Motivation
-a process by which activities are started, directed towards a goal and continued to that physical/psychological needs are met
3 characteristics of motivation
- Activation- starting something
- Persistence- continued effort
- Intensity- how vigorous you’re responding
Instinct Approach
-Genetic programming
-Works well for animals
-More vague for humans- doesn’t explain things well
ex: animals building nests
reproduction is responsible for sexual behavior
Drive-Reduction Approach
- Looked at unmet needs that caused tension and the drive to reduce that tension (eating when hungry)
- homeostasis: idea that body tends to keep itself at a steady state (equilibrium)
Advantages: explains bodily functions
Disadvantages: difficult to explain some things such as eating when not hungry or sexual arousal
Psychological Needs
- Achievement- strong desire to succeed in many goals
- Affiliation- being liked by others or having strong relationships
- Power- control and influence, status and prestige
$$$ might satisfy these
Locus of control
View of oneself and influence over you
Internal: drives come from inside
External: drives come from outside
(think need for achievement)
ex: intelligence = internal locus of control, controllable by reading, studying, etc.
how we speak to people-telling someone they are smart =external locus of control
Arousal Approach
- Need for stimulation/excitement
- Stimulus motive: unlearned stimulus that causes stimulation in an individual
- Task Performance: (“flow”) interaction with a task and performance
ex: easy task and arousal if low = performance level low
- “flow”= in the zone, focused and full of energy
- sensation seekers: having a need for a complex/unique experience
Advantages: explains a lot of behaviors like social interactions and general curiosity
Disadvantages: can’t define cause and effect
Incentive Approach
- Behaviorists (John Watson etc.)
- Pull you with external rewards
Advantages: seems simple, observable, measurable
Disadvantages: seems some behaviors can’t be explained by this
ex: play behavior and mastering a task
Maslow’s Hiearchy of Needs
-Suggest we all strive for self-actualization
- Advantage of revised model: most comprehensive, all inclusive
- Disadvantage: Supporting research was Maslow’s personal observation
- Rarely get to the top of the hiearchy
- Does not explain sensation seekers
- Seems to fain at a cross culture perspective
Self Determination Theory (SDT)
3 inborn needs that are universal
- Autonomy: being in control of ones goals and behavior (relationships with others is better)
- Competence: mastering difficulties
- Relatedness-belongingness/intimacy with others
Intrinsic motivation
Internal forces control you
ex: playing piano by yourself and feeling accomplished when you learn a song
Extrinsic motivaiton
External forces are controlling you
ex: praise from people, working as a teacher just to pay off bills
Positive psychology
- Looks at how we can be well adjusted or satisfied with life
- David Myers- the Pursuit of happiness
- Martin Seligman- authentic happiness
The major shortcoming of the instinct concept is that:
asserting the existence of an instinct does not help us to understand the behavior in question
Drives that are unlearned are called
primary
The concept that an organism is motivated to act because its body is in a state of need is based on the _____ theory
Drive
A famed psychologist claims that motivated behaviors result from an effort to reduce tension caused by bodily needs such as hunger or thirst. The psychologist’s philosophy most closely matches the ____ theory
Drive-reduction
The concept that a person acts in a certain manner because of an innate predisposition to do so is based on the ____ theory
instinct
An ____ is an external stimulus that can motivate behavior even if no drive is initially present
incentive
What is the lowest need in Maslow’s hierachy?
physiological
