motivation Flashcards
define motivation
Process within the brain controlling which behaviors and physiological changes occur and when
list some activities that pigs do
◦ Search for food
◦ Search for mate
◦ Search for water
◦ Go back to sleep
Regulation of vital body functions occur at two levels:
- Sensory input to the brain about the body’s environment
- Behavior responses occur if sensory responses (autonomic nervous system) are not adequate to bring body into equilibrium
what two things receive signals from the hypothalamic regions that cause physiologic response?
autonomic nervous system and pituitary gland
what is the purpose of sensory input to the brain about the body’s environment?
Provide information about general or specific body functions
what are some other aspects of animals life can counteract food searching?
◦ Skin irritation
◦ Presence of potential mate
true/false: some factors will be altered (in their effect on the probability of a particular behavior being initiated) by the previous experience of that animal
false: all factors
What experiences might make a pig less likely to start food searching?
◦ Experienced odor of food, but never been followed by food being made available
◦ Gut may be empty, but knows gut must be empty for several hours before food is forthcoming
◦ Sound of 2 people talking, food-searching unnecessary because pig will be fed soon
◦ Dominant pig at the feeder
Each input to the brain must be interpreted in relation to _____ experience
previous
do all inputs reach the decision-making center?
no, interpretation results in their relevance to be zero
define casual factors
Interpretations of a wide variety of external changes and internal states of body
Any identifiable entity or circumstance in the internal or external environment of an organism presumed to be primarily responsible for its individual psychological states & behavioral activities
All changes in behavior are a manifestation of the animal’s response to changes in the _____________
casual factors
what state depends on the number and importance of casual factors?
motivational
what is an example of a motivational state?
pig deprived of water
what are three ways there can be input to the brain (causal factors)
- Monitors of body fluids
- Sensory receptors in mouth that indicate dry mouth
- Brain centers that indicate to pig that drinking has not been possible for awhile
Level of causal factors which promote a particular action vary over a ______
range
Why does an animal show a particular behavior at a particular time?
innate response
define innate response
Nature motivates naïve animals into giving the correct response when stimulated for situations where learning how to respond would be too hazardous or slow to assure fitness
learned responses are a “_________” of an animal’s behavior
“fine tuning”
many essential responses occur initially as _______ behavior
innate
three characteristics of innate behavior
- Adaptive
- Stereotyped
- Unlearned
Instinct replaced with the concept of ______
drive
what is drive a component of?
homeostatic control
how can drive concepts be useful?
if defined independently of the variations in behavior which they are supposed to explain
Thirst is ________ variable between independent and dependent variables
intervening
what is an independent variable
effects on animal such as water deprivation
what is a dependent variable
behavioral responses such as amount of water drunk
Contemporary theory sees the animal as being: (5)
- Intrinsically active rather than passive
- Goal-seeking (purposeful)
- Flexible
- Able to learn cognitions
- Exploratory
define motivational behavior and provide and example
Object or event that is not directly detectable or not actually occurring at the time is a cognitive representation
◦ Dog searching for a thrown stick
define displacement activity and an example
Animals in situation where two actions are likely, but a third is observed
Behavior that is seemingly irrelevant to the situation being faced by an animal
Coined by ethologists to label behavior that was seemingly out of context (or “displaced” from the situation)
◦ Alarmed gull lands near its nest and starts preening
when may displacement activity occur?
when an animal is frustrated in its attempts to perform actions appropriate to the circumstances
Or
when it apparently experiences conflict among motivations for different actions
how can you monitor physiological measurements?
Assays for blood sugars, hormones
what are ways to monitor motivation
- Observation of behavior
- Brain recordings
- physiological measurements
how can observation of motivation be misleading?
Many causal factors (levels) may be high without there being any evidence of this from current activity
what is a thermal neutral zone
Animal seeks to maintain itself in tolerable range
explain negative feedback
As displacement from an initial state within the tolerable range occurs, this changed is monitored, and as soon as a set point is reached some corrective action is taken
explain Feed forward control
◦ A displacement from the tolerable range is predicted and a correction is made before the state changes
◦ Animals use a variety of cues and previous experience to predict that the state will depart from tolerable range & they act in a way in which prevents this from happening
Sollwert- “__________ behavior”
should be
Istwert- “________ behavior”
actual
animals prefer events that are ___________
predictable
Rats & dogs show a clear preference for _______ & control over ____________
prediction
unpredictability
predictable shocks caused _______ ulcers in rats then unpredictable shocks
fewer
Unpredictability in feeding after regular feeding leads to increases in ___________ activity
adrenal cortex
if adverse events are predictable animals can prepare for them behaviorally or by activating the ______________________________
analgesic brain opiate system
what is frustration
A theoretical concept referring to a condition that is produced when an organism is blocked in its attempts to achieve a goal
Levels of most causal factors which promote a behavior are high enough for occurrence of the behavior, but because of absence of a key stimulus or presence of some ______ or _______ barrier, the behavior cannot occur
physical
social
feelings and emotions are causal factors that can have a substantial effect on decision making ______ System
Limbic
feelings and emotions ______ casual effect on much behavior
modify
feelings and emotions are active when individual has _______
feelings
define feelings
stemming from the brain and involving sophisticated processing
◦ Brain construct involving at least perceptual awareness which is associated with a life-regulating system, is recognizable by the individual when it recurs and may change behavior or act as a reinforce of learning
define emotions
A physiologically describable component of a feeling characterized by electrical and neurochemical activity in particular regions of the brain, autonomic system nervous system activity, hormone release and peripheral consequences including behavior
Fear is a feeling, but ____________ occur
bodily changes
the term feeling __________ the emotion
encompasses
what happens during emotions
Physiological changes in the body associated with brain activity and often also behavioral modification
a covered food bowl was associated with what in goats?
Time spent away from bowl, increased locomotion, little indication of autonomic changes and increased prefrontal cortical activity
Near-infrared spectroscopy indicates _______ changes in the brain
hemodynamic
food availability in goats resulted in:
Reduced locomotion, stayed near food bowl, showed sympathetically mediated arousal indicating anticipation
care must be taken in the interpretation of ________
information
Some physiologic and behavioral changes are associated with more than one _____
feeling
when a dog has done something “wrong” that the owner has told it not to do is interpreted as indicating a feeling of ____, may be a response to the ______ behavior of the owner
guilty
current
Torres-Pereira and Broom observed pet dogs that had been told not to take a food object, while the owner left the room some dogs ate the food object. what was the result of this study and what can we take away from it?
◦ While owner was absent, these dogs had higher HR than dogs that obeyed
◦ When owners returned after 30s and behaved exactly the same whatever the dog had done, carefully not looking at dog
◦ Difference in behavior between dog that had taken food vs. those that didn’t
◦ Suggests the concept of “wrongness”
◦ Cannot be separated from a prediction of negative consequences
hypothalamus governs ___________ state
motivational
hypothalamus is important in regulating several homeostatic mechanisms and related emotional reactions such as:
◦ Body temperature
◦ Ingestion of food & water
◦ Sexual behavior and rage
hypothalamus regulates which system
autonomic nervous system
hypothalamus links which two systems
nervous system to endocrine system
how does the hypothalamus regulate the hypophysis (pituitary gland)?
◦ Neurohypophysis (ADH and oxytocin) (posterior pituitary gland)
◦ Adenohypophysis (prolactin, ACTH) (anterior pituitary gland)
vassopressin
ADH, conserve water
oxytocin
bonding, smooth muscle contraction, “love” hormone, released during parturition
ACTH
adrenocorticotropic hormone, cortisol released, “stress” hormone
prolactin
milk production or lactation, grooming behavior
what are the main parts of the limbic system?
◦ Hypothalamus
◦ Hippocampus
◦ Amygdala
what does the orbitofrontal cortex from the limbic system do?
important for decision making
what is the nucleus accumbens in the limbic system?
produces feelings of pleasure and pain (addiction)
what is the overall purpose of the limbic system?
Reacts to external and internal pleasant or unpleasant stimuli
vs.
Coordinates changes needed to maintain homeostasis (hypothalamus)
the amygdala is primarily responsible for regulating our perceptions of and reactions to :
aggression and fear
- fear, including the sympathetic nervous system, facial responses, the processing of smells, and the release of neurotransmitters related to stress and aggression
◦ Also helps animal learn from situations that create fear
◦ When animal experience events that are dangerous, the amygdala stimulates the brain to remember the details of the situation so animal learns to avoid it in the future
what is the hippocampus important for?
storing information in long-term memory
navigation
◦ Living in a strange world where everything it experiences just fades away, even while older memories from the time before the damage are untouched
◦ Spatial and temporal pattern separation, sequential learning, short-term and intermediate-term memory
what happens if the hippocampus is damaged?
animal cannot build new memories
