Chapter 11 – Motivation and emotion (Drive)
Hellen Keller went deaf and blind; lived in constant frustration, until Anne Sullivan came to help her
with communicating – touching objects and spelling out with her finger, allowed her to essentially
feel what others would just see. Her motivation came from her realisation that she could be assisted
through life and built up to help her achieve what she did – Proof that brain damage, like meningitis
or scarlet fever affect the sensory systems and impact how we feel – takes time to adapt, but intense
emotion takes over once they achieve something. Emotion motivate us – when we see others
destructive habits take a toll, we get SCARED and this MOTIVATES us to improve ourselves
Motivation: Force that prompts us to take action, be it the need to eat, work, play or socialise –
influences direction and resilience. Applies direction to goal-directed behaviour
Theories of motivation:
Biological
,Instincts: Species specific, done to subdue biological needs, like food and comfort and they tend to
aid with survival, as without food or with maternal deprivation, our development is hindered or we
basically die
Drive reduction: Aiming to retain bodily equilibrium, by making sure we heed the aversive stimuli
our body produces, like hunger or being cold, thus we must get a coat or undergo thermoregulatory,
automatic responses to retain heat as well as eat food so that out ventromedial hypothalamus is
activated and our hunger subsides
Avoidance and acceptance motivation: Jeffrey Gray (1991) Behavioural activation system is when
signals of positive rewards and the need for gratification motivate us (positive reinforcement) – we
are more likely to replicate behaviours that take us closer to our goals, making us more happy and
excited controlled by prefrontal cortex, where goal directed behaviour and self-regulation is
stored
Behavioural inhibition system is when signals showcase pain, deprivation and punishment, thus we
try get scared and feel withdrawn, causing us to freeze or fight or overreact, demonstrating
avoidance behaviours, since if we run away from what causes these responses, we will not feel
scared controlled by limbic system, so amygdala and the hippocampus, where our emotions tend
to be more externalised when something we fear approaches, thus we avoid it
Reward related Pleasure, desire –
BAS approach behaviour
stimulus – teacher
gives out candy for – more to be right
right answers then answer her
Punishment related Fear– Avoidance
stimulus – SEEING A behaviour –AVOID
BIS AREAS WITH
CLOWN AND
GETTING SCARED CLOWNS IN THEM
, Theories of Motivation: Cognitive