1. PSY 338: Motivation
Chapter 1: Overview

2. What Is Motivation? Motivation
The underlying processes that initiate, direct and sustain behavior in order to needs or wants
The intensity, direction, and persistence of effort a person shows in reaching a goal (physiological and psychological) :
Intensity: How hard a person tries
Direction: Where?
Persistence: How long effort is maintained

3. The Measurement of Motivation
Intervening variable
A causal influence that is presumed to come between stimuli (S) and responses (R)
Deprivation vs. satiation
Performance Variable
Temporary nature of motivation is involved here

4. Characteristics of Motivation
Activation
Production of behavior is witnessed (overt behavior)
Directionality
Where is effort being channeled
Preference Test

5. Categories of Analysis
Nomothetic vs. Idiographic Explanation
Nomothetic: An approach to explanation in which we seek to identify a few causal factors that generally impact a class of conditions of event
Idiographic: An approach to explanation in which we seek to exhaust the idiosyncratic causes of a particular condition of event

6. Categories of Analysis
Innate versus Acquired
Instincts vs. learned motivations

7. Instinct Theory Instinct
Complex unlearned response triggered by a stimulus or complex stimulus
Do humans have instincts?
Early Darwinian Theory (1800’s) proposed the idea of instinct, arising from genetic endowment
William James (1890) proposed an instinct theory in humans
Instincts were goal directed predispositions to behavior

8. Instinct Theory Paradox in Psychology:
As others were showing that animal behavior could be modified by learning (Thorndike), James was proposing that much of human behavior was unlearned
William McDougall (1908) followed…
Suggested their were 18 instincts

9. Instinct Theory
McDougall (1908) theorized that motivated behaviors are instinctual:
Unlearned
Uniform in expression (do not change with practice)
Universal (all members of a species show the same behavior)

10. Too many limitations…
By 1924 instinct theory was becoming obsolete as there were several criticisms:
Too many instincts
Researchers came up with 5759 of them
Logic was circular
i.e. the only evidence that an instinct exists was the behavior it supposedly explained
He’s an “overachiever” because he’s “hard-working”
She’s “hard-working” because she’s an “overachiever”
Just meaningless labels with no explanations

11. Categories of Analysis
Internal vs. External
Inner drives, needs, and goals vs. environmental incentives
Drive-Reduction theory vs. Incentive Theory

12. Drive Reduction Theory
Hull (1943)
Supporters of this theory believe that when a need requires satisfaction, it produces drives
These are tensions that energize behavior in order to satisfy a need
Thirst and hunger are, for instance, drives for satisfying the needs of eating and drinking, respectively

13. Drive Reduction Theory
Drives have been generally established as primary and secondary…
Primary drives satisfy biological needs and must be fulfilled in order to survive
Homeostasis is the motivational phenomenon for primary drives that preserves our internal equilibrium. This is true, for example, for hunger or thirst
Secondary drives satisfy needs that are not crucial to a person's life 
Criticism
Critics felt that this theory was inadequate in explaining secondary drives

14. Incentive Theory Skinner (1938); Spence (1956)
Viewpoint on motivation that is different than instinct, drive, and arousal theories
Emphasizes the role of environmental stimuli that can motivate behavior by pulling people toward them rather than pushing people to satisfy a need (as in the drive-reduction theory)
Suggesting that people act to obtain positive incentives and avoid negative incentives
Explains secondary drives much better than drive-reduction theory

15. Mechanistic vs. Cognitive
Are processes that control motivations triggered automatically or do they stem from controlled processes?
Unlearned vs. learned

16. Levels of Analysis Physiological Analysis
Electrical Stimulation of the brain
Olds & Milner (1954)
Brain circuits exist that may be active when reward occurs
Chemical Stimulation of the brain
Insertion of tube; injection of solution
Brain Lesions
Surgical removal of the brain; resultant change in motivation
Recording of natural electrical activity during motivated states
Electrocephalograph (EEG)
Depth electrodes
Imaging techniques (see next slide)

17. Levels of Analysis Imaging Techniques
Positron-emission tomography (PET) scans: measures the metabolic area of different brain regions
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI, fMRI)
MRI: allows for the visualization of the brain
fMRI: allows for both visualization of the brain and also to detect differences in metabolism in various parts of the brain

18. Levels of Analysis Individual Analysis
Research at this level is conducted to provide insight into important motivational factors that influence the behavior of the individual
Studies usually done with a group of individuals in the hopes of finding statistically significant effect

19. Levels of Analysis Social Analysis
Behaviors are motivated by situational factors; the presence of other people
Asch (1951, 1952): Conformity studies
Solomon Asch 

20. Levels of Analysis Philosophical Analysis Psychoanalytic theorists
Freud (1957): Motivational states create a condition of tension that the individual then seeks to reduce
Negative view that we are apparently motivated by an aversive state
Humanistic theorists
A positive state is pushing the individual to reach their highest potential (self-actualization)

21. Major Constructs in Motivation
Energy
General or specific?
Physiological Mechanisms
Genetically programmed motivations
Instinct approach; evolutionary psychology
Brain circuits monitor state of body and are activated when changes are detected and this leads to motivated behavior
Learning
Drive-reduction theory
Incentive theory
Modeling theory

22. Major Constructs in Motivation
Social Interaction
“Bystander effect” is one example
Cognitive Processes
Active information processing
The Activation of Motivation
Peripheral receptors
Central receptors
Homeostasis
When body deviates too much from its optimal level we are motivated to perform behaviors that will bring us back to this level

23. Major Constructs in Motivation
Hedonism
Idea that we are primarily motivated by pleasure and pain
Growth Motivation
The idea that we are motivated to reach our full potential

24. Evolution & Motivation
Life
Reproduction is motivating factor
Dawkins (1986)
Organisms exist for the benefit of DNA; not the other way around

25. Advantages of Sexual Reproduction
Recombination of genes of the two parents allow their offspring to have greater diversity of genes needed for survival in uncertain and varying environments
Allows for repair of genetic information within the gene pool
Allows for beneficial mutations to spread rapidly within the gene pool without losing the benefits of the original gene

26. The Pleasures of Sex
Pleasurable sensations enhance chances of successful reproduction
Leads to reduced condom usage ; evolutionary mechanisms fight against “safe sex” practices
While humans and some other primates may at times engage in sexual behavior for pleasure rather than reproduction, evolutionary ideas remain intact; indirect benefits related to survival

27. Evolution Natural Selection Sexual Selection
Those individuals who inherited genes that give them an advantage in the environment have a better chance of living long enough to reproduce
Sexual Selection
Occurs when there is competition for mates or when one member of a mating pair is chosen by the other member of the pair

28. Evolution Mate Selection
Men and women by nature must differ in their optimal mating behaviors
Women must be highly selective because they are biologically limited in the number of children they can bear and raise in a lifetime
Men can father an unlimited number of children and ensure their reproductive success by inseminating many women

29. Parental Investment Model
The view that women seek men with resources to help ensure the safe haven for their children
Also, men will likely engage in behaviors that display these resources
They feel competition from other males
Women are motivated to engage in behaviors that enhance their reproductive value
Enhance their appearance
They feel competition from other females

30. These studies appear to support this idea…
Buss (1989)
Women wanted to marry guys 3.4 years older than they were
Kenrick & Keefe (1992)
Analysis of personal ads:
Males:
20s: seek younger woman to slightly older
30-40s: seek women 5-10 years younger
50s: seek women years younger

31. One big exception was found…
Male adolescents were most attracted to women in their “fertile 20s”
Kenrick & Keefe (1992)

32. Are women selective about earning capacity?
Kenrick et al. (1990)
Also works for intelligence –
Across different levels of involvement

33. Studies of personal ads…
Wiederman (1993)
A study of 1,111 personal ads found that female advertisers seek financial resources 11 times as often as male advertisers
Buss (1989)
Looked at 10,047 individuals in 37 cultures on 6 continents and 5 islands
Found this was not just restricted to American or Western Societies

34. Credits
Some slides of this presentation prepared with the help of the following websites:
wps.prenhall.com/wps/...ppt/04_langton_fob_3ce_ch04.ppt
pirate.shu.edu/~vigorimi/Motivation_and.../chapter1.htm