Week 5: Motivation

Question 1

What is “motivation”?

Answer 1

The influences that account for the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of a behaviour.

Question 2

What do psychologists think of motivation as?

Answer 2

An intervening variable - something that is used to explain the relationships between environmental stimuli and behavioural responses. We have to infer, or presume, that motivation is present from what we can observe.

Question 3

In order to be considered a motive, an intervening variable must…

Answer 3

Have the power to change behaviour in some way

Question 4

True or false: motives can help explain why different stimuli can lead to the same response, and why the same stimulus can elicit different responses

Answer 4

True

Question 5

What are the four motives for human behaviour?

Answer 5

1. Physiological (or biological) factors: such as the need for food and water. 2. Emotional factors: such as panic, fear, anger, love and hatred. 3. Cognitive factors - perceptions of the world, self beliefs, expectations and consequences. 4. Social factors - influence of parents, teachers, siblings, friends or situations.

Question 6

What are the three components of motivation?

Answer 6

Direction: what a person is trying to do Effort: how hard a person is trying Persistence: how long a person continues trying

Question 7

What type of factors do Instinct Theory, Drive Reduction Theory, and Arousal Theory focus on?

Answer 7

Biology or internal factors

Question 8

What type of factor does Incentive theory focus on?

Answer 8

External factors

Question 9

What is instinct theory of motivation?

Answer 9

This theory posits that instincts (evolutionary behaviour that is pre-programmed into a species) drive behaviour. The basics of this theory are depicted in the following simple video along with it’s limitations. E.g hunger - instinct to eat. Or tired - instinct to sleep. It completed dismisses emotions and free will. So has been disregarded - lack of scientific evidence. Motivation stems from more complicated factors.

Question 10

What are Maslow’s 5 stages in the hierarchy of needs?

Answer 10

Physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self actualisation

Question 11

What is the drive reduction theory of motivation?

Answer 11

The key elements to this theory are that; a) a lack or shortage of some biological essential that is required for survival creates a biological need, and b) the brain responds by creating a psychological state called a drive, a feeling that prompts one to take action to restore balance. The health of any living organism is optimised when the internal environment is balanced. If the internal environment becomes imbalanced for some reason (depicted as the scales on the left), then signals are sent to the organisms brain that it needs to take action to restore equilibrium (depicted as the scales on the right). The drive reduction theory attempts to explain motivation at a general species level e.g., the ideal internal environment for humans and deviations away from that as a prompt for action. Similar to the instinct theory, drive reduction theory does not take individual differences into account.

Question 12

What is arousal theory?

Answer 12

Arousal theory states that people are motivated to behave in ways to maintain or restore their optimal level of arousal, increasing arousal when it is too low and decreasing it when it is too high. In general, people perform and feel best when arousal is moderate.

Question 13

What is Yerkes-Dodson law?

Answer 13

That a simple task is performed best when arousal levels are relatively high and complex tasks are best performed when arousal levels are lower

Question 14

What is incentive theory?

Answer 14

The premise of this approach is that we are motivated to behave in ways that will result in rewards (i.e. a positive incentive) and that we are also motivated to behave in ways that allows us to avoid punishment or something unpleasant (i.e., negative incentives). Decades of research suggests that the more rewards people are offered does not necessarily mean greater motivation, however and findings such as this has implications for understanding what motivates employees in an organisation. Incentive theory is also known as the “carrot and stick” approach to motivation.

Question 15

According to maslow’s hierarchy of needs, what are our main primal motivators?

Answer 15

The need to drink water, and eat food – because they are necessary for our survival. These are our physiological needs

Question 16

Motivation is said to be an _______________, a way of linking various stimuli to the behaviours that follow them.

Answer 16

Intervening variable

Question 17

Motivation follows from

Answer 17

Instinctive behaviours, which are automatic, involuntary and unlearned action patterns consistently ‘released’ by particular stimuli.

Question 18

Similarities and Differences among the drive reduction theory and instinct theory of motivation:

Answer 18

The drive reduction theory of motivation is similar to the instinct theory of motivation insofar that they both focus on internal factors. The point of difference is that drive theory revolves around the concept of homeostasis.

Question 19

Homeostasis

Answer 19

Is a tendency to maintain equilibrium in a physical or behavioural process.

Question 20

Which Theory is based on the Homeostasis?

Answer 20

Drive reduction theory

Question 21

According to __________ people are motivated to behave in ways that maintain a level of physiological arousal that is optimal for their functioning.

Answer 21

The Arousal Theory.

Question 22

Instinct doctrine

Answer 22

View that explains human behaviour as motivated by automatic, involuntary and unlearned responses.

Question 23

The instinct doctrine are seen in evolutionary accounts of

Answer 23

Helping, aggression, mate selection and other aspects of social behaviour.

Question 24

Instinctive behaviours

Answer 24

Are innate, automatic dispositions towards responding in a particular way when confronted with a specific stimulus.

Question 25

Needs

Answer 25

Are biological requirements for wellbeing that are created by an imbalance in homeostasis.

Question 26

Drives

Answer 26

Are psychological state of arousal created by an imbalance in homeostasis that prompts an organism to take action to restore the balance and reduce the drive.

Question 27

Primary drives

Answer 27

Are drives that arise from basic biological needs.

Question 28

Secondary drives

Answer 28

Are drives that arise through learning and can be as motivating as primary drives.

Question 29

Primary drives are _________; secondary drives are _______.

Answer 29

Unlearned; learned.

Question 30

Hunger

Answer 30

Is the general state of wanting to eat.

Question 31

Satiation

Answer 31

The satisfaction of a need such as hunger.

Question 32

Satiety

Answer 32

The condition of no longer wanting to eat.

Question 33

Appetite

Answer 33

The motivation to seek food’s pleasures.

Question 34

The most important signals about the body’s fuel level and nutrient needs are sent to the brain from:

Answer 34

The blood

Question 35

More recent research has shown that the brain constantly monitors both the level of food nutrients absorbed into the bloodstream from

Answer 35

The stomach and the level of hormones released into the blood in response to those nutrients and from stored fat.

Question 36

The nutrients that the brain monitors include

Answer 36

Glucose (the main form of sugar used by body cells), Fatty acids (from fats) and amino acids (from proteins). The brain also monitors hormone levels to regulate hunger and satiety. For example, when a lack of nutrients is detected by the stomach, the hormone ghrelin is released into the bloodstream and acts as a ‘start eating’ signal when it reaches the brain.

Question 37

When the level of blood ________ drops, eating increases sharply.

Answer 37

Glucose.

Question 38

What happens when glucose levels rise?

Answer 38

The pancreas releases insulin, a hormone that most body cells need in order to use the glucose they receive. Insulin itself may also provide a satiety signal by acting directly on brain cells.

Question 39

The hormone leptin appears to be a key ________ to the brain.

Answer 39

Satiety signal; Unlike glucose and insulin, whose satiety signals help us know when to end a particular meal, leptin appears to be involved mainly in the long-term regulation of body fat.

Question 40

The _______________ play a primary role in detecting and reacting to the blood’s signals about the need to eat. It also detect leptin and insulin; these regions generate signals that either increase hunger and reduce energy expenditure or else reduce hunger and increase energy expenditure.

Answer 40

Hypothalamus

Question 41

Neuromodulators

Answer 41

Are substances that modify the action of neurotransmitters .

Question 42

Set Point Theory

Answer 42

Is the view that activity in the ventromedial and lateral areas of the hypothalamus interact to maintain some homeostatic level, or set point, based on food intake, body weight or other eating-related signals.

Question 43

The lateral hypothalamus contains networks that stimulate:

Answer 43

Eating. When the lateral hypothalamus is electrically or chemically stimulated, rats eat huge quantities, even if they just had a large meal. When the lateral hypothalamus is destroyed, however, rats stop eating almost entirely.

Question 44

The paraventricular nucleus in the hypothalamus

Answer 44

As with the ventromedial nucleus, stimulating the paraventricular nucleus results in reduced food intake. Damaging it causes animals to become obese .

Question 45

Hunger and the eating of particular types of food is related to the effects of various neurotransmitters on certain neurons in the brain. For example:

Answer 45

The neurotransmitter, called neuropeptide Y: stimulates increased eating of carbohydrates. Serotonin, suppresses carbohydrate intake. Galanin motivates the eating of high-fat food. Whereas enteristatin, the neurotransmitter reduces it. Endocannabinoids stimulate eating in general, especially the eating of tasty foods. They affect the same hypothalamic receptors as the active ingredient in marijuana, which may account for the ‘munchies’, a sudden hunger that marijuana use often creates. Peptide YY3-36 causes a feeling of fullness and reduces food intake

Question 46

Problems in the processes of regulating hunger and eating may cause eating disorders such as:

Answer 46

Anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, or a level of food intake that leads to obesity.

Question 47

Obesity

Answer 47

Is a condition in which a person is severely overweight, as measured by a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30. People whose BMI is between 25 and 29.9 are considered overweight.

Question 48

BMI is determined by:

Answer 48

Taking a person’s weight in kilograms and dividing that number by the square of the person’s height in metres.

Question 49

Anorexia nervosa

Answer 49

Is an eating disorder characterised by a combination of self-starvation, self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise and laxative use that results in a body weight that is below 85 per cent of normal.

Question 50

Bulimia nervosa

Answer 50

Like anorexia, bulimia involves an intense fear of being fat, but the person may be thin, normal in weight, or even overweight. Bulimia involves eating huge amounts of food (say, several boxes of biscuits, a litre of ice-cream and burgers) and then getting rid of the food through self-induced vomiting or strong laxatives. These ‘binge-purge’ episodes may occur as often as twice a day.

Question 51

Why are bulimia and anorexia are different disorders?

Answer 51

For one thing, most people with bulimia see their eating habits as problematic, whereas most individuals with anorexia do not. In addition, bulimia nervosa is usually not life-threatening. There are health consequences, however, including dehydration, nutritional problems and intestinal damage. Many people with bulimia develop dental problems from the acids associated with vomiting. Frequent vomiting and the insertion of objects to trigger it can also cause damage to the throat.

Question 52

Non Biological factors that stimulate eating:

Answer 52

The sights and smells of particular foods elicit eating because of prior associations; family customs and social occasions include norms for eating in particular ways. Stress also is often associated with eating more.

Question 53

Sexual arousal

Answer 53

Physiological responses that arise from sexual contact or erotic thoughts.

Question 54

Sexual response cycle

Answer 54

Is the pattern of physiological arousal during and after sexual activity.

Question 55

People’s motivation to engage in sexual activity has biological roots in sex hormones. For example:

Answer 55

The female sex hormones include oestrogens and progestational hormones (also called progestins; the main ones are oestradiol and progesterone). The male hormones are androgens; the main one is testosterone. Each sex hormone flows in the blood of both sexes, but the average man has more male than female hormones, and the average woman has more female than male hormones.

Question 56

Sex hormones have both organisational and activational effects on the brain:

Answer 56

The organisational effects are permanent changes that alter the brain’s response to hormones. The activational effects are temporary behavioural changes that last only as long as a hormone level remains elevated, such as during puberty or in the ovulation phase of the monthly menstrual cycle.

Question 57

Sex hormones

Answer 57

Are chemicals in the blood of males and females that have both organisational and activational effects on sexual behaviour.

Question 58

Sexual orientation

Answer 58

The nature of a person’s enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to others

Question 59

Heterosexuality

Answer 59

Sexual motivation that is focused on members of the other sex.

Question 60

Homosexuality

Answer 60

Sexual motivation that is focused on members of one’s own sex.

Question 61

Bisexuality

Answer 61

Sexual motivation that is focused on members of both sexes.

Question 62

What shapes sexual orientation?

Answer 62

Sexual orientation most likely results from the complex interplay of both genetic and non-genetic mechanisms, both nature and nurture. The evidence available so far suggests that genetic factors, probably operating through prenatal hormones, create differences in the brains of people with different sexual orientations. However, the manner in which a person expresses a genetically influenced sexual orientation will be profoundly shaped by what that person learns through social and cultural experiences.

Question 63

Role of Sex

Answer 63

Sex is not necessary for an individual’s survival, but it is vital for improving the chances that an individual’s genes will be represented in the next generation.

Question 64

Sexual Scripts

Answer 64

Sexual scripts are patterns of behaviour that lead to sex.

Question 65

Achievement motivation

Answer 65

Is the degree to which a person establishes specific goals, cares about meeting those goals, and experiences feelings of satisfaction by doing so. People with a high achievement motivation seek to master tasks – be they sports, business ventures, intellectual puzzles or artistic creations – and obtain intense satisfaction from doing so. They strive for excellence, enjoy themselves in the process, and take great pride in achieving at a high level.

Question 66

Achievement motivation develops in:

Answer 66

Early childhood, under the influence of both genetic and environmental (parental and cultural) forces

Question 67

Wellbeing

Answer 67

Is a combination of a cognitive judgement of satisfaction with life and the frequent experiencing of positive moods and emotions: also known as subjective wellbeing.

Question 68

____________ is the degree to which a person establishes specific goals, cares about meeting those goals, and experiences feelings of satisfaction by doing so

Answer 68

Achievement motivation

Question 69

Achievement and success in the workplace include:

Answer 69

Factors such as the importance of job satisfaction and extrinsic rewards such as money. Clear goals are one way of increasing both job performance and job satisfaction.

Question 70

Oponent processes

Answer 70

Any reaction to a stimulus is followed by an opposite reaction; for example, being startled by a sudden sound is typically followed by relaxation and relief. After repeated exposure to the same stimulus, the initial reaction weakens and the opponent process becomes quicker and stronger.

Question 71

There is some evidence that differing emotions such as _____________ and __________ can affect how successful our efforts are in relation to achievement motivation leve

Answer 71

Anticipation and worry.

Question 72

In revising Maslow’s model, ___________ can be replaced by three other needs: the need to find a mate, the need to keep a mate, and the need to become a parent

Answer 72

Self-actualisation.

Question 73

Emotional experience alters ________.

Answer 73

Thought processes.

Question 74

Emotional experiences are ________ that you feel, usually whether you want to or not.

Answer 74

Passions.

Question 75

The risks associated with Anorexia are severe and can be life threatening. They include:

Answer 75

Anaemia (iron deficiency) Compromised immune system (e.g. getting sick more often) Intestinal problems (e.g. abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhoea) Loss or disturbance of menstruation in girls and women Increased risk of infertility in men and women Kidney failure Osteoporosis– a condition that leads to bones becoming fragile and easily fractured Heart problems (e.g. cardiac abnormalities, sudden cardiac arrest) Death

Question 76

Pansexuality

Answer 76

Sexual motivation that is not influenced by ones gender identity, or sex.

Question 77

Asexuality

Answer 77

A lack or low level of sexual motivation.

Question 78

Kris is taking the TAT test. She looks at a picture and says, ‘The woman in the picture is trying to solve a problem at work. She is thinking hard. She knows if she thinks about it long enough, she’ll be able to figure it out.’ This response reflects ___________ motivation.

Answer 78

Achievement

Question 79

Tom carried a C average throughout his high school career until his last semester, when he achieved an A average. He had discovered that he would be ineligible to accept a football scholarship to the university of his choice without at least an A average in that semester. This example illustrates the role of motivation in

Answer 79

Explaining fluctuations in behaviour over time

Question 80

Dr Luze-Moore is working on a drug that will curb people’s appetite for high-fat foods. Based on your reading of the textbook, Dr Luze-Moore would do best to focus on a way to block the stimulation of which neurotransmitter?

Answer 80

Galanin

Question 81

According to drive reduction theory, an imbalance in homeostasis creates a(n) ___________ to which the brain responds by creating a psychological state called a(n) ___________.

Answer 81

Need; drive

Question 82

Ashley suffers from the most common eating disorder in Australia. She is a picky eater and often cannot accurately assess how much she has eaten. Ashley is suffering from

Answer 82

Obesity

Question 83

Juan is a CEO of Hoola-Hoops, Inc. He sees his employees as lazy, untrustworthy creatures with no interest in their work. Thus, he offers a highly structured, heavily supervised work environment. Juan assumes that his employees are primarily motivated by ___________ rewards.

Answer 83

Extrinsic

Question 84

Chef Devon is publishing a new book of recipes. Which of the following words would best capture his subtitle ‘The motivation to seek food’s pleasures’?

Answer 84

Appetite.

Question 85

Which are the Four basic types of motivational conflict?

Answer 85

Approach–approach conflicts. Avoidance–avoidance conflicts. Approach–avoidance conflicts. And Multiple approach avoidance conflicts.

Question 86

Approach–approach conflicts.

Answer 86

When a person must choose only one of two desirable activities – say, going with friends to a movie or to a party – an approach– approach conflict exists.

Question 87

Avoidance–avoidance conflicts

Answer 87

An avoidance–avoidance conflict arises when a person must pick one of two undesirable alternatives. Someone forced either to sell the family home or to declare bankruptcy faces an avoidance–avoidance conflict.

Question 88

Approach–avoidance conflicts.

Answer 88

If someone you dislike had tickets to your favourite group’s sold-out concert and invited you to come along, what would you do? When a single event or activity has both attractive and unattractive features, an approach–avoidance conflict is created.

Question 89

Multiple approach–avoidance conflicts.

Answer 89

Suppose that you must choose between two jobs. One offers a good salary with a well-known company, but it requires long hours and relocation to a less preferable climate. The other boasts advancement opportunities, fringe benefits and a better climate, but also lower pay and an unpredictable work schedule. This is an example of a multiple approach–avoidance conflict, in which two or more alternatives each have both positive and negative features. Such conflicts are difficult to resolve partly because it may be hard to compare the features of each option. For example, how much more money per year does it take to compensate you for living in a climate you hate?

Question 90

Rosa is trying to decide where to go to university. She could go to the University of Queensland where the weather is beautiful, but the tuition is high and she would be a long way from home. She could also go to the University of Melbourne where she would be close to her family and have a scholarship, but she’s tired of the cold winters and would like to live in a different state. Rosa is faced with a(n) ___________ conflict.

Answer 90

Multiple approach-avoidance