Deck 1: Introduction

Question 1

Which of the following statements best defines motivation? Motivation is:
(a)an intense desire to succeed.
(b)a force that energizes and directs behavior.
(c)a system of rewards and punishments to influence behavior.
(d)positive beliefs about oneself, such as high self-esteem.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Assessing a person's heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate to infer the presence and intensity of a person's motivational state constitutes which type of measure of motivation?
(a)automated
(b)behavioral
(c)enactive
(d)psychophysiological
(e)projective

Answer 2

D

Question 3

People often say that the best way to motivate others is to increase their self-esteem, as in "Find a way to make people feel good about themselves, and then all sorts of good things start to happen." In response to this approach to motivation, the textbook concluded that:
(a)no research exists on self-esteem because it is best studied through personal experience.
(b)a great deal of evidence supports this approach to motivation.
(c)practically no evidence supports this approach to motivation.
(d)while not perfect, increasing self-esteem is still the most effective approach to motivating other people.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

_____engagement expresses the extent to which the person actively monitors how well things are going and uses sophisticated learning and problem-solving strategies.
(a)Behavioral
(b)Cognitive
(c)Emotional
(d)Social

Question 5

Motivation study concerns itself with those processes that give behavior its:
(a)benefits and costs.
(b)energy and direction.
(c)feedforward and feedback.
(d)success and personal authenticity.

Question 6

If a motivation researcher measured chemicals within a person's blood or saliva (e.g., epinephrine, cortisol), then that researcher would be assessing which aspect of brain and physiological activity as an expression of the person's motivation?
(a)brain activity
(b)cardiovascular activity
(c)electrodermal activity
(d)hormonal activity

Question 7

A motivation researcher interested in understanding why a person eats a meal needs to answer all of the following questions, except:
(a)How is food digested?
(b)Why did the eating begin?
(c)Why did the eating end?
(d)Why did the person eat quickly at first but eat much slower after several bites?
(e)Why is the person eating a meal rather than doing something else?

Question 8

Which of the following statements is most true?
(a)A motive is an internal process that energizes and directs behavior.
(b)Cognitions are short-lived physiological-functional-expressive phenomena.
(c)External motives (incentives)predict behavior better than do internal motives (needs).
(d)Internal motives (needs)predict behavior better than do external motives (incentives).

Question 9

The duration of time a person waits to get started on a task upon first being given the opportunity to do so (e.g., how much time it takes before one starts studying upon entering the library) is called:
(a)choice.
(b)effort.
(c)latency.
(d)persistence.
(e)probability of response.

Question 10

Engagement is a multidimensional expression of motivation.Which of the following aspect of engagement is not central to understanding the person's underlying motive status?
(a)behavioral engagement
(b)cognitive engagement
(c)emotional engagement
(d)social engagement

Question 11

Among the following questions, which is considered to be a core, perennial question within motivation study?
(a)Is human behavior mostly conscious or mostly unconscious?
(b)Under what conditions do people learn best?
(c)What causes behavior?
(d)Why are people happy?

Question 12

________are short-lived subjective-physiological-functional-expressive phenomena that orchestrate how a person reacts to significant life events.
(a)Cognitions
(b)Emotions
(c)Motivations
(d)Motives
(e)Needs

Question 13

A theory is a(n):
(a)construction of facts with successive layers of complexity.
(b)intellectual forecast to estimate the value of a psychological principle.
(c)project requiring some action or some set of actions.
(d)intellectual framework that organizes a vast amount of information about a phenomenon as to describe, understand, and explain it.

Question 14

Which of the following questions is not a key part of understanding motivation study's basic question, "What causes behavior?"
(a)Once begun, why is a behavior sustained over time?
(b)What is the difference between one type of behavior and another?
(c)Why does behavior start?
(d)Why does behavior stop?

Question 15

In contrast to other psychological constructs, such as intelligence and personality, the construct of "motivation" has one great advantage, which is that:
(a)measures of motivation are more reliable than are measures of these other constructs.
(b)motivation is more psychological in nature than these other constructs.
(c)motivation is more stable and endures over time more than these other constructs.
(d)the antecedent conditions to motivational states are frequently known.

Question 16

Pairing "science" and "motivation" in the phrase "motivational science" means that answers to motivational questions require:
(a)that one's personal beliefs about motivation are confirmed by cultural norms.
(b)opportunities to reflect on one's personal experiences so as to gain personal insights about the nature of motivation.
(c)objective, data-based, empirical evidence from well-conducted research.
(d)that one recognizes that most motivational states cannot be studied scientifically.

Question 17

In general, motivation researchers rely heavily on ___measures, but only lightly on ___measures.
(a)behavioral and physiological; self-report
(b)behavioral; self-report and physiological
(c)self-report and behavioral; physiological
(d)self-report; behavioral and physiological

Question 18

Which of the following is not a valid criticism of self-report measures of motivation?
(a)People often give socially desirable, rather than accurate, verbal responses.
(b)Self-report measures are inherently unreliable.
(c)Self-report measures do not work well with either infants or animals.
(d)Self-report measures frequently rely on memory for their accuracy.

Question 19

_______are conditions within the individual that are essential and necessary for the maintenance of life and for the nurturance of growth and well-being.
(a)Cognitions
(b)Emotions
(c)Motives
(d)Needs
(e)Presses

Question 20

___is the time between when a behavior first starts until it ends.
(a)Choice
(b)Effort
(c)Latency
(d)Persistence
(e)Probability of response

Question 21

How do motivation researchers answer this question:
Why does behavior vary in its intensity?

Question 22

Can theories of motivation be used to recommend practical applications to improve people's lives?
(a)No, the real world is just too messy for practical applications of theories of motivation.
(b)No, typically theories are guidelines with little or no truly useful applied value.
(c)Yes, once validated, theories can be used to recommend practical applications.
(d)Yes, so long as practical application takes precedent over theoretical speculation.

Question 23

What is the subject matter of the motivation study? That is, if motivation is defined as the
study of those internal processes that give behavior its energy and direction, then
identify the various processes that give behavior its energy and direction.

Question 24

Theories help motivation researchers:
(a)avoid having to collect data to test their hypotheses.
(b)avoid statistics to analyze the data they collect in their experiments.
(c)understand the public's priority as to what motivation researchers should study.
(d)understand the complex phenomena they study.

Question 25

A motivational psychologist would agree with each of the following statements, except:
(a)changes in environmental conditions cause changes in motivational states.
(b)motivation includes both approach and avoidance tendencies.
(c)to adapt optimally, people need positive, approach-based motives rather than aversive, avoidance-based motives.
(d)to flourish, motivation needs supportive conditions.

Question 26

Which of the following is an example of using hormonal activity to measure motivation?
(a)Cortisol release into the bloodstream
(b)Electrical changes on the surface of the skill, as with a lie detector machine
(c)Eye behavior, such as blinks and glances
(d)Facial expressions to show a specific emotion
(e)Ingesting a medicine to change brain functioning, such as taking an aspirin

Question 27

The following example reveals the importance of which theme in the study of motivation? The worker who has an interesting job and works with supportive
Co-workers will perform better and be happier on the job than will the worker who has a
Boring job and works with conflictual co-workers.
(a)Motivation includes both approach and avoidance tendencies.
(b)Types of motivation exist.
(c)To flourish, motivation needs supportive conditions.
(d)We are often not consciously aware of the motivational basis of our behavior.

Question 28

Explain the meaning and importance of the phrase motivational science.
That is, why is it important to say motivation is a science?

Question 29

To adapt optimally, people need a motivational repertoire that features:
(a)just as many avoidance-based motives as approach-based motives.
(b)many more approach-based motives than avoidance-based motives.
(c)many more avoidance-based motives than approach-based motives.
(d)many more psychologically based motives than biologically based motives.

Question 30

Explain the function or purpose of a theory in terms of helping (1) motivation researchers understand complex phenomena, (2) generate testable research hypotheses, and (3) recommend practical applications (e.g., schools, work) to improve people's lives.

Question 31

State the two perennial questions in the motivation study.

Question 32

Which of the following is an example of motivation as an intervening variable?

A)Motivation $\rightarrow$ Outcome
B)Motivation $\rightarrow$ Multiple outcomes
C)Old motivation $\rightarrow$ Social context $\rightarrow$ New motivation
D)Social context $\rightarrow$ Motivation
E)Social context $\rightarrow$ Motivation $\rightarrow$ Outcome

Question 33

If a student pays very close attention to the learning materials, puts a lot of effort into the learning, and persists in the learning for an extended period of time, she would be rated as scoring high on _________engagement.
(a)behavioral
(b)cognitive
(c)emotional
(d)social

Question 34

If a student asked questions, offered suggestions, and expressed his preferences for how to learn the lesson, he would be rated as scoring high on ________engagement.
(a)agentic
(b)behavioral
(c)cognitive
(d)emotional
(e)social

Question 35

The following example illustrates what core theme in motivation study: $\bullet$ People are more sociable on a sunny day than on a cloudy day
$\bullet$ People are more violent in the hot summer months than in the cold winter months
$\bullet$ People feel hungry because they have low leptin in their bloodstream

A)Motivation study reveals what people want
B)To flourish, motivation needs supportive conditions
C)Types of motivation exist
D)We are not always consciously aware of the motivational basis of our behavior
E)When trying to motivate others, what is easy to do is rarely what works

Question 36

_____refers to how actively involved a person is during the activity in terms of being on-task and displaying effort and persistence.
(a)Agentic engagement
(b)Behavioral engagement
(c)Cognitive engagement
(d)Emotional engagement
(e)Social engagement

Question 37

How do motivation researchers answer this question: What causes behavior?

Question 38

Why do motivation researchers care so much about monitoring a person's engagement
during an activity? When they monitor a person's engagement, what do they monitor to
determine the person's extent of engagement?

Question 39

What is the problem with the idea that the best way to motivate people is to increase their
self-esteem? That is, why don't motivation researchers recommend that practitioners
(e.g., teachers, parents) boost people's self-esteem with the intention of increasing their
motivation?

Question 40

Which of the following statements best supports the conclusion that types of motivations exist?
(a)Motivation is a dynamic process.
(b)Motivation is a unitary construct.
(c)Some types of motivation yield a higher quality of experience and better outcomes than do other types.
(d)Some types of motivation produce more energy and direction than do others.

Question 41

If a person was very fearful, what would a motivational psychologist measure to infer the presence and intensity level of that fear?

Question 42

Explain why motivational psychologists do not solely depend on self-report questionnaire data to assess people's motivational states.

Question 43

Explain the meaning of the following theme in motivation study:
Motives vary over time and influence the ongoing stream of behavior.

Question 44

Provide a definition and example of these two aspects of motivated behavior:
latency and persistence.

Question 45

Explain the meaning of the following theme in motivation study:
Motivation varies not only in its intensity but also in its type.

Question 46

How can you tell that someone is motivated? That is, to assess the quantity and quality
of a person's motivation, what would you measure?

Question 47

Explain the meaning of the following theme in motivation study:
Motivation benefits adaptation.

Question 48

Briefly describe each of the following six physiological systems that expresses a person's underlying motivational or emotional process-cardiovascular activity, plasma activity, hormonal activity, ocular activity, electrodermal activity, and skeletal muscle activity.