Motivation: Biological Psychological And

Motivation: Biological Psychological And Environmental
Motivation: Biological Psychological And Environmental
Motivation: Biological, Psychological, and Environmental, Third Edition, by Lambert Deckers. Published by Allyn & Bacon. Copyright © 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc. C H A P T E R E I G H T / Drives, Needs, and Awareness 185 from physiological needs. Murray (1938), for instance, assumed that psychological needs emerged from processes that occurred in the brain. However, the possible physiological ori- gin of psychological needs is usually ignored. Need as the Physiological Basis for Motivation. Homeostasis (see Chapter 5) describes the maintenance of constant conditions within the body. Motivation theorists who emphasize internal events, such as Clark Hull (1943, 1951, 1952) and Judson Brown (1961), accepted the idea that a set of ideal internal conditions was necessary for survival. Deviation from these conditions defines physiological need and is responsible for pushing an organism into action. The need for food can correspond to a low amount of glucose in the blood. The need for putting on a sweater corresponds to a drop in body temperature below 98.6°F. The need for iron exists when the amount in the body is so low so that the blood’s capacity to carry oxygen is reduced.
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This condition results in feeling tired and weak and being unable to per- form manual work without extensive feelings of fatigue (Sizer & Whitney, 1997). Thus, a physiological need implies that it is possible to specify a deficit in a physiological state that is detrimental to a person’s physical well-being. Another category of need refers to sensory stimulation that exceeds a certain intensity thereby causing pain or harm. Excessive sensory stimulation occurs when french fries are too hot, the volume on the stereo is too loud, or the light in one’s eyes is too bright. Sensations of pain or discomfort are warnings of possible tis- sue damage and prompt the need to escape and avoid such stimulation. Hull’s Drive Theory. Related to physiological need is psychological drive, which is a mo- tivational construct that results when an animal is deprived of a needed substance (Hull, 1943, 1951, 1952). Drive is the persistent internal stimulus or pushing action of a physio- logical need. Drive has several properties or characteristics (Hull, 1943, 1951, 1952). First, it energizes behavior by intensifying all responses in a particular situation. The more intense the drive, the more intense the behavior (Hull, 1943, 1952). This point is illustrated in an experiment by Hillman and associates (1953), who deprived two groups of rats of water for either 2 or 22 hours and then measured how long it took them to run a 10-unit T maze for a water reward. After 10 trials, one-half of each group remained at the original deprivation level, while the other half switched to the other deprivation level. For example, group 2-2 and group 22-22 remained at 2 and 22 hours of water deprivation, respectively, throughout the experiment. Group 2-22 switched from 2 to 22 hours of water deprivation after the first 10 trials, while group 22-2 switched from 22 to 2 hours of water deprivation. According to Hull’s theory, 22 hours of water deprivation corresponds to high thirst drive, while 2 hours of water deprivation corresponds to low drive. High drive should multiply or intensify instrumental behavior much more than low drive. As shown in Figure 8.1, the rats took less time to run the maze under high drive than under low drive. The interpretation based on drive theory is that high drive is a more intense source of internal motivation than low drive. A second characteristic is that each drive has its own unique internal sensations that serve as internal stimuli for guiding behavior. For example, hunger and thirst feel different and provide the basis for knowing when to eat and when to drink. Leeper (1935) used thirst and hunger drives as cues for rats to choose the correct goal box when water or food de- prived. In his experimental apparatus, rats had to make a choice between an alley leading to food and another alley leading to water. The rats learned to choose the alley leading to IS B N 0- 55 8- 46 77 0- 9 Motivation: Biological, Psychological, and Environmental, Third Edition, by Lambert Deckers. Published by Allyn & Bacon. Copyright © 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc. 186 P A R T T H R E E / Psychological Properties of Motivation Trial R u n n in g T im e (m ea n lo g ) 1 0.0 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5