ASSIGNMENT # 1

Amna Ahmed B.S (English) Psychology

DEFINITION OF IMPORTANT TERMS

MOTIVATION

Motivation refers to the dynamics of the behavior-the way in which our actions are initiated, sustained, directed and terminated. OR Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. PRIMARY MOTIVE: Primary motives also known as biological motives, have a definite physiological basis and are biologically necessary for survival of the individual or species. These arouse the behavior of the organism in directions that lead to the required change in internal environment. The sources of biological motivational needs include: Increase/decrease stimulation (arousal) Activate senses (taste, touch, smell, etc. Decrease hunger, thirst, discomfort, etc. maintain homeostasis, balance The biological motives consist of: hunger thirst pain sex air or need for respiration fatigue sleep maternal SECONDARY MOTIVE: Secondary motives are learned motives and are sometimes known as psychobiological motives. They are not physiologically based. These are the causes of the development of a personality. Secondary motives originate during our life time. They are acquired and learned through our interaction with people. SET POINT: The set point in homeostatic system is the midpoint of balance to which the system is designed to return. INCENTIVES: Incentives are those stimuli in the environment, both positive and negative, that motivate our behavior. These things pull us to behave in certain ways (as opposed to drive which pushes us from within). For example, if you are offered money to perform a certain behavior, the money is the incentive to perform that behavior. EMOTION: It is a response by a whole organism, involving (1) physical arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience.

 GALVANIC SKIN RESPONSE: A change in the ability of the skin to conduct electricity, caused by an emotional stimulus, such as fright. PUPILLOMETRICS: The study of pupil size in relation to emotion such as liking, interest, fear and dislike. LEARNING: Learning is often defined as a relatively lasting change in behavior that is the result of experience. CONDITIONING: A process of behavior modification by which a subject comes to associate a desired behavior with a previously unrelated stimulus. CLASSIC CONDITIONING: A process of behavior modification by which a subject comes to respond in a desired manner to a previously neutral stimulus that has been repeatedly presented along with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits the desired response. OPERANT CONDITIONING: A process of behavior modification in which a subject is encouraged to behave in a desired manner through positive or negative reinforcement, so that the subject comes to associate the pleasure or displeasure of the reinforcement with the behavior. SHAPING: This is a behavioral term that refers to gradually molding or training an organism to perform a specific response (behavior) by reinforcing any responses that are similar to the desired response. REINFORCEMENT: A process in which a response is strengthened by the fear of punishment or the anticipation of reward. AGGRESSION: Aggression is behavior whose immediate intent is to hurt someone. It is defined by a behavior's immediate goal, even when the ultimate goal is something else. Conflict often leads to aggression, but aggression also has other origins, for example negative emotions such as anger or frustration. RETENTION: The persistence to perform a learned behavior (facts or experiences) after an interval has elapsed in which there has been no performance or practice of the behavior. RECOGNITION: The knowledge or perception that someone or something present has been previously encountered. FORGETTING: Being unable to retrieve or recall information that was once registered, learned, and stored in short-or long-term memory. OR Forgetting is the loss or failure of memory. Hermann Ebbinghaus studied the relationship between ease of relearning (called savings) and the time between learning and relearning, which he expressed as a forgetting curve. He found that most forgetting occurs during the first nine hours after learning. MEMORY: Memory refers to the processes that are used to acquire, store, retain and later retrieve information. There are three major processes involved in memory: encoding, storage and retrieval. OR That faculty by which sensations, impressions, and ideas are stored and recalled. THINKING: The action of using your mind to produce ideas, decisions, memories, etc.

 PROBLEM SOLVING: The process of working through details of a problem to reach a solution. Problem solving may include mathematical or systematic operations and can be a gauge of an individual's critical thinking skills. DECESION MAKING: The process of selecting from several choices products or ideas, and taking action. OR Decision making can be regarded as the mental processes (cognitive process) resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios REASONING: The process of drawing conclusions to inform how people solve problems and make decisions PERSONALITY: Personality encompasses a number of characteristics that arise from within an individual.