Motivation & Work Chapter 11

Mechanisms of Motivation

Motivation and Incentives Motivation factors within and outside an organism that cause it to behave a certain way at a certain time Motivational state or drive an internal condition, which can change over time, that orients an individual to a specific set of goals (e.g., hunger, thirst, sex, curiosity) Incentives goals or reinforcers in the external environment (e.g., good grades, food, a mate)

Needs State within an organism that may energize behavior to satisfy a basic bodily function Animals do behave in accordance with their tissue needs (e.g., increasing or decreasing caloric intake, drive for salt) Homeostasis - the constancy of internal conditions that the body must actively maintain Drives may be an upset in homeostasis, inducing behavior to correct the imbalance However, homeostasis cannot explain all drives Sex and pain avoidance

Drives Expression of motivation to satisfy a need or valued goal Drive-reduction Theory Proposed by Clark Hull You have a need associated with mineral depletion in your tissues which triggers a drive to reduce that need which triggers a response (behavior) to achieve your goal. Need to reestablish balance or homeostasis

Types of Drives (instinctual vs. learned) Primary (Regulatory) motives Innate and survival helps preserve homeostasis (e.g., hunger, thirst, oxygen, sex, sleep, waste reduction, pain avoidance Stimulus motives Possibly innate Activity, curiosity, exploration, manipulation and physical contact Secondary (Learned) Acquired through learning Need for power, Need for Achievement (Nach), affiliation, approval, status, security, fear and aggression

Humanistic Theory Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs Each successive level of the hierarchy is addressed only after the preceding level's needs have been met (concept of prepotency) The ultimate goal is to reach self-actualization with complete fulfillment of potential and satisfaction of who you are Order of the levels progresses from the biological to psychological needs 1.Physiological needs: hunger and thirst 2.Safety needs: stable and secure environment 3.Belongingness needs: acceptance and love 4.Esteem needs: achievement and competence

Hierarchy of Needs

Hierarchy of Needs

The ultimate goal is self-actualization, which is complete fulfillment of one's potential  Criticisms  Exceptions to theory  Clear designation of levels Self-Actualization

Instinct/Biological Theory William James (1890) Principles of Psychology People inherit social behavior instincts (love, sympathy, modesty, etc.) as well as survival instincts Instincts: fixed, unlearned, genetically programmed patterns of behavior William McDougal - 18 Basic instincts Migrating behaviors and mating displays of birds Examples of human behaviors, including rooting, sucking, and grasping Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory Behavior originates from instincts, adaptive survival behaviors Motivation: Theories

Theory: Behavior originated from physiological needs Biological needs or tissue deficits lead to the drive state Need to reestablish balance or homeostasis and strengthens the drive Drives are internal conditions that relate to survival needs Needs that lead to the drive state include food, water, and air The drive state builds as deprivation continues Tissue imbalances create deficit and strengthen the drive Behavior is geared to reduce the need or deficit Eating, drinking, and breathing Above behaviors reduce the need by restoring balance or homeostasis (refer to lesson 2) Behaviors are reinforced/strengthened through the reduction of needs Drive-reduction Theory (Clark Hull)

Arousal Theory Motivation relates to a person ’ s desire for stimulation People look for a balance (homeostatic) Too little stimulation – boredom Too much stimulation- fear Circadian Rhythms Especially melatonin Inverted U Yerkes-Dodson Law Opponent-Process Theory

High Arousal Arousal response - pattern of physiological change that helps prepare the body for “fight or flight” muscles tense, heart rate and breathing increase, release of endorphins, focused attention can be helpful or harmful in general, high arousal is beneficial for instinctive, well-practiced or physical tasks and harmful for novel, creative, or careful judgment tasks

Relates to differing individual preferences for stimulation in their environment Motivation is to achieve and maintain preferred levels of stimulation Individuals seek activities that create the desired level of physiological stimulation Individuals avoid activities that produce excessive stimulation Yerkes-Dodson law states the relationship between task performance and levels of arousal Participants perform low-difficulty tasks better with higher than average arousal Participants perform moderate-difficulty tasks better with moderate arousal Participants perform high-difficulty tasks better with lower than average arousal Arousal Theory

Inverted U Low arousal leads to poor performances (don ’ t care) High arousal leads to poor performance (frozen) PerformancePerformance Arousal Level

Yerkes-Dodson Law Some arousal is necessary High arousal is helpful on easy tasks As level of arousal increases, quality of performance decreases with task difficulty Too much arousal is harmful Degree of arousal Quality of performance Very difficult task Moderately difficult task Easy task

Yerkes-Dodson Law continued The simpler the task, greater arousal may increase performance Lifting weights The more difficult/complex the task, the less arousal the better Taking a complex economics test or hitting a putt

Opponent-Process Theory Stimulus (skydiving) causes a strong emotion (fear) After a period of when stimulus ends the opposite emotion occurs at a greater rate A possible cause of addiction or addictive personality The need for greater fear leads to greater excitement

Motivation is produced by need for goal attainment Need for goal attainment or achievement may be wither intrinsic or extrinsic Intrinsic motivation is based on internal need for achievement and internal reinforcements, such as positive feelings of accomplishment Internal satisfaction causes behavior usually to satisfy a learned need such as NAch or the Need for Power or stimulus need External rewards to someone intrinsically motivated can reduce the pleasure (it becomes work and not fun) Overjustification Effect Incentive Theory

Extrinsic motivation is based on more tangible external reinforcements from the environment Occurs when extrinsic rewards are provided for a behavior that previously was motivated intrinsically -Behavior decreases Some incentive can cause no behavior to achieve goal (reduction of a need) Hungry but won’t eat maggots High incentives can cause behavior even when there is no need Fear Factor – eat maggots for $50,000

Motivation is produced from internal conflict Beliefs that are in opposition often produce conflict (cognitive dissonance) Beliefs counter to some behavior produce conflict The individual is motivated to reduce the tension created by conflict Tension reduced by changing or modifying beliefs Tension reduced by changing or modifying behavior Cognitive Consistency Theory (Leon Festinger)

Learned or Secondary Needs Need for Achievement (NAch) Strive to do your best Individuals who have a high NAch want challenging but moderate tasks to accomplish that reinforce them Individuals with low NAch try extremely difficult task that are almost impossible or extremely easy Excuse or always successful helps their esteem

Need For Power Strong desire to have control Must be visible to public Often attracts individuals who are attracted to power not the person

Reward Pathways in the Brain Medial forebrain bundle runs from the midbrain through the lateral area of the hypothalamus into the nucleus accumbens in the basal ganglia neurons in this tract secrete dopamine animals will self-stimulate this pathway euphoria-producing drugs affect the level of dopamine in this tract evolved to promote survival and reproduction

When Motives Collide Approach-Approach Equally attracted to desirable goals and is difficult to choose Approach-Avoidance A goal has both a positive and negative A shy person is invited to a great party but has to face fear of awkwardness Avoidance-Avoidance Must choose between two negative choices Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Peer pressure-do something wrong or lose friends Multiple Approach-Avoidance Choosing between a couple of approach-avoidance choices

Homeostasis A Biological Perspective Balance of bodily needs Not too full, not too hungry Bodily equilibrium which includes Metabolism rate Insulin levels Cellular fluids Under the direction of the Hypothalamus

Drives as States of the Brain The hub of many central drive systems lies in the hypothalamus Cerebral cortex Portion of limbic system Pituitary gland Brainstem Hypotahlamus

Hunger Drive Two areas of the hypothalamus, the lateral and ventromedial areas, play a central role in the hunger drive Hypothalamus

Lateral Area Electrical lesions to tract of axons connecting brainstem, hypothalamus and basal ganglia cause a loss of all goal-directed behavior Stimulation causes drives in response to available incentives Feeding system It stimulates you to eat On button Hypothalamus

Lateral Area However, chemical lesions to specific cell bodies reduce hunger drive, but do not abolish it - most other drives appear normal If damaged can cause an organism to starve to death Hypothalamus

Ventromedial Area Lesions alter digestive and metabolic processes Food is converted into fat rather than energy molecules, causing animal to eat much more than normal and gain weight Stop eating system Satiety System If damaged the organism will severely overeat Hypothalamus

Hunger Drive Other stimuli that act on the brain to increase or decrease hunger include satiety signals from the stomach signals indicating the amount of food molecules in the blood leptin, a hormone indicating the amount of fat in the body

Research on Weight Regulation and Dieting No consistent personality trait differences found between obese and non-obese people (e.g., willpower, anxiety) Dieters and obese are more likely to eat in response to stress than non-dieters Family environment of little importance in determining body weight - genetics plays a large role Number of fat-storage cells is a major determinant of body weight

Research on Weight Regulation and Dieting Fat cells are determined by genetics and food intake They increase with weight gain, but merely shrink with weight loss - may stimulate hunger Weight loss causes a decline in basal metabolism Fat cells Normal diet High-fat diet Return to normal diet

Effects of Culture and Habits on Body Weight Set point- cluster of genetic and environmental factors that cause a person’s weight to settle within a given range Weight can be affected by factors like diet, exercise, and daily habits (e.g., stairs instead of elevator) People who wish to lose weight need to increase their metabolism rate to be successful Metabolic Rate is the resting rate of energy Not eating will lead to yoyo dieting Your body protects itself from your attempts to starve it by slowing your metabolism rate, causing you to burn fewer calories you normally eat after you quit dieting Starving lowers your set point which causes you not burn all the calories you take in

Eating Disorders Anorexia Nervosa 15% below normal weight Cognitive issues- believes they are fat and obsessed with losing weight They do not see themselves as skinny Often wear baggy clothes Lie about food consumption Damage to heart and stomach Bulimia Repeated bingeing and purging Vomit or use laxatives after a big meal Damage to throat, esophagus and stomach

Thirst Extracellular Thirst Water is lost from fluids around the cell Caused by vomiting, bleeding, diarrhea, sweating and alcohol (hangovers) Solution- drink salty drinks- Gatorade Intercellular Thirst Fluid is drawn out of the cells Caused by salty meals Solution- drink water

Other Types of Non-Homeostatic Drives Episodic Pain avoidance Not a homeostatic drive Some believe can be avoided or blocked -can be learned Coolidge Effect Associated with the sex drive Animals tend to be affected by hormones Animals will only have sex when the female is in heat (estrogen released) As you move up the evolutionary scale sex becomes less motivated by hormones

Sex Drive Increased production of testosterone and estrogen at puberty is responsible for physical differentiation Increased secretion of DHEA, primary adrenal sex hormone, is responsible for sexual feelings Final maturation of ovaries in females Final maturation of testes in males First sexual attraction in both sexes

Male Sex Drive Testosterone maintains sex drive in adult males castration decreases drive testosterone injections or implantation to medial preoptic area restores drive

Female Sex Drive Estrous cycle controls drive in nonhuman mammals removal of ovaries abolishes drive, while hormone injections restore it Also, lesions to ventromedial area abolish drive, while injection or implantation restores drive

Female Sex Drive Female monkeys and apes depend less on hormones for sexual behavior Human female sex drive may not be consistently affected by hormone cycle at all ovarian hormones play small role adrenal hormones like DHEA and testosterone play larger role

Early Effects of Testosterone Presence of testosterone during critical period will cause rudimentary genitals of fetus to develop into male structures Testosterone acts in brain to promote development of neural systems for male sex drive and inhibit systems for female drive Absence causes development of female structures Stressful events experienced by pregnant rats reduce level of prenatal testosterone

Human Sexual Orientation Orientation is an early-emerging, ingrained aspect of the self that probably does not change No consistent relationship between orientation and childhood experiences (e.g., parenting, abuse, sexual experience) Controversial findings suggest a possible relationship among prenatal stress, androgens, and the development of brain systems that play a role in sexual attraction