Week 2 - Motivation Flashcards
Principle 1: What is the Barnum effect?
This effect, named for the infamous showman P. T. Barnum, refers to descriptions that seem very personal, but that is actually so vague that they could describe almost anyone!
Principle 2: What is Occam’s Razor (ie principle of parsimony)?
If two explanations account for a certain set of data/outcome equally well, take the simpler one (unless new data permits the more complex explanation to be required)
Principle 3: What is the replication principle?
The findings of a study need to be able to be duplicated to ensure the initial results were not a fluke.
To make studies more full-proof, certain journals are now mandating a minimum number of participants or pre-registration.
How is psychology different from philosophy?
Psychology offers a way to objectively test claims.
Historical Approaches: 1649 Descartes
Mind-Body problem - What is the relationship between the physical body and the mind?
Historical Approaches: 1850 - Fechner
Developed psychophysical measures and was best known for finding a mathematical relationship between psychological sensations and the intensity of an object (ie perceptions of how heavy something feels compared to how heavy it actually is)
Historical Approaches: 1859 Charles Darwin
Pioneered the idea that the link between our mind and behaviour is to do with human being a continuity of other animal species.
What is motivation?
A driver that directs our behaviours by playing on our wants and needs
What are primary needs/motivations?
Primary: Biological - the physiological needs critical for survival and physical wellbeing
Eg oxygen, sleep, food, water, temperature regulation, waste elimination, sex
What did Freud theorise about motivation?
He theorised that behaviours are motivated by conscious and unconscious desires, which are not in unison
Name and describe the 5 influential frameworks of psychology
Structuralism: the analysis of the mind in terms of its simplest definable components which can be fit together in more complex forms
Functionalism: the doctrine that what makes something a mental state (eg thought, desire, pain) is, not what it is made up of, but what its function is (ie the role it plays) in the cognitive system
Behaviourism: the idea that behaviours are learnt through interaction with, and learning from, the environment
Cognitivism: is the study of mental processes such as how information is received, organised, stored, and retrieved by the mind
Psychodynamics: Analysis of internal drives and conflicts that shape the relationship between conscious, unconscious and mental processes
What are the 3 theoretical constructs of psyche?
Id - Unconscious, instinctual, irrational drives (eg eros - sex and life drive OR thanatos - aggression and death instinct drive)
Superego - morally responsible drive, operates at preconscious awareness
Ego - conscious, rational mind that ensures id and superego drives manifest appropriately
Name and describe the false fallacies?
Emotional Reasoning Fallacy - using emotions to evaluate the validity of a claim
Bandwagon Fallacy - assuming a claim is correct because many people believe in it
Not Me Fallacy - Thinking that we are immune from the errors in thinking that afflicts other people
What are the three types of conflicts that arise from conflicting drives?
Approach-approach conflict - when a situation presents two equally desirable, but incompatible, alternatives
Avoidance-avoidance conflict - when a situation presents two equally undesirable alternatives
Approach-avoidance conflict - when a situation presents both a desirable and undesirable consequence or aspect
What are incentive motivational theories?
Incentive theories try to account for the inadequacies of DRT by differentiating between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.
Note: Intrinsic motivation can be devalued by extrinsic reinforcements
