Rathus Chapter 8: Motivation and Emotion

This is a light couple of weeks for you because I know there are a lot of other pressures this time in the semester. Do your work, but also try to go outside and get some fresh air!

If you want to go back and work on a past week, or you want to peek forward to future modules, simply visit the Modules page!

Objective

The main goal this week is to learn about motivation and emotions, stripping away what we think we know and replacing it with evidence based in the research around them.

Learning Outcomes

Once you have completed this week, you will be able to:

Define aspects of motivation, including needs, drives, and incentives
Identify the theories of motivation
Describe the biological and psychological contributions to hunger
Explain the role of sex hormones and the sexual response cycle in human sexuality
Describe achievement motivation
Discuss the expression of emotions
Discuss theories of emotional response
Describe the factors that play into our self-esteem
Describe love in evolutionary terms
Describe the evidence base behind happiness
Discuss the purpose behind creativity, and how to nurture it

Weekly Due Dates Summary (see To-do List for detail/links)
Wednesday 11:59pm	Saturday 6pm	Sunday 11:59pm
Habit Formation discussion post	Habit Formation discussion reply (March 20) Help Kids Open Up assignment (March 27)	Module quiz (March 21)

Walkthrough

To-do List

To navigate the course and complete each module, all you need to do is click through the "To-do List" each week and make sure you complete all the items. Remember to use your planner or calendar together with your syllabus to know what's upcoming in the course! The to-do list is organized in the order I think makes the most sense to complete the work, but you are free to tackle your work in whatever order works for you unless otherwise noted.

(Optional but recommended) Watch the Week 9 Module Walkthrough Zoom Recording
Read Rathus Chapter 8, and review the PowerPoint on its own or along with the Zoom mini lecture (selected slides: 7, 10-12, 30, 40-41) (watching the lecture is highly recommended)
Watch Sophie Zadeh discussing whether there are universal expressions of emotion, and if so what they are -- as you watch, think about what the existence of some universal expressions means about the expressions of emotion that are not universal (short video):Video: Are there universal expressions of emotion? - Sophie Zadeh
Watch this video about the psychological determinants of self-esteem (short video): Self-Esteem
Watch Brad Troeger discuss what love is, what its evolutionary purpose may be, and how it resembles addiction (short video): Video: Are there universal expressions of emotion? - Sophie Zadeh
Watch Nancy Etcoff talk about the evidence behind happiness (about 15 minutes): Video: The surprising science of happiness - Nancy Etcoff
Watch this video about where creativity comes from, measuring it, and why a wandering mind can be useful (short video):Video: Is there a secret to creativity?
Participate in the Habit Formation and Motivation discussion post, initial posts due Wednesday March 17 at 11:59pm and replies due Saturday March 20 at 6pm
Complete (optional) the How to Help Kids Open Up About Anything - The New York Times by Saturday March 27 at 6pm
Complete the module quiz by Sunday March 21 at 11:59pm.

Questions? Come to Zoom office hours Friday from 5 - 6pm (or contact me for another time to meet). The code is 497261 and you will be in the waiting room until I admit you. Typically this will be immediate, but if I am already speaking to someone you will have to wait. I will meet with everyone who is waiting even if we go past 6pm!

Communication Reminders

Active participation

You are expected to be an active member of this class -- that means that you participate as instructed in the required discussions and as needed in the optional ones; it means you complete your assignments fully and promptly; it means that you are checking your e-mail and Canvas regularly so you are aware of changes and announcements; and most importantly, it means you understand that the activities in this class build on each other sequentially, so if you don't understand something you need to reach out and get help before it gets away from you!

In exchange for your active participation in this class, it is my commitment to you to grade your assignments and, most of the time, provide you written feedback on what you did well and what might need improvement at the time they are graded. If I see a pattern or theme emerging in your performance, I will discuss it with you.

Contacting me

Remember that I am here to help you learn! Except for weekends, the maximum response time to your messages is 48 hours... but I definitely try to get to them as soon as I can. Always let me know if there is anything that I can do to help you be successful in this course. You can e-mail me, use Canvas Inbox, post to the weekly discussion (see last item above), or respond to any comment I've made on your assignments.

Connecting with your classmates

For the first few weeks, you will be working with your peers in classwide discussions (both assigned and the weekly ones to help each other out) and have Pronto and Canvas messaging available to you. After we have a bit of work under our belts, you will begin a project that will span the rest of the semester with a smaller group. It will be up to you and your group mates to decide how best to communicate in that context. No matter what, though, your classmates are all around you and are just as willing to support you as you are to support them!

General Information and Support Reminders

Remember that this course includes a General Course Information page where you can find not just information for this specific course (such as links to the syllabus, announcements, and the general Q & A discussion post), but also information about resources available to support you as a student at CCSF (both in-person and virtually), and information about using Canvas and other technology tools.