Psy 322 Exam 1; Question 1
Mechanistic versus Cognitive
Cognitive
Mechanistic
blind and mechanical processes triggered automatically by changes in internal/external state
motivation controlled by logical thought
some argue hunger thirst sex etc. triggered auto by changes in blood sugar level, fluid balance, hormone concentrations
learned motives may generate behaviors outside awareness
assumes changes in factors activate circuits that motivate organism to engage in specific behavior
no conscious awareness or intent of organism is assumed
internal need states and innate patterns of behavior (researchers who adopt this approach study these)
researchers interested in externally motivated states and acquired motives
assumes manner in which info is interpreted influences motive states
attribute failure of task on its difficulty likely diff influence on future motivation than attributing it to lack of ability
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some situations behavior best understood as motivated by internal states activate organism to respond in genetically determined ways
some situations result of external info that is acted upon based on experiences
no one approach is better at explaining motivation than another, it's a mix of them all
motivation from instinctive perspective is nomothetic, mechanistic, innate, and in response to external/internal stimuli
motivation from POV of attribution is nomothetic, cognitive, acquired, and in response to internal/external stimuli
Role of cognitive processes in motivation becoming increasingly recognized
kinds of info we take in and the ways in which info processed
Heider's balance theory, Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory, Bem's self-perception theory
emphasize role of active information processing (i.e. thinking) in control of behavior
innate versus acquired
as a dimension
behaviors
innate
early theorists (McDougall, James) saw motivation as primarily controlled by innate motives "instincts"
research on innate pursued by evolutionary psychologists, animal behaviorists, ethologists
acquired
during mid-20th century: psych was dominated by research on the factors involved in learning
research of how behavior is acquired, much is applicable to acquisition of motive states
incentive motivation?
reflexes and nerves?
innate
acquired
instincts
mechanisms built into nervous system as a result of evolution = instincts
role of thoughts in behavior = James called this process ideo-motor action
motivation = multiply determined
many human behavior patterns have innate components
study behaviors of blind, deaf, and severely developmentally disabled children
behavior examples
facial expressions: universal.
eyebrow flick
upon greeting acquaintance, sign of recognition; perhaps a non-threat gesture
happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust
shyness
genetic basis expressed in differences of arousability. Low threshold of arousability = more likely inhibited in social situations
inherited tendency towards shyness requires some form of chronic environmental stress to cause it to develop
learn to lie as a social conduct
fear
innate traits influenced by fundamental structure of physiology
Imprinting is a specialized form of learning that occurs during a brief period in young animals—e.g., ducks imprinting on their mother
In classical conditioning, a new stimulus is associated with a pre-existing response through repeated pairing of new and previously known stimuli
Habituation is a simple learned behavior in which an animal gradually stops responding to a repeated stimulus.
In operant conditioning, an animal learns to perform a behavior more or less frequently through a reward or punishment that follows the behavior.
some behaviors have both learned and innate elements. For instance, zebra finches are genetically preprogrammed to learn a song, but the song they sing depends on what they hear from their fathers.
If newborn ducks or geese see a human before they see their mother, they will imprint on the human and follow it around just as they would follow their real mother.
neoteny releases cuddling behaviors in adults
kissing form of feeding behavior derived from feeding infant
staring = innate threat gesture
low level organisms
internal response to environment, genetics
nature > nurture
nurture > nature
goals, conscious behavior results as we are motivated to achieve goals
Locke: ideas --> consciousness
Aristotle: we are blank slate, everything is learned
machine like metaphor: motivation = result of change in biological system
open = innate vs closed = acquired behaviors