Psychology 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Motivation, Walter Bradford Cannon, Drive Theory

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Dr.Mike

Document Summary

Motivation is a process that in uences direction, persistence, and vigor of goal- directed behaviour. There are 4 different perspectives on motivation: Instincts (an inherited predisposition to react a certain way) motivate much of our behaviour. Found universally among all members of a species. Have a genetic basis, and survival value. Instinct theory is often dismissed because of it"s circular reasoning eg. why are people greedy? because greed is an instinct. Evolutionary psychology states that our genes have evolved over time, because they have given us a speci c bene t. The adaptive signi cance of behaviour is key to understanding motivation. Homeostasis is a state of internal physiological equilibrium that the body strives to maintain. Sensory mechanisms for detecting changes (set point) Response system that can restore equilibrium (heating/ac) Control centre that receives information from the sensors (thermostat) Homeostatic responses can also deal with learned behaviors.