Thinking About Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behavior 2e

1. Thinking About Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behavior 2e Charles T. Blair-Broeker Randal M. Ernst

2. Motivation • Motivation—factors within and outside an organism that cause it to behave a certain way at a certain time. • Why do students study for hours? • Why did you pick out the pants and shoes you are wearing today? • What makes me want to run 26.2 miles at one time? 

3. Motivational Theories • Instinct—motives are innate (biological) • Drive—biological needs as motivation • Incentive—extrinsic things push or pull behavior • Arousal—people are motivated to maintain optimum level of arousal • (Psychological) Humanistic—hierarchy of needs

4. Instinct Theory • People are motivated by genetically predisposed behaviors, or unlearned behaviors. • We are biologically programmed to survive. • Castaway clip • William James and William McDougall were inspired by Charles Darwin. • In Principles of Psychology, James listed some human instincts. • Attachment, fear, disgust, rivalry, greediness, suspicion, hunting, play, shame, anger, resentment, curiosity, shyness, sociability, bashfulness, secretiveness, cleanliness, modesty, love, parental love

5. Drive Theories • Started in the 1920s • Behavior is motivated by the desire to reduce internal tension from unmet biological needs, such as hunger of thirst. • Drive-replacement Theory – physiological need creates an arousal states that drives an organism to reduce their needs, such as eating and drinking. • Robert Woodworth & Clark Hull believed that drives are triggered by homeostasis.

6. Homeostasis—the constancy of internal conditions that the body must actively maintain. • Body temperature, fluid levels, energy supplies • Drives may be due to an upset in homeostasis, inducing behavior to correct the imbalance • Animals do behave in accordance with their tissue needs (e.g., increasing or decreasing caloric intake, drive for salt)

7. Incentive Motivation • Emerged after drive theories in the 1940s and 1950s. • Behavior is motivated by the “pull” of external goods such as rewards, money, or recognition. • Incentive theories relate to learning principles such as reinforcement. • Edward Tolmanstressed the importance of the expectation that a particular behavior will result in a particular goal. • Drive and incentive theories combined can account for behaviors, but they still have limitations.

8. Arousal Theory • Bungee jumping, watching a scary movie, or riding a crazy roller coaster… why do we do these things? • When bored people seek increased arousal, when too stimulated people seek to reduce that. This varies from person to person. • Some people are sensation seekers, Mark Zuckerman said these people are likely to have a need for a varied, complex, and unique sensory experiences. • Some may involve physical or social risks, they aren’t necessarily drawn to danger.

9. Arousal Theory • People are motivated to maintain an optimum level of arousal—neither too high nor too low • Curiosity motive—helps us understand our environment • Harry Harlow’s monkey that tried to figure out the lock, without incentive.

10. Humanistic Theories • Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow • “Motivation was thought to be affected by how we perceive the world, how we think about ourselves and others, and our beliefs about our abilities and skills.” - Rogers • People are motivated to realize their highest personal potential (with the right environment).

11. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs • Biological needs are motivators, but once they are met “higher” psychological needs emerge. • As people satisfy needs at each level of the hierarchy they are ultimately motivated to reach self-actualization.

15. Criticisms of Maslow • Maslow’s definition of self-actualization is vague and cannot be tested scientifically. • His studies were limited with questionable reliability. • Many people do not reach self-actualization. (Maslow blamed this on environment)

16. Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (SDT) • People are actively growth oriented and they move toward a sense of self and integration with others. • To realize optimal psychological functioning and growth three innate and universal psychological needs must be met: • Autonomy – the need to determine, control, and organize one’s behaviors and goals. • Competence – the need to learn and master appropriately challenging material. • Relatedness – the need to feel attached to others and experience a sense of belongingness, security, and intimacy.

17. In a supportive environment individuals will satisfy these needs by pursuing interests, goals, and relationships. • This enhances psychological growth and intrinsic motivation (the desire to engage in tasks that the person finds satisfying and enjoyable. • According to Ryan and Deci a person who satisfied autonomy, competence, and relatedness will actively internalize and integrate external motivators as part of their identity and values.

18. Competence and Achievement • Competence motivation—behavior aimed at demonstrating competence and exerting control in a situation. • Competence motivation pushes us to successfully tackle new challenges such as doing well in class. • Achievement motivation is a step further —behavior aimed at excelling, succeeding, or outperforming others at some activity.

19. Henry Murray identified 20 human needs or motives including the need to achieve. • Christiana Morgan helped Murray design the Thematic Apperception Test to measure human motive. • People with high achievement motivation will work long hours and have the ability to delay gratification and focus on the goal. They will display original thinking but they are not afraid to ask for expert advice. Usually prefer to work independent, but can work well with others.