Question 1

How do hormones affect hunger?

Accepted Answer

When blood sugar levels are high, the pancreas secretes insulin

Insulin generally stimulates hunger and lowers blood glucose by storing glucose in fat cells

(ghrelin and cholecystokinin also cause hunger, while leptin decreases hunger)

Question 2

What is the lateral hypothalamus (LH)?

Accepted Answer

Part of the brain that causes hunger and eating behavior when stimulated

(if removed, the individual won't eat at all and starve to death; opposite of the ventromedial hypothalamus)

Question 3

What is the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)?

Accepted Answer

Brain region that stops the urge to eat when stimulated

(if removed, the organism will eat excessively and gain weight rapidly; opposite of the lateral hypothalamus)

Question 4

What is set-point theory?

Accepted Answer

Theory that each of our bodies has a set natural body weight

If we gain more weight than this point we will lose it, and if we lose weight we will gain it back

(conflicting evidence)

Question 5

What is anorexia nervosa (AN)?

Accepted Answer

An eating disorder where the individual perceives themselves as overweight and is afraid of gaining weight, despite being underweight

(affects more women; unrealistic body images)

Question 6

What is bulimia nervosa?

Accepted Answer

An eating disorder where individuals eat large quantities of food, then purge it

(purging=vomiting or taking laxatives; less cholecystokinin and low sertonin)

Question 7

What causes thirst?

Accepted Answer

Primarily fluid content of cells and blood volume, detected by osmoreceptors

Question 8

What is the sexual response cycle?

Accepted Answer

A four-stage model of human physiological response to sexual stimulation

Question 9

What are instincts?

Accepted Answer

Innate behavior patterns in a response to some stimuli

(studied in geese and ducks by ethologist Konrad Lorenz; birds and butterflies flying south)

Question 10

What is an ethologist?

Accepted Answer

Someone who studies animal behavior, usually in a natural setting

(Konrad Lorenz studying instincts in geese and ducks)

Question 11

What is imprinting?

Accepted Answer

The act of certain young animals coming to trust something as their parent

(newly-hatched goslings will imprint upon the first thing they see, declaring it their mother)

Question 12

What is a critical period?

Accepted Answer

A short period of time after some animals are born where imprinting can occur

Question 13

What is sociobiology?

Accepted Answer

Field of biology that attempts to use evolution to explain social behaviors

Question 14

What is the instinct/evolutionary theory of motivation?

Accepted Answer

All organisms are born with instincts that help them survive and drive all behaviors

Question 15

What is the drive reduction theory of motivation?

Accepted Answer

Organisms are born with physiological needs and are motivated to fulfill them, remaining in homeostasis

(motivated to reduce hunger, thirst, or pain)

Question 16

What is homeostasis?

Accepted Answer

A balance of regulated physiological processes that an organism needs to live

(drive reduction theory leads to homeostasis)

Question 17

What is metabolism?

Accepted Answer

Chemical processes that occur in an organism to keep it alive

Question 18

What are the needs and drives in drive reduction theory?

Accepted Answer

Need: state caused by a physiological deficit (lack of food or water)

Drive: physiological tension that motivates us to take action (eat or drink)

Question 19

What is an incentive?

Accepted Answer

Stimuli that motivate our behavior, pulling us towards a goal

(can be positive or negative; wanting to do well on the AP exam makes you study these flashcards)

Question 20

What is the incentive theory of motivation?

Accepted Answer

People are motivated by drives and incentives for reinforcement

People will behave in a way that results in reward and avoids punishment

Question 21

What is arousal?

Accepted Answer

The level of alertness, wakefulness, or activation

(vigor, energy, and tension; different from sexual arousal)

Question 22

What is the Yerkes-Dodson rule?

Accepted Answer

A rule that states we usually perform better when we are moderately aroused

Too little arousal or too much arousal both lead to worse performance

(exception for simple tasks, where too much arousal doesn't have a negative impact)

Question 23

What is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?

Accepted Answer

A model of human needs, each of which must be fulfilled before moving on to the next

(popular, but very little scientific evidence)

Question 24

What is self-actualization?

Accepted Answer

Fully realizing your talents and potentials

(Maslow considered this the highest level on his Hierarchy of Needs)

Question 25

What are direct observation tests?

Accepted Answer

Psychological tests where a psychologist looks at an individual's behavior as they do something

(may evaluate the individual on a personality scale; subject to the Hawthorn effect)

Question 26

What are projective personality tests?

Accepted Answer

Tests that present ambiguous stimuli and task the test takers with coming up with an explanation for it

(Thematic Apperception Test and Rorschach inkblot test)

Question 27

What are self-reported tests?

Accepted Answer

Psychological tests where the individual answers a series of questions about themself

(most common; MMPI-2, Myers-Briggs, 16PF, etc.)

Question 28

What is the James-Lange Theory of Emotion?

Accepted Answer

Conscious emotion occurs because our brains notice physiological responses to a certain event

(if you see something that makes you run, your brain notices that you are running so you must be scared)

Question 29

What is the Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion?

Accepted Answer

When we see some stimulus, our thalamus sends a signal to our lymbic system (emotion center) and frontal lobes (cognitive center)

This results in us having physiological changes (sweating/heartrate) and conscious/emotional changes at the same time

(unlike the James-Lange theory which states emotions come from physiological changes)

Question 30

What is the Schachter-Singer Theory of Emotion?

Accepted Answer

Physiological arousal occurs first, and the individual must identify a reason for this arousal which becomes the emotion they feel

(cognitive theory; if we are aroused and someone is yelling at us, we must be angry)

Question 31

What is Cognitive Appraisal Theory of Emotion?

Accepted Answer

When we encounter a stimulus, we assess the situation with a thought, leading to simultaneously feeling an emotion and a physiological process

(appraisal=assessing something)

Question 32

What is Opponent-Process Theory of Emotion?

Accepted Answer

When we experience an emotion, an opposing emotion will counter the first emotion

When we experience an emotion repeatedly, the opposing emotion becomes stronger leading to a weaker experience

(you get less scared watching something scary the more times you watch it)

Question 33

What is the achievement motive?

Accepted Answer

A desire to meet an internal standard of excellence

(measured by the Thematic Apperception Test)

Question 34

What is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)?

Accepted Answer

A projective test where individuals describe ambiguous scenes

Used to measure someone's achievement motivation

Question 35

What is the affiliation motive?

Accepted Answer

The need to be with others

(people isolated for a long time become anxious)

Question 36

What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?

Accepted Answer

Intrinsic motivation is the desire to perform something "for it's own sake" without a reward (painting for fun)

Extrinsic motivation is the desire to perform something for an external reward (job for money)

Question 37

What is the overjustification effect?

Accepted Answer

Phenomenon where a person's intrinsic motivation for doing something decreases if they are given a reward for doing it

Question 38

What is conflict?

Accepted Answer

When two or more opposing forces come into play at once

Question 39

What are approach-approach conflicts?

Accepted Answer

A type of conflict where you have two positive options, but can only choose one

(least stressful)

Question 40

What are avoidance-avoidance conflicts?

Accepted Answer

Conflicts where you must choose between two negative options

Question 41

What are approach-avoidance conflicts?

Accepted Answer

Conflicts where an option has positive and negative outcomes, and you have to choose whether or not to take it

Question 42

What multiple approach-avoidance conflicts?

Accepted Answer

Conflicts where you have multiple options, each of which with pros and cons, and you must choose which one to take

Question 43

What is a defense mechanism?

Accepted Answer

Psychological strategies that are unconsciously used to protect people against unacceptable thoughts/feelings

(repression, denial, projection, ...)

Question 44

What is repression?

Accepted Answer

A defense mechanism where you push away threatening thoughts/feelings/memories into the unconscious mind

(most frequent and powerful)

Question 45

What is regression?

Accepted Answer

Defense mechanism where you retreat to an earlier stage of development, rather than overcoming the issue

(more immature and pleasurable behavior)

Question 46

What is rationalization?

Accepted Answer

Defense mechanism where you offer socially acceptable reasons for inappropriate behavior

(unconscious excuses)

Question 47

What is projection?

Accepted Answer

Defense mechanism where you project your undesirable feelings onto others

Question 48

What is displacement?

Accepted Answer

Defense mechanism where you redirect negative thoughts from a threatening entity to a less threatening entity

(boss yells at an employee, who goes home to yell at their kids, who take it out on their toys)

Question 49

What is reaction formation?

Accepted Answer

Defense mechanism where you act in the opposite manner to your true feelings

(treating someone you hate in a very nice way)

Question 50

What is sublimation?

Accepted Answer

Defense mechanism where unacceptable urges are transformed into productive urges

(someone who is angry for not being selected by a company (unacceptable urge) works hard to create their own company (productive urge))

Question 51

What is the personal unconscious?

Accepted Answer

Jung's idea of the unique information/memories/instincts present within our minds

(similar to Freud's preconscious and unconscious; opposite of collective unconscious)

Question 52

What is the collective unconscious?

Accepted Answer

The structures of the unconscious mind created by evolution, that are shared by all people

(opposite of personal unconscious; coined by Jung)

Question 53

What are archetypes?

Accepted Answer

Universal and archaic symbols and images that we derive from the collective unconscious

("the mother", "the trickster", "the flood")

Question 54

What is individuation?

Accepted Answer

Jung's process of a person becoming a unified individual, with conscious and unconscious processes

Question 55

What is Carl Roger's concept of the "self"?

Accepted Answer

The organized and consistent set of beliefs and perceptions we hold about ourselves

Develops in response to life experiences

Question 56

What is fully functioning?

Accepted Answer

Roger's term for a person who is in touch with their inner desires and feelings

(mostly equivalent to self-actualization)

Question 57

What is self-concept?

Accepted Answer

Our overall view of our abilities, behavior, and personality

Question 58

What is self-esteem?

Accepted Answer

A part of self-concept that deals with how we evaluate ourselves

Question 59

What is Personal Construct Theory?

Accepted Answer

People develop personal constructs about how the world works, which they use to make sense of their observations/experiences

(proposed by George Kelly)

Question 60

What is reciprocal determinism?

Accepted Answer

Bandura's idea that a person's characteristics, their behavior, and their environment all affect each other in a two-way relationship

Question 61

What are self-efficacy and collective efficacy?

Accepted Answer

Self-efficacy is an individual's perception of their ability to perform a task

Collective efficacy is a group's shared belief in their ability to perform a task

Question 62

What is Locus of Control?

Accepted Answer

How much we believe we can personally influence a situation, compared to how much is luck/fate

(internal locus of control: think they are rewarded for hard work; external locus of control: think what happens to them is just fate)

Question 63

What are behavioral signatures?

Accepted Answer

Consistent ways of acting in situations that characterize our personality

(developed by our personal beliefs, goals, feelings, personal competencies, and self-regulatory processes)

Question 64

What is a trait?

Accepted Answer

A permanent characteristic of our personality that can be used to predict our behavior

Unit 7: Motivation, Emotion, and Personality, AP Psychology Flashcards