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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.