Early Ideas: Instincts & Drives

What is motivation?

• force acting within an organism to give behaviour its energy, direction,

  and persistence

What is a behaviour’s energy?

• strength and intensity of behaviour

What is a behaviour’s direction?

• specific goal or aim of behaviour

What is a behaviour’s persistence?

• how behaviour is sustained over time

What is a grand theory of motivation?

• an all-encompassing theory that seeks to explain the full range of motivated action

  • e.g. why we eat, drink, work, etc.

• 2 early grand theories of motivation revolving around instincts and desires

What were the 2 early grand theories of motivation influenced by?

• influenced by rise of biological determinism

  • belief that biological factors are primary determinants of human behaviour

What are instincts?

• “hardwired” or “programmed in” bits of behaviour that

  • do not require learning

  • occur in response to environmental trigger

[Ex. Herding instincts in dogs, spiders building webs, birds building nests]

What did late 1800/early 1900s psychologists believe about instincts?

• believed human behaviour was the result of instincts

• gained popularity due to influence of evolutionary theory

What did William James believe about instincts?

• similar to reflexes

• elicited by sensory stimuli

• occur “blindly” the first time (w/o knowledge of outcome)

  • subsequent behaviour could change thru experience

• Two principles explaining variability in instincts

  • learning can inhibit instincts

  • some instincts are transitory

    • (appear only in certain stages or situation)

Examples: rivalry, pugnacity, sympathy, jealousy

What did William McDougall believe about instincts?

• primary drivers of all human behaviour

• every instinct consists of 3 components

  • Cognitive - knowing object

  • Affective - feeling/emotion

  • Conative - striving toward/away

What is the cognitive component of an instinct [McDougall]?

• knowing of an object that can satisfy the instinct

[Ex. seeing a snake and knowing snake is threat]

What is the affective component of an instinct [McDougall]?

• feeling/emotion that the object arouses in the organism

[Ex. seeing snake and feeling fear & anxiety]

What is the conative component of an instinct [McDougall]?

• striving toward or away the object

[Ex. seeing snake and striving to get away]

What are some criticisms of early instinct theories?

• little agreement over types and amount of instincts

  • list grew very long

• nominal fallacy → naming ≠ explaining

• circular reasoning

• doesn’t fully account for role of learning

What is ethology?

• study of animal behaviour in natural settings

  • had systematic & objective observations

    • e.g. fixed-action patterns

What are fixed-action patterns?

• pre-programmed behaviours that are triggered by a specific stimulus (sign stimulus) and follow a predictable, fixed sequence (are stereotyped)

[Ex. aggressive behaviour in betta fish]

What do ethology and evolutionary psychology emphasize in behaviour?

• both fields emphasize the adaptive functions of behaviour

What is natural selection? What are the 3 components?

• process through which certain traits become more or less common in a population due to pressures of the environment

• 3 components:

  • Variation

  • Heredity

  • Differential fitness

What is variation in natural selection?

• individuals in population vary in traits

  • (e.g. size, color, behaviour)

[Ex. birds having different feather colours]

What is heredity in natural selection?

• traits are passed down from parents to offspring (through genes) and causes variation over time

[Ex. birds have the same feather colours as their parents]

What is differential fitness in natural selection? What are adaptations?

• not all individuals in a population survive and reproduce equally

• Adaptations: traits that increase chances of survival & reproduction in environment

  • gradually accumulate over generations

How is caregiving an example of genetic motive?

• “baby-like” features (big eyes, small chin & nose, big forehead) are sign stimuli for eliciting caregiving motivation

  • called baby-schema

• causes “baby-faced” adults to be perceived as warmer, more naive and weaker

• responses to baby features evolved as adaptation to ensure infants are cared for

What is survival selection?

• adaptations to increase odds of survival

What is sexual selection? What are the two types?

• adaptations to increase odds of securing mate & reproducing

• Intersexual & Intrasexual selection

What is intrasexual selection?

• driven by competition between same-sex individuals

[Ex. males fighting over access to female]

What is intersexual selection?

• driven by mate choice

[Ex. peacock trying to attract mate with feathers]

How is aggression an example of genetic motive?

• defense against predators & adversaries, competition for limited resources (survival selection)

• competition for mates (intrasexual selection)

• attracting mates (intersexual selection)

What is an evolutionary view on why men are more aggressive than women?

• men’s greater propensity towards violence derives from evolutionary need to compete for mates

What findings did an experimental test on mating motivation promoting aggressiveness in men show?

• men primed with mating motive (asked to list 5 things that made them feel sexual desires) delivered more aggressive blasts of noise to same-sex partners

What is a social norms view on why men are more aggressive? Infant Study?

• men are socialized according to social norms that encourage physical aggressiveness

Study: participants shown video of startled infant

• when told its a boy → “he’s angry”

• when told its a girl → “she’s afraid”

What are cultures of honour?

• cultures that place high value on social reputation (e.g. US South)

What evidence supports male aggression being culturally conditioned?

• cultures of honour feel strong obligation to defend honour, often through aggressive means

• more likely to respond w/ anger & aggression to insult

• more accepting of violence in defense of ones honour

Studies testing aggression in cultures of honour?

Lab study:

• male participants who grew up in North or South USA bumped into and insulted outside lab by confederate

  • Southerners more likely to think masculine reputation threatened

    • more likely to subsequently behave aggressively

Field study:

• employers across US sent letters from job applicants who admitted to killing someone in honour-related conflict or to theft

  • Southern companies more likely to respond positively to murder (but not theft) relative to Northern companies

Why is a culture of honour more prevalent in certain regions, like the Southern US?

• historically south US was herding economy → wealth was tied to livestock (cattle) which are vulnerable to theft

• protection of livestock crucial for survival and social status

  • threats to resources (and honour) prompt aggressive response to maintain and prevent theft

• result of differences in socialization

  • parental modelling

  • peer reinforcement

  • cultural narratives & values

What is a drive?

• internal state of tension caused by deviations from homeostasis

What is Freud’s drive theory?

• all behaviour serves purpose of satisfying biologically based bodily needs

  • recurring conditions like hunger generated build-up of psychic energy

• nervous system aims to maintain low energy state → urges disrupt state

• drive signals to reduce discomfort

• 2 categories of drives

  • Eros & Thanatos

What are the components of Freud’s drive theory?

1. bodily deficit occurs (Source)

   • e.g. hunger

2. intensity of deficit grows & emerges into consciousness as anxiety (Impetus)

   • e.g. hunger pangs

3. seeking to reduce anxiety & satisfy deficit, person searches out and consumes a need satisfying environmental object (Object)

   • e.g. food

4. if object satisfies deficit, satisfaction occurs & quiets anxiety for period of time (Aim)

What is eros in freud’s drive theory?

• life instinct

• drive for life, survival, reproduction, & pleasure

  • e.g. food, water, sleep, sex, etc.

What is thanatos in Freud’s drive theory?

• death instinct

• drive for rest, inactivity, return to inanimate state

• often expressed through aggression, destruction, and self-harm

What are defensive strategies in Freud’s death drive?

• learned strategies for managing sexual and aggressive drives, allowing them to be channeled in socially acceptable ways

How did Hull view drives?

• viewed drive as pooled energy source composed of all current bodily deficits/disturbances

  • e.g. food, water, sleep, and mate deprivation; pain

• used scientific method to build and test theory

  • high vs low motivation could be predicted & experimentally manipulates

What is Hull’s drive theory?

• behaviour is motivated by drive reduction

• “drive is energizer not a guide”

  • habit directs behaviour

• habits derive from learning

  • relief following drive reinforces

• “drive, cue, response, reward”

  • drive energizes behavioural search for stimulus (that rewards behavioural response)

• later added third cause: incentive motivation

  • value of stimulus (quantity or quality)

What is the strength of a behaviour a function of according to Hull’s drive theory?

is a function of:

• drive - biological motivation

  • e.g. hunger

• habit - probability of motivated behaviour acquired through learning

• incentive - environmental motivation

  • e.g. reward

What are the limitations of drive approach?

• not all motivations have physiological deficits

  • e.g. rats explore new environments even when not hungry/thirsty

  • humans will voluntarily subject themselves to food deprivation in order to lose weight

• external and environmental factors are underemphasized