Aspects of Psychology - Motivation, Emotion, and Learning - Essay Example

The paper “Aspects of Psychology - Motivation, Emotion, and Learning" is an intriguing example of an essay on psychology. Over the course of three days, I recorded my emotions in the provided diary using Izard’s Differential Emotions Scale to define them.  I recorded these emotions at seven preset times during the day, as outlined in the diary template.  At the end of the three days, I computed the frequency of each emotion experienced across the complete reporting period.

  I experienced fear twice, distress four times, interest twice, shame once, joy four times, surprise twice, contempt once, anger three times, and disgust twice. According to Kotsch, Gerbing, and Schwartz (1986, pg. 251), “Differential emotions theory emphasizes discrete emotions as distinct experiential motivational processes.  Emotion is defined as a complex process with neurophysiological, neuromuscular, and phenomenological aspects.  The theory postulates 10 fundamental emotions: interest, joy, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shame/shyness, and guilt.

  Each emotion has (a) a specific innately determined neural substrate (b) a characteristic facial display or neuromuscular-expressive pattern and (c) a distinct subjective or phenomenological quality.As one can see in the paragraph above, emotions contain both biological and cognitive components.  Emotions are not made up of just one or two of the components mentioned above; rather, they consist of a combination of all three: neurophysiological, neuromuscular, and phenomenological (Kotsch, Gerbing, and Schwartz, 1986).

“The Differential Emotions Scale as adapted for children and adolescents is a brief self-report inventory that assesses 10 fundamental emotions.  Izard developed the DES III from his theory of fundamental emotions and through extensive empirical research on the adult version of the scale, the Differential Emotions Scale” (Kotsch, Gerbing, and Schwartz, 1986, pg. 251). I noted in the diary that I experienced certain negative emotions.  My negative emotions appeared to be more frequent than my positive ones.

  I will characterize my negative emotions as fear, distress, shame, contempt, anger, and disgust.  When I experienced fear, my heart started racing and I had chest pains.  I also experienced a rush of adrenaline.  In my mind, I was panicky.  When I experienced distress, I just wanted to lie around the house.  I had no desire to do anything but curl up in a ball.  In my mind, I was depressed and worried.  When I experienced shame, I wanted to go back in time and change what I had done.

  I made a mistake.  I was also reclusive in this state.  When I experienced contempt, it was at my boss for treating me poorly.  I felt as if he was inferior since he had expressed a childish attitude towards me and belittled me.  In my mind, I felt superior, yet angry at the same time.  When I experienced anger, it was readily noticeable in my face, as it was all wrinkled up and red.  My entire body experienced the fury.  In my mind, my thoughts were racing.

  I experienced the exact same feeling with disgust, only it was much stronger.  I also experienced some positive emotions according to my diary, although they were far less frequent.  I will characterize the positive emotions like interest, joy, and surprise.  When I experienced interest, my eyes grew larger and I was curious.  When I experienced joy, I was bubbly and energetic.  In my mind, I was almost dancing.  When I experienced surprise, I felt a rush of adrenaline.

  My face appeared to be shocked, but it was not in a negative way whatsoever.  I was simply in awe over an event that had occurred.  It occurred at night, and when I woke up the next morning, the surprise element was still present. One theory of motivation is the Acquired Needs Theory.  “Needs are shaped over time by our experiences over time.  Most of these fall into three general categories of needs: achievement, affiliation, and power.  We will tend to have one of these needs that affects us more powerfully than others and thus affects our behaviors” (Changing Minds, 2008, pg. 1).  Motivational levels can be increased in several ways.

  First of all, achievers that are given higher goals can have higher motivation.  Those who seek affiliation can be motivated by being offered approval and a degree of safety.  Those who seek power can be motivated by exactly that: being offered more power.             Another theory of motivation is Affect Perseverance.  “Affect Perseverance occurs where an emotional preference continues, even after the thoughts that gave rise to the original emotion are invalidated.

  Feelings are often independent of facts and evidence, and once initiated tend to take on a life of their own.  Almost by definition, they are not rational (Changing Minds, 2008, pg. 2).  Motivational levels can be increased by using rationality to bring someone out of the rut.