Emotion and Motivation

In this episode, we cover motivation and emotion–key concepts that will show up in the Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section of the MCAT. We start with the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. We then go into various theories including evolutionary, arousal, drive-reduction, incentive, three needs theory, Maslow’s hierarchy, and the correlation between harmful behaviors like addiction and motivation. Lastly we get into emotion, covering its three components, the relationship between emotion and the brain, and an array of theories including evolutionary, James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, Schachter-Singer, Lazarus, and facial feedback theories. Additionally, we discuss the influence of culture on emotion and delves into emotional disorders. Visit MedSchoolCoach.com for more help with the MCAT. Jump Into the Conversation: [00:00] Introducing MCAT Basics [02:09] Defining Motivation [03:00] The difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation [04:30] Theories of Motivation - Evolutionary, Arousal, Drive-reduction, Incentive, Three Needs and Maslow’s Hierarchy, [19:30] The correlation between harmful behaviors like addiction and motivation. [26:07] Defining emotion [27:50] The psychological, cognitive, and behavioral components of emotion [31:11] The theories of emotion - evolutionary perspective of emotion, James Lang theory, the Cannon Barr theory, and the Schachter Singer theory. [41:09] The facial feedback theory [46:28] Emotional disorders that you're most likely to see on the MCAT- depressive disorders anxiety based disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, and bipolar disorders.

You can listen to Emotion and Motivation online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Emotion and Motivation is an episode from MCAT Basics (from MedSchoolCoach) by MedSchoolCoach.

This episode is 00:56:37 long.

This episode was published on Apr 21, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from MCAT Basics (from MedSchoolCoach) when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.