PSYCH101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Ventromedial Nucleus Of The Hypothalamus, Eating Disorder, Sexual Orientation

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH101
• Professor: Paul Wehr

Document Summary

The study of motivation concerns the physiological and psychological processes underlying the initiation of behaviours that direct organisms toward specific goals. These initiating factors, or motives include the thoughts, feelings, sensations, and bodily processes that lead to goal-directed behaviour: ex. when you are thirsty, you"re motivated to drink water. Drive a biological trigger that tells us we may be deprived of something and causes us to seek out what is needed, such as food or water. When a drive is satisfied, the reward centres in our brain become activated. This reinforces our behaviour, making it more likely that we"ll respond to these drives. Motivation is essential because at its most basic level it contributes to homeostasis, the body"s physiological processes that allow us to maintain consistent internal states in response to the outer environment. Motivation is not only influenced by current needs, but also by the anticipation of future needs.