PSYC 1030H Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Paul Ekman, Belongingness, Walter Bradford Cannon
26 Jun 2018
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Theoretical Perspectives on "motivations"
Defined as a "need" or "desire" that propels someone to act in a particular way
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Motive (or motivation)
Habit
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Belief
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Desire
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Instinct
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Need
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Interest
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Compulsion- special meaning in clinical psychology
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Drive
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Motivation goes by many names
Many motivation theories are quite similar, except for the amount of emphasis placed on either biology or the
environment
Theory stated that motivation is the result of genetic programming
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All beings within a species are programmed for the same motivations
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Theorists were never able to agree on a list of instincts
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Didn't provide an explanation for "instincts"
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Instinct Theory- older theory with complete emphasis on biology
Studies the genetic and evolutionary bases of behavior
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In all organisms- including humans
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Suggests that "natural selection" favours social behaviours that maximize reproductive success
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The primary motivating force for living organisms is to pass on genes from one generation to the next
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Through the process of natural selection
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Individuals who engaged in adaptive social behaviors were the fittest
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Tend to survive longer
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More successful in passing their genes to future generations
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Evolutionary Theory
Hunger, thirst, sex, temperature, excretory, sleep & rest, activity, aggression motives
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Examples of biological motives in humans
Drive Theory
An internal state of tension that motivates an organism to engage in activities that may reduce this tension
E.g. Hunger
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Hunger leads to physical discomfort (drive)
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Leads to the search for food
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Leads to eating
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Leading to a reduction in physical tension (drive reduction)
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Leads to the restoration of equilibrium
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Most organisms seem to try and maintain homeostasis (a state of physiological equilibrium)
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E.g. Thirst for knowledge... What is this?
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homeostasis seems irrelevant to many human motives
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Eg. Humans do not only eat when they are hungry
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Motivations may exist without drive arousal
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Limitations
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Lecture 3- Motivation & Emotion
January 24, 2018
11:02 AM
Psychology 1030 Page 1
Paradoxes of hunger & eating behaviour
A basic human need
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A strong motivator that influences our behaviour
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Factors influencing choice of food: biological factors, psychosocial factors, learned preferences, food
availability
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Hunger
Gastric activity the basis of hunger
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Cannon and Washburn
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More motivated to eat when glucose is low
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Various hormones (ie. Insulin) help body to regulate glucose (sugar) in the blood
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Hypothalamus plays a role in hunger
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Stimulation of different areas can turn eating behaviours on and off
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Biological factors
Emotional state plays a powerful role
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Preferences to food related cues: acquired by learning (classical conditioning or observational learning)
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Psychosocial factors
An incentive is an external goal that has the capacity to motivate behaviour (not that it always will)
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This is directly related to learning models (like skinner's)
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Moves away from biological explanations toward the environment
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Limitations:
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Incentive Theory- focuses on the environment
Malsow's "need hierarchy"
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A blend of biological and social needs
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Grounded by the study of wellness
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People must pass through various lower levels before attaining higher stages
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Each level has a basic need that must be met before moving up the hierarchy (i.e. If lower needs are not
met then growth stops)
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Abraham H. Maslow (1908-1970)
Levels of Needs
These include the need for food, water, and other vital things
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If these needs are not met, the organisms cant survive
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Physiological
These needs refer to long term survival
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Humans tent to seek out order and have a desire to live in a safe world
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Safety and Security
People seek out love and affection from family and friends
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But the quality is influenced by more basic needs
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Belongingness and Love
People become concerned with self-esteem, which may be based on achievements that they earn etc.
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Esteem
The highest and most difficult level to reach
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Self-actualization is the need to fulfill one's own potential
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Self Actualization
Emotion
Cognitive
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Emotion: a multidimensional perspective
Psychology 1030 Page 2
Document Summary
Defined as a "need" or "desire" that propels someone to act in a particular way. Many motivation theories are quite similar, except for the amount of emphasis placed on either biology or the environment. Instinct theory- older theory with complete emphasis on biology. Theory stated that motivation is the result of genetic programming. All beings within a species are programmed for the same motivations. Theorists were never able to agree on a list of instincts. Studies the genetic and evolutionary bases of behavior. Suggests that "natural selection" favours social behaviours that maximize reproductive success. The primary motivating force for living organisms is to pass on genes from one generation to the next. Individuals who engaged in adaptive social behaviors were the fittest. More successful in passing their genes to future generations. Hunger, thirst, sex, temperature, excretory, sleep & rest, activity, aggression motives. An internal state of tension that motivates an organism to engage in activities that may reduce this tension.
