PSY 1101 Lecture Notes - Frontal Lobe, Twin, Ovulation

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

Document Summary

Basic (biological) motives are shared by humans and other animals: life and species survival (hunger, thirst, sex?, aggression?) Basic psychological needs : internal physiological need creates an aroused state that drives the organism to reduce the need, homeostasis: maintenance of internal balance, hypothalamus involved in most of the brain"s set points (if not all) External events/stimuli that pull us an appropriate direction: objects/direction of motivation, primary reinforcers (ex sight/smell of food motivates us, secondary reinforcers. Human behaviour inherited = instincts: should be common to all members of species. Instincts vary widely across humans, thus term is dropped in psychology. Social biology & ethology: theory maintains that much of behaviour is due to evolutionary principles; much of our behaviours evolved from other animals, motives/actions can be explained by evolutionary principles (even if we are not conscious of it) Pleasure as a basic psychological motivator: stimuli that enhances our biological well-being, pain is associated with threats to survival.