Lesson Notes

Lesson 12.4a  Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Motivation: What’s Best?

This lesson looks at the concepts of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is characterized by motivation that is based on obtaining rewards or threats of punishment. While intrinsic motivation can be defined as motivation that results out of personal satisfaction and enjoyment. Which one do you think would produce the highest level of motivation. Well, at first extrinsic motivation may be very powerful. For example, could you imagine if you were paid $1000 for every assignment you received an A grade? I would bet that your motivation would be very high to do well on these assignments. Now, what do you think would happen if the $1000 reward was taken away? At this point, if you are like most people, your motivation for completing the work might diminish.

Here’s another example, do you read for personal enjoyment? If you are like many people you enjoy reading books, magazines, or the newspaper. But if you are like other people, you may not enjoy these activities. This can be due to many reasons, but I know for myself, I had to read several novels as part of my university education. During this time, I disliked reading for pleasure. My thought process was, “Do I need to read this. Is it for school?” For me, I had lost the intrinsic motivation to read. I no longer liked to read for the simple enjoyment of reading a new story or increasing my knowledge. University had made reading an extrinsically motivating activity and it was not until years later (after I finished school) that I re-discovered the joy of reading.

Lesson 12.4b  The Polygraph as a Lie Detector: Does It Work?

The use and legitimacy of polygraph tests have been very controversial. Yes, polygraph tests can measure the activity of your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, but not necessarily if you are lying. Could you imagine if you were hauled in by the police and hooked up to this machine. I bet that you would probably be pretty nervous. If you were, the polygraph machine may misinterpret some of your results as lies because you may be sweating and having an increased heart rate. On the other hand, psychopaths (as you will read later in the course) feel little empathy or guilt, thus would be quite capable of “beating” the test. As a result, the use of the polygraph in court is usually not admissible and is generally believed to not be a scientifically accurate test.

Lesson 12.4c  Emotional Intelligence (EI): Are You “Emotionally Smart”

This lesson looks at the concept of Emotional Intelligence (EI). Daniel Goleman’s research makes the assertion that people with a high Emotional Intelligence are often seen as more successful. People who are more in-touch with their emotions (physiological, cognitive, and behavioural) are more likely to be better adjusted, while those people who score low in EI may help explain the rise in domestic abuse and other societal problems. Also, unlike IQ (which is considered to be stable over the lifespan), EI can be developed and encouraged through education and support. Try out this on-line test, and measure your current EI.

The final part of this lesson looks at the cultural differences and similarities of emotion. Whether you are from a Western or non-Western culture, there are at least six universal basic emotions: happiness, surprise, anger, sadness, fear, and disgust. A look at Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotion will give you a clear descriptor of our primary and secondary emotions.