Conceptualizing and Measuring Motivation and the Role of Evolution in Motivation
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Course
PSYC2230 (PSYC2230)
Institution
York University (Ebor
)
Book
Motivation: Theory, Research, and Application
Provides information on conceptualizing motivation, measurement, characteristics, categories of analysis, levels of analysis, constructs, philosophical antecedents, and evolution.
Concept of Motivation [pg. 4]
Forces acting on or within an organism to initiate action
Motivated behaviour displays Intensity and Persistence
Measurement of Motivation [pg. 5]
Not measured directly; manipulate stimulus condition and observe behavioural response
Stimulation is deprivation, and speed of running in a maze is Response
Infer motivational processes from change in behaviour
Motivation is an Intervening Variable: it serves to link the stimulation and response and as an
intervening variable it provides an explanation for the relationship between stimulation and response
Motivation is a Performance Variable: when enough is present, behaviour is performed
Characteristics of Motivation [pg. 6 - 7]
1. Activation: The production of overt and covert behaviour.
2. Persistence: Ongoing performance of behaviour.
3. Vigor: Forceful-effortful behaviour.
4. Direction: Which choice of goal is made. Measure direction in terms of a Preference Test of possible
choices.
Categories of Analysis [pg. 7 - 8]
Study motivation from different viewpoints
Nomothetic vs. Idiographic [pg. 7 - 8]
Nomothetic: A search for general laws by studying large groups
o Results that hold for one group may apply to other groups
Idiographic: A search of individual differences (e.g. how organisms differ from each other)
Innate vs. Acquired [pg. 8]
McDougall and James saw motivated behaviour as controlled by innate motives-- inborn motives
called instincts
Acquired motives in contrast are learned; incentive motivation is the value placed on a goal and the
goal becomes through experience and learning to be valued
Internal vs. External [pg. 8 - 9]
Biological-Needs are sources of motivation and are internal
Deprivation brings about needs as internal sources of motivated behaviour, whereas incentives and
goals are external sources of motivation
Mechanistic vs. Cognitive [pg. 9]
, PSYC2230: Chapter 1 PowerPoint
Motivational processes that are blind and mechanical, triggered automatically by internal and external
sources without conscious awareness or choice? OR… Are motivational processes cognitive in so far as
conscious choice operates? This approach assumes that the manner in which information is
interpreted influences motive states
o E.g. Attributing failure to ability or to luck; does this influence emotion and subsequent
motivation?
Levels of Analysis [pg. 9 - 12]
Physiological Analysis [pg. 9 - 10]
Concerned with the brain’s control of motivated states
Which brain structures trigger motivational states? Electrical, chemical, and surgical manipulation
1. Electrical: Olds and Milner’s study of “reward centres” in the brain by implanting electrodes in
selected brain sites. Rats were motivated for hours to receive electrical stimulation in the septal region
of the brain by depressing a lever.
2. Chemical: Inserting a tube (Canula) into brain sites and releasing chemicals.
3. Lesion: Removing brain tissue in a given site of the brain and observe behaviour result.
4. EEG recording of brain wave patterns associated with motivation. PET records of metabolic activity and
MRI to visualize active areas in the brain.
Individual Analysis [pg. 10 - 11]
Research aimed at understanding motivational changes due to internal and external conditions
In studies of achievement, motivation was induced by telling subjects that they had failed an important
task
In aggression, studies observe results of modeled presentations of aggression
Social Analysis [pg. 11 - 12]
Examines motivational changes in the presence and absence of others
The role of situational factors such as at work, school, a party…
Philosophical Analysis [pg. 12]
May view motivation as an aversive state to escape or avoid
Freud’s philosophy presents motivation as tension that must be released and thus reduced so as to
restore equilibrium
Major Constructs [pg. 13 - 15]
Energy [pg. 13]
Drives behaviour, and specific mechanisms direct behaviour to different goals depending on the motive
activated
General energy: Motivational drive is a single source for all behaviour
Specific forces: Particular behaviours feeding behaviour
Physiological Mechanisms [pg. 13 - 14]
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