In a body system, a control center (which is often part of the brain) receives input from receptors (which are often complexes of neurons). You may recall from your earlier reading that homeostasis is the tendency to maintain a balance, or optimal level, within a biological system. (credit b: modification of work by "Mothering Touch"/Flickr)Īnother early theory of motivation proposed that the maintenance of homeostasis is particularly important in directing behavior. (b) In humans, instincts may include behaviors such as an infant’s rooting for a nipple and sucking. (a) William James proposed the instinct theory of motivation, asserting that behavior is driven by instincts. In fact, as early as the 1900s, some instinctive behaviors were experimentally demonstrated to result from associative learning (recall when you learned about Watson’s conditioning of fear response in “Little Albert”) (Faris, 1921). This view-that human behavior is driven by instincts-received a fair amount of criticism because of the undeniable role of learning in shaping all sorts of human behavior. A mother’s protection of her baby, the urge to lick sugar, and hunting prey were among the human behaviors proposed as true instincts during James’s era. James proposed several dozen special human instincts, but many of his contemporaries had their own lists that differed. There was, however, considerable controversy among James and his contemporaries over the exact definition of instinct. From a biological perspective, an instinct is a species-specific pattern of behavior that is not learned. James theorized that behavior was driven by a number of instincts, which aid survival ( Figure). William James (1842–1910) was an important contributor to early research into motivation, and he is often referred to as the father of psychology in the United States.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |