PSY 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Human Sexual Activity, Atkins Diet, Clitoris

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1101
• Professor: Kenneth Campbell

Document Summary

Note: the student is not responsible for the motivation section for the november mid-term exam. What are our motives to act: basic (biological) motives are shared by humans and other animals. Internal physiological need creates an aroused state that drives the organism to reduce the need: homeostasis: maintenance of internal balance, hypothalamus involved in most (if not all) of the brain"s set points . Incentives - external events/stimuli that pull us an appropriate direction objects/direction of motivation primary reinforcers (example, sight or smell of food can motivate us) secondary reinforcers (reinforce through learning) Social biology: many animal behaviours are inherited. An instinct is a fixed pattern of behaviours to a stimulus. Because the instinctual behavior is inherited it occurs without variation. An instinct is thus common (i. e. , invariant) in all members of the species. While we do inherit some behaviours, they do seem to be modifiable by experience with the environment (i. e. , learning).