AP Psychology 4.6.A: Motivation Theories

Part A Ruth is bored at home alone, so she decides to watch a scary movie. At the most tense

part of the movie, when a large, scary-looking creature is being chased through the

village by an angry mob, Ruth's roommate Lynn comes home unexpectedly and flips on

the lights. Ruth is startled and spills her hot chocolate on herself.

Explain how each of the following relates to the scenario above.

Optimal arousal theory

1 point

The response must indicate that Ruth is motivated to watch the scary movie in order

increase her level of arousal.

OR

The response must indicate that after her roommate startles her, Ruth does something to

lower her level of arousal to a desired level.

Acceptable explanations include:

- Ruth is at a lower arousal than she would like (hence the boredom). So, she decides to

watch the scary movie to bring up her arousal level to a more desirable level for her.

Unacceptable explanations include:

Responses that refer to the Yerkes-Dodson law without describing a change in arousal.

- The optimal arousal theory says that people perform best when their arousal level is

neither too high nor too low.

- Ruth's arousal increases when she is startled by her roommate.

Motor neurons

1 point

The response must indicate that motor neurons are enabling a specific physical

movement in the scenario.

Acceptable explanations include:

- Motor neurons allow Ruth to reach for a towel to clean up the spilled hot chocolate.

- The creature's motor neurons allow him to run through the village.

- Ruth reflexively jumps when Lynn startles her.

Unacceptable explanations include:

Responses that include multiple functions.

- Ruth's motor neurons allow Lynn to flip on the lights and allow Ruth to watch the

movie, taste the hot chocolate, and feel burned when she spills the hot chocolate on

herself.

Somatosensory cortex

The response must indicate the contribution of the somatosensory cortex to Ruth's sense

of touch (e.g., temperature, body position, pressure, texture, pain) in the context of the

scenario.

Acceptable explanations include:

- Ruth's somatosensory cortex allows her to feel pain after she spilled the hot chocolate

all over herself.

Unacceptable explanations include:

Responses that refer to other senses (e.g., taste, smell, etc.) as being governed by the

somatosensory cortex.

Responses that refer to "feel" as an emotion rather than a touch sensation.

- Ruth's somatosensory cortex allows her to taste her delicious hot chocolate.