Deck 1: Conceptualizing and Measuring Motivation

Question 1

A student studies hard to earn a slice of pizza. In this situation, studying might be considered a _____ variable.

A) determination
B) persistence
C) performance
D) stimulus

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Going to a movie theater and selecting a romantic comedy indicates which component of motivation?

A) direction
B) activation
C) persistence
D) vigor

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Activation involves all of the following EXCEPT:

A) production of behavior
B) persistence of behavior
C) vigor of behavior
D) directionality of behavior

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The assumption that changes in specific factors activate circuits that in turn motivate the organism to engage in appropriate behavior typifies which approach to the study of motivation?

A) cognitive
B) mechanistic
C) internal
D) nomothetic

Question 5

Which of the following statements best represents the assumptions held by theorists who advocate the cognitive approach?

A) "The manner in which information is interpreted influences motive states"
B) "Motive states are influenced by environmental factors acting on the organism"
C) "Instincts control most motive states"
D) "Motive states are controlled by needs that promote behaviors to reduce those needs"

Question 6

A preference test can be a good indicator of:

A) directionality
B) vigor
C) activation
D) intervention

Question 7

Categories of analysis used in the study of motivation include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) nomothetic vs. idiographic
B) innate vs. acquired
C) internal vs. external
D) instinct vs. attribution

Question 8

Needs are generally viewed as _____ sources of motivation, while goals emphasize _____ sources of motivation.

A) internal; external
B) external; internal
C) mechanistic; cognitive
D) problematic; innate

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT a technique used in motivational research at the physiological level?

A) electrical stimulation of the brain
B) chemical stimulation of the brain
C) electrical recording of brain cell activity via EEG
D) depriving a rat of food and observing how it's behavior changes

Question 10

A friend who persistently tries to find a date for the dance is displaying the _____ component of motivation.

A) vigor
B) nomothetic
C) activation
D) homeostasis

Question 11

The example of the Olds and Milner (1954) experiment in which electrodes were introduced into areas of a rat's brain best exemplifies which level of analysis?

A) philosophical
B) individual
C) physiological
D) social

Question 12

Theorists who emphasized instincts in the past, or who advocate ethology today are most likely to use which approach to the study of motivation?

A) cognitive
B) mechanistic
C) innate
D) acquired

Question 13

According to the authors of the text, two main characteristics of motivation are:

A) activation and inactivation
B) activation and direction
C) performance and intervention
D) persistence and performance

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT a reason that motivation is difficult to study?

A) its presence must often be inferred rather than observed directly
B) it is often an intervening variable
C) it is a performance variable and therefore temporary in nature
D) it can usually be determined through a survey

Question 15

The concept of motivation is used to describe forces acting on or within an organism that influence which of the following aspects of behavior?

A) initiation and direction
B) growth and maturation
C) speed and duration
D) verbal only

Question 16

Motivation can best be viewed as:

A) an on and off mechanism
B) a constant flow of behavior that can be directed in only one way
C) a constant flow of behavior that can be directed in many different ways
D) a state where one is either motivated or not motivated

Question 17

According to the stimulus-response analysis, motivation

A) can be measured directly
B) can be seen as an intervening variable
C) can be studied only in laboratory rats
D) can not be studied in humans

Question 18

The nomothetic approach to the study of motivation involves the development of:

A) general or universal laws
B) ideas about individual differences
C) ideas about how learning causes behavior
D) ideas about how behavior is influenced by genetic factors

Question 19

Prof Psyche is studying motivation by examining how individuals make choices. This approach involves which characteristic of motivation?

A) deprivation
B) direction
C) needs
D) activation

Question 20

Preference may be considered an index of motivation because it shows:

A) activation of behavior
B) persistence of behavior
C) differences between several choices of behaviors
D) that persistence and activation are linked

Question 21

The idea that different nerve fibers carry different coded information to and from the brain was known as the:

A) doctrine of interactive dualism
B) locus of function
C) doctrine of specific nerve energies
D) reflex arc of nervous activity

Question 22

Descartes's ideas about the dualistic nature of man most strongly influenced which psychological theories?

A) instinct
B) learning
C) genetic
D) cognition

Question 23

The analysis of Angie's problem with her anxiety in the text is an example that shows the importance of:

A) the individual level of analysis
B) the physiological level of analysis
C) how none of the levels of analysis can adequately explain her problem
D) how all the levels of analysis contribute to a fuller explanation of the problem

Question 24

The attempt of the brain to maintain the body at some optimal level is called:

A) homeostasis
B) hedonism
C) growth motivation
D) locus of control

Question 25

Rogers and Maslow take the view that behavior is directed toward:

A) self-actualization
B) aversive states
C) situational factors
D) unconscious forces

Question 26

Which of the following are the two roots of psychology in general and the study of motivation in particular?

A) science and medicine
B) philosophy and physiology
C) science and psychiatry
D) philosophy and applied medicine

Question 27

The social level of analysis deals with:

A) why individuals are aggressive
B) how individuals learn different motive states
C) how brain circuits mediate different motive states
D) how behaviors are influenced by situational factors or the presence of others

Question 28

Most theories of motivation assume the existence of some source of _____ that drives behavior.

A) philosophy
B) physiology
C) energy
D) cognition

Question 29

One reason why Bandura's (1973) study with the Bobo doll is important is that:

A) it shows how brain functions influence behavior
B) it shows that aggression may be learned through observation
C) it shows that children are naturally aggressive
D) it shows that some motive states are innate

Question 30

Bandura's (1973) study with the Bobo doll is an example of which level of analysis?

A) individual
B) physiological
C) social
D) philosophical

Question 31

The idea that people are motivated by pleasure and pain is called:

A) homeostasis
B) hedonism
C) growth motivation
D) locus of control

Question 32

Both Rogers and Maslow attempted to explain human motivation in terms of:

A) the pleasure principle
B) homeostasis
C) growth motivation
D) hedonic motivation

Question 33

The idea that all behavior is the result of conditions that precede the behavior is called:

A) hedonism
B) free will
C) determinism
D) associationism

Question 34

At the philosophical level, one way that motivation can be viewed is as _____, as in Freud's view.

A) an aversive state which behavior seeks to overcome
B) a positive state toward which people aspire
C) self-actualization
D) a situational factor

Question 35

Psychologists who accept the idea of the "blank slate" would be likely to agree with which of the following statements?

A) "Human behavior is caused by our genetic inheritance"
B) "Human behavior is caused by experience and learning"
C) "Human behavior is cause by an interaction of nature and nurture"
D) "Human behavior is not determined but is an expression of our free will"

Question 36

The idea that the human mind is a blank slate at birth originally comes from _____ and was later used by _____.

A) Descartes; Aristotle
B) Aristotle; Locke
C) Galen; Locke
D) Aristotle; Descartes

Question 37

Asch's (1952) studies on conformity are an example of which level of analysis?

A) physiological
B) individual
C) social
D) philosophical

Question 38

In motivation, ideas such as energy, learning, heredity, social interaction and cognitive processes are known as:

A) constructs
B) theories
C) philosophical assumptions
D) hypotheses

Question 39

Locke and other British philosophers proposed a fundamental concept in psychology called:

A) reductionism
B) association
C) innate ideas
D) free will

Question 40

Which of the following is NOT an example of the concept of cognitive processes?

A) Heider's balance theory
B) Olds's self-stimulation theory
C) Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory
D) Bem's self-perception theory

Question 41

When there is competition for mates among members of an animal species, usually the female makes the choice of a sexual partner. This is called:

A) sexual selection
B) survival of the fittest
C) fecundity
D) viability

Question 42

In humans and some other primates, such as Bonobos, sexual behavior:

A) almost always is linked to reproduction
B) is strictly regulated by female receptivity
C) often occurs for reasons not directly related to reproduction
D) rarely occurs for reasons of reproduction

Question 43

Gall's proposal that bumps on the skull correspond to specific mental abilities was called:

A) instinct
B) depression
C) situational factors
D) phrenology

Question 44

The process through which a single cell divides into two identical daughter cells is called _____ ; the process through which two specialized cells combine to form a new cell with genetic information from each cell is called _____.

A) mitosis; meiosis
B) meiosis; evolution
C) mitosis; recombination
D) reproduction; evolution

Question 45

Natural selection influences all characteristics of genes except which of the following?

A) viability
B) fertility
C) fecundity
D) activation

Question 46

The finding that women are more attracted to men who have the necessary resources for supporting both the women and any children they produce is predicted by the:

A) parental investment model
B) natural selection
C) fecundity
D) viability

Question 47

According to evolutionary psychology, reproductive value in human females is associated with:

A) age and wisdom
B) youthfulness and health
C) wealth and social status
D) education and beauty

Question 48

A genetically programmed bit of behavior that occurs when circumstances are appropriate and that requires no learning of the behavior is called:

A) reproductive value
B) instinct
C) ethological action pattern
D) natural selection

Question 49

In some species bright coloration in males or elaborate male behaviors may be related to which of the following?

A) viability
B) sexual selection
C) genetic packets
D) reproductive strategies

Question 50

Mating rituals in different species may be related to which of the following characteristics of genes?

A) viability
B) fecundity
C) fertility
D) opportunity

Question 51

Researchers such as Köhler and Tolman, in the early part of the 20th century argued that:

A) behavior is the result of stimulus-response connections
B) behavior can be seen as the result of drives within the organism
C) organisms engage in active information processing
D) unconscious desires are the basis of human behavior

Question 52

Sexual reproduction has several evolutionary advantages. Which of the following is NOT an advantage?

A) it increases genetic variability
B) it allows repair of genetic information within the gene pool
C) it allows rapid expansion of beneficial mutations within the gene pool
D) it limits the spread of new combinations of genetic information in the gene pool

Question 53

Evolution can be defined as:

A) the progressive change of organisms through time
B) the continuity of species through time
C) survival of the fittest at a particular time
D) the sum total of experiences of an individual

Question 54

An example of a theory based on the idea of localization of function is:

A) Gall's theory of phrenology
B) Maslow's theory of self-actualization
C) Muller's doctrine of specific nerve energies
D) Galen's theory of separate motor and sensory neurons

Question 55

The most fundamental process of life is

A) consciousness
B) mitosis
C) evolution
D) reproduction

Question 56

Which of the following is NOT true about drive theory?

A) it was first introduced by Woodworth (1918)
B) it proposed that motivated behavior occurred in response to changing bodily needs
C) it was a precursor to research on how the brain controls behavior
D) it was strongly promoted by Freud in 1900

Question 57

The mechanism for maintaining genetic information is called:

A) metabolism
B) reproduction
C) evolution
D) hedonism

Question 58

_____ is to mating success as _____ is to number of offspring.

A) Viability; fecundity
B) Fertility; fecundity
C) Fecundity; viability
D) Fertility; viability

Question 59

Two metaphors that have provided the framework for research in motivation are:

A) the machine metaphor and the Godlike metaphor
B) the drive metaphor and the cognitive metaphor
C) the sensory nerves and motor nerves metaphor
D) the ghost in the machine metaphor and the Andromeda metaphor

Question 60

One reason that Helmholtz's discovery of the speed of an electrical impulse along a nerve is important is because it showed that:

A) the speed of a neural impulse is greater than 100 miles per hour
B) Galvani's ideas about nerve impulses was wrong
C) it is possible to experimentally study the function of the nervous system
D) instinct theories were wrong