W1:2230 - Introduction TO Motivation PDF

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Week 1 and Week 2 Motivation Psych courses with dr.marchese. these are the first three weeks and the exams are 45% and 55%....

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JANUARY 13, 2022 PSYC 2230 WEEK 1 – INTRODUCTION TO MOTIVATION Week 1 Reading: Chapter 1  Research on the biology of behaviour suggests that some people may have a genetic disposition to develop certain kinds of disorders  Learned factors also play a role in the development of many motives and also the way in which we interpret events around us that also influences our motives  Many motives appear to result from a combination of biology, learning and cognition Coming into being textbook – introduces the history and underlying psychoanalytic and analytic psychology and the distinction made between the two. Freud is associated with psychoanalytic psychology, young. Freud is a consummate, motivational psychologist. Online test on February 17th  4:00 – 6:30 p.m. online  Multiple choice and short answers  For the first exam, it has “Coming Into Being” Chapters 1 & 2 Views on desire, motivation, drive (not tested material)  “It is woven into our DNA”  Philosophers tend to anticipate the materialistic science, scientists  Our desire may spring from our biology but it may become transformed by psychological experience  Desire is something that is relentless Chapter 1: Motivation: Concepts and Measurement I: Concept of Motivation (M): Forces acting on or within an organism to initiate action (p.4). Motivated behavior (B) displays Intensity and Persistence  these forces may be internal or external or a combination of both  when we are highly driven and motivated, we show intensity, we are highly aroused. We are also persistent by wanting to achieve and continue working on things until we come to a sort of satisfactory outcome  persistence is something over time – may take a break or time out – but it is resumed and persist (committed, driven)  Motivation is the concept we use when we describe the forces of acting on or within an organism to initiate and direct behaviour  More intense behaviors are the result of higher levels of motivation  We use the concept of motivation to indicate the persistence of behavior  A highly motivated behaviour will often be persistent even though the intensity of the behaviour may be low.  The concept of motivation helps to explain why behavior occurs in one situation but not in others

II: Measurement of M: Not measured directly; manipulate stimulus (S) condition and observe behavioral response (R) (p.5)  It is not measured directly; we have to infer on the basis that we perform  So, we never measure motivation directly, instead we manipulate some stimulus (s) condition and then measure the behavior in the form of response  Example, taking food away from a rat for 48 hours (deprivation) A: S is deprivation and speed of running in a maze is R  We can deprive it of an essential. We measure the rat’s speed rate from the start box. Over trials, there are fewer errors and greater speed. B: Infer motivational processes from change in behavior  If we only deprived the animal with one hour of food, it will not be as motivated as one who has been deprived of food for hours.  Motivation can be inferred from the change of behaviour that occurred, and indication of its strength can be observed in the rat’s speed in the maze C: Motivation is an Intervening Variable (IV): It serves to link the S and R and as an IV it provides an explanation for the relationship between S and R (Figure 1.1, 1.2, p.5)  The concept of motivation serves to link the stimulus change (deprivation) to the behavior chance and provides an explanation for the relationship between the stimulus and response  The intervening nature of motivation processes is one reason why motivation is difficult to study  We can only infer the existence of motivation by observing the relationships between the stimulus and condition responses. D: Motivation is a Performance Variable (PV): when enough is present, B is performed  You perform when enough of an incentive is shown/performed  When enough motivation is present, behavior is shown, when there is not enough, then behavior is absent  Motivation is a performance variable that is contrasted with learning where more permanent chances in behavior occur We deprive, observe, record and we manipulate a critical variable (the food reward). In doing so, we are manipulating the animal’s behavior and we are establishing a cause and effect relationship (between, deprivation, motivation and behavior). It has an influence on learning. Stimulus change  Intervening Variable  Response 48 hours of food deprivation  Hunger motivation  Faster running III: Characteristics of Motivation: A: Activation – as in the production of overt and covert behaviour (p.6)  Motivation is activation  Overt behaviour is when the animal runs through the maze and you can observe it. Overt behaviors are something that we can observe readily  Covert looks at the changes in heart rate, blood pressure, stomach contraction and the diversion of the blood. Covert is something that we can measure (these are biological made up)

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Though motivation is considered to be behaviorally activating, the behavior activated may not always be overt  We must be cautious when assuming lack of motivation when no over response is apparent  Activation is considered to be one of the two major components of motivation. But, it has been suggested that activation should not be a major concern of motivational analyses because organisms are continually active  Researchers propose that motivational analyses should examine the conditions that led the organism to change from one activity to another – this is directional behaviour B: Persistence – as in ongoing performance of B  Hungry animals persist in their attempt to get food (hunger)  Suggests that energetic behaviour is more motivated than hesitant behavior C: Vigor – as in forceful-effortful behaviour  Not only persistently but with energy. We can see it but also something that we can measure  Vigorous responses do not always mean high motivation D: Direction – as in which choice of goal is made. Measure direction in terms of a Preference Test of possible choice (P.7)  The index of motivational state  To determine which one is more motivation, we would run a preference test preference testing is the best way to determine which of the several alternatives is most motivation because indexes such as persistence or vigor may not indicate differences  Beck (2000) considers preference to be the most basic motivational index IV: Categories of Analysis: Study motivation from different viewpoints A: Nomothetic: a search for general laws by studying large groups. Results that hold for one group may apply to other groups (p.7 & 8)  General or universal laws  Research of this type studies groups of people or animals and determines how they are similar  For example, identifying brain structures such as the hypothalamus that are involved in nomothetic because when it was present in one rat, they found it present in other rats and people and general  It is often assumed that the general rules uncovered by studying one species will also apply to other species  Our approach in analyzing is nomothetic. We do not study just one rat but also a group of rats. We also repeat the measurement over and over so that we can arrive at a general, lower, principle.  Deprivation leads to motivation, motivation leads to behaviour and behavior leads to goal and goal satisfies the motivation, reduces the drive, and homeostasis and equilibrium is established.  Rats are very curious and survival depends on curiosity  Once we are relieved from one motive, another motive can now move forward.  Analogy: Figure ground

o Usually arises in perception psychology that a figure stands in the background. The figure is initially hungry.  We may be attended to different motives simultaneously. There is motivational conflict. An example of this is approach, avoidance, conflict. To be or not to be. Example: trying to get food but getting shocked instead.  A nomothetic would say, in general, organisms will learn the maze will satisfy the needs Idiographic: a search of individual differences; i.e., or how organisms differ from each other  We can approach it by trying to establish general laws or an ideographic approach, which takes into account individual differences  It will look at the individual differences meaning that the potential to learn and to be influenced by deprivation can vary (within limits with different organisms)  Ideographic approach is the opposite of nomothetic analyses  It proposes that we can understand behaviour by looking at how people differ from each other (it examines the properties that make each person unique)  In motivation, the idiographic approach is most clearly seen in the humanist and actualization theorists B: Innate vs. Acquired: McDougall and James saw motivated behaviour as controlled by innate motives – inborn motives called instincts Acquired motives in contrast are learned; e.g., incentives motivation is the value placed on a goal and the goal becomes through experience and learning to be valued  Both McDougall and James were very much influenced by Darwin and Darwin postulated these inborn evolved dispositions that are adapted for survival called instincts  They want to start with what is fundamental instincts – these are innate, evolved motives  Through the course of evolutions, instincts are modified by the conditions of which a specie has lived  Instincts are modified by experience  Although there may be a persistence in self preservation  Acquired motives, are our learned through experience. For example, one can acquire fear, where there was no fear. o Taking the model of acquiring fear, using Pavlov’s methodology condition stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus … C: Internal vs. External: Bio-Needs are sources of motivation and are Internal. Deprivation brings about needs as internal sources of motivated behaviour. Whereas Incentives and goals are external sources of motivation  There are biological needs that are the sources of motivation deprivation, for example, brings about these needs withholding food, water, you create hunger, thirst respectively. However, there are also external sources of motivation in the form of incentives and the value that we place on goals that they’re worthy of pursuit, or not  We learn about incentives and they can be highly motivated. The most obvious one is money. But then, there are status, there are rewards. There are privileges, there are roles, which are considered of value, and which we pursue  Needs are viewed as internal sources of motivation that activate and direct behaviors to items in the environment that alleviate some state of deprivation

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o In this context, needs are commonly tailored towards physiological needs (the need for food, water) But others, they need to emphasize their needs through external sources of motivation that are provided by goals Research has shown that the presence of others often facilitates one’s likeliness of helping response

D: Mechanistic vs. Cognitive: Are motivational processes blind, mechanical, triggered automatically by internal and external sources without conscious awareness or choice?  Are we going to conceptualize a motivated organism, as a system of physical parts that are influenced by internal and external stimulation and/or the human organism with attitudes, opinions, beliefs?  If it is mechanistic, it is materialistic. And the psychological builds on the organic or the physical. But, there is an element that the choice is no choice, you operate similar to a clockwork  Some researchers have argued that motives such as hunger, are triggered automatically by changes in factors such as blood sugar levels, hormones. Other researchers point out that learned motives may also generate behavior outside of awareness  This mechanistic approach assumes that changes in specific factors activate circuits that in turn, motivate the organism to engage in behavior  Neither conscious awareness or the intent on the part of organism is assumed  Other researchers more often interested in externally motivates states and acquired motives, believe that motivational processes are cognitive in nature OR Are motivational processes cognitive in so far as conscious choice operates. This approach assumes that the manner in which information is interpreted influences motive states/  E.g., attributing failure to ability or to luck; does this influence emotion and subsequent motivation?  Cognitive implies that there is some element of awareness reflection, and ultimately choice  Individuals have compulsions that play havoc in their lives. This could be drugs or alcohol  Our motivational process is cognitive and so far as choice operate  The cognitive approach assumes that the manner in which information is interpreted as influences motive states  In certain situations, behaviour is best understood as motivated by internal states that activate the organism to respond in genetically determined ways  No one approach would appear to be better than any other in explaining motivation in its entirety V: Levels of Analysis (this is the different levels that it is studied) A: Physiological Analysis is concerned with the brain’s control of motivated states  This is typically concerned with the brain’s control of motivated states

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Which brain structures trigger motivational states? Study the brain through (1) electrical, (2) chemical, (3) surgical Studies of the role of the nervous system in motivation often requires electrical, chemical or surgical manipulation or carefully mapped brain areas Thin wires of electrodes – that were designed so that portions of the brain could be stimulated electrically by the experiments

E.g., Olds and Milner’s study of “reward centers” in the brain by (1) implanting electrodes in selected brain sites. Rats were motivated for hours to receive electrical stimulation in the septal region of the brain by depressing a lever  Direct manipulation of the brain by electrical stimulation has shown us that brain circuits exists that may be active when reward occurs  Research can also study motivation by chemically stimulating the brain after inserting a minute tube (called a canula) into a specific brain region, injecting a solution, and noting how motivation changes as a result.  Additionally, researchers create a lesion within the brain by surgically removing some portion of it and observing how (or if) motivation is altered  It is also possible to record the brain’s natural electrical activity during various motivated states  The general activity of large groups of brain cells called (neurons) can be recorded by an electroencephalograph (EEG) while small groups of cells and even single neurons can be recorded through the use of depth electrode. Positron-emission tomography (PET) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI or fMRI) are also used to study the brain o These studies can identify what part of the brain is being used for a specific task January 20, 2022 – Week 2 

The textbook mostly focuses on theory, concepts and methods and provides a considerable amount of contextual material, largely in form of experimental studies which support these particular constructs

(2) Chemical manipulation by inserting a tube (Canula) into brain sites and releasing chemicals. (3) Lesion within the brain by removing brain tissue in a given site of the brain and observe behavior result. (4) EEG recording of brain wave patterns associated with motivation. PET records of metabolic activity and MRI to visualize active areas in the brain (p. 9-10). B. Individual Analysis research aimed at under-standing motivational changes due to internal and external conditions.  In studies of achievement, motivation was induced by telling subjects that they had failed an important task. In aggression studies observe results of modeled presentations of aggression (p. 10-11). C. Social Analysis examines motivational changes in the presence and absence of others. The role of situational factors such as at work, school, a party. D. Philosophical Analysis may view motivation as an aversive state to escape or avoid.

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Freud’s philosophy presents motivation as tension that must be released and thus reduced so as to restore equilibrium.

VI: Major Constructs: A: Energy drives behaviour and specific mechanisms direct behaviour to different goals depending on the motive activated.  Energy is an important construct in motivational psychology  Terms synonymous with energy: drive, force  The emphasis is on a power, drive and activation which motivates, propels, initiate action and reaction  Energy does not suggest passivity. It suggests force or activity (with regard to the actions directed toward a particular goal of choice)  Energy drives behavior and there are specific mechanisms that direct behavior different goals, dependent on the activation of the motive  The vital source  General energy - motivational drive is a single source for all behaviour. Or there may be. This is a general energy that is the source for all behavior a. This tends to refer to an overall arousal and the word arousal is more or less synonymous with motivation b. When you are motivated, you are aroused and you are also emotional c. If you are highly emotional, you are motivated and not inert because you are motivated to pursue a goal d. Example: overall arousal  Specific forces behind particular behaviours. These are the forces that are related to particular behaviors. Hunger would be specific, thirst would be specific a. When you are hungry, it is specific to food gathering Page 5, chapter 1 of the textbook  Depriving an organism of food, is an operation of deprivation, we then observe the result of our operation, we observe the organism being aroused and activated and motivated in its search for food so we can anchor the motivation to the behavior Coming into being textbook:  There is reference in the context of Sabina spiel Ryan’s theory to the self-preservation, drive, and the species, preservation drive. These two drive sources may not always be compatible B: Physiological mechanisms assume motivational dispositions are genetically programmed or ‘wired-in’ to the organism. (self-preservation, which exists in all species and species preservation) This approach takes one of two forms: 1. Instinct approach assumes energy accumulates and leads to a motivational state responsive to specific stimuli releasing specific behaviours (e.g., imprinting). And evolutionary psychology emphasizes motivated behaviours as adaptations to environmental conditions that benefit the organism and species’ survival. (a direct outgrowth to Darwin’s evolution theory, which motivation psychology has incorporated into its own way of understanding. organisms behave within a given species in patterned and repetitive and shared manners.

a. The more advance, and complex the specie is, that more that specie can be impacted by experience. (human beings are a great example) b. Our behavior is not strictly instinctual. But, we build on an instinctual bases (reflexes, earlier patterns) c. Imprinting – in early life, there are the sensitive, or critical periods that are part of the maturation of the individual organism, during that critical period, when a particular stimulus is presented, the animal is very responsive to it. The animal becomes imprinted to that stimulus, meaning bonded or attached. It is important for the animal survival, to be that responsive during that time. d. this then leads to releasing specific behaviors 2. Brain Circuitry approach: specific brain circuits monitor internal state of the body and activate motivated behaviour (e.g., hunger need is related to monitored glucose levels). a. from a physiological point of view, we are looking at instinct, or genetically based dispositions that have evolved and represent adaptations b. we can examine the internal state of the party, and how it is activated into motivated behaviour, such as hunger. It gets us down to a physio chemical level, which psychology does not ignore. But there are areas within psychology that would look at physio c...