Chapter 11: Emotion and Motivation

Theories of Emotion

Discrete emotions theory: Humans experience a small number of distinct emotions, even if they combine in complex ways.

James-Lange Theory: Emotions result from our interpretations of our bodily reactions to stimuli.

Antonio Damasio’s somatic marker theory: People unconsciously and instantaneously use their “gut reactions” – especially our autonomic responses to gauge how we should react.

Cannon-Bard theory: An emotion-provoking event leads simultaneously to both an emotion and bodily reactions.

Two-Factor Theory (Schachter and Singer's Theory): Emotions are produced by an undifferentiated state of arousal along with an attribution of that arousal.

Happiness

Myths:
-The Prime determinant of happiness is what happens to us.
-Money makes us happy.
-Happiness declines in old age.
-People on the west coast are the happiest.

Realities (What makes us happy):
-Marriage
-Friendships
-Religion
-Political affiliation
-Exercise
-Gratitude

Attraction and Love

Types of Love:
-Passionate
-Companionate

Love Elements:
-Intimacy
-Passion
-Commitment

Factors and Principles that Guide Attraction and Formation of Relationships:
-Proximity
-Similarity (Common interests)
-Reciprocity
-Physical Attraction
-Social Roles

Hunger, Eating, and Disorders

Determinants:
-The lateral hypothalamus "the feeding centre"
-The ventromedial hypothalamus
-Hormones
-Low glucose levels
-Neurotransmitters (leptin and serotonin)

Theories of Motivation

Drive reduction theory: Certain drives, like hunger, thirst, and sexual frustration, motivate us to minimize aversive states. All of the drives are unpleasant but when satisfied, give us pleasure.

Yerkes-Dodson law: There's an inverted U-shaped relation between arousal on the one hand and mood and performance on the other hand.

Incentive Theories: People are often motivated by positive goals.

Importance of Non-Verbal Expression of Emotion

Non-verbal expression of emotion is important because without non-verbal cues to our emotions, miscommunication happens. Physical touch, hand gestures, and posture can convey a lot about our emotional state.

Unconscious Influences on Emotion

Emotional experiences are generated automatically but can also operate without us knowing. Examples being the knee-jerk reflex and the facial feedback hypothesis.

Lie-Detector Methods

Polygraph Test

A polygraph test measures several physiological signals that often reflect anxiety - thus, assuming that dishonest people experience anxiety when lying. The problem with polygraph tests is that it's an arousal detector - meaning that some people may experience anxiety not because they're lying or a criminal. The person can experience anxiety from fear of being convicted for something they didn't do.

Guilty Knowledge Test

Relies on the premise that criminals harbor concealed knowledge about the crime that innocent people don't. However, the test has a high false-negative rate because many criminals can forget or not notice key aspects of the crime scene.

Controlled Question Test

Measures suspects' physiological responses following three major types of yes-no questions: relevant, irrelevant, and control. The downfall of this test is it tests general arousal, not guilty arousal so it produces many false positives (innocent people being labeled as guilty).

Positive Psychology

Positive psychology is a discipline that has sought to emphasize human strengths such as love, happiness, and life satisfaction.

Bulimia

Symptoms:
-Eating large amounts of food in brief periods of time
-Followed by puking or frantic exercise (in order to drastically lose weight)

Anorexia

Symptoms:
-Refuses to eat or eats extremely little

Sex

Four Stages of the Sexual Response Cycle

1. Excitement
2. Plateau
3. Orgasm
4. Resolution

Myths on Sexual Orientation:
-Homosexuals adopt a masculine or feminine role
-Especially likely to abuse children and adolescents
-Usually inadequate parents

Potential Influences on Sexual Orientation:
-Inherited tendency toward childhood gender nonconformity
-Sex hormones
-Prenatal Influences
-Brain differences

Factors that Influence Sexual Activity:
Sexual satisfaction doesn't decrease with age but the frequency of it does.