Motivation and Emotion Chapter 2

Instinct

Innate tendency; present at birth (not reflex); response to a stimulus not learned, species-universal; automatically triggered and goal-directed.

IT’s vs Reflexes

Both inborn; reflexes simple and single-step; direct stimulus response; immediate physical stimulus; no conscious control; highly stereotyped; not goal-directed, no motivation; knee-jerk/pupilary

William James

Humans possess many instincts; fear, anger, curiosity; instincts energize and initiate behavior; learning shapes how instincts are expressed (experience and learning shape expression); hear a loud sound and freeze the first time, run the next time

Does not explain situations

William McDougall

Fewer instincts, much more mechanistic, composed of perception, emotion, and goal-directed action; very motivational, not just triggers for action; accounted more for the situation;

Willy McD Example

A student sees someone being publicly embarrassed (perception of socially relevant situation) feels uncomfortable (emotion) and looks away (action tendency)

Instinct Theory Good v Bad

Appealing bc biological grounding, explanation for species-universal behaviors, fit well with early evolutionary thinking (behavior not entirely learned); abandoned bc explained by labeling, too many, couldn’t predict, vague definitions, overuse of labels

Classical Ethology

Study of behavior in natural environments, emphasized observable species-typical behavior, grounded in evolutionary explanations; focus on innate behaviors and how they contribute to survival and reproduction

Ethology and Comparative Psych

Biologically prepared behavior unfolds; triggered by specific stimuli and unfolds through organized mechanisms; study in natural environments (scared of snakes but not flowers); comparative= cross-species instead of within species (lab methods, learning/adaptation)

Core Assumption of Ethology

Organisms biologically prepared to respond to certain stimuli; imprinting, aggression, fear; some behaviors emerge reliably and easily; learning plays a limtied but important role; prepared isn’t rigid but ready

Key Stimuli

Specific features of environment that trigger innate behavioral responses; often simple but highly effective; behavior begins when right stimulus appears

Fixed Action Patterns

Stereotyped sequence of behavior; species-specific, once initiated runs to completion; goose sees object and pulls into nest even when no egg there

Reaction Chains

Series of linked actions; each step triggers the next; stimulus - reaction - stimulus - reaction; sequence of FAP’s; flexibility into innate behavior (dog lowers to playing position)

Intention Movements

Partial/preparatory movements; indicate what behavior is about to occur; often exaggerated over evolutionary time

Social Releasers

Signals that trigger responses in others; derived from intentional movements, coordinate social interaction; motivation is interactive; someone gets in face, prepare to fight

Motivational Conflict

Occurs when competing tendencies are activated; results in hesitation, displacement behavior; fight and flight both go off so freeze

Imprinting

Rapid learning early in life; occurs in sensitive period, long-lasting effects, resitant to extinction; bio guides learning

Human Ethology

facial expressions, shyness, staring, speech; bio influence doesn’t equal bio determination; sex and aggression as species-relevant, biological patterns, looked at through adaptive lens, explanation isn’t justification

Criticisms of Ethology

Overemphasizes innate behavior, hard to explain flexibility/super-stimuli, limited application to complex human behavior, underestimates learning and culture

Modern Extensions

Behavioral (varies in environmental contexts); cognitive (considers mental processes in animals), evolutionary (an evolved psych mechanism); extend, don’t reject ethology