Psychology: Motivation and Emotion
Exploring why people act and how feelings influence behavior
Psychology: Motivation and Emotion
Exploring why people act and how feelings influence behavior
Psychology - Grade 9-12
- 1
Define motivation in psychology and give one example of a motivated behavior.
Motivation is the process that initiates, directs, and sustains behavior toward a goal. An example is studying for several nights because you want to earn a high grade on a test. - 2
A student practices guitar because they enjoy learning new songs, not because anyone is rewarding them. Is this intrinsic motivation or extrinsic motivation? Explain your answer.
Think about whether the reason comes from inside the person or from an outside reward.
This is intrinsic motivation because the student is practicing for internal satisfaction and enjoyment rather than for an outside reward. - 3
A teenager works extra hours at a part-time job to save money for a new phone. Explain how incentive theory would describe this behavior.
Incentive theory would explain the behavior by focusing on the phone as an external reward that pulls the teenager toward working more hours. - 4
Use Maslow's hierarchy of needs to explain why a student who is hungry and worried about having a safe place to sleep might have trouble focusing on self-esteem or academic goals.
Start with the bottom levels of the hierarchy before discussing higher levels.
Maslow's hierarchy suggests that basic physiological and safety needs must be met before higher needs become the main focus. If the student is hungry and worried about safety, those lower-level needs may take priority over school success or self-esteem. - 5
According to drive-reduction theory, why might a person drink water after exercising on a hot day?
Focus on the body's attempt to return to a balanced internal state.
Drive-reduction theory says that biological needs create internal tension called drives. After exercising on a hot day, the person's body needs water, so thirst motivates drinking to restore balance. - 6
The Yerkes-Dodson law describes the relationship between arousal and performance. Explain why a little anxiety may help a student during a quiz, while too much anxiety may hurt performance.
A moderate level of arousal can increase attention and energy, which may improve quiz performance. Too much anxiety can become overwhelming and interfere with memory, focus, and clear thinking. - 7
Give one example of how autonomy, competence, or relatedness could increase a student's motivation according to self-determination theory.
Autonomy means choice, competence means feeling capable, and relatedness means connection with others.
A student's motivation could increase if they are allowed to choose their own research topic because that supports autonomy. Feeling that their choice matters can make the work feel more personally meaningful. - 8
A runner feels their heart pounding and then realizes they feel afraid after seeing a dog running toward them. Which emotion theory best matches this sequence: James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, or Schachter-Singer? Explain.
The James-Lange theory best matches this sequence because it says that physical body reactions occur first and the emotion is experienced after the person interprets those reactions. - 9
According to Cannon-Bard theory, what happens when a person sees a frightening stimulus?
This theory says the feeling and body response happen together.
According to Cannon-Bard theory, the person experiences the emotion and the physical response at the same time. For example, they may feel fear while their heart begins to race. - 10
A student feels their heart racing before giving a speech. They look around, remember they are about to speak in front of the class, and label the feeling as nervousness. How does the Schachter-Singer two-factor theory explain this emotion?
The Schachter-Singer two-factor theory says emotion comes from physical arousal plus a cognitive label. The student notices the racing heart and uses the situation to label the emotion as nervousness. - 11
Explain the role of cognitive appraisal in emotion using an example from school, sports, or friendships.
The same event can produce different emotions depending on how it is interpreted.
Cognitive appraisal is the way a person interprets an event, and that interpretation influences the emotion they feel. For example, a low test grade may lead to determination if the student sees it as a challenge, but it may lead to sadness if the student sees it as failure. - 12
Identify two basic emotions that many psychologists consider widely recognized across cultures, and explain why this idea matters.
Two basic emotions that are widely recognized across cultures are happiness and fear. This idea matters because it suggests that some emotional expressions may have biological roots and are not only learned from a specific culture. - 13
What is the facial feedback hypothesis? Give one example of how it might work.
Think about how making an expression might affect how a person feels.
The facial feedback hypothesis suggests that facial expressions can influence emotional experience. For example, smiling may slightly increase feelings of happiness because the facial movement sends feedback to the brain. - 14
A person wants to improve achievement motivation for a long-term goal, such as preparing for college, training for a sport, or learning a skill. Describe two strategies that could help.
Two helpful strategies are setting specific short-term goals and tracking progress over time. These strategies can make the larger goal feel more manageable and can increase a sense of competence and persistence. - 15
Compare motivation and emotion. Explain how they are different and how they can influence each other.
Describe each concept first, then explain the connection between them.
Motivation is mainly about the forces that direct behavior toward goals, while emotion is mainly about feelings and body responses to experiences. They influence each other because emotions such as excitement can increase motivation, while motivation to reach a goal can create emotions such as hope, stress, or pride.