Psychology Behavior

1. Motivation: a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior B. Instincts and Evolutionary Psychology 2. Instinct: a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned 3. Human innate tendency such as infant’s rooting and sucking C. Drives and Incentives 4. Drive-reduction Theory: the idea that physiological need creates an aroused tensions state (a drive) that motives an organism to satisfy the need a) Drives the need of eating or drinking b) When need increases so does drive 5.

Homeostasis: tendency to maintain a constant internal state c) Goal of drive reduction d) Regulation of body chemistry, such as glucose level 6. Incentive: a positive or negative environment stimulus that motivates behavior e) When there is a need and an incentive, we feel strongly driven D. Optimum Arousal 7. Arousal Theory: helps explain motivation for behaviors that reduce immediate physiological needs or tension states 8. Humans seek stimulation when biological needs are met f) Human motivation aims to seek optimum levels of arousal to met needs g) Over stimulation causes stress

E. A Hierarchy of Motives 9. Hierarchy of needs: Maslow’s pyramid of human needs; need to satisfy base needs before higher-level needs h) Physiological Needs: Need to satisfy hunger and thirst i) Safety Needs: Need to feel that the world is organized and predictable, need to feel safe, secure and stable j) Belongingness and Love Needs: Need to love and be loved, to belong and be accepted, need to avoid loneliness and alienation k) Esteem Needs: Need for self-esteem, achievement, competence, and independence; need for recognition and respect from others ) Self-Actualization Needs: Need to live up to ones fullest and unique potential 10. Critics note that Maslow’s sequence of needs isn’t universal but his hierarchy provides framework for thinking about motivated behaviors F. Hunger 11. Controls are located within the brain’s hypothalamus G. Physiology of Hunger 12. Washburn and Cannon showed that hunger’s inner push corresponds to the stomachs contractions, but hunger has other causes 13. Lateral Hypothalamus increases hunger ) Insulin: secreted by pancreas and controls blood glucose partly by converting it to stored fat n)

Glucose: form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues o) Ghrelin: hormone secreted by empty stomach and sends the “I’m hungry” signals to the brain p) Leptin: Secreted by fat cells and signals the brain to increase metabolism and decrease hunger q) Orexin: hunger triggering hormone 14. Ventromedial Hypothalamus decrease hunger ) PYY: Digestive tract hormone; sends “I’m not hungry” signal to the brain 15. Set Point: point at which an individual’s “weight thermostat” is supposedly set s) When body falls below this weight, increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight 16. Basal metabolic rate: the body’s resting rate of energy expenditure H. Biology or Culture? 17. Although humans prefer certain tastes we still adapt to the specific foods of our cultures and families 18. Taste aversion has survival value I. Eating Disorders 19.

Anorexia Nervosa: an eating disorder in which a normal-weight person diets and becomes significantly underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve t) Found more commonly in adolescent females u) 15% or more underweight 20. Bulimia Nervosa: an eating disorder characterized by episodes of over eating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise 21. Has been a dramatic increase in correlation of poor body image and eating disorders due to family settings, low self-esteem, and cultural pressures 22. Twin research also shows eating disorders run in genetics