Motivation

Are You Motivated?

• Motivation = a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior towards a goal.

• There are very close ties between emotions and motivated behaviors.

• Aron Ralston Story

Instinct Theory and Motivation• Is motivation simply an instinct?

(Instinct Theory)– Evolution and Instinct– No

• Instinct = A complex behavior that has a pattern in a specific species and is unlearned.– Sea turtles, newly hatched on a

beach, will automatically move toward the ocean.

– Humans: rooting, sucking, and sleeping

– Reflexes– Maturation

Drive-Reduction Theory• Instinct theory was

replaced by drive-reduction theory.

• Drive-Reduction Theory = a physiological need creates an aroused state or a drive that motivates the organism to satisfy the need.– Hunger or Thirst

Drive-Reduction Theory• The aim of Drive-

Reduction Theory is to attain homeostasis.

• Homeostasis = A balanced or constant internal state. The word literally means “staying the same.”– Causes a “drive”– Bodies temperature

regulation

Drive-Reduction Theory

• Incentive = positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

• We are not just pushed by our need to reduce “drives” we are also pulled by incentives.– Somebody who is food deprived

and smells baking bread feels a strong hunger drive and the bread becomes the incentive.

– Nature vs. Nurture

Arousal Theory• Some motivated behaviors

can be explained by the want to be aroused.– We are motivated and

driven by curiosity, we are fascinated by novel or new things.

• Arousal Theory = Motivation aims not to eliminate arousal but to seek optimum levels of arousal.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

• Developed by Abraham Maslow

• Pg. 468