Biological Bases Flashcards
Primary drives
Hunger, thirst, the need to sleep, and the drive to reproduce.
Motivation
A need or desire that serves to energize or direct behavior.
Secondary drive
Desire to obtain learned reinforcers, such as money or social acceptance.
Olds and Milner
Discovered that rats would press a bar in order to send a small electrical pulse into certain areas of the brain.
Instinct theory
Posits that the learning of species-specific behavior motivates organisms to do what is necessary to ensure their survival.
Arousal theory
States that there is an optimal level of arousal, that is, of alertness and activation, at which a performance on a given task is optimal.
Yerkes-Dodson law
Tasks of moderate difficulty, neither too easy not too hard, elicit the highest level of performance.
Opponent process theory
Theory of motivation that is clearly relevant to the concept of addiction. Posits that we start off at a motivational baseline, at which we are not motivated to act. Then encounter a stimulus that feels good, such as a drug or even a positive social interaction.
Drive-reduction theory
Motivation that posits that psychological needs put stress on the body and that we are motivated to reduce this negative experience.
Homeostasis
Regulatory equilibrium. When it shifts we try to right the balance.
Set point
Target temperature for the body
Ventromedial hypothalamus
Sends messages to the brain to eat less and exercise more if body weight rises above the set point.
Lateral hypothalamus
When body weight falls below the set point, The brain sends messages to eat more and exercise less.
