Unit 2: The motivational Process

Question 1

What is motivation closely linked with and what does it include?

Answer 1

Surival
-> live-death distinction and social dimension

Question 2

What kind of process is motivation?

Answer 2

an adaptive process
-> existence of various variables
-> implies dynamism

Question 3

Who proposed the first simple scheme for the motivational process and what did it consist of?

Answer 3

Decker
Choice of target/ objective
Behavioural dynamism
Completion or control over action

Question 4

Which processes are associated with the choice of an objective?

Answer 4

Intensity of motive: strength of impulse or need
Incentive attractiveness: value associated with incentive
Subjective probability of success: Likelyhood of acheiving the goal
Striving for goal: anticipated amount of work required

Question 5

Behavioural dynamism

Answer 5

Activities carried out in order to acheive the goal
-> consideration which activities allow the person to acheive goal
-> appropriate instrumental behaviour chosen
=> correct execution of instrumental behaviours decides if the goal is acheived

Question 6

Completion or control over actions

Answer 6

analysis of result acheived with different behaviours
-> assessment whether motive chosen was satisfied through behaviour
-> if goal isnt acheived: decision about persisting and trying again or not depending on interest and need to acheive goal

Question 7

What is actually involved in the motivational process?

Answer 7

Stimulus
Perception
Evaluation-assessment
Choice of goal
Decision to act
Activation
Direction
Control of results

Question 8

Stimulus

Answer 8

requirement: capable of triggering motivational process
can be internal/external, real/ not real, conscious/unconscious

Question 9

Perception

Answer 9

non-existence of conscious perception eliminates possibility that stimulus is noticed
-> doesn’t feel motivated to carry out appropriate behaviour

Question 10

Evaluation-assessment

Answer 10

Process of making decisions and choosing a specific objective
involves intense mental activity
-> evaluation of likelihood of acheiving goal
-> consideration of value/ importance of goal to personality

Question 11

Goal choice and decision to act

Answer 11

motivation influenced by interaction between desire/need, goal value and expectation of success
multiplicative interaction
-> one factor 0 -> behaviour doesnt occur

Question 12

What is the main driver of motivated behaviour?

Answer 12

need

Question 13

Which types of activation are there?

Answer 13

Initial activation: initiated when need or desirable stimulus is detected, specific corrective mechanisms activated
selective activation: only systems necessary to address need activated, balances deficiencies (homeostatic activation)
Goal-directed activation: activation very specialised to enable goal directed behaviours (e.g. becoming a chef: going to culinary school, etc.)
Parsimony and homeostasis: efficient, limited to systems necessary to reach goal and maintain internal balance

Question 14

Which 2 possibilities for direction are there?

Answer 14

1) related to choice of objective
2) choice of instrumental behaviours

Question 15

How are results controlled?

Answer 15

Progress monitoring
Goal attractiveness
Causal attribution
Persistence or change

Question 16

Progress monitoring

Answer 16

current situation compared to desired situation
if close to goal: continues to strive

Question 17

Goal attractiveness

Answer 17

decision to persist is influenced by attractiveness of goal
(including affective cognitive gratifications, social recognition and self-esteem)

Question 18

Causal attribution

Answer 18

Individual analyzes reasons for progress
adjusts behaviour or goals to achieve better results

Question 19

Persistence or change

Answer 19

if incongruence not reduced:
individual considers changing actions or goals
maybe abandons goal if theres no clear path to success

Question 20

What is homeostasis?

Answer 20

process by which organisms maintain state of internal equilibrium in response to external changes or challenges

Question 21

Who introduced the concept of homeostasis?

Answer 21

Cannon from his physiological studies
-> implies that when imbalance is detected, mechanisms are activated to restore equilibrium

Question 22

What is negative feedback and what is its role?

Answer 22

control mechanism
-> regulates and stops behaviour once need is satisfied or goal acheived

Question 23

Whats the relationship between necessity and demand?

Answer 23

inverse
the greater the need the less demaning the individual in satisfying the need

Question 24

Which distinction did Craig propose?

Answer 24

Appetitive phase: heterogenous, obtains goal, influenced by experience and learning
Consummatory phase: homogenous, specifies movements to materialize instinctive behaviour, invariable & reflects instinctive behaviour patterns

Question 25

What is motivation to be considered as in general?

Answer 25

an adaptive process