THEORIES OF MOTIVATION: Topic 5   def’n: factors that arouse or activate an organism and direct it toward some specific goal   Classes of Theories:   Examples of each Class:   1) Instinct Theory

  genetically predetermined

  e.g., “fixed action patterns (behavior)”

  threatening stimuli…. (releases)…. aggressive beh.

  2) Drive Theory

  2 conflicting attitudes/beliefs

  Cognitive dissonance due to discrepant beliefs produces change

  3) Arousal Theory   rather than attempting to reduce arousal   -sometimes   -   -   (see illustration)

  4) Incentive Theory   -rather than focusing on internal states (i.e., push),

focuses   -   e.g.,   e.g.,

  PROBLEM???   Undermining Intrinsic Interest

  rewards

  rewards (maybe) because undermine intrinsic interest

  hmmm, I will read if you give me a sticker, but that’s the reason I read

  but…. the sticker gets you to read……   Harlow (1950)

  Overjustification Hypothesis   “ a person’s intrinsic (self-generated) interest in an

activity may be decreased by inducing him/her to engage in that activity as an explicit means to some goal (reward)”

  Lepper, Greene & Nisbett (1973)   overjustification hypothesis vs.

reinforcement theory   -activity – drawing (pre-test)

  -participants –   Independent Variable:

  expect (GOOD PLAYER AWARD)   no award   unexpected award

  Dependent Variable:   in class on another day, how much time spend

drawing in “free time” period (kids can choose)

  RESULTS   EXPECT NO EXPECT UNEXPECTED

<   Ross – the effects of “salience”

  INDEP: no reward (control) salient (under box) non-salient(afterfinished)

  DEP : next day, 5 min play period, amount play with toy

  Salient Non-salient Control  

SOCIAL MOTIVES   Freud (1917)

  -id – behavior has its roots in EROS (pleasure)   -constraints – reality (EGO)   morals (superego)

  Thanatos aggression

  Murray (1938)   -21 needs   -needs drives behavior   -needs include achievement, affiliation

motivation

  Need For Achievement   Measure – example T.A.T.

  (see illustration)

  Basis –   Emotional roots – parents

  Cognitive roots –   learning to “attribute” causes to own

abilities and effort   Attribution – understanding causality to:

  a) internal or external factors

(self or situation)

  b) stable or unstable factors

  e.g. test performance   if you do well…….

Stable Unstable

Internal

External

Achievement Motivation: Individual Differences

  Depressives        

  success

  failure

(this pattern leads to withdrawal from the social environment)

Achievement Motivation: Birth Order Effects   Imagine:

  a) highly motivated, achiever   b) lazy, underachiever

  research:   ?   -greater attention, more resources   laters: - - -

NEEDS HIERARCHY   Not all needs are created equal   Maslow(1954)

  smaller number   organized as a hierarchy   satisfy basic, or can’t get to upper   (see illustration)

Affiliation Motivation   High Need Affil –

  should do well in situations with potential for gaining approval

  person X situation fit   (which kind of person does well in what kind of

situation?)

Sorrentino & Shepard Experiment   Participants – swim team members   U of T, Western, McMaster   Inter-team meet, 200 yd freestyle   (TAT’s given 3 weeks before meet)   2 types of competition (indep variable)

  individual   group (random mixture of members from

each school)

  series of groups established   group ranking depends on average

group time   group competition is situation that

allows for approval from team, individual does not

Results: dependent – swim time

  Time High Need Affliliation

Low Need individual group

competition competition

Interpretation

  overall, each type swims as well as the other but under different conditions