Motivation
Pick twoof the
following three scenarios to describe from a motivation standpoint. There should me, at minimum, five major concepts per answer.
(Heuristics, avoidance conditioning and arousal are all major
concepts…availability heuristic, the Skinner box and James-Lange theory are
not, they are examples and smaller concepts within a larger topic that should
be used to boost/support your argument).
Also, the concepts in each answer may not be the same, which means a
total of 10 different concepts should be included in your exam – if you have a
question if something is a major or minor concept, ask. You need to do the following to answer the
questions correctly: 1) identify the
concepts. Explain the concepts using examples, definitions, etc to fully
show you understand the concept. 2) relate your concepts to the example
(additional information can be made up about the example, as needed). Each question is worth 50 points. Organization, grammar and content all
contribute to your final grade. Each answer should be a bare minimum of 2 pages (double
spaced).
Scenarios:
1. About
a year ago, I bought a new car. I would
often use the car to go to work, get dinner or for recreation. About a month ago, it began to make an odd
beeping sound, become difficult to start and the word FUSE lit up on the
dashboard. The next morning, I found the
car dead in my driveway on my way to work.
Since this meant I would be late to work, I worked quickly to find
alternative transportation and a tow truck as well as contact the dealership
but the process took a while. Being that the car was still very new, I was extremely
upset about the events that transpired. A few days later, I got the car back
from the dealership but the word FUSE was still lit on the dashboard. I figured
that since the dealership saw this, it must not be a cause for concern and I
ignored it. Two days later, the beeping
started again and upon hearing it, my blood pressure started to rise. Later
that day, I found my car dead in the parking lot at work which made me pretty
upset. I was able to quickly contact the dealership and a tow truck as well as
find alternative transportation.
Eventually, I got the car back from the dealership and when the odd
beeping began, I immediately drove the car to the dealership for repair. While I was mildly upset about this, it was
mostly because of the inconvenience it caused.
I currently am driving the car again, but am listening for beeps and
difficulty when I start it. And, while I
love my car, I hate all the repairs and must decide to either not get another
Audi or assume another car would not have the same problems.
2. Jack and Jill met getting on a roller coaster. When they got off, he asked her out and Jill
accepted. In the beginning, every time Jack picked Jill up for their date he
had flowers, chocolates or a card. He showered her in praise and made her feel
so special that she barely noticed when he started bring her presents less
frequently. She still continued to be
happy anytime she was around… even when friends brought up his name, she became
happy and knew she had fallen in love. Most of her friends could not understand
it, however, because Jack was often aggressive toward Jill. Eventually, they break up and Jill has a
horrible time adjusting. She feels tired, depressed and lonely and begins to
text/call Jack each night. Sometimes he text/calls her back, but not usually,
so she continues calling/texting each night until he finally stops texting her
at all for weeks. Eventually, Jill
meets Bob and they get married and have a child. Jill and Bob argued over
whether Jill should be a Stay-at-home mom or keep working and take Bob Jr. to a
daycare. After a few years of daycare
Jr. seems to be comfortable with strangers and loves his parents very much.
3. Jane has been trying to loose weight since she can
remember. She’s always felt that fat people were lazy, but now she is
overweight and she knows she is not lazy.
All of her friends are thin and Jane tries to look like her favorite
Hollywood stars. She’s tried all the latest diets and when her friends would
tell her she was looking thin it definitely kept her dieting. While at the grocery store, there are always
multiple options available for her to buy, healthy and not healthy. Money
sometimes plays a role in what she chooses to buy since she does not make much
at her job and healthy food is more expensive.
She is often convinced to buy un-healthy food simply because it says
‘Low Sodium’ or ‘Low Fat’ even though the fat or sodium content is still relatively
high. Jane has decided to start putting
stars on a chart on the days she goes to the gym. Jane loves shoes and make a
rule that once she has 10 stars she can buy a new pair of shoes. While at the gym, Jane gets a lot of benefit
(high calories burned/sculpting her body) from the elliptical. One day when she
goes into the gym, this machine is taken so she had to get on the treadmill.
She finds that she gets as much benefit from this machine and begins to split
her time between the elliptical and treadmill (and occasionally will use the
stationary bike if the other two options have lines waiting). Eventually, Jane stops going to the gym but
keeps buying shoes anyway. When she starts up the 10 stars = pair of shoes
chart again, its highly ineffective but she can not understand why…
