Positive Output

This person I subscribe to in Xanga talked about how we want to look good for someone we like. This reminded me of what I learned in Psych 101. I forgot the proper psychological term (any psych majors need your help) but it has something to do with producing a positive output out of something. The example the professor gave to the class at that time was "instead of hitting on your teacher whom you have a crush on, why not study and get good grades so she'll praise and notice you more." I think I was the only one in class that was doing a fake laugh at the time cause that's exactly what I did in high school.