Gretel’s AP Psychology Blog

Motivation: a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior  Motivation  Instinct Theory : we are motivated by our inborn automated behaviors  Drive-Reduction Theory : the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need  we are not only pushed by our needs, but pulled by our incentives: a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior  Hunger hunger is both physiological and psychological  Biological Basis of Hunger hunger does NOT come from our stomach  hunger comes from our brain; the hypothalamus  Hypothalamus  Lateral Hypothalamus : when stimulated it makes you hungry  Ventromedial Hypothalamus : when stimulated you feel full  Eating Disorders  Bulimia Nervosa : characterized by binging (eating large amounts of food) and purging (getting r...

LEARNING A relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs through experience . the process by which experience/practice results in a relatively permanent change in behavior or potential behavior. How Do We Learn  associative learning- learning that certain events occur together   Classical Conditioning  the type of learning in which a response naturally elicited by one stimulus becomes to be elicited by a different formally neutral stimulus  Pavlov and Watson  UCS, UCR, CS, CR Operant Conditioning the type of learning in which behaviors are emitted to earn rewards or avoid punishments B.F. Skinner  Reinforcement & Punishment  Social Cognitive Learning Theory  the type of learning in which behaviors are learned by observing a model  Albert Bandura  Modeling  Classical Conditioning  an INVOLUNTARY behavior is determined by what PRECEDES it. Unconditioned Stimulu...