PS264 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Need Theory, Natural Selection, Reinforcement
Document Summary
Instincts: biologists used to word instinct to refer to the belief that there is an innate or biological basis for adaptive behaviour, thomas aquinas, animals tend to behave adaptively because they were equipped with instincts that provided the energy, direction and persistence of behaviour, conceptualized as purposive activities implanted in the animal by nature . Needs: abraham maslow argued that the basic physiological needs are associated with deficiency and the higher order needs with growth, need theory suggests that needs are what give direction to behaviour, when need is aroused, we are more or less automatically pushed in the right direction, current thinking needs are conceptualized as dispositions. Reinforcer (positive and negative: skinner"s theory replaced drive theory, suggested that it was not necessary for a drive to be reduced for learning to occur, energy, direction and persistence of behaviour are due to reinforcement contingencies, positive reinforcement: reward of something wanted and pleasant, negative reinforcement: negative feeling taken away.
