1. Motivation

2. The Big Questions / Issues
What is non-obvious about motivation?
Textbook treatment is mostly naming the obvious
Does neuroscience make it more interesting?
Challenge questions:
Why to you procrastinate?
Why do people go to graduate school?

3. Behaviorist Motivations: Get rewards, avoid punishments..
Pavlov
Skinner
Dopamine

4. Motivating Phenomenology
Why is it so hard to start something (packing for a trip, writing a paper, paying bills, cleaning desk…)
But once started, it really isn’t so bad..

6. Motivating Phenomenology
Ever find yourself playing mindless video games for far longer than you should?
Why can’t I stop myself from organizing my kid’s Legos, or cleaning leaves from pool?

7. Two Phases of Mental Life
Goal selection
Careful weighing of costs / benefits to select goal
Multiple constraint satisfaction of needs, “drives”, opportunities, risks, costs, effort, etc..
Goal engaged
Selected goal robustly held – hard to give up..
Continuous evaluation of proximity to goal
Dopamine bursts, dips as function of changes
Costs are significantly downplayed (but learned)
Strong dissociations in value functions

8. Applied to Phenomenology
Why is it so hard to start something (packing for a trip, writing a paper, paying bills, cleaning desk…)
But once started, it really isn’t so bad..
Goal selection process carefully weighs costs / benefits, considering many different possible goals

9. I Tend to Procrastinate
A. All the time B. Some of the time C. Rarely

10. After I Finally Do It..
A. I often wonder why I procrastinated so much B. I feel justified in procrastinating because it was horrible! C. I pledge to not procrastinate again, but still find myself procrastinating.. D. I don’t procrastinate much..

11. Applied to Phenomenology
Ever find yourself playing mindless video games for far longer than you should?
Why can’t I stop myself from organizing my kid’s Legos, or cleaning leaves from pool?
Goal is engaged: incremental progress drives dopamine – video games engineered to deliver
Costs, alternatives are downplayed

12. SMBC by Zach Weiner

13. Dopamine = progress toward goal
LV = phasic dopamine driven by engaged goal
PV = was goal achieved or not; time to select new

14. Gamification of Life
My goal-engaged progress monitoring obsession is most evident in: A. Playing video games B. Checking news / facebook etc obsessively for signs of “progress” C. Obsessive cleaning / organizing D. Some other obsessive behavior.. E. Nuthin’ – I’m chill

15. Distributed Goal Network
Striatum: helps select, maintain coordinated reps throughout network (BG gated WM)

16. Map of Goals in vmPFC
Driven by subcortical connectivity
High-dimensional, multi-factorial representation
Consistent with fMRI, MDD in sgACC, etc

17. Approach vs. Avoid
Approach = left hemisphere = dominant Avoid = right hemisphere = subordinate We approach positive outcomes, and avoid negative ones. Anger is negative: is it approach or avoid? Need to turn negative into a positive in order to act!

18. Motivation Terms
Motivation: mental state causing purposive behavior: acting toward a desired goal. More motivation = more intensity and persistence Ambivalence = conflicting motivations Instinct = innate, automatic, triggered by releasing stimuli (cues): fixed action pattern Problem: circularity. Need richer evolutionary story for survival, propagation relevance..

19. Drive-reducing behaviors
Drives
Drive: desire to reduce unpleasant state from need (drive reduction theory: Hull, 1943) Homeostasis: maintain target levels of blood sugar, water, etc. Drive = restore target level. Maintain optimal arousal level? Not everything is a drive..
Need
(food, water..)
Drive
(hunger, thirst)
Drive-reducing behaviors
(eat, drink)

20. Needs

21. Needs
Any attempt to define a strict hierarchy will always fail! Death by video games, selfies, etc.. Primary vs. secondary: needed for survival vs. universally experienced but not essential..

22. Eating Terms
Hunger (homeostatic) vs. Appetite (desire) Energy balance = in vs. out Baseline body weight = set point (strongly enforced: when you diet your body reduces metabolic rate to preserve the set point!) Anorexia nervosa: extreme control over eating Bulimia nervosa: binge eating, self-induced behavior to prevent weight gain Eating disorders have genetic, cultural influences
Hunger: homeostatic state turned on by physiological changes
Appetite/craving: desire to eat, turned on by appetitive food stimuli

23. Eating Disorder Experience
I have experienced the following disorders: A. Anorexia Nervosa B. Bulimia Nervosa C. Binge eating disorder (lack of control > 1/week) D. None

24. Eating Disorder Causes
I think the single biggest cause of eating disorders is: A. Genes B. Images of slim models in media C. Badge of immunity against abundant food (demonstration of character) D. Internal feelings of desire for control over eating behavior

25. Eating Disorder Causes
I think the single biggest cause of eating disorders is: A. Genes B. Images of slim models in media C. Badge of immunity against abundant food (demonstration of character) D. Internal feelings of desire for control over eating behavior
Textbook- The answer is not actually known; perfectionism and negative self-evaluation may contribute, but evidence is not very strong
Genes & Culture have been proven to contribute; global modernization rather than just slim images in media may contribute

26. Causes of Obesity
Which is the single biggest cause of obesity epidemic: A. High fructose corn syrup B. Supersize portions C. Decreased physical activity D. Cultural / social group acceptance of obesity (all my friends are obese..) E. All of these contribute

27. Causes of Obesity
Which is the single biggest cause of obesity epidemic: A. High fructose corn syrup B. Supersize portions C. Decreased physical activity D. Cultural / social group acceptance of obesity (all my friends are obese..) E. All of these contribute
All of these contribute

28. Classical conditioning
We may crave unhealthy foods is because we have positive associations with them
Watch for this next time you watch ads, marketing uses this to sell us stuff
Examples:
Maybe you always go with your parents to eat McDonalds, or always eat a burger when you watch your favorite football game
That positive association with these other positive outcomes, like being happy with your friends, or enjoying football, amplifies the association with a positive outcome and the cues that predict it
So next time you see a burger ad you’re even more likely to want to go and get a burger

29. Work Motivation
If motivation is purely homeostatic, why are so many people motivated to work?
Extreme: workaholic (esp USA, Japan)

30. Work Motivation Industrial and Organizational Psychology (I/O)
Traits: stable personality factors – conscientious, honest, lazy, aggressive, sociable, shy, etc..
Workaholic: neuroticism, perfectionism, conscientiousness
Perceived self efficacy: If we are good at something, we reinforce that, it becomes part of our self-image.. CCC = Control! (competence)
Goal-setting theory: specific and difficult goals are good for motivating employees..
Perceived self-efficacy: Person’s core belief about his or her ability to produce change or accomplish a task
Locus of control: Beliefs about the causes of events in their lives

31. Challenge Problem: Grad School
Grad students work long hours for little $ and a low-probability shot at becoming a professor.. Why?

32. Possibly Non-obvious Results
Providing extrinsic rewards undermines intrinsic motivation! - e.g., rewarding kids for homework? Emphasizing trait makes people nervous - “you’re so smart” vs. “you worked hard!”
Why do grad students do it?
Instrinsic motivation: I just do this because I love neuroscience

33. Social Motivation
Need to Affiliate: we like to have people around (at parties and speeches, but not at beaches..) Women affiliate under stress, men do opposite Need to Belong: positive mutual in-group interactions of an enduring nature: key factor in overall happiness. Loneliness: not as much belonging as wanted Intimacy: self-disclosure, partner responsiveness

34. The Social Brain
Primates, which have the largest cortex, are also one of the most social species
Is the growth in the complexity of mental functions we have due to the needs of social interaction?
Dunbar, 2008

35. Empathy
One of the aspects of our social brains is empathy, the ability to simulate other’s feelings, goals, motivations and desires
Are people becoming more empathic, or less?
Jamil Zaki talk on empathy:
DspKSYxYDM
Empathy is

36. Positive Psychology
Seligman: Strengths are enduring qualities that result from having made constructive choices in certain areas
Each person has “signature strengths”- key areas they are good in.
24 strengths, associated with 6 core virtues:
Wisdom and knowledge, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, Transcedence
Career choice: Choose career drawing on your strengths

37. Aggression
Intended harm to others; others intend to avoid; not necc. violent Instrumental: some other goal; not to harm Hostile: purpose is to harm, emotionally driven Men: more direct aggression; Women: indirect - testosterone?? Not clear. GAM: traits, situation, emotion, decisions - frustration is common trigger, but not always
GAM: General Aggresion Model
. Proximate processes of GAM detail how person and situation factors influence cognitions, feelings, and arousal, which in turn affect appraisal and decision processes, which in turn influence aggressive or nonaggressive behavioral outcomes

38. Emotions from brainstem
Your social drives like affiliation, need for sex, need for friendship, etc are just as low-level as other motivations
These low level representations project up to cortex, where they become more complex and abstract
(What is love?)
Anderson, 2012:
Optogenetics, Sex and Violence in the Brain

39. Emotions from brainstem
Hypothalamus is an important area for physiological needs
Controls “fight or flight” response
Drives for food, social
Projects to the limbic system (amygdala, hippocampus) as well as prefrontal cortex
Circuitry for emotion
Damasio, with the somatic markers hypothesis, argues that these brain stem signals are somatic markers of emotions; and the projections to higher level cortical areas become the basis of our feelings

40. What is strongest motivator?
A. Money B. Social: fitting in, approval, impressing C. Food, drink D. Fear of punishment E. Feeling of progress toward a goal

41. The Motivational Perfect Storm
Imagine something that taps directly into multiple built-in motivational pathways simultaneously.. Something so powerful that it:
Leverages strong social drives for belonging, affiliation, in-group promotion, out-group aggression
Provides frequent, unpredictable bits of “progress” in flow of news, funny, entertaining information, etc..

42. Facebook! How addicted would you say you are to facebook?
A) Not at all addicted, I don’t have an account
B) I check it about once a week
C) Check it daily, but I’m not addicted
D) Feel withdrawal symptoms (bored/lonely) when not on it
E) None of these apply

43. What, if any, do you use as a "reward" to motivate you to complete your responsibilities?
A. Partying
B. Drugs
C. Relaxing 
D. Food
E. I don't really use anything as a reward
Katrina Fischer

44. Why do you procrastinate?
A. Laziness/ lack of motivation 
B. I am easily distracted by social media, s, phone calls, etc.
C. I believe that I work better under pressure
D. Fear of failure/ fear of making a mistake 
E. I seldom procrastinate
Aldana Awedh

45. Why do people procrastinate?
Procrastination is an irrational delay, where we put things off despite being worse off for it (Steel, 2007)
Long term intentions in PFC compete with impulses in limbic system for immediate goals?
Or to avoid negative consequences of failure?
Theory/debate in the field

46. Which statement about motivation is true?
a) A motive energizes and directs behavior. b) We are always aware of motivational processes. c) Different motives always lead to different behaviors. d) Two people motivated by the same factor will satisfy that motive through similar means.

47. Which statement about motivation is true?
a) A motive energizes and directs behavior. b) We are always aware of motivational processes. c) Different motives always lead to different behaviors. d) Two people motivated by the same factor will satisfy that motive through similar means.

48. Motivation and Energy
When you are motivated by predicting a positive reward, this often releases dopamine
Dopamine projects to the basal ganglia
More dopamine in the basal ganglia leads to more effortful, or faster, movements
Dopamine
Motor
movement
circuit

49. Motivation and Energy
Rat is given a barrier, and gets a bigger reward for crossing the barrier
If dopamine in the striatum is blocked, the rat no longer crosses barrier
Various procedures have been employed, including four pellets in one arm, two pellets in the other, with no barrier, four pellets in one arm, two pellets in the other, with a 44 cm barrier blocking the arm with the higher density of food, and also four pellets in one arm, no pellets in the other, with a 44 cm barrier blocking the arm with food reinforcement. Accumbens DA depletions have been reported to reduce selection of the arm with the barrier when the other arm (i.e., without the barrier) contained two food pellets (4 vs. 2 pellets), but not when it contained no pellets (4 vs. 0 pellets). This procedure also has been used to assess the effects of prefrontal cortex lesions as well (see discussion below).  

50. Competence motivation
Human need for competence- performing an action or task successfully (Dweck)
Approach possibilities to increase competence
Avoid possibilities associated with failure
Draws on innate positive & negative valence learning systems

51. Thanks!
Feel free to come to my office hours if you have any questions 
M 11-12, T 11-12, D342
No office hours this coming Monday (Dissertation Defense!)
Will be reading/grading your papers soon