motivation

Table of Contents

Introduction
The study of motivation
- Physiological, psychological, and philosophical approaches
- Debates in motivational study
  - The nomothetic versus ideographic approach
  - Innate versus acquired processes
  - Internal needs versus external goals
  - Mechanistic versus cognitive processes
Historical overview
- Philosophers’ contributions
- Physiologists’ contributions
- Behaviourism
Biological approaches to motivation
- Genetic contributions
- Motivation as arousal
  - The James-Lange theory
  - The Cannon-Bard theory
  - The Schachter-Singer model
  - The inverted-U function
  - Sleep processes and stress reactions
- Biological monitoring systems
  - Hunger
  - Thirst
  - Sexual motivation
Behavioristic approaches to motivation
- Drive
- Learned motives
  - Classical conditioning
  - Instrumental learning
  - Observational learning
- Incentive motivation
Cognitive motivation
- Expectancy-value theory
- Attribution theory
- Cognitive dissonance
- Self-perception theory
- Self-actualization
Applications in society
Summary

References & Edit History Related Topics

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motivation: Media

behavior

Videos

Why do some people love feeling fear?

Why do some people love feeling fear?

The chemistry of fear.

Video: © American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Images

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud, 1921.

Mary Evans/Sigmund Freud Copyrights (courtesy of W.E. Freud)

Aristotle

Aristotle

Aristotle, marble portrait bust, Roman copy (2nd century bce)...

© A. Dagli Orti—De Agostini/Getty Images

René Descartes

René Descartes

René Descartes.

National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland

John Locke

John Locke

The philosopher John Locke, oil on canvas by Herman Verelst, 1689; in the National...

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/REX/Shutterstock.com

Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov.

Mansell Collection

Galvani, Luigi

Galvani, Luigi

Luigi Galvani in an illustration from Le Journal de la Jeunesse, Paris,...

© Photos.com/Thinkstock

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