Motivation date: 2/13/2013

1. Chapter 10
Motivation
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

2. Motivation
• Motivation
– Motivation is a condition that energizes behavior and
gives it direction
– Arises from two sources – from internal drive factors
(e.g. hunger) & external incentive factors (e.g. food)
– Incentives
• Primary reinforcers – able to act as rewards independently of
prior experience
• Secondary reinforcers – able to act as rewards at least partly
through learning about their relationship to other events
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

3. Drives & Homeostasis
• Drive factors are generally directed towards
maintaining homeostasis
• Homeostasis involves:
– Set point – value homeostatic system tries to maintain
– Sensory signal that measures internal state
– Comparison between set point & sensory signal
– Response that reduces difference between the two
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

4. Drives & Homeostasis
• Body temperature & homeostasis
– Control processes to maintain temperature include
physiological responses (e.g. sweating & shivering),
and psychological responses (e.g. find shade, remove
clothing, cool drink)
– Neurons in various parts of the brain (especially the
hypothalamus) detect temperature changes & trigger
physiological responses & sensations that lead to
behavioral solutions
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

5. Drives & Homeostasis
• Thirst as a homeostatic process
– Two kinds of fluid reservoirs in the body – intracellular
reservoir & extracellular reservoir
– Loss of extracellular fluid detected by blood-pressure
sensors, neurons in major veins & organs that
respond to drop in pressure = thirst
– Loss of intracellular fluid detected by osmotic
sensors, neurons in the hypothalamus that respond to
dehydration = thirst
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

6. Incentive Motivation & Reward
• Incentive motivation
– Wanting something associated with affect (full range
of consciously experienced pleasure & displeasure)
– Most incentives need to be learned – incentive
salience (objects/events been linked to anticipated
pleasurable affect)
– Wanting – anticipation of pleasure whereas liking –
pleasure experienced in the moment
– Dopamine system in the brain appears to underlie
experience of “wanting”
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

7. Hunger, Eating, & Eating Disorders
• Hunger
– More complex than thirst – as we need to eat a balance of foods
to be healthy
– We have both basic taste preferences that we are born with &
mechanisms for learning preferences & aversions
• Interactions between homeostasis & incentives
– Homeostasis is the dominant operating principle in control of
hunger but incentive factors are important too
• Oral stimulation & learning are both important parts of the
interaction between physiological hunger signals & incentive
stimuli of eating
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

8. Hunger, Eating, & Eating Disorders
• Physiological hunger cues
– Related to glucose levels & other nutrients in the body
– Neurons in the brain (especially brain stem &
hypothalamus) sensitive to glucose levels
– Peripheral signals – nutrient signals in the liver,
stomach & intestines trigger satiety to the brain
• Integration of hunger cues
– Signals from hunger receptors in the brain & satiety
signals from liver & stomach integrated in brain stem
to detect overall need
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

9. Hunger, Eating, & Eating Disorders
• ...Integration of hunger cues
– Hypothalamus - two key areas related to hunger
• Lateral hypothalamus – destruction leads to undereating
• Ventromedial hypothalamus – destruction leads to overeating
– The idea that the two parts of the hypothalamus
“hunger centre” too simplistic
• Research on lesions in the lateral and ventromedial
hypothalamus suggests this more complex
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

10. Hunger, Eating, & Eating Disorders
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

11. Hunger, Eating, & Eating Disorders
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

12. Hunger, Eating, & Eating Disorders
• Obesity
– Definition – 30% or more above ideal body weight.
– People become obese mainly due to genetic
predisposition or they overeat (psychological reasons)
– Genetic factors – obesity more likely in families where
one or more parents obese
– Twin studies – research suggests identical twins gain
weight in same way
– Research suggests that genes affect number & size
of fat cells, metabolic rate & set points
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

13. Hunger, Eating, & Eating Disorders
• ...Obesity
– Overeating – psychological factors include breakdown
of conscious restraints (e.g. end of diet) & emotional
arousal (e.g. when tense or anxious)
– Dieting & weight control
• Limitations of dieting – extreme diets not successful because
deprivation leads to binge eating & decreases metabolic rate
• Weight control programs – to succeed people need to
establish new set of permanent eating habits & exercise
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

14. Hunger, Eating, & Eating Disorders
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

15. Hunger, Eating, & Eating Disorders
• Anorexia & bulimia
– Both these disorders involve pathological desire not to
gain weight & mostly affect women
– Anorexia nervosa – characterized by extreme, self-
imposed weight loss
– Bulimia – characterized by recurrent binge eating
followed by purging excess through vomiting/laxatives
– Variety of causes for these disorders, including social,
biological or family factors with some combination of
these probably necessary
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

16. Hunger, Eating, & Eating Disorders
• ...Anorexia & bulimia
– Socio-cultural causes
• Emphasis on thinness in women in Western culture
• Objectification theory – claims that self-objectification
(concerned more with how others see us than how we feel)
causes range of psychological & emotional reactions – self-
consciousness, increased anxiety & shame, & diminished
positive emotions & sexual pleasure
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning

17. Hunger, Eating, & Eating Disorders
• ...Anorexia & bulimia
– Biological causes
• Biological vulnerabilities may increase tendency to develop
eating disorder, e.g. malfunction of hypothalamus (anorexia)
or deficiency in neurotransmitter serotonin or executive
functioning (bulimia)
– Familial causes
• Many young women with eating disorders come from families
that demand “perfection” & extreme self-control but do not
allow expressions of warmth & conflict
Use with Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 15th edition
Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, Wagenaar
ISBN 9781844807284 © 2009 Cengage Learning