Instructor's Manual and Test Bank for Understanding Motivation and Emotion 1

Chapter 3
THE MOTIVATED AND EMOTIONAL BRAIN

Chapter Outline

Motivation, Emotion, and Neuroscience

Day-to-Day Events Activate Specific Brain Structures
Activated Brain Structures Generate Specific Motivations and Emotions

Neural Basis of Motivation and Emotion

Cortical Brain
Subcortical Brain
Bidirectional Communication
Dual-Process Theories
Neurotransmitters

Individual Brain Structures Involved in Motivation and Emotion

Reticular Formation
Amygdala
Basal Ganglia
Ventral Striatum, Nucleus Accumbens, and Ventral Tegmental Area
Hypothalamus
Insula
Prefrontal Cortex
Orbitofrontal Cortex
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex
Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Hormones

Conclusion
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Problem of the Day

Can the brain generate motivation of its own?

(Or does it always just react to environmental events that stir up reactive motivational state?)

Activities

Look at a model (or diagram) of the brain and identify specific neural structures (e.g., prefrontal
cortex) to explain the neural bases of as many motivational states as you can.

Discussion Questions

Theory

1. In understanding motivation, why is the brain important? Select any one motive (e.g.,
hunger, positive affect) and explain the role that the brain plays in the
rise and fall of that motive. Be specific in drawing the links between changes in the brain
and changes in motivation.

2. Provide an example for each of the following principles in brain functioning:

a. Specific brain structures generate specific motivational states.
b. Biochemical agents stimulate these brain structures.
c. Day-to-day events stir biochemical agents into action.

3. Why is the amygdala so important to motivation?

4. Explain and provide a concrete example of the textbook’s principle:

“We are not always consciously aware of the motivational basis of our behavior.”

Application

1. Explain and provide a concrete example of the textbook’s principle:

“Motivation cannot be separated from the social context in which it is embedded.”
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Multiple-Choice Test Questions

__ 1. According to the textbook, the current gold standard for looking deeply inside the brain
to monitor its activity during a motivational or emotional state is the:
(a) BRAIN, Balanced recording and imagining network.
(b) BOSS, Blood oxygenation sampling station.
(c) EEIT, Electroencephalogram imaging technique.
(d) fMRI, functional Magnetic resonance imaging.

__ 2. The brain’s limbic system includes all of the following brain structures except the:
(a) amygdala.
(b) Hypothalamus.
(c) reticular formation.
(d) septal area.
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(e)
__ 3. For hunger, which of the following best illustrates the brain principle of “Specific brain
structures generate specific motivational states.”
(a) Addiction (e.g., to cigarettes) leads to craving.
(b) Food deprivation (dieting) increases ghrelin.
(c) Increased ghrelin stimulates the hypothalamus.
(d) The hypothalamus generates felt hunger.

__ 4. For hunger, which of the following best illustrates the brain principle of “Biochemical
agents stimulate specific brain structures.”
(a) Addiction (e.g., to cigarettes) leads to craving.
(b) Food deprivation (dieting) increases ghrelin.
(c) Increased ghrelin stimulates the hypothalamus.
(d) Social pressures lead people to want to diet.

__ 5. For hunger, which of the following best illustrates the brain principle of “Day-to-day
events stir biochemical agents into action.”
(a) Addiction (e.g., to cigarettes) leads to craving.
(b) Food deprivation (dieting) increases ghrelin.
(c) Increased ghrelin stimulates the hypothalamus.
(d) Social pressures lead people to want to diet.

__ 6. Which of the following brain structures is involved in generating pleasure or the

subjective experience of reinforcement?
(a) the amygdala
(b) the hippocampus
(c) the medial forebrain bundle
(d) the reticular formation

__7. Which of the following brain structures is involved in generating and monitoring arousal?
(a) the amygdala
(b) the hippocampus
(c) the medial forebrain bundle
(d) the reticular formation
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__8. Which of the following brain structures is involved in generating withdrawal

motivational and emotional states?
(a) the hypothalamus
(b) the medial forebrain bundle
(c) the reticular formation
(d) the right prefrontal cerebral cortex

__9. The brain structure responsible for detecting and generating motivational states to
respond to environmental threats and dangers is the:
(a) amygdala.
(b) anterior cingulate cortex.
(c) nucleus accumbens.
(d) reticular formation.

__10. The function of the right prefrontal cerebral cortex is to generate:

(a) approach motivational and emotional tendencies.
(b) arousal.
(c) behavioral inhibition during unexpected, surprising, or novel events.
(d) withdrawal of motivational and emotional tendencies.

__11. Which of the following brain structures is most closely associated with the subjective
experience of “Yes, I want to do this.”?
(a) the amygdala
(b) the hippocampus
(c) the medial forebrain bundle
(d) the right prefrontal cerebral cortex

__12. Which of the following brain structures is most closely associated with the subjective
experience of “No, I don’t want to do this.”?
(a) the amygdala
(b) the left prefrontal cerebral cortex
(c) the medial forebrain bundle
(d) the reticular formation
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__13. The ____ is a small brain structure that comprises less than 1% of the total volume of the
brain. Despite its small size, it is a motivational giant associated with motivations such
as hunger and thirst.
(a) cerebellum
(b) hippocampus
(c) hypothalamus
(d) thalamus

__14. The ____ controls the pituitary gland, hence the body’s endocrine system.
(a) amygdala
(b) hippocampus
(c) hypothalamus
(d) reticular formation

__15. The ____ controls the autonomic nervous system, hence the body’s fight-or-flight system
(from sympathetic and parasympathetic activation).
(a) amygdala
(b) hippocampus
(c) hypothalamus
(d) reticular formation

__16. The ____ specifically regulates the emotions involved in self-preservation, such as anger,
anxiety, and fear.
(a) amygdala
(b) hippocampus
(c) hypothalamus
(d) reticular formation

__17. If a rat had a lesioned (surgically removed) amygdala and was then placed in the same
room with a cat, what would the rat’s behavior likely be? The rat would likely:
(a) appear tame, neutral, perhaps even playful.
(b) become hyperaggressive, perhaps even attacking the cat.
(c) freeze with fear.
(d) show intense avoidance, probably trying to find a place to hide.
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__18. Given the following scenario, what brain structure would be expected to be highly active?
The person looks at a menu, trying to decide which item to order. As she considers the
options listed in front of her, her awareness of her past experiences with the various items
informs her decision to choose option A over option B.
(a) the anterior cingulate cortex
(b) the reticular formation
(c) the right prefrontal cortex
(d) the septal area

__19. Electrical stimulation of a human’s medial forebrain bundle typically can be expected to
produce a subsequence experience of:
(a) avoidance emotion (fear) and avoidance behavior (withdrawal).
(b) avoidance emotion (fear) but not avoidance behavior (withdrawal).
(c) avoidance behavior (withdrawal) but not avoidance emotion (fear).
(d) generally positive feelings.
(e) intense pleasure.

__20. Which of the following statements about the neural interventions between the frontal
cortex and the amygdala is most true?
(a) The amygdala projects relatively many fibers upward to the frontal cortex, while
the frontal cortex projects relatively few fibers down to the amygdala.
(b) The amygdala projects relatively few fibers upward to the frontal cortex, while
the frontal cortex projects relatively many fibers down to the amygdala.
(c) The number of nerve fibers projected upward to the frontal cortex from the
amygdala is about the same as the number of fibers projected downward to the
amygdala from the frontal cortex.
(d) Dense fibers flow both ways—many fibers project upward to the frontal cortex
from the amygdala, and many fibers project downward to the amygdala from the
frontal cortex.

__21. Active coping attempts with environmental stressors, when successful, generate the
release of ____, which shuts down or quietens the brain’s septo-hippocampal circuit.
(a) acetylcholine
(b) dopamine
(c) endorphins
(d) norepinephrine
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__22. Active coping attempts with environmental stressors, when successful, generate the
release of endorphins, which shut down or quieten the brain’s:
(a) epinephrine-norepinephrine balance.
(b) hypothalamus.
(c) reticular formation.
(d) septo-hippocampal circuit.

__23. People with relatively high activity in their right prefrontal lobes (“right-side
asymmetry”) show a relatively strong sensitivity to:
(a) how stimulating or how potentially arousing the environment is.
(b) potential fight-or-flight responses, especially emotions like anger and fear.
(c) potential signals of punishment and negative emotionality.
(d) potential signals of reward and positive emotionality.

__24. People with relatively high activity in their left prefrontal lobes (“left-side asymmetry”)
show a relatively strong sensitivity to:
(a) how stimulating or how potentially arousing the environment is.
(b) potential fight-or-flight responses, especially emotions like anger and fear.
(c) potential signals of punishment and negative emotionality.
(d) potential signals of reward and positive emotionality.

__25. If a person took a personality inventory and scored high on the BAS and low on the BIS
scales, what sort of personality would you expect from this person(BAS = Behavioral
activating system; BIS = Behavioral inhibition system)?
(a) happy but not neurotic
(b) neurotic but not happy
(c) happy and neurotic
(d) neither happy nor neurotic

__26. If you scanned a person’s brain activity to find how much more chronic right-side
asymmetry was in the activity of the right prefrontal cortex than in that of the left
prefrontal cortex, you could expect the person’s personality to be characterized as:
(a) extravert.
(b) external locus of control.
(c) internal locus of control.
(d) neurotic.
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__27. ________ act as chemical messengers within the brain’s central nervous system; ______
act as chemical messengers within the body’s endocrine system.
(a) Feeders; receivers
(b) Receivers; feeders
(c) Hormones; neurotransmitters
(d) Neurotransmitters; hormones

__28. ____ generates good feelings.

(a) Acetylcholine release
(b) Amygdala stimulation
(c) Dopamine release
(d) Norepinephrine activation

__29. If researchers were to implant a small electrode in an animal’s brain, send a mild electric
current though that electrode, and see the animal show behaviors associated with reward
and approach, then the electrode likely stimulated which neural pathway?
(a) acetylcholine
(b) amygdaloidal
(c) dopamine
(d) serotonin

__30. Which of the following research findings does not illustrate how the motives, cravings,
appetites, desires, and moods that regulate our behavior are not always obvious and
accessible to conscious awareness?
(a) Baseball pitchers are more likely to hit batters on hot days than on warm days.
(b) People who receive an unexpected gift are more likely to help a stranger in
distress than are people who do not receive such a gift.
(c) People are more sociable on sunny days than on cloudy days.
(d) People act more violently after being insulted than after being praised.
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__31. ___ is the so-called stress hormone that is typically released from the adrenal gland to
prepare the body for a social-evaluative threat, such as public speaking.
(a) A-peptide
(b) Cortisol
(c) K-peptide
(d) Testosterone
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Answers to Multiple-Choice Questions

Chapter 3
The Motivated and Emotional Brain

Multiple-Choice Test Questions

8. d 18. a 28. c
9. a 19. d 29. c
10. d 20. a
1. d 11. c 21. c 30. d
2. c 12. a 22. d 31. b
3. de 13. c 23. c 4. c 14.
c 24. d
5. b 15. c 25. a
6. c 16. a 26. d
7. d 17. a 27. d
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Short-Essay Test Questions

1. Explain the role that the brain plays in hunger. Be specific in drawing the links between
changes in the brain and corresponding changes in motivation.

2. Explain the role that the brain plays in fear. Be specific in drawing the links between
changes in the brain and corresponding changes in motivation and emotion.

3. Provide one concrete example for each of the following principles in brain functioning:
1 a. Specific brain structures generate specific motivational states.
2 b. Biochemical agents stimulate these brain structures.
3 c. Day-to-day events stir biochemical agents into action.

4. Explain how brain researchers use fMRI (functional magnetic resonance

imaging) to look deep inside the human brain to observe brain-related changes
in motivational states.

5. Identify one of the ways the hypothalamus triggers the body’s fight or flight
response.

6. Explain the role of the amygdala in the generation and regulation of motivational and
emotional states.

7. Explain the role of the hypothalamus in the generation and regulation of motivational and
emotional states.

8. Explain the role of the reticular formation in the generation and regulation of arousal
level and in the process of awakening the brain’s motivational and emotional concerns.

9. Explain the interrelationships between the right and left prefrontal cortex of the
brain and the person’s subsequent experience of positive and negative emotionality.

10. Imagine a person has a goal, such as going to a party to make a new friend. Discuss the
role of the prefrontal cortex in providing an approach versus avoidance emotional context
for this “make a new friend” goal.

11. Outline the interrelationships among (a) how well or poorly the person expects
an event to be, (b) dopamine, and (c) feeling good.

12. Explain the environmental conditions that lead to dopamine release in the brain.
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13. The textbook concludes that brain-generated and brain-regulated motivation and
emotional states cannot be separated from the social context in which they are
embedded. Explain what this means.

14. Explain the difference between wanting and liking. Use a concrete example such as
nicotine addiction to illustrate the difference between wanting a reward and liking a
reward. Is there any difference?

15. Identify any one research finding that illustrates the textbook’s principle of,
”We are not always consciously aware of the motivational basis of our behavior.”

16. Explain the meaning of the following theme in motivation study:

A person’s motivation cannot be separated from the social context in which it is
embedded.