PSYC 1101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Ghrelin, Insulin, Basal Metabolic Rate
6 Jun 2018
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Notes on What Drives Us: Hunger, Sex, Friendship, and Achievement
Basic Motivational Concepts
● Motivation → a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior
● Instinct theory - genetically predisposed behaviors
● Drive-reduction theory - how we respond to our inner push
● Arousal theory - finding the right level of stimulation
● Maslow’s hierarchy of needs - some needs over others
Instincts and Evolutionary Psychology
● Instinct → a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is
unlearned
● Infants’ reaching and sucking
● Driven by physiological wants and needs
● Genes predispose species to certain behaviors
Drives and Incentives
● Drive reduction theory → the ideas that a physiological need creates an aroused tension
state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy a need
● Psychological drive - motivation
● Homeostasis → a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the
regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular
level
● Operate through feedback loops (i.e. blood vessels restrict and muscles shiver when we
feel cold)
● Incentives → a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior
● Smells can make us want to eat
Optimum Arousal
● If certain physiological needs are met, curiosity can motivate actions
● Higher arousal = intense music, new foods, risky behavior and jobs
● Feel bored when lacking stimulation
● Yerkes-Dodson law → the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a
point, after which performance decreases
● Different tasks require different levels of arousal
A Hierarchy of Motives
● If biological needs are not met, they will preoccupy a person
● Hierarchy of needs → Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with
physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then
psychological needs become active
● Starts with food, water, etc. leads to need to actualize one’s full potential
● Transcendence - strive for meaning and communication beyond the self
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Document Summary
Notes on what drives us: hunger, sex, friendship, and achievement. Motivation a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior. Drive-reduction theory - how we respond to our inner push. Arousal theory - finding the right level of stimulation. Maslow"s hierarchy of needs - some needs over others. Instinct a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned. Drive reduction theory the ideas that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy a need. Homeostasis a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level. Operate through feedback loops (i. e. blood vessels restrict and muscles shiver when we feel cold) Incentives a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior. Smells can make us want to eat. If certain physiological needs are met, curiosity can motivate actions.
