Ch. 9 Topics

1. Negative feedback in motivation.
       In the brain, the hypothalamus regulates the body in order to create a state of homeostasis. When a person is cold their brain will send signals to the skeletal muscles to shiver in an attempt to warm the body and the person will be motivated to put on a sweater.
2. Evidence for an optimal level of arousal.
       According to the Yerkes-Dodson law, people operate best with some arousal. People are motivated to seek an optimal level of arousal which is demonstrated by a parabola (inverted U). Too little arousal causes us to become bored and too much arousal can lead to anxiety.
3. How can we set goals that we are able to attain?
       Good goals are those that are challenging, because they encourage effort, persistence, and concentration. Being specific when making your goals also helps. Knowing exactly what is desired to achieve may help breaking large goals into smaller steps that help build up toward reaching a goal.
4. How and why flavor variety motivates eating.
       By having a variety of flavors and larger quantities of these varieties cause rats and humans to eat more, which typically leads to obesity. Because of sensory-specific satiety, animals will stop eating quickly when they have just one type of food to eat. The part of the frontal lobe that assesses reward value of food increases activity when new foods are presented.
5. The hormones that affect sexual motivation.
        Females and males have all the sexual hormones. Males have a higher level of androgen and females have more estrogen and progesterone. Testosterone is an androgen that drives sexual behavior. Oxytocin is another important hormone that is released during sexual arousal and orgasm, and is believed to promote feelings of love and attachment between partners.