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Psychological Theories of Motivation
By Hal R. Arkes and John P. Garske. 1982. Brooks/Cole Publishing: Monterey,
CA.
-The authors conceive motivation to be a complex, multifaceted phenomenon, and
consequently they do not present one theory of motivation as the “best,” but present each
one in its entirety throughout the flow of the book. They present all theories that seem to
have either historical importance or contemporary importance.
-The chapters start with biological bases of motivation, move onto Freud’s
psychoanalytic theory of motivation, then humanistic theories of Rogers and Maslow,
Hull’s theory of learning and motivation, optimal-level theory, social learning theories,
field theory, theory of achievement motivation, and consistency theories. [I will skip the
theories that have been presented and summarized elsewhere]
Chapter 2: Instinct and the biological bases of motivation
-Some sources of motivation are unlearned (instinctual?), such as hunger. Darwin’s
theory of evolution has caused a lot of application of the idea of ‘instinct’ to humans in
order to explain their behavior. Around the turn of the 20th century there was a lot of push
for psychologists to be able to explain every behavior with a corresponding instinct.
Despite the lack of emphasis today, instinct still plays a major role in more modern
theories of motivation. The first is psychoanalytic/fulfillment theories proposed by
Maslow and Rogers. These theories argue that Man has innate, instinctive urges that
strongly influence his behavior. The second is ethology—the study of animal behavior.
Some ethologists (Lorenz and Tingbergen) argue that instincts of lower animals are direct
ancestors of human behaviors.
-The three main concepts of instinct are the 1) reaction-specific energy (energy only used
for an instinctual action, 2) innate releasing mechanism (triggering by a specific stimulus)
and 3) the sign stimulus (what triggers the instinctual behavior). This well-studied (in
animals) theory can be extrapolated to humans, and leads to explanation of some
behavior through the instincts of territoriality and imprinting.
-Other physiological (not necessarily instinctual?) sources of motivation are hunger, thirst,
sleep, sex, and stress (or its avoidance).
Chapter 5) Stimulus-Response Theories of Motivation: The Hull/Spence Tradition
-Clark Hull’s work was strongly influenced by the previous studies of Pavlov, Thorndike,
Cannon and Watson. They studied ideas like classical conditioning (Pavlov’s dog) and
stimulus-response (S-R). S-R was Thorndike’s pet project, which he illustrated by
rewarding cats for escaping from elaborate boxes. The more times the cats were
rewarded, the more adept they became at escaping, but Thorndike postulated that it was
not the reward that made them perform—it was that the performance had become
connected strongly to the stimulus of being inside the box. Therefore the reward is
simply strengthening the bond between a certain stimulus and its response. Cannon’s
work studied the connection between behavior and physiology—the pursuit of
homeostasis.
Anyway, Hull’s theory (an essentially behavioristic theory, although different from the
work of B.F. Skinner) postulated (and demonstrated) that Performance = Drive x Habit
Strength (E=DxH). In other words, the likelihood of performing some action is equal to
motivation times number of reinforcement events. This equation led to the
Yerkes/Dodson law, which states that “on easy tasks optimal performance will occur
under very high motivation. On difficult tasks, optimal performance occurs under low
motivation.” For difficult tasks, the high D tends to make a mistaken or erroneous action
more likely, because a larger D (with no change in H) increases the difference between
Eright and Ewrong, making Ewrong more likely. It’s mathematical!
-Hull’s later theories also included the term K, which stands for incentive. Quantity and
quality of reward were used to determine magnitude of K, and the formula was rewritten
to be E=DxHxK. But Hull was a behaviorist—he believed that actions were designed to
reduce drives (we eat in order to reduce our hunger, etc.), and so if an incentive does not
reduce drive but actually increases it, there is somewhat of a paradox there (this is one of
the author’s critiques of Hullian theory).
-Hull’s theories reduce the organism involved in an S-R loop to a simple mechanism of
perception and response. This seems to reduce moral, cultural, and religious man to a
machine. Are S-R principles really enough to explain all human behavior?
Chapter 6: Optimal Level Theories
-Some experiments in the 1950s showed that animals would expend effort in order to
obtain rewards that did not reduce drive, but even increased it. Hullian, behaviorism
theories could not account for this behavior, and so the optimal level theories were
created.
-The optimal level theory posits the existence of a pacer—a preferred level of stimulation
that an organism has. If a certain level of stimulus is comfortable, anything moiré
complex will overwhelm the organism. However, as the present level of stimulus is
adjusted to, it becomes boring and the organism seeks a new, higher-level stimulus.
Rather than simply say that ‘curiosity’ is driving animals to explore their environment,
this ‘pacer’ theory can also explain the desire for learning in children, and how humans
exhibit a preference for an optimal level of stimulation.
-Applications: as children mature, their level of preference for complexity rises quickly.
Studies have shown that children raised at home generally prefer a higher level of
stimulation (at all ages) than children raised in an institution. Another application points
out the extremes of sensory deprivation and over-stimulation using the analogies of
highway hypnosis and high-stress city driving. In both, accidents are common, but for
opposite reasons. In one, the lack of input can cause boredom and lack of caution in a
driver. In the other, the excess of input and chaotic, confusing movement can overstimulate and prevent extraction of information to the point of causing accidents. Neither
of these situations is the optimal level of stimulation.
Chapter 7: Social Learning Theories; Cognitive Perspectives
-What is the complex effect of a social environment upon the behavior/motivation of an
individual? Social learning theories avoid concepts such a drive and drive reduction—
there is no fixed or automatic path of behavior. Instead, there are mediating variables:
active processing of information regarding various aspects of a situation that may
motivate or inhibit an action.
-As an example: a child watching a film in which a person gets what they want via
aggression. Stimulus-response theory would predict that no learning/motivation would
take place, because there has been no reinforcement. However, social learning theorists
would argue that observational learning and “vicarious” reinforcement take place, and the
child will learn and be motivated to use aggression in a similar way.
-the environment can be categorized into ‘meaningful’ and ‘nonmeaningful’ variables
that are taken into account as people make decisions. A variable is only meaningful if it
can be consistently expected and actually has an effect on the subject. Variables include
the ‘psychological situation’ (meaning: interactions, their outright connotations, and their
interpretations), the ‘behavior potential’ (this would be the likelihood of a behavior to
occur), the ‘expectancy’ (an individual’s assumption about probabilities that a
reinforcement will occur based on specific behavior and situation), and ‘reinforcement
value’ (this is the strength of the reinforcement relative to others).
Chapter 8: Field Theory & Kurt Lewin
-Lewin based his psychological theories of motivation on Gestalt theory. Gestalt is based
on insight: the organizing of perception and cognition in order to form a solution. The
whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and it is human insight that allows this truth to
be used in learning. Lewin postulates a “lifespace,” a psychological area that we inhabit
with our minds and which is specifically directed. Some behavior can direct us towards a
certain area of our lifespace that we are not currently ‘inhabiting,’ some behavior can
help us remain in our current area of lifespace, and some behavior is an attempt to escape
a certain area of lifespace (whether presently inhabited or just feared). The forces that
cause us to engage in these behavior are as follows: valence (attraction of a certain
lifespace area), distance (the difficulty of attaining that lifespace), and tension (the result
of needs, either biological or nonbiological, and nondirectional).
-Conflict is another important aspect of Lewin’s theory. Approach/approach conflict
occurs when a person is torn between two attractive lifespace areas.
Avoidance/Avoidance conflict occurs when a person must choose between two
unattractive alternatives. Approach/avoidance conflict occurs when some region of the
lifespace has both positive and negative valence (attraction).
Chapter 9: Achievement Motivation
-The TAT: Thematic Apperception Test. Measures the need to achieve (n Ach) by
testing psychogenic needs of people’s personalities. The TAT has been verified through
many studies to accurately test biological need and need to achieve.
-This theory is highly mathematical—every factor (tendency to achieve success, tendency
to avoid failure, motivation to achieve success, probability of success, incentive value of
failure, etc) is calculated using formulas.
Applications: one study showed that high n-Ach boys had mothers who placed more and
earlier demands of independence on them than low n-Ach. Another study, done on boys
ages 9-11, tested the boys performing tasks in their home, with their parents’ involvement.
A large difference was observed in the warm of mothers toward their sons: high n-Ach
boys had much warmer mothers. Also, mother and fathers of high n-Ach boys made
higher estimates of their sons’ performance after the test. Low n-Ach boys tended to
have fathers who took over the task, telling them exactly how to do it.
-Can achievement motivation be extrapolated to groups or societies? In fact, an analysis
of ancient Greek civilization through the writings of prominent citizens showed that the
overall n-Ach was high in Greek culture leading up to the golden age, and the same nAch was very low shortly preceding the decline of Greek civilization. This implies that
a society will flourish if it is concerned with achievement as a whole, and will decline if
not concerned with achievement. (Could apply to corporations too!)
Chapter 10: Cognitive-Consistency Theories
-The central tenet of these theories is that conflict between a person’s various cognitions
create a motivation to reduce that conflict. For example, speeding consistently but telling
your son that one should always obey the law would create a motivation to reduce this
conflict (by one of two ways obviously).
-Balanced or imbalanced relations can result between people with an application of this
theory. If you have a friend who doesn’t like modern art, and you don’t like modern art,
there is a balance in the relationship. But if your friend loves modern art and you hate it,
there is an imbalance. You will try to restore this balance by either disliking your friend,
trying to like modern art, or trying to get your friend to dislike it. …Etc.
-Not sure how this applies very well to motivation.