Introduction to Motivation
Instinct Theory
Drive-Reduction Theory
Arousal Theory
Hierarchy of Motives
Motivation
Motivation is a need or
desire that energizes
behavior and directs it
towards a goal.
AP Photo/ Rocky Mountain News, Judy Walgren
Aron Ralston was
motivated to cut his
arm to free himself from
a rock that pinned him
down.
Aron Ralston
Instincts & Evolutionary Psychology
Instincts are complex behaviors that have fixed
action patterns throughout species and unlearned
(Tinbergen, 1951).
Tony Brandenburg/ Bruce Coleman, Inc.
© Ariel Skelley/ Masterfile
Where the woman can build different kinds of houses
the bird builds only one kind of nest.
Drive-Reduction Theory
When the instinct theory of motivation failed it was
replaced by drive-reduction theory. Physiological
need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that
motivates an organism to satisfy the need (Hull,
1951).
Drive Reduction
Physiological aim of drive reduction is homeostasis –
maintenance of steady internal state, e.g.,
maintenance of steady body temperature.
Drive
Reduction
Food
Empty
Stomach
Stomach
Full
(Food Deprived)
Organism
Incentive Theory
Where our needs (drives) push, incentives (positive or
negative stimuli) pull us in reducing our drives.
A food-deprived person who smells baking bread
(incentive) feels strong hunger drive.
Incentives can also be negative, we may behave in a
certain way in order to avoid an unpleasant outcome
You should see the connection between this theory
and Behaviorist principles of learning (conditioning,
Law of Effect, and the Premack Principle)
Cognitive Theory
• Motivation results from individuals attempting to
maintain order or balance and an understanding of
the world.
– Believes that individual behavior is influenced by the way
people perceive themselves and their environment.
– People seek to maintain order and understanding.
– Students are motivated to engage in learning tasks to the
extent that they expect to succeed and the degree to which
they value the achievement of the task.
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Optimum levels of Arousal
Human motivation aims not to eliminate arousal but
to seek optimum levels of arousal
We each have our own sense of appropriate arousal
and we act in ways to remain at a comfortable level.
Yerkes-Dodson Law predicts that there is a
relationship between the difficulty of a task, our level
of arousal, and the eventual outcome
– For easy tasks=higher levels of arousal
– For difficult tasks= moderate levels work best
“The Zone”
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Hierarchy of Motives
Abraham Maslow (1970)
suggested some needs
have priority over others.
Physiological needs like
breathing, thirst and
hunger come before
psychological needs like
achievement, self-esteem
and need for recognition.
(1908-1970)
Hierarchy of Needs
Psychological
Needs
Physical
Needs
Hunger
Physiology of hunger
Parts of the hypothalamus
Set Point theory
Eating Disorders
Hunger
When do we eat?
When we are hungry.
When are we hungry?
When there is no food in our stomach.
How do we know when our stomach is empty?
Stomach growls. Also called hunger pangs.
The Physiology of Hunger
Stomach contractions (pangs) send signals to the
brain making us aware of our hunger.
Glucose: C6H12O6
Glucose level in the blood is maintained. Insulin
decreases glucose in blood making us feel hungry.
Glucose Molecule
Glucose & Brain
Levels of glucose in the
blood are monitored by
receptors (neurons) in
the stomach, liver,
intestines, they send
signals to the
hypothalamus in the
brain.
Rat Hypothalamus
Hypothalamic Centers
Lateral hypothalamus (LH) brings on hunger
(stimulation). Destroy it and the animal has no
interest in eating. Reduction of blood glucose
stimulates orexin in LH which leads to ravenous eating
in rats.
Hypothalamic Centers
Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)
depresses hunger
(stimulation).
Destroy it and the animal
eats excessively.
Hypothalamus & Hormones
Hormone
Tissue
Response
Orexin increase
Hypothalamus
Increases hunger
Ghrelin increase
Stomach
Increases hunger
Insulin increase
Pancreas
Increases hunger
Leptin increase
Fat cells
Decreases hunger
PPY increase
Digestive tract
Decreases hunger
Hypothalamus monitors a number of hormones that
are related to hunger.
Set-Point Theory
Manipulating lateral and ventromedial
hypothalamus alters the body’s “weight
thermostat.”
If weight is lost – food intake increases and energy
expenditure decreases. If weight is gained – the opposite
takes place.
The Psychology of Hunger
Memory plays an important role in hunger.
Due to difficulties with retention, amnesia patients
eat frequently, if given food (Rozin et al., 1998).
On the other hand, Alzheimer’s patients may forget
to eat.
Eating Disorders
Anorexia Nervosa: Characterized by a normalweight person (usually adolescent women) losing
weight continuously and yet feeling overweight.
Lisa O’Connor/ Zuma/ Corbis
Reprinted by permission of The New England
Journal of Medicine, 207, (Oct 5, 1932), 613-617.
Eating Disorders
Bulimia Nervosa: A disorder characterized by
episodes of overeating, usually of high-calorie
foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or
excessive exercise.
Obesity
A disorder characterized by excessive overweight.
Obesity increases risk and health issues like
cardiovascular diseases, diabetes hypertension,
arthritis, and back problems.
http://www.cyberdiet.com
Summary
Motivation at Work
The healthy life, said Sigmund Freud, is filled by
love and work.
-Motivation at work and school
Attitudes Towards Work
People have different attitudes towards work.
Some take it as a:
1.
2.
3.
Job: Necessary way to make money.
Career: Opportunity to advance from one position to
another.
Calling: fulfilling a socially useful activity.
Flow & Rewards
Flow is experience between no work and a lot of
work. Flow marks immersion into one’s work.
People who “flow” in their work (artists, dancers, composers
etc.) are driven less by extrinsic rewards (money, praise,
promotion) and more by intrinsic rewards.
Work and Satisfaction
In industrialized countries work and satisfaction go
hand-in-hand.
Industrial-Organizational (I/O) Psychology
Applies psychological principles to workplace.
1.
Personnel Psychology: Principles of selecting and
evaluating workers.
2.
Organizational Psychology: Studies how work
environments and management styles influence worker
motivation, satisfaction, and productivity.
Harnessing Strengths
Identifying people’s strengths (analytical, disciplined,
eager to learn etc.) and matching them to work is
the first step toward workplace effectiveness.
Organizational Psychology: Motivating
Achievement
Achievement motivation is defined as desire for
significant accomplishment.
Ken Heyman/ Woodfin Camp & Associates
Skinner devised a daily discipline schedule
which led him to become 20th century most
influential psychologist.
Satisfaction & Engagement
Harter et al., (2002) observed that employee
engagement meant that the worker knows:
What is expected of him.
Feels the need to work.
Feels fulfilled at work.
Gets opportunities to do
the best.
5. Thinks himself to be a part
of something significant.
6. Has opportunities to learn
and develop.
Capital-Journal/ David Eulitt/ AP/ Wide World Photos
1.
2.
3.
4.
Engaged workers are more productive
than non-engaged at different stores
of the same chain.
AP Info
• Drive-reduction theory (give an example)
• Which part of the hypothalamus does what?
• Know your hormones (where does the signal come
from…before that…?)
More AP info…
•
•
•
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•
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Maslow-hierarchy of needs
Drive-reduction theory of motivation
Instinct theory
LH starts feeding, VMH stops feeding
Feel good-do good phenomenon
Intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation, remember the
overjustification effect?
Introduction to Emotion
1.
2.
3.
4.
James Lange Theory
Cannon-Bard Theory
Schacter-Singer Theory (2 factor)
Autonomic Nervous System
Theories of Emotion
Emotions are our body’s adaptive response.
Emotions are a mix of 1) physiological activation, 2)
expressive behaviors, and 3) conscious experience.
Controversy
1) Does physiological arousal precede or follow
your emotional experience?
2) Does cognition (thinking) precede emotion
(feeling)?
James-Lange Theory
William James and Carl
Lange proposed an idea
that was diametrically
opposed to the commonsense view. James-Lange
theory proposes that
physiological activity
precedes the emotional
experience.
(We react to the changes
in our body that we feel)
Cannon-Bard Theory
Walter Cannon and
Phillip Bard questioned
James-Lange theory
and proposed emotiontriggering stimulus and
body's arousal take
place simultaneously.
Two-Factor Theory
Stanley Schachter and
Jerome Singer proposed
yet another theory
which suggested that
our physiology and our
cognitions create
emotions. Emotions
have two factors–
physical arousal and
cognitive label.
Embodied Emotion
We know that emotions involve bodily response.
Some of these response are easy to notice (butterflies
in stomach when fear arises) but others are more
difficult discern (neurons activated in the brain).
Emotions and Autonomic Nervous System
During an emotional experience our autonomic
nervous system mobilizes energy in the body and
arouses us.
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Arousal and Performance
(remember Yerkes-Dodson??)
Arousal in short spurts is adaptive. We perform
better under moderate arousal, however
optimal performance varies with task
difficulty.
Physiological Similarities
Physiological responses are pretty much similar
across the emotions of fear, anger, love and
boredom.
This can be an issue when you
study stress, which in our lives
has physical consequences to
psychological triggers.
Your body only has one
response to stress and it
involves activating your
sympathetic nervous system.
This is not always healthy
Excitement and fear involve similar
physiological arousal.
Cognition and Emotion
What is the connection between how we think
(cognition) and how we feel (emotion)?
Can we change our emotions by changing our
thinking?
Cognition Can Define Emotion
Arousal response to one event spills over into our
response to the next event.
Reuters/ Corbis
AP Photo/ Nati Harnik
Arousal from a soccer match can fuel anger, which can
descend into rioting.
Two Routes to Emotion
Zajonc and LeDoux (1984) emphasize some emotions are
immediate without conscious appraisal. Lazarus, Schachter
and Singer (1998) emphasize that appraisal also determines
emotions.
Nonverbal Communication
Most of us are good at deciphering emotions
thorough non-verbal communication. In a crowd of
faces a single angry face will “pop out” faster than a
single happy face (Fox et al. 2000).
Gender, Emotion, and Nonverbal Behavior
Women are much better at discerning nonverbal
emotions then men. When shown sad, happy and
scary film clips women expressed emotions more than
men.
Culture and Emotional Expression
When culturally diverse people were shown basic
facial expressions, they did pretty well at recognizing
them (Ekman & Matsumoto, 1989).
Elkman & Matsumoto, Japanese and
Caucasian Facial Expression of Emotion
Emotions are Adaptive
Darwin speculated that
our ancestors
communicated with
facial expression in the
absence of language.
Nonverbal facial
expression led to their
survival.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
Analyzing Emotion
Analysis of emotions is carried out on different levels.
Experienced Emotion
1.
2.
3.
4.
Fear
Anger
Adaptation-level phenomenon
Relative deprivation
Experienced Emotion
Izard (1977) has isolated 10 emotions. And most of
them are present in infancy, excluding contempt,
shame and guilt.
Tom McCarthy/ Rainbow
Nancy Brown/ The Image Bank
Dimensions of Emotion
People generally divide emotions into
two dimensions
Fear
Fear can torment us, rob us of sleep and
preoccupy our thinking. But fear can be adaptive – it
makes us run away from danger, brings us
closer as groups, protects us from
injury and harm.
Learning Fear
We learn fear in two ways through conditioning and/or
through observation.
Watson
Bandura
The Biology of Fear
Some fears are easier to learn than others. The amygdala in
the brain associates emotions like fear with certain situations
and its proximity to the hippocampus allows for the easy
encoding of these memories.
Causes of Anger
1. People generally get angry with friends and
loved ones about misdeeds, especially if they are
willful, unjustified, and avoidable.
2. People also get angry about foul odors, high
temperatures, traffic jams, aches and pains.
Catharsis Hypothesis
Venting anger through action or fantasy achieves
emotional release or “catharsis.”
Some believe that we are drawn to displays of
violence (football, etc) because it is cathartic and
allows us an outlet for aggression.
Expressing anger breeds more anger, and through
reinforcement, is habit forming.
Emotional Ups and Downs
Our positive moods rise to a maximum within 6-7
hours after waking up. Negative moods stay more or
less the same over the day.
Feel-Good, Do-Good phenomenon
When we feel happy we are more willing to help others.
This is a good example of the “spill over effect”
Happiness & Satisfaction
Subjective well-being (happiness + satisfaction)
measured in 82 countries show Puerto Rico and
Mexico (poorer countries) at the top of the list.
Happiness & Prior Experience
Adaptation-Level Phenomenon: Like sensory adaptation
to brightness, volume, and touch, people adapt to new
situations until that situation becomes the “norm”. Then
people need a new experience.
This constantly raises the level for what is considered new
and exciting
In baseball, the Cardinals are used to being a successful
team, and we are used to rooting for a winner. What
would happen if they started having really bad seasons?
Happiness & Others’ Attainments
Happiness is not relative to our past but also to our
comparisons with others. Relative Deprivation is the
perception that one is worse off relative to those with
whom one compares oneself with.
They realize that they have less of what they believe
themselves to be entitled than those around them.
Can lead to social movements, deviance, rioting, civil
wars, etc
AP Info…
• Know the theories of how we experience
emotion. Which one involves a cognitive
label?
• What role does conditioning play in our
emotions? Schemas?
• Yerkes-Dodson-optimum level of arousal
More AP info…
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James-Lange (arousal leads to emotion)
Cannon-Bard (simultaneous experience)
Schacter-Singer (2 factor, cognitive label)
Sternberg triangle theory of love (passioncommitment-intimacy)