Motivation & Work Chapter 11 Mechanisms of Motivation.

Motivation & Work

Chapter 11

Mechanisms of Motivation

Motivation and Incentives

Motivationfactors within and outside an organism that cause it to behave a certain way at a certain time

Motivational state or drivean internal condition, which can change over time, that orients an individual to a specific set of goals (e.g., hunger, thirst, sex, curiosity)

Incentivesgoals 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 functionAnimals 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 maintainDrives may be an upset in homeostasis, inducing behavior to correct the imbalanceHowever, homeostasis cannot explain all drives

Sex and pain avoidance

Drives

Expression of motivation to satisfy a need or valued goalDrive-reduction Theory

Proposed by Clark HullYou 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) motivesInnate and survival helps preserve homeostasis (e.g., hunger, thirst, oxygen, sex, sleep, waste reduction, pain avoidance

Stimulus motivesPossibly innateActivity, curiosity, exploration, manipulation and physical contact

Secondary (Learned)Acquired through learningNeed 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

Hierarchyof Needs

Hierarchy of Needs

The ultimate goal is self-actualization, which is complete fulfillment of one's potential

CriticismsExceptions 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 stimulationPeople look for a balance (homeostatic)

Too little stimulation – boredomToo much stimulation- fear

Circadian RhythmsEspecially melatonin

Inverted UYerkes-Dodson LawOpponent-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)

Performance

Arousal Level

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Some arousal is necessaryHigh arousal is helpful on easy tasksAs level of arousal increases, quality of performance decreases with task difficultyToo much arousal is harmful

Degree of arousal

Qu

alit

y o

f p

erfo

rman

ce

Very difficult task

Moderatelydifficult 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 rateA possible cause of addiction or addictive personalityThe 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 accomplishmentInternal satisfaction causes behavior usually to satisfy a learned need such as NAch or the Need for Power or stimulus needExternal rewards to someone intrinsically motivated can reduce the pleasure (it becomes work and not fun)

• Overjustification Effect

Incentive Theory

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 bestIndividuals who have a high NAch want challenging but moderate tasks to accomplish that reinforce themIndividuals 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

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

HomeostasisA 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

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

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

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

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