Assignment Due 9/7 @ 10pm

While reading the chapters I found that chapter three interested me the most. When I was trying to decide what to research I kept coming back to the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. It is interesting to me that from the scans, researchers could tell what area of the brain is being used during each motivational state. I have always been interested in the brain and what each section does to help us live our day to day lives. Chapter three does not go into a lot of detail about it, but it does discuss how through the scans, psychologists can tell what the brain does during different aspects of motivation.
The first website I found to be relevant to fMRI scans and motivation was a study conducted to see how motivation affected the participants’ behavior (Taylor, Welsh, Wager, Phan, Fitzgerald, & Gehring, 2003). The researchers took 12 adults (six women and six men) and had them hooked up to an fMRI for 12 trials. The researchers believed that by using a financial incentive (motivator) and the fMRI they could see that the same or nearby parts of the prefrontal cortex would be involved with the maintenance of working memory, either directly through the motivation or due to an interaction between memory load and the financial incentive (motivator). The experiment was designed so little manipulation of the participants would take place. It consisted of a simple working memory task with shapes (Taylor, et al.). The participants were penalized by losing money when they got a question wrong but were given money when they were right. The researchers learned that when a motivator such as a financial incentive was present the participants’ cognitive brain activity changed. It activated the prefrontal cortex area that is used in working memory tasks (Taylor, et al.). It is amazing how different sections of the brain do many different functions. A lot of functions that we probably do not even know exist yet.
Another very similar study was conducted using people to see what parts of their brains would be activated if a financial incentive was shown to them before they completed a task (Knutson, Westdorp, Kaiser, & Hommer, 1999). Each participant went through three trials in which they were told at the beginning if there would be monetary reward, monetary punishment, or nothing but their reaction time being recorded. Through this study the researchers saw that when there was monetary reward or a motivator the caudate, thalamus, mesial prefrontal cortex, and left motor cortex all became activated (Knutson, et al.).
After looking at what happened when financial motivation was placed in front of people I became curious about other types of motivations. I found a short article written by John M. Grohol (2005) that discusses when love motivates us. Using 17 men and women who view themselves as being newly crazy in love a study was conducted. The results of this study showed that new love has a lot to do with motivation. The parts of the brain that were activated were the parts that humans share with other mammals that activate with they are wanting a “reward” or are being driven rather than the emotional or sex drive parts of the brain. Therefore, the researchers concluded that new love is an evolutionary drive to “win our mate” despite all the emotions that are occurring (Grohol, 2005).

http://www.gehringlab.org/papers/Taylor_2004_Neuroimage.pdf

http://www.psych.stanford.edu/~span/Publications/bk00ni.pdf

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2005/06/01/loves-all-in-the-brain-fmri-study-shows-strong-lateralized-reward-not-sex-drive/

For this assignment, I chose to do brief research on the topic of facial expressions. Facial expressions are first pointed out as part of Table 1.2: Behavioral Expressions of Motivation in chapter 1 of our text book. It fits in with motivation and emotion because facial expressions are a great indicator of how a person is feeling without them having to say anything. Facial expressions also can change the meaning of what someone is saying. For example, if someone is being sarcastic, the facial expression of smiling can give it away of they make a jokingly mean comment.

I am interested in facial expressions because I feel I personally read people better by looking at their faces and their body language. In my experience, people can say one thing, but totally mean another. You can find out if this is true, in part, by studying their facial expressions.

In my brief research, I was sadly unable to learn many new things about facial expressions. Most of what I found was restatements of things I have been told before when studying Psychology. However, I did manage to learn some new and exciting things in an article and two YouTube videos.

In the article, I learned that facial expressions have been discovered on human skulls that date back to almost 3 million years ago. This is an astounding discovery that could possible lead to more possible research about the face and maybe even when homo sapiens finally learned to talk as the skull and face developed in life.

In the first YouTube clip, we see an example of a computer program that can recognize and measure facial expressions. This is a great demonstration of how far technology has come in the past years and how it can help aid us in the future. We could even possibly use these computer programs to help complement other technologies, such as lie detectors.

The second YouTube video is almost the same as the first, however it shows a different computer program. This computer program, from what we can tell by the video, gives a more clear reading that more people would be able to understand. It even appears to measure the intensity of the emotions the facial expressions indicate.

In summation, my brief research has demonstrated how far we have come in the study of facial expressions. Current technology has made it much easier for us to study facial expressions. Studying this phenomenon is important because facial expressions play an important role in helping us identify a person's emotion. It is much easier for people to tell how a person is feeling by looking at their face as well as listening to what they say. Sometimes, you can even tell how a person is feeling before they say anything by looking at their face. This is very critical in the study of emotion. Emotions also play a key role in what will motivate us as well.

1
http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=13&sid=8f0a98ab-f4a6-4f1b-8f50-4214eb4b44e1%40sessionmgr14&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=afh&AN=43608423

2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-53aku3axo

3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjyMn7Tyy3Y&feature=related

The topic that most interests me is "Origins of Motivational concepts." This topic begins at the start of chapter 2 on page 25. More specifically, I am very interested in the "Instinct" section and the work done by Charles Darwin concerning a deterministic model for human behaviors. I have not believed in "free will" for some time so the idea that there are biological causes for motivation is aligned with my natural way of thinking.

For instance, one website I researched declared that many motivations are learned throughout early childhood in the form of defense mechanisms. As children our brain may become hard wired to associate anxiety with certain stimuli (e.g. driving). This association may come in the form of a car accident. To further explain, as a child we are riding in a car, mom crashes the car. As a defense mechanism our brain learns to recognize cars with being an immediate threat to our life. If we have anxiety around cars, we are more likely to avoid the car, further increasing our perceived notion of safety and survival. In Darwin's line of thought we are simply adapting to our environment by avoiding perceived threats.

Darwin also proposed that humans were created by the same mechanism of natural selection that created other animals (Pratarelli & Mize 2002). This has rather direct implications for how Humans perceive the environment and survive. For survival and motivation in the purest animal sense has existed since the beginning of time.

Obviously Darwin's studies would also indicate that personal characteristics are inherited. Therefore factors such as genes also play a role in understanding what motivates humans to make any action.

We begin to understand that there is no one source for motivation. Everything about our personalities, characteristics and emotions stem from some previous source.

http://www.emotion.discover-your-mind.co.uk/A1-nature-of-abreaction/ab1c-subconscious-detm.htm

http://theoryandscience.icaap.org/content/vol003.001/pratarelli-mize.html

http://www.internationalcounselor.org/Psych/Biological/biological_review%20notes.htm

The topic I chose to research is the brain structure the amygdala from chapter 3.
The amygdala is a one inch long almond shaped structure in the brain responsible for motivation and emotion. It is a set of subcortical nuclei located in the medial temporal lobe and is part of the limbic system. These nerves are connected to important brain centers.
The amygdala detects potentially threatening or emotional events and responds by activating other brain structures. These structures in turn send out neurotransmitters that induce bodily functions. The amygdala sends signals to almost every part of the brain. The perceived threat stimulates a certain part of the amygdala which controls a specific emotion.
The amygdala controls the emotions related to self-preservation. It plays a key role in the processing of our own emotions. It also processes how we perceive the emotions of others. The amygdala is known for its part in fear and pleasure. It also enhances long term memory of emotional events and learning of new environmental dangers.
Any impairment to the amygdala will change the personality. The impairment can be from damage, neurotransmitter imbalance, or developmental problems. Abnormal functioning is associated with a range of mental conditions such as PTSD, phobias, depression, anxiety, and autism.
The amygdala is important to the study of motivation and emotion because it is the primary brain structure that controls them. It regulates our body and lets us know when there is a perceived danger so we can decide to fight or flee.

http://www.biopsychiatry.com

http://www.sciencedaily.com

http://www.serendip.brynmawr.edu

http://www.sci.uidaho.edu/med532/amygdala.htm

What drives you? Well, that’s a good question. I’ve taken this opportunity to answer that question and chose to direct my research towards Drive Theory. Drive has a biological basis; our behavior directly services our body with whatever it needs. When biological disparity arises we psychologically encounter bodily deficits as drive. Imbalances in the body can include lack of sleep, sex, food, oxygen etc. Drive motivates the action or behavior that is necessary in replenishing or fulfilling our body’s needs.
“Drive” is a grand theory of motivation and rests behind “Will” and “Instinct”. All three can be said to play a vital role in motivation and all have respective value. Drive is highly biological but it also presents itself in other venues as well. The drive to succeed, the drive to please others, and the drive to better yourself are only a few examples of how drive has a major social aspect as well. I find the social facet of drive more interesting because it exemplifies uniqueness to the individual whereas the biological factors in all of us are static. Drive theory is found on pg. 29, Chapter 2 of the textbook.
Clark Hull formulated an approach to drive that was based on homeostasis; the active regulation of significant biological variables. Hull considered behavior as another way the body regulated itself or kept itself alive and provided it what it needed. In this way behavior could be viewed as an external expression from the individual in its pursuit of overall biological health (i.e. sweating to cool yourself off when you are hot). This action is already built-in to your body but if it fails you are likely to carry out a behavior such as turning the air conditioning on or drinking a cold glass of water.
There are however some contradictions to the idea of homeostatic mechanisms. In certain instances homeostasis is irrelevant in drive and motivation. “The need for speed” or the “thirst for knowledge” aren’t necessarily needed to keep our bodies at equilibrium but they do satisfy a need. Motivation might be present without a driving stimulation. We all eat even when we aren’t hungry and we often fall asleep even if we don’t feel tired. I found these ideas particularly important because earlier I had stated that the non-biological or non-homeostatic drives were of special interest to me and where they were derived from or what in particular separated them from regular biological needs.
What I found was that incentives; external goals or stimuli that have the capacity to motivate behavior, in conjunction with drives are what control most motivated behaviors. Hull believed that when a distinct behavior satisfied a need, the behavior was reinforced and therefore more likely to happen again. Over a period of time if the behavior consistently fulfilled that need it would become a habit. Hull’s drive theory could not explain why an individual would choose to engage in a behavior that would not satisfy a biological need and it neglected the presence of an external stimulus.Essentially drive theories stress how internal states of tension push individuals in a certain direction and incentives emphasize how external stimuli pull an individual in certain directions. So, it seems as though I’ve found the answer I was looking for concerning the disparity between biological and social drive factors. It’s not something from within that drives us to succeed or do better; the source of motivation lies outside the individual in the environment.

http://www.psywww.com/intropsych/ch09_motivation/hulls_theory.html
http://www.alleydog.com/101notes/mot-emot.html
http://www.cod.edu/people/faculty/lanning/podcast/11.1.1.mov

Freud has always interested me, so when I found his drive theory I decided to check it out. While looking at his theory, Wikipedia mentioned that he also came up with a "death theory" - which is today called thanatos. Thanatos is basically the desire to move towards an inaminate state. Freud came up with this after seeing many patients. Some would relive trauma from World War I or pervious abuse. Some were masochastic or sadistic. Others had what we today call OCD. Still others had a wish to die. Freud believed this was contrary to Eros, or the life drive. He figured since it wasn't the life drive, it had to be the death drive. He wrote about this drive in the paper Beyond the Pleasure Priciple. Of course, like most of Freud's work, it was criticized heavily. Most other psychoanalytic theorists didn't even embrace this particular theory. However, biology may come to Freud's defense. Scientists studying the life of cells have found that in order to have a healthy fetus, some of the cells had to die, especially in the brain. This is known as programmed cell death. Some researchers of this pheomena claim that it proves Freud was right all along. I think this is an interesting topic and actually, thanatos makes sense to me as a drive. Maybe we can make it a mini-theory.
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/psychoanalysis/concepts/life_death_drives.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanatos_(psychoanalysis)
http://www.psychomedia.it/neuro-amp/98-99-sem/zurak.htm

The topic that I chose to discuss is the neurotransmitter “dopamine”. This topic was discussed in chapter 3. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps to achieve those feelings that make us feel good. This neurotransmitter helps us decide between what we want to do, and what we don't want to do, and in turn, can motivate us to either do the task or not. For example, if a friend asks you to go out with them on a Friday night and you happen to be really bored, chances are you will be motivated to go out with them. This is because the amount of dopamine in your brain increases. If you receive an e-mail from a teacher that same Friday night asking you to complete an assignment, the dopamine levels in your brain will decrease because you will not be motivated to do that.

This topic interested me because I have always been curious about functions in the brain and what causes us to do what we do, and dopamine is a main motivator that we have. Also, in my Drugs and Individual Behavior class, we are also learning about the brain, so I thought this could help my understanding in that class a little better, also. The brain is a very interesting topic to discuss and study, but it’s so detailed that it would be hard to talk about all of the functions the brain does, so I just picked out one that I thought was most interesting.

The first link is a video from YouTube that briefly describes the main functions of dopamine in the brain. It first gives a brief definition and a few functions that it does. It explains how dopamine levels rise, and also how dopamine levels decrease. One thing that was interesting that I learned from the video is how Ritalin and amphetamine help individuals with ADHD to focus and concentrate more.

The next link is a website containing information on foods that can actually increase our dopamine levels. Eating these foods will increase dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain, causing us to be happier, have our movements more under control, and also help to regulate hunger. This article is actually really interesting!

The last link is another YouTube video on how dopamine releases in to our brain. It explains how dopamine attaches to receptors in our brain, and how it is then recycled so the process can repeat itself. It’s a very informational video and it’s easy to understand.

Searching for these resources helped me to understand the logistics of dopamine very well. The last video was actually a review for me from this morning in my Drugs and Individual Behavior class, and watching that video helped me to understand the process better. The article about what foods can help to increase dopamine levels was also very informational because it provides you with information on how you can better mood by controlling what you eat. I did not know that eating bananas and apples can help to increase your mood, I’m not much of an apple eater, but I’ll definitely be sure to eat more bananas now, especially when I’m in a sour mood! Now, whenever I’m feeling happy and excited, I’ll know it’s because the dopamine levels in my brain are high! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjH8_hHtumo

http://www.medhelp.org/tags/health_page/45/Addiction/Foods-that-Increase-Dopamine-Naturally?hp_id=594

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCK2uauYkxE&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh+div-1r-1-HM

The topic I chose deals with how the psychophysiological environment of the workplace can greatly effect productivity. This directly relates to Chapter 1 because it deals with how psychophysiological states can alter motivation. It also deals with Figure 1.5 in Chapter 1 in the way that the work environment is the Antecedent Condition, the thoughts and emotions of the employees are the Motive Status, and the Urge to Approach vs. Avoid is whether or not employees are motivated to be productive. Also, this topic directly relates to Figure 1.5 because employees are energized and driven when the most appropriate and personally effective conditions and motives are in place.

The first link below takes you to the homepage of the Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program(PHWA). Since 1999, this program has rewarded over 300 organizations for administering psychologically sound work environments. Their main objective is to encourage employers of all types to create a work environment that promotes psychological well-being. The site offers various resources to promote this type of environment for employers and employees and also offers free webinars centered around particular topics such as "The Benefits of Psychologically Healthy Workplace". This site also contains a multitude of research revolving around the central idea that job satisfaction is closely related high productivity.

The second link below takes you to an APA article entitled "Occupational Stress and Employee Control". The main focus of this article is to emphasize how high autonomy at work can reduce stress levels and increase motivation. Some significant findings of this article involves a study done by Robert Karasek in 1979. In Karasek's study, he found that the employees who rated their work autonomy as low had higher rates of exhaustion, depression, anxiety, and other negative effects. These effects negatively impacted the psychological well-being of the workers and their level of productivity suffered. The importance of this research is that it can be applied to a multitude of work environments. This research showed that in order to increase productivity, the psychological environment (in this case having autonomy), needs to be viewed as an important factor.

The third link discusses happiness in general as being an important success factor in work, relationships, and health. The article reviews various research and discusses how the results suggest that happiness leads to superior work performance and even leads to a longer life.

What I learned from these three sources confirmed my current viewpoint that job satisfaction directly correlates to life satisfaction. I find it increasingly interesting how employment can have a such a significant impact on the physiological and psychological well-being of an individual. I see psychology as having a tremendous impact in future employment practices.

http://www.phwa.org/

http://www.apa.org/research/action/control.aspx

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2005/12/success.aspx

For my topic, I chose the to research Tourette's Syndrome. I felt that this was related to Chapter 3 of our text book because there is some research that suggests Tourette's may be caused by an abnormality in a gene that affects the brain's metabolism of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. Furthermore, the main symptom of Tourette's (the vocal and motor tics) are described as having a sensation similar to an itch that needs to be scratched which could tie it somewhat into an aroused motive (even though tics are often uncontrollable, it is said that people who have the disorder are aware of them and can suppress them temporarily but eventually the tension builds up and has to be released by acting upon it).
I chose this topic because it hits very close to home. My 6 (almost 7) year old was just recently diagnosed with having a mild case of Tourette's and ADHD. Because I want to be able to provide him with the best environment and support possible, I have been trying to educate myself about the disorder so that I may help him to learn how to cope with it.
Some of the information that I learned from this research was the fact that some of the current research is suggesting that it is tied to an abnormality of a gene that controls the brain's metabolism of neurotransmitters. I also learned that Tourette's is mostly inherited but there are cases where it appears without a family history (this would make sense because my older brother also has a diagnosis of a mild case of Tourette's). Furthermore, Tourette's seems to affect males 3 to 4 times more than females and the disorder is more common than previously thought.
Another interesting fact I found was that Tourette's is often dually diagnosed with other disorders such as ADD, ADHD, and obsessive compulsive disorder. About half of all TS patients have symptoms of ADHD sometime during the course of the disease. Although attention deficit is certainly one of the most common and disabling symptoms of TS, in many patients the inability to pay attention is due not only to a co-existent ADHD, but also because of poor motivation, unwanted intrusions of thoughts, mental concentration exerted in an effort to suppress tics, sedation from anti-TS medications, and associated migraine headaches.
Finally, I discovered that tics can be classified into two categories: simple and complex. From the Baylor College of Medicine website, "simple tics involve repetitive movement of one muscle group such as shoulder shrugging, eye blinking or neck popping. Complex motor tics include coordinated motor behaviors such as touching, tapping, jumping, skipping when walking, or socially inappropriate gestures. Coprolalia, manifested by shouting of obscenities or profanities, is probably the most over-emphasized symptom of TS, and is actually present in only about one third of all patients. Other complex phonic tics include palilalia (repetition of the last syllable, word or phrase in a sentence), or echolalia (repetition of someone else's words or phrases)."
As a parent, it is crucial for me to educate myself on it because I do not want to chastise my son for something that he cannot help. Rather, I want to be able to help him to develop healthy coping mechanisms to help him succeed in whatever goals he sets for himself. Perhaps by posting this, others too will take the initiative to educate themselves not only about this disorder, but about other disorders that may be inflicted upon their loved ones, friends, or even co-workers.

http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/disorders/tourette_syndrome.shtml

http://www.bcm.edu/neurology/patient_education/pdcmdc/ts.html

http://www.tsa-usa.org/

I choose to do my assignment on the self-efficacy theory. The self-efficacy theory is form chapter 2 and its one of the mini theories that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. This topic fits with motivation and emotion because the part of the course is about why people do or do not do certain things. People with low self-efficacy are not going to do certain things or complete goals like a person with strong sense of self-efficacy. Also the self-efficacy theory is one of the mini theories that helped pave the way for the reemergence of the study of motivation. I am interested in this theory because I sometimes doubt that I can do a particular tasks and it annoys me that I always doubt myself. Once I get over the doubt I can always complete the task, but sometimes I let the doubt get to me and I never even attempt something. I could characterize myself as having a low self-efficacy, which I would like to change. I would just like to know more about self-efficacy and maybe find some ways to improve my self-efficacy.

I learned from my first website that self-efficacy affects every person, because everyone has goals that they wish to accomplish. People with a strong sense of self-efficacy have a set of four characteristics which include they view challenging problems as tasks to be mastered, they develop deeper interest in the activities in which they participate, they from a stronger sense of commitment to their interests and activities and they recover quickly form setbacks and disappointments. People with a weak sense of self-efficacy also have a set of four characteristics which are almost the opposite of the ones just described for people with a high self-efficacy. I also learned that there are four ways to develop a strong sense of self efficacy. The four ways are mastery experiences, social modeling, social persuasion and psychological responses. I leaned that when you fail to complete a task, your self-efficacy weakens. So all the times I don’t finish something that I wanted to do because of doubt or fear I would fail, just lowers my self-efficacy each time. From this article I learned what things strengthen self-efficacy and the things that I can do to start to improve my own self-efficacy.

The second website was actually a study entitled A Self-Efficacy Theory Explanation for the Management of Remote Workers in Virtual Organizations. This article shows how self-efficacy is a part of every aspect of people’s lives. Self-efficacy is not just for personal goals but also for professional goals that occur in the workplace. First of all this article was about virtual organizations and how workers are often in locations remote form their mangers. I learned from this study that an employee’s self-efficacy play a role in their work performance as well as their attitudes towards work and their organizations. In other words people with a high self-efficacy have a better work performance on average than people with low self-efficacy. This article also helped bring into perspective how self-efficacy plays a role in the different aspects of my life.

The third website was actually a you tube video about the little engine that could. It’s actually the little engine singing the song “I think I can”. In this song his friends keep telling him he can make up and he can do anything if he believes he can. This video has a lot of social persuasion, because the little engines friends keep telling he can. I have found that when my friends and family give me encouragement that I am more able to complete a task than I am without that encouragement. This is a cute little songs that can show someone of any age that they are able to do anything they set their mind too. I just might start playing that song every time I doubt myself and see if that song can increase my self efficacy. I learned a lot of new things from these three website and I found some ways to increase my own self-efficacy. I think self-efficacy is an important topic because it affects everyone and without self-efficacy, no one would accomplish anything.

http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/self_efficacy.htm
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue4/staples.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoVRV_xGEqc&feature=related

After I read Chapter One, I knew right away that I wanted to write about engagement. Even in the relatively small section I was still fascinated by the idea of engagement. I believe this interest comes from my curiosity about the idea of engagement about how easy it is for some people to feign engagement, yet it is so hard to truly achieve.

I found a very nice video to start off my adventures into engagement that very clearly and simply stated what qualifies as engagement. In the video, Dr. Paul Marciano explains that engagement is a more beneficial, long-term motive. Dr. Marciano also describes that engagement differs from motivation in the sense that motivation involves more strategies for a productive outcome while engagement is more about getting people to be more loyal and committed. All in all I found this short video a perfect intro into the subject.

Next I found an interesting piece about how engagement is increased with age. This article was based on a survey done by AARP where the original issue was the complaint that older employees were too costly. The survey found that not only is the demographic not too costly, but that they were cost efficient. The study found that the older members of the work community were more loyal and wanted to exceed expectations more than their younger counterparts. I liked this piece a lot because it showed a more practical side of engagement and why it is important we take action to increase engagement.

Finally, I found an article talking about student motivation and engagement. I was really excited when I saw this article because it was something I could relate to and gave me some answers as to how I can become more engaged. My favorite part about this article is a section about participation and belonging. The article says that there is a correlation between how connected a student feels to the class will directly affect their engagement. For instance, someone who values their class relationships and feels a valid part of that class will be more engaged in that class. Adversely, if a student feels cut-off from the class or isolated, they will likely be disengaged. I immediately recognized this within the context of a class I had last semester. I felt completely isolated and never talked to any of my classmates, which then lead me to become very disengaged and inattentive throughout the class. I loved that I could relate to this article and that it showed me some of the main issues of student engagement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J6nM9pzKmM

http://www.aare.edu.au/04pap/ain04760.pdf

http://www.management-issues.com/2006/8/24/research/engagement-and-motivation-increase-with-age.asp

Chapter two examines motivation from nine perspectives, one of which is neurological in its approach. Whereas brain imaging has helped to map the functions of previously-diagramed brain formations (i.e. hippocampus involvement with learning and memory), better understanding the dynamics of adulthood neuronal development may assist in uncovering motivation as it relates to the processes of learning and memory. This topic is interesting because it has only begun to take off in the last ten years—it contradicts prior brain-computer analogies, refuting brain cells as more-or-less static from birth.

Altman developed his theory of neurogenesis in 1962; though controversial, he theorized neuron development in adult mammals. For at least 20 years avian research has acknowledged neurogenesis in songbirds fully capable of learning/recalling up to 2000 songs over the life span. Conversely, mammalian neurogenesis has been contested until relatively recently. Disbeliefs stemmed from large inabilities of the brain and spinal cord to repair themselves following traumatic injury. Other difficulties were rooted in the mechanistic stance: an inability of individually complex neurons to be duplicated in adulthood. The human brain is composed of 100 billion neurons comprising 100 trillion connections. On the conceptual level, how would new neurons incorporate amicably within the existing neuron framework?

Characterized by increasing neo-neuron casualties in comparison to survivors, this gap has likely resulted in the long-held notion of the human brain as comparable to a computer and prolonged the research discovery. Current findings suggest otherwise, thousands of neurons are created in the hippocampus daily. Though the olfactory bulb is also implicated in neurogenesis, the main focus is the hippocampus. In order to survive neurons need blood nutrients, glial cell insulation and connections with other neurons.

Using mice, researchers have found a correlation between the number of remaining neurons and the amount of learning tasks performed. Better learners appear to maintain more new neurons, especially when trained on demanding tasks. Preliminary findings have found stress negatively affects learning and neurogenesis; however, exercise facilitates neuron growth and survival. Compared to a control group, mice allowed to run in a wheel produced almost twice as many new hippocampus neurons.

Reduced neurogenesis has been proposed as a hypothesis to depression. Neurogenesis increases with seizure activity although it is maladaptive, actually contributing to more seizures. Increased neurogenesis has also been identified in response to stroke, Huntington’s disease and Alzheimer’s— possibly the brain’s effort to repair itself.

Just as such findings have implications for future treatment of dementia, new questions arise as to the function of these new hippocampus neurons? Are they imperative to learning and memory formation? Though some support surfaces to suggest new neurons aid in learning and memory, to what degree? As methods improve and the field expands, will new areas of the brain be identified in neurogenesis? Will it one day become equally difficult to teach a new dog and an old dog the same new trick?

http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=brainbriefings_adult_neurogenesis

http://www.bioedonline.org/hot-topics/adult-neurogenesis.cfm

http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/full/22/3/612

The topic that I chose is “Motivation Includes both Approach and Avoidance Tendancies” p. 17 in Chapter 1. I picked this topic because it didn’t occur to me that the desire to avoid things also motivates people. When I decided to take this class I was only thinking about motivating myself positively to achieve a goal, which our text calls approach-oriented motivation. After researching this topic I have learned more about both approach-oriented motivation and avoidance-oriented motivation and that both are powerful motivational tools when used correctly.
Through my research I learned that some psychologists believe that people are more motivated by either avoidance (known as a behavior inhibition system BIS) or approach (known as a behavioral activation system BAS). There are tests, one of which I have included a link to in this blog, which determine if a person is more avoidance or approach-oriented. What this basically means is whether a person is more motivated by goals (approach-oriented) or threats (avoidance-oriented).
The psychlopedia website’s section on approach and avoidance motivation agreed with our text that both are essential for survival. This website claims that approach-oriented motivation comes from the left hemisphere of the brain, while avoidance-oriented motivation comes from the right side of the brain. I found this interesting since in chapter 3 of our textbook on pages 61 and 62 it says the exact same thing. This website went on to describe how there isn’t a consensus on whether the right side of the brain is more linked to positive emotions and the left side to negative emotions. Various studies have had mixed results.
One article I found that was titled “Approach/Avoidance Motivation, Message Framing, and Health Behavior: Understanding the Congruency Effect” by David K Sherman, Traci Mann, and John A. Updegraff used the concept of approach and avoidance motivations to demonstrate that these motivators work differently depending on the person’s personality. Their study took a group of college students who were then divided into two groups: approach-oriented, who according to the article “are more responsive to cues of reward” and avoidance oriented, who “are more responsive to cues of threat and punishment” (p.165). The study than randomly distributed one of these two publications to the students about flossing, one that focused on the benefits and another that described the health risks of not flossing. The researchers found that student who were more motivated by the avoidance-approach responded more to the article about health risks (as measured by self-reported increases in flossing), while students who were more approach-oriented were more motivated by the article about the health benefits of flossing.
Psychlopedia webpage about Approach and Avoidance:
http://www.psych-it.com.au/Psychlopedia/article.asp?id=60
Example of BIS/BAS test: http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/ccarver/sclBISBAS.html
Article about approach/avoidance and flossing: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2600530/

My topic is facial expressions. I found the topic of facial expressions to be very interesting. According to Chapter 1 page 11 of our textbook, facial expressions are one aspect of behavior that express motivation. Facial expressions or the lack thereof can indicate the presence or absence of a motive. I find facial expressions interesting because they're one way to determine how someone's feeling and the extent to which some people portray their facial expressions is intriguing. Some can be extremely goofy while others can be very subtle. Another reason why they interest me is because my friends say I have a lot of facial expressions and some call me "the girl of a thousand faces". So, I thought I could get some insight on myself by doing some research.

My first source, an article from a psychology magazine, said that facial expressions aren't always an accurate way to tell how someone's feeling and should be used along with other tools. The face is one way to tell emotion, not the only way. The article also says that facial expressions forecast people's future actions and can be used for influencing social interactions. For example, a smile may attract someone to approach you while a scowl may deter them from doing so. From this source, I learned that there is a link between facial expressions and emotions, but it's not a one-to-one relationship.

My second source said that the meaning behind facial expressions depends a lot on the situation. They can also depend on culture. For example, some facial expressions are similarly recognized across the world (they're universal) while others are not. Smiling is a universal facial expression. Besides varying between cultures, many facial expressions are person-specific (vary from person to person). From this source, I learned that a facial expression here may mean something completely different in another culture.

My third source, a psychology news article, discussed a study about microexpressions which are a form of facial expressions. Microexpressions, such as a flash of fear on someone's face, aren't likely to be consciously noticed but are still picked up by the brain and sent through to the visual system. Since microexpressions can get past your consciousness, they can alter perception and influence social judgments. From this source, I learned that some facial expressions like that of microexpressions aren't always consciously noticed and may influence your decisions without you knowing it.

First source: http://www.apa.org/monitor/jan00/sc1.aspx

Second source: people.uncw.edu/dworkins/psy418s05ppt/Chapter14.ppt

Third source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2007/08/01/facial-expressions-may-confuse/1090.html

The topic I chose to write on is effort. This is found in the first chapter of the book. The reason I chose to do the topic on effort is because I have been interested in how and why people put effort into the things that they do. Different people have different goals and in order to achieve them, they have to put a lot of effort and hard time into their work. The book explains that effort is put forth when an individual wants to achieve something. There is both physical effort and mental effort.

The first source is from http://www.articlesbase.com
The article is titled “Make your marketing efforts work for you.” When I read this article it explained that when you are sending out a marketing message you should really make sure you are focusing on the right audience. The article explained how it takes a lot of effort to make your add work. If the audience you are focusing on is not interested in what you have to say you are wasting your time and effort. This shows that you must first target the right audience before putting forth effort. Otherwise it is just a waste of your time.

The second source is from http://health.holplus.com. When I read this article it explained that campaigns such as the American Cancer Association put forth a lot of effort to explain to individuals that they may need help in order to quit smoking. Some individuals may feel they have put forth a lot of effort and have failed to quit many times. They may need additional help from a supportive group. This article talked about the effort it takes for individuals to quit smoking and the additional help from another group can help them even more.

The third source came from a newspaper article in the sports page. The globe gazette. The Cincinnati Bengals recently defeated the Dallas Cowboys 17-16. This article fits into effort because the Bengals put forth more effort until the end of the game. When observing athletes they are in practice constantly almost every day. Typically, individuals who have worked as a team and have put forth more effort will have a chance to play better in the game. This does not necessarily mean they will win, but it does help their chances.