Syllabus plain text version (see blackboard for rtf file version)
University of Oregon, Spring 2006
Psychology 468: MOTIVATION AND EMOTION
12:00 - 1:20 pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 110 Willamette Hall
Professor: Gerard Saucier, Ph.D.
Office: 312 Straub
E-mail: gsaucier@uoregon.edu Phone: 346-4927 with voice mail
Web page: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~gsaucier/psy468_2006.htm
Office Hours: Tuesdays 2-3 pm and Thursdays 10-11 am, or flexibly by appointment
Teaching Assistant: Jessica Tipsord - 398 Straub, 346-4947, office hours 1:30-2:30 pm
Wednesdays, e-mail jtipsord@uoregon.edu
Text: Reeve, J. (2005). Understanding motivation and emotion (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley plus additional materials made available via course blackboard site
Course Objectives: What's the Purpose of This Course?
Welcome to Psychology 468: Motivation and Emotion. Understanding motivation is
fundamental to understanding human behavior, including emotion, which is a function in large
part of a person's motivational situation. A course in motivation and emotion can be organized
in a variety of ways, and to some extent this course will reflect the instructor's background and
interest in individual differences, character and personality, beliefs, and culture, though the
course is focused on internal and generic mechanisms underlying behavior patterns. The purpose
of this course is to help you learn ways of thinking usefully and critically (i.e., carefully) about
human behavior, through understanding motivation and emotion, which can aid one in thinking
usefully and critically about human behavior - something useful not only in psychology and
human services professions, but in many areas of human life. The course format is primarily a
series of talks (i.e., lecture), with some discussion, in-class exercises, and student presentations.
The course has extensive readings, and students are expected to read everything assigned.
Assignments and Grading
Your final course grade is based on the following:
4% ...credit for responses to reading (IOQP)
3% ...panel presentation
10% ...for exploration paper
8% ...grade on outline of your research paper
25% ...grade on final version of research paper
20% ...score on the midterm exam
30% ...score on the final exam
What follows in this section is more detail on each of these components.
The two exams are similar in format. Each exam consists of a multiple choice section (40% of
the point total for the exam) concentrating on key concepts (definitions and examples of them) -
followed by two or three essay questions (60% of the point total for the exam). The essay
questions are drawn from the list at the end of the syllabus.
For the midterm, the essay questions will be drawn from among the first six big questions at the
end of this syllabus; the other sections of the exam will be based on readings and class content up
to the midterm exam. For the final exam, the essay questions will be drawn from among thsoe
not included on the midterm, including not only questions 7-11 but also those from among 1-6
that were not on the midterm. The other sections of the exam will be based primarily on
readings and class content after the midterm and up to the final exam, but will inevitably include
some reference to the earlier part of the course. No dictionaries, thesauruses, calculators, or
electronic devices can be used during the exams, although translating dictionaries can be allowed
for those with English fluency issues, conditional on instructor permission. Multiple-choice
items especially emphasize material covered both in the assigned readings and in class.
IOQP papers are brief responses to readings. IOQP stands for "important or questionable
points." Their purpose is to stimulate students to actively engage with readings and thus be
earlier and better prepared for class (and exams). The length for an IOQP paper is exactly one
(full, can be single-spaced) page of typed, machine-printed, or clearly handwritten text for each
IOQP. Each IOQP paper must be based on the assigned readings corresponding to the due date
for the IOQP paper. For each IOQP paper, you are to take two of the chapters (i.e., including at
least the one that is assigned for the class session of the due date) and, for each one, describe an
idea or finding that you think is either (a) important or (b) questionable. If you write about an
important idea or finding, you are to describe it and then give an explanation of why you think it
is important. If you write about a questionable idea or finding, you are to describe it and then
give an explanation of why you think it is questionable. Feel free to use personal anecdotes in
IOQP papers, if they help you explain the importance or questionableness of an idea or finding.
You are assigned to turn in two (2) IOQP papers. The due dates for these are provided in the
syllabus (there are six due dates -- you need only get in an IOQP paper in on time for two of
these dates). These papers should have complete sentences and at least two paragraphs. IOQP
papers are graded on a "pass versus no-pass" basis. Late IOQP papers are not accepted for
credit, since a late paper would defeat part of the purpose of an IOQP paper as defined above. If
you miss the deadline for one IOQP paper, you are advised to simply prepare an IOQP paper for
the next deadline (due date) instead.
The exploration paper is intended to help you develop a more personal connection to the subject
matter, by applying concepts learned in the course to your personal experience of yourself and/or
other people. There are several choices for how to focus this paper (see end of syllabus). It
should have complete sentences, good grammar, reasonable organization, and at least 2 complete
double-spaced pages of text. It is due on April 27.
The research paper is designed to improve on features of traditional term papers in advancing
student learning. I have found that students learn more from the writing experience when they
have the opportunity to make use of feedback and be part of a presentation to an "audience."
The topic for the paper is chosen by you from a limited "menu," and there will be no more than
approximately ten different topics done by members of the whole class. Having a limited
number of topics allows us to have some student presentations at the end of the course,
encouraging greater depth of exploration. The limited menu is based in part on student feedback
in the first weeks of the course, as to their particular areas of interest.
The research paper is to be focused on a review of at least two articles. One of these articles is
assigned (goes with the topic). You are free to choose the additional article (or articles). This is
a somewhat structured research-paper assignment. Multiple students will be working on the
same topic, but there is no joint or group product and no group grade for the research paper.
Because papers on one topic are evaluated simultaneously you ought to make certain that, if you
are influenced by the thoughts of other students, you acknowledge that contribution accurately
and openly (see note on "plagiarism" below). Originality is one of the grading criteria (see
below).
Your research-paper outline (or abstract) is to be an organized collection of your initial ideas
about what your final paper will say. This outline/abstract must all fit on one side of one sheet of
paper. For the outline/abstract only it is acceptable to use single-spacing if you wish. The
outline/abstract is graded based on meeting minimum requirements for the assignment, a
different and also less stringent standard than that used in grading the final version of the
research paper.
The required second article can be a key article from the reference list of either article that you
find adds useful information for your paper, or it can be any other article you think adds useful
information or adds to your discussion of the topic. This must be a journal article, not a book,
book chapter, or internet site or page (Why? Because you should identify a scientifically peer-
reviewed source.). You can include more than one additional article, but what is most important
for grading purposes is the quality of the first additional one you introduce. It is not strictly
required that you use or reference this second article in the outline - you can add it after that.
For the final version of the research-paper, bear in mind what Graci n wrote in 1647: "good
things, when short, are twice as good." The aim is to create a paper that packs a lot of valuable
thinking into a relatively brief space. It should be a minimum of three full double-spaced pages
in length (not counting reference list), and at a maximum it should not exceed 8 full double-
spaced pages in length, not counting reference list, and it must be double-spaced throughout, and
should use a size 12 font.
Your research paper should identify different approaches taken to the topic, or some issues
pertinent to the topic that people or scientists disagree on, or it should identify some anomaly
(inconsistency, weakness, or limitation) in an existing paradigm (widely accepted way of
carrying out science or organizing scientific knowledge). I recommend that your paper do the
following six things in sequence: (1) identify what makes the topic important; (2) describe the
assigned article (and if applicable or discernible the paradigm it represents) in terms of its
contribution to the topic; (3) evaluate this article by identifying its strengths and limitations or
weaknesses (this may involve its assumptions or premises, its methodology, or other features);
(4) describe another article (or articles) that doesn't have one or more of the assigned article's
limitations or weaknesses, or that has differing strengths, again with a description of what is in it,
followed by an evaluation of its strengths and limitations/weaknesses; (5) compare all articles,
and (6) draw conclusions regarding the topic, its central question, and/or useful future directions
for research.
In addition to the "doing the six things" described in the previous paragraph, the research-paper
outline and the final research-paper are graded on the following criteria: (7) Is typed, readable,
free of gross spelling and typographic errors; (8) is well-organized and focused and therefore the
reasoning is easy to follow; (9) defines key terms clearly, especially those that can be
ambiguous, and/or identifies key assumptions; (10 ) includes at least a second article that adds
additional information or perspective; (11) the paper is original - indications are that the thinking
is your own; (12) the citations and reference list in APA style; for help see UO Libraries'
Citation Style Guide (http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/citing/) On the
more mundane side, do not include binders or covers on the papers when you turn them in, and
no title page is necessary.
Papers (whether the exploration paper, or the outline/abstract or final version of the research
paper) turned in late lose 10% of their points for each weekday they are not turned in (starting
with the due date). In general, with some course requirements, alternative arrangements for due
dates may be possible with an authoritative excuse if presented in advance of an absence.
As for the panel presentation, this means being part of a panel of people with your same topic
talking to the class briefly about your research paper (in the last two weeks of class). Your one-
minute-or-so presentation just involves identifying either (a) an essential issue on which
scientists might disagree, or (b) the way in which two approaches to an issue differ, or (c) some
important matter left out of articles on the topic. In other words, you are not summarizing your
paper, but extracting some key idea or two from it that you think the class might find interesting.
Panel presentation participation itself is 2% of the course grade, the other 1% is for posting on a
discussion forum prior to the panel (forums are set up about a week before the presentation).
Your final grade in the course will be based on the total of your points from papers, exams, and
sufficient participation. A range is 90% or better, B range is 80% to 90%, C range 70% to 80%,
D range 60% to 70%, Fs are less than 60%. '+' and '-' are added to grades if they fall in the top
1/3 or bottom 1/3, respectively, of A, B, C, and D range.
Special Requirements for Graduate Students (Psychology 568)
There will be special requirements for graduate students taking the course as Psychology 568.
568 students will meet at additional times outside the class time, either in-person or
electronically. 568 students are expected to attend an in-person group graduate-student meeting
with the instructor early in the quarter (typically in the third or fourth week of the term).
Academic Integrity
This instructor takes academic integrity seriously. Insuring the "validity" of grades requires seeing
that they reflect honest work and learning rather than cheating. Cheating is defined as providing or
accepting information on an exam, plagiarism or copying anyone's written work. Students caught
cheating will be given an "F" for the course, and UO's student conduct coordinator will be
informed. The instructor retains the right to assign seats for tests, to change individual's seating for
test security purposes, to require and check ID for admission to tests. "Plagiarism" is basically a
form of theft: putting your name on work that is (in any part) not yours, where you have not fully
identified the source from which you borrowed. Even taking someone else's ideas or paraphrasing
their expression, without acknowledgment, is plagiarism. Be aware that the instructor is
knowledgeable about computer-age plagiarizing techniques and how to diagnose their use. "Your
responsibility, when you put your name on a piece of work, is simply to distinguish between what is
yours and what is not, and to credit those who in any way have contributed" (quote is from Nancy
Cotton of Wake Forest U.).
______________________________________________________________________________
PSYCHOLOGY 468 SCHEDULE: What's Happening When
April 4 Syllabus; overview of the course
Reading Assignment (i.e., for next session): Reeve chs. 1-2
April 6 Major themes and theories of motivation
Reading Assignment: Epstein (1998)
April 11 Major themes and mini-theories; an integrative approach to themes and theories
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 3
April 13* Neuroscience of motivation and emotion
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 4
April 18 Physiogical needs and appetitive behavior (thirst, hunger, sexuality); drug addiction
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 5
April 20 Psychological needs: Autonomy, competence, relatedness...and meaning
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 6
April 25* Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
EXPLORATION PAPER is due April 27!
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 7
April 27 Social needs, implicit motives
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 8; Beck (2004, ch. 12, pp. 345-351)
May 2 Plans, goals, and intentions; information-processing motives
Reading Assignment: Beck (2004, pp. 178-194, pp. 201-243)
May 4* Rewards as reinforcers and incentives; escape, fear, avoidance learning; BIS and BAS
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 9
May 9 Personal control beliefs
May 11 MIDTERM EXAM
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 10
May 16* Motivational aspects of the self
OUTLINE/ABSTRACT OF RESEARCH PAPER is due May 18!
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 11, pp. 291-301 only
May 18 Emotion, its causes, and its relation to motivation
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 11, pp. 301-321
May 23 Basic categories, dimensions, and functions of emotion and mood
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 12 (pp. 322-349 only)
May 25* Biological ,cognitive (including expectancies, values, beliefs) aspects of emotion
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 12, pp. 349-357; Reeve ch. 13; Saucier (2006)
May 30 Linking concepts of personality and culture to emotion and motivation
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 14
June 1 Unconscious motivation and psychodynamic concepts; panel discussions
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 15
June 6* Growth motivation and positive psychology; panel discussions
Reading Assignment: Reeve ch. 16; Beck (2004, ch. 14)
June 8 Synoptic understanding of motivation; interpersonal attraction; panel discussions
FINAL VERSION OF RESEARCH PAPER is due June 8 at beginning of class period!
June 16, Friday, 8:00 am ....FINAL EXAM
* An IOQP paper due date (there are six, you need submit IOQP paper on only two of the six dates)
BIG QUESTIONS: General essay questions for the midterm and final exams
1. What are the most important things scientists have learned about how motivation and emotion are
related to the brain?
2. Which motivational systems are the most homeostatic and which are the least?
3. What affects whether an individual has relatively intrinsic or relatively extrinsic motivation (and why
does it seem to matter whether motivation is intrinsic or extrinsic)?
4. What are the most important goals or motives or needs that affect human behavior?
5. How are learning and behavioral conditioning an outcome of motivational processes, or instead
something that has an effect on motivational processes?
6. How do beliefs impact motivation and emotion, and what kind of beliefs have the most important
impact?
7. In what ways is the "self" integrally related to motivation and emotion (so that, for example, a change
in the "self" most likely lead to changes in motivation and emotion)?
8. How many basic emotions (or, types of mood state) are there, and what differentiates them?
9. What is relation of motivation and emotion, especially: What are the motivational causes of what
emotion one has, and what are the emotional causes of what motivation one has?
10. Which is relatively more important: Conscious or unconscious motivation?
11. What kind of motivation (or what kind of goals) leads to the best outcomes, and to what degree does
this depend on the situation?
Note: For to each essay question, you will be instructed to make your response include both a
summary statement (in 16 words or less, ALL IN CAPS) as well as a more detailed account or
explanation. The summary statement can be at the beginning, or at the end, it's your choice.
CHOICES FOR THE EXPLORATION PAPER (due April 27)
This paper is a basically a report of what happened when you did one of the following exercises,
and especially what thoughts and feelings ensued for you. Note: If you consult other people or
write about other people for any topic, you should keep those people anonymous in your write-up,
and don't give names (initials are OK) to any of the people you describe.
1. What are the patterns of motivation and emotion that have key effects on your relations with in
the partners (boyfriends, girlfriends, significant others) you have chosen up till now in your life?
Identify at least one person (two or three is better, if possible) who were in the partner role for you
at some point, and who you were satisfied with as a partner. Then identify a comparison group of
people (at least three) who either were a partner and you became dissatisfied with them, or else you
decided you had no interest in having this person become a partner to you. Make a list of relevant
tendencies or even single events that each person showed with respect to emotion or motivation
(including needs, goals, values, interests, aversions). Then compare the satisfactory-in-partner-role
group with the 'unsatisfactory' group. How are the two groups different? What do you think the
differences indicate about you, your life, or what is important to you?
2. Write a brief description of two moments in your life when you had very strong positive
emotions of any kind, and two moments in your life when you had strong negative emotions of any
kind. For each, describe the feeling and what led up to it. Next, describe how motivation was
involved (this may be a goal or need that was fulfilled or blocked, a goal or need that was dispensed
with [let go of], a new goal or need that developed and was evident afterward, or any other way in
which you think motivation might have been involved). Take the four descriptions together and
offer any conclusions about what the four of them suggest about you, your life, or what is important
to you.
3. Think about someone you have been with in a very large number of times and situations, so that
you know this person better than virtually anyone. Describe two situations in which the person had
very strong positive emotions of any kind, and two situations in which the person had strong
negative emotions of any kind. For each, describe the emotion as specifically as you can
distinguish it, and also what appears to have led up to it. Next, describe how you think motivation
was involved (this may be a goal or need that was fulfilled or blocked, a goal or need that was
dispensed with [let go of], a new goal or need that developed and was evident afterward, or any
other way in which you think motivation might have been involved), and how confident you are
about your view. Take the four descriptions together and offer any conclusions about what the four
of them suggest about this person or this person's life, or about what you think of the person.
4. Describe three interpersonal situations that have occurred in your life in which the following
happened: You thought the other person had a motivation similar to yours, and then later (whether
gradually or suddenly) you realized the other person's motivation was different than yours, and this
had important consequences for your relationship or friendship or a project you were working on
together. For each situation, describe in as much detail as possible how you "diagnosed" that the
other person's motivation was different than yours. Taking the examples together, offer any
conclusions about how one person can learn accurately what another person's motivation really is.
Citations of readings beyond the Reeve text:
Beck, R. C. (2004). Motivation: Theories and principles (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson/Prentice-Hall.
Epstein, S. (1998). Cognitive-experiential self theory. In D. F. Barone, M. Hersen, & V. B.
Van Hasselt (Eds.), Advanced personality (pp. 211-238). New York: Plenum.
Saucier, G. (2006). Personality and culture: Microcosm and macrocosm. Unpublished
manuscript, University of Oregon.