fullest and unique potential
 Esteem
- need for self-esteem, achievement, competence, and
independence
 Belongingness
- need to be loved, to be accepted, and to avoid
loneliness & alienation
 Safety
- need to feel that the world is organized and
predictable; to feel secure & stable
 Physiological
- need to satisfy hunger and thirst
Sexual Motivation
 Sex
 a physiologically based motive, like
hunger, but it is more affected by learning
and values
 Sexual Response Cycle
 the four stages of sexual responding
described by Masters and Johnson
 excitement
 plateau
 orgasm
 resolution
What Motivates Sexual
Behavior?
 Necessary for the survival of the
species but not of the individual
 Lower animals motivated by hormonal
changes in the female
 Higher species less influenced by
hormones and more by learning and
environmental influences
Forces Affecting
Sexual Motivation
Sexual Motivation
 Same drives, different attitudes
Sexual Motivation
 Births to
unwed
parents
Culture
 Adolescents’ physical maturation fosters
a sexual dimension to their emerging
identity.
- But culture is a big influence, too, as is
apparent from varying rates of teen
intercourse and pregnancy.
Teen Pregnancy
 a. Ignorance
 b. Guilt related to sexual activity
 c. Minimal communication about birth
control
 d. Alcohol use
 e. Mass media norms of unprotected
promiscuity
Sexual Orientation
 Heterosexual – sexual attraction for the
opposite sex.
 Homosexual – sexual attraction for the same
sex.
 Gay – typically used to describe male
homosexuals.
 Lesbian – typically used to describe female
homosexuals.
 Bisexual – sexual attraction for both sexes.
- Some General Findings
> Sexual orientation is an earlyemerging, ingrained aspect of the self
that probably does not change.
> No consistent relationship between
orientation and childhood experiences
(parenting, abuse, sexual experiences)
> Findings suggest a possible
relationship among prenatal stress,
androgens, and the development of
brain systems that play a role in
sexual attraction
Sexual Motivation
Acting to Increase Social
Acceptance
 To avoid rejection, we generally conform to
group standards and seek to make favorable
impressions.
 To win friendship and esteem, we monitor our
behavior, hoping to create the right
impressions.
 Seeking love and belonging, we spend billions
on clothes, cosmetics, and diet & fitness aids
> all motivated by our quest for acceptance
ACTING TO INCREASE SOCIAL
ACCEPTANCE
Emotion
 Three Major Elements
1. Physiological Change - blood
pressure, heart rate, perspiration, etc.
2. Subjective Cognitive States - the
experiences people label as emotions
3. Expressive Behaviors - external signs
of the internal reactions
 Four Theories
1. Schachter-Singer Theory (TwoFactor): Events that cause emotion
produce increased arousal in our bodies.
- We then search the environment
around us to try to find the causes of this
increased arousal.
- Whatever we identify as a causal factor
helps determine how we label this
arousal, ie. which emotion we
experience.
Two-Factor Theory
2. Cannon-Bard Theory: Emotioncausing events simultaneously produce
the physiological arousal and subjective
experiences that we label as certain
emotions.
- When I say "pop quiz," your heart rate
increases and you have the subjective
experience of fear.
Cannon-Bard Theory
3. James-Lange Theory: Physiological
changes in our bodies cause subjective
emotional experiences.
- You feel nervous before the race
because your mouth was dry, you were
sweating, and you had butterflies in your
stomach.
James-Lange Theory
4. Opponent-Process Theory: an
emotional reaction to an event/stimulus is
followed automatically by an opposite
reaction.
- Joy is followed by sadness, anger is
followed by calm, etc.
- Also, this theory suggests that repeated
exposure to the same event/stimulus
results in a reduced initial reaction and
an increased opposite reaction.
 Biology of Emotions
1. Amygdala - it appears to play a role in an
individual's ability to determine the intensity of
other's emotions.
2. Autonomic Nervous System - this theory
states that arousal of the ANS may not be allor-none reaction.
There may be multiple patterns of ANS arousal
and different emotions may correspond to
different patterns of ANS activity.
3. Hemispheric Contributions to Emotion - left
hemisphere activation associated with positive
feelings, while right hemisphere activation
associated with negative feelings.
(see textbook for more)
 Evolutionary Theories of Emotion
- Charles Darwin believed that emotions
developed because of their adaptive value.
> Fear, for instance, would help an
organism avoid danger and thus would aid
in survival.
> Hence, Darwin viewed emotion as a
product of evolution.
(This is the basis of theories developed by
Plutchik, Izard, and Tomkins.)
- Evolutionary theories consider emotions to be
largely innate reactions to certain stimuli.
> As such, emotions should be immediately
recognizable under most conditions without
much thought.
- Evolutionary theorists have concluded that
emotion evolved before thought.
> They assert that thought plays a relatively
small role in emotion but accept that
learning and cognition may have some
influence on human emotions.
- It is assumed that emotions originate in
subcortical brain structures that evolved before
higher brain areas in the cortex associated with
complex thought.
- Evolutionary theories also assume that
evolution has equipped humans with a small
number of innate emotions with proven
adaptive value
(Fundamental Emotions)
 Fundamental Emotions
- Robert Plutchik argued that we have
eight fundamental, or basic, emotions.
> These basic eight combine to form
other emotions.
> Each of the eight also has greater
and lesser levels of intensity, which
equate to even more emotions.
Plutchik’s Theory of
Emotions
- Carroll Izard argued that all emotions
are present at birth.
> However, they are not displayed all
at once.
> Instead, they emerge in response to
the child’s developing needs and
maturational sequences.
> Izard argued that humans possess
ten fundamental emotions.
- Silvan Tomkins developed the “Facial
Feedback Hypothesis.”
> Muscular feedback from one’s own
facial expressions contributes to one’s
conscious experience of emotions.
> Facial muscles send signals to the
brain and these signals help the brain
recognize the emotion that one is
experiencing.
> Tomkins asserted that we have nine
fundamental emotions.
Tomkins’ Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Paul Ekman concluded that
certain facial expressions
suggest the same emotion in
all peoples.
> Highly disparate cultures
showed considerable
agreement on six
emotions displayed in
photos.
Expressed Emotion
 Culturally universal expressions
Cultural Differences in Facial
Expressions
 Determine what emotion is being portrayed in each of the
following statements.
1. Every one of his hairs stood on end and the pimples came out
on the skin all over his body.
{fear}
2. He drew up one leg and stood on one foot.
{surprise}
3. He clapped his hands.
{worry}
4. He raised one hand as high as his face and fanned his face with
his sleeve.
{anger}
5. They stuck out their tongues.
{surprise}
6. He gnashed his teeth until they were all but ground to dust.
{anger}
7. Her eyes grew round and opened wide.
{anger}
8. His face was red and he went creeping alone
outside the village.
{shame}
9. He laughed a great ho-ho.
{anger}
10. He scratched his ears and cheek.
{happiness}
11. She stretched the left arm flatly to the left and the
right arm to the right.
{joy}
(Emotional Expression in Chinese Literature, 1938)
Detecting Deception
 What to look for in detecting deception:
- Hand gestures decrease
- More hand to face gestures
> mouth guard
> nose touching
> rubbing eye
> neck scratch
> ear rub
- Body shifts increase
- Less eye contact
- More foot movements
- More speech errors
- Pitch of voice increases