PS264 Chapter 1: Chapter 1 .docx
Document Summary
Concept of motivation is best understood not as an on-again, off-again mechanism but rather as a constant flow of behaviour that can be directed in many ways. Many motives appear to result from a combo of biology, learning and cognition. Motivation: forces acting on or within an organism to initiate and direct behaviour: use concept of motivation to explain differences in the intensity and persistence of behaviour. More intense behaviour = higher levels of motivation. Highly motivated behaviour will be persistent even though the. We almost never measure motivation directly intensity may be low: instead we manipulate stimulus (s) condition and then measure some behaviour in response (r) Psychologists describe the temporary nature of motivation by pointing out that motivation is a performance variable: when enough motivation is present, behaviour is performed; when its too low, behaviour is absent. Doesn"t mean that there is no motivation is present: changes in motivation leads to changes in overt behaviour.
