An evolutionary perspective on human motivation provides a means of identifying conceptually distinct motivational systems (including motives pertaining to self‐protection, disease avoidance, affiliation, status, mate acquisition, mate retention, and parental care), each of which has unique implications for affect, cognition, and behavior.
However, official theories of motivation did not start to develop until the early 1900’s. The first few theories of motivation viewed man as a simple animal to be manipulated and controlled for his own good, but after World War II and the great depression, man was seen as having complex social and physical needs.
Behavioral learning concepts such as association and reinforcement play an important role in this theory of motivation. This theory shares some similarities with the behaviorist concept of operant conditioning. In operant conditioning, behaviors are learned by forming associations with outcomes.
McClelland’s theory focuses on psychological needs only negating the physiological needs because they were not considered to be a primary driver to motivation (McClelland, 1995). These similarities can be seen in appendix A of this paper.
Motivation is defined as the course of action that tends to instigate, guide, and sustain the behaviors of an individual inclined towards the achievement of their goals and targets.
The primary concept of evolutionary psychology states that the mutations at the genetic level can alter the behavioral pattern characteristics in an individual along with the structural characteristics.
The Drive-decrease hypothesis was proposed by Clark Hull during the time of 1943. Drive-reduction theory states that motivation in humans drives an individual in satisfying the physiological needs to sustain homeostasis. Homeostasis is defined as the propensity to sustain the balance in the biological system.
Arousal theory is considered as an expansion of drive-reduction theory that takes into consideration arousal as a potent motivator. It elucidates the role of dopamine, a neuronal transmitter, as a potent motivator in an organism.
The relationship between survival and species-specific behaviors. Explain natural selection. There are changes in species over time. The mechanism for these changes according to Darwin is natural selection. There is natural variability in organism within a species. This natural variability is the building block of natural selection.
An animal will have great difficulty learning a behavior to obtain an outcome if that behavior conflicts with a behavior that naturally occurs in the situation (e.g., you can't teach an animal to perform an "approach" behavior in order to escape an aversive stimulus) Explain Bolles' concept of niche.
Classical conditioning allows us to learn which stimuli signal the presence (or absence) of biologically significant events. How is operant conditioning related to survival. Operant conditioning allows us to learn appropriate reactions to signals. What is evolutionary psychology.
This natural variability is the building block of natural selection. Some of this variability is due to heredity. The organism is placed in an environment in which certain heritable traits allow for higher rates of survival. Organisms with these traits are more likely to survive (and thus ...
This study demonstrates that certain associations are easier to learn within a species. What was demonstrated in the Wilcoxon, Dragoin and Kral study. This demonstrates that certain associations are easier to learn between species. What is the biogrammar.
Thorndike could teach cats to do a number of things with their paws to get freedom, but he could not teach them to do other things (groom) Discuss the Petrinovich and Bolles study. Phase 1: learning to turn left or right for water or food, water group performed better.
Explain the concept of the survival of the fittest. Darwin defined fitness as the ability to produce offspring. Animals that live longer are the ones that produce the most offspring. Length of life is connected to whether or not the animal has characteristics that allows it to effectively interact with the environment.
Motivation is the force that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It is what causes us to take action, whether to grab a snack to reduce hunger ...
By the 1920s, instinct theories were pushed aside in favor of other motivational theories, but contemporary evolutionary psychologists still study the influence of genetics and heredity on human behavior.
The problem with the drive theory of motivation is that these behaviors are not always motivated purely by drive, or the state of tension or arousal caused by biological or physiological needs. For example, people often eat even when they are not really hungry.
Poncho / Getty Images. According to instinct theories, people are motivated to behave in certain ways because they are evolutionarily programmed to do so. An example of this in the animal world is seasonal migration.
Intrinsic motivation is when you engage in a behavior because you find it rewarding for your own sake, rather than from the desire for an external reward. Extrinsic Motivation. Going to work to get paid. Studying to get a good grade. Working hard to get a raise or recognition from your boss.
Arousal Theory. The arousal theory of motivation suggests that people take certain actions to either decrease or increase levels of arousal. When arousal levels get too low, for example, a person might watch an exciting movie or go for a jog.
In operant conditioning, behaviors are learned by forming associations with outcomes. Reinforcement strengthens a behavior while punishment weakens it. While incentive theory is similar, it instead proposes that people intentionally pursue certain courses of action in order to gain rewards.