Question

Describe the different motivations or needs that human beings experience and the effects on psychosocial behavior.

Explain the function of emotions and how they are experienced in humans according to the theories of James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, and Schachter-Singer.

Answer 1

James Lange theory of emotion states that witnessing an external stimuli leads to physiological response.Our emotional response depends upon how we interpret those physical responses.He stated that while it was possible to experience an emotion such as fear or anger our imagined version of our emotion would be a duplication of the real feeling.Physical reactions need to be present to feel the real emotion.Cannon-Bard Theory states that we react to a stimulus and experience the associated emotion at the same time.Emotions could be experienced even when the body does not reveal any physiological reactions .He also suggested that experiencing an emotion was not dependant upon bodily physical reactions but emotion and physical response act at the same time.Schacter-Singer developed the two factor theory of emotion, the theory states that phsyiological arousal must be cognitively interpreted as a particular emotion.He emphasized that the role of cognition play an important role in the experience of emotion.He states that if a person experiences a state of arousal for which they have a practical explanation then they will not be able to describe their emotions in terms of alternative cognitive thoughts available.When people become aroused they look for cues to the reasons why and how.Emotion comes from a combination from state of arousal and cognition.Motivation is important in one's behaviour.An individual has to be motivated to attain high achievements .It is one of the most important factors that lead a person to achieve his goals.The need or drive may come from either external or internal sources.The theory of motivation focuses on the internal factors that energize and direct human behaviour.Therefore motivation is either intrinsic or extrinsic.Motivation provides an important foundation to cognitive behaviour such as decision making,organisation and learning.