PSYC 100 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Ethology, Homeostasis, The Sequence

• School: McGill University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Jens C Pruessner

Document Summary

Biological theories focus on biological or physiological processes that determine behavior. Unlearned species-specific behaviors that are more complex than reflexes and triggered by environmental events called releasing stimuli. Ethology (the scientific study of animal behavior under natural conditions) has been used to study these. But there is no convincing proof that it does in humans though sometimes people discuss maternal instinct, or aggressive instinct . John b. watson and behaviorists believed that an unchanging situation or stimulus would evoke the same responses every time, though this was not the case. An internal motivation state is created by a physiological need is called a drive (e. g. dehydration) Once created, the drive can activate several responses, including learned ones. The goal of these responses is to do or secure something that reduces the drive (leading to drive reduction), thereby returning the body to a more normal or balanced state.