PSY 1101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Abraham Maslow, Ancel Keys, Blood Sugar
21 Jun 2018
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CHAPTER 11: WHAT DRIVES US: HUNGER, SEX, FRIENDSHIP, AND ACHIEVEMENT
11.1 BASIC MOTIVATIONAL CONCEPTS
Motivation: a need or desire that energizes and directs behaviour
Instinct theory (evolutionary perspective): focuses on genetically predisposed behaviour
Drive-reduction theory: focuses on how we respond to our inner pushes
Arousal theory: focuses on finding the right level of stimulation
Hierarchy of needs: focuses on the priority of some needs over other
oAbraham Maslow
INSTINCTS AND EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY
Instinct: a complex behaviour that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned
Instinct theory:
oFailed to explain most human motives
Genes do predispose some species-typical behaviour
DRIVES AND INCENTIVES
Drive-reduction theory: the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state
(a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need
Homeostasis: a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state
oThe regulation of any aspect of the body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a
particular level
Incentives: a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behaviour
OPTIMUM AROUSAL
Some motivated behaviour increase arousal
Those who enjoy high arousal are most likely to see our intense music, new food, and risky
behaviours and careers
Many risk takers, are also motivated in other ways, such as by a drive to master their
emotions and actions
Human motivation aims not to eliminate arousal but to seek optimum levels of arousal
Having all our biological needs satisfied, we feel driven to experience stimulation and we
hunger for information
With too much stimulation comes stress
Yerkes-Dodson law: the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a
point, beyond which performances decreases
A HIERARCHY OF MOTIVES
Hierarchy of needs: Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with
physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher - level safety needs and then
psychological needs become active
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Critic: not universally fixed
oPeople have starved themselves to make a political statement
oEvolutionary psychologists note that gaining and retaining mates and parenting
offspring are also human motives
Instincts and evolutionary psychology help explain the genetic basis for our unlearned,
species-typical behaviors
From drive-reduction theory, we know that our physiological needs (such as hunger) create
an aroused state that drives us to reduce the need (for example, by eating)
Arousal theory suggests we need to maintain an optimal level of arousal, which helps explain
our motivation toward behaviors that meet no physiological need.
11.2 HUNGER
Ancel Keys (1950)
oAfter 3 months of normal eating, they cut in half the food intake of 36/200 men
oBecame listless and apathetic as their bodies conserved energy
oBody weight stabilized at about 25% below their starting weights
oBecame obsessed with food
Talked about food, collected recipes, read cookbooks
Lost interest in sex and social activities
Preoccupied with their unfulfilled basic need
THE PHYSIOLOGY OF HUNGER
A. L. Washburn and Walter Cannon (1912)
oWashburn agreed to swallow a balloon attached to a recording device
oWhen inflated to fill his stomach, the balloon transmitted his stomach contractions
oStomach contractions occur whenever he felt hungry
BODY CHEMISTRY AND THE BRAIN
Glucose: the form of sugar that circulates the blood and provides the major source of
energy for body tissue
oWhen glucose is low, we feel hungry
oIncreases in the hormone insulin diminish blood glucose, partly by converting it to
stored fat
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Document Summary
Chapter 11: what drives us: hunger, sex, friendship, and achievement. Instinct theory (evolutionary perspective): focuses on genetically predisposed behaviour. Motivation: a need or desire that energizes and directs behaviour. Drive-reduction theory: focuses on how we respond to our inner pushes. Arousal theory: focuses on finding the right level of stimulation. Hierarchy of needs: focuses on the priority of some needs over other: abraham maslow. Instinct: a complex behaviour that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned. Instinct theory: failed to explain most human motives. Drive-reduction theory: the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need. Homeostasis: a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state: the regulation of any aspect of the body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level. Incentives: a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behaviour.
