PSYA02H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Ventromedial Nucleus Of The Hypothalamus, Orbitofrontal Cortex, Lateral Hypothalamus
52
PSYA02H3 Full Course Notes
Verified Note
52 documents
Document Summary
The study of motivation concerns the physiological and psychological processes underlying the initiation of behaviors that direct organisms toward specific goals. These initiating factors, or motives, include the thoughts, feelings, sensations, and bodily processes that lead to goal-directed behavior. E. g. when receptors sense a high concentration of compounds that are typically diluted by water, they trigger and send signals to the brain indicating thirst. The result is the sudden awareness that you are thirsty. Drive: a biological trigger that tells us we may be deprived of something and causes us to seek out what is needed. When drives are satisfied, reward centers in our brain are activated. Motivation is essential to an individual"s survival because it contributes to homeostasis. However, we"re not always motivated to engage in behaviors that promote homeostasis (for example, stress eating) Motivation is not only influenced by current needs, but also by the anticipation of future needs. This ability to predict the future isn"t perfect though.
