This document discusses motivation and emotions. It defines motivation as the purpose for responding and refers to the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of behavior. Motivation is useful for understanding how strong and why behavior occurs. Theories of motivation discussed include biological determinism, which sees behavior as resulting from biological forces like instincts. Homeostatic motivation refers to the body maintaining equilibrium through processes like regulating blood pressure. Non-homeostatic motivation explains behaviors not related to survival like play. Arousal theory links motivation to seeking an optimal level of arousal, while incentive theory sees external stimuli as motivating. Emotions are feelings that produce physiological changes and behaviors in response to stimuli. Theories of emotions discussed are the James-Lange theory

1. Motivation and Emotions
Dr. Jayaprasad Welgama
Sabaragamuwa University of Sri
Lanka

2. What is motivation?
Definitions
1. The purpose for responding.
2. Motivation refers to the initiation , direction,
intensity and persistence of behaviour (Geen
1995)

4. Motivation is useful understanding…
• How strong a behaviour will be?
• How behaviour can happen?
• Why people behave the way they do?
• Why people behave differently?
• What changes the intensity, direction of a
response?

6. Motivation
• “movere”(Latin)……….> ‘move’(movement,
behaviour)
• Motivations and emotions are linked together
* Class should discuss the relationship between
motivation and emotions. Group should bring
examples.

7. Theories of motivation
Biological determinism
• Behavior is resulted from the forces which are
uniquely biological.
• Instincts determine behaviour
Instinct is a genetically programmed , adaptive
behaviour that is important for survival(Gould
1986)

8. Biological determinism
Socio-biology
Socio-biologists say we respond to genetic
imperatives to keep our genes alive; to pass
genes to the next generations. Ex. Eskimo
• Human and animal behaviour is biologically
determined.
• Herding instinct, culture serves biological
needs

10. Homeostatic motivation
• Psychologist Cannon(1920) first used the term
homeostasis to describe the process through
which the body’s balanced state is
maintained.
• Homeostasis is the process by which the body
maintains the balanced state through the
regulation of internal environment.
Ex. Blood pressure, Digression, Respiration

11. Homeostatic motivation
• Homeostasis is automatically controlled. It is a
tendency towards the maintenance of a
relatively stable internal environment.

12. Clark Hull(1884-1952) Drive Reduction
Model
• Motivation and resulting response occur in an
effort to restore homeostatic equilibrium that
has been disturbed by internal and external
environmental factors

13. What controls homeostasis?
• Autonomous nervous system + Endocrine
System+ Hypothalamus
• Self studies: How hunger as motivation is
activated? Do self , web based studies and be
ready for a small group based discussion in
the following class. Does hunger totally
depend on homeostatic motivation? Discuss
this question.

15. Functions of
endocrine system

16. Human brain

17. Non homeostatic motivation
• Non homeostatic motivation explains other
motivations not apparently directed at life
sustenance, and not motivated due to
biological reasons.
• EX. Play, Sexual behaviour, Curiosity,
Gambling, Addiction and risk taking.

19. Arousal theory
• Arousal is the state of mental readiness for
activity.
• High level of arousal: Excitement, Panic
• Low arousal: drowsiness, bored state of mind
• There is a sharp contrast among people
regarding their levels of arousal.
Bring examples.

20. Arousal theory
• Each of us tries to maintain an optimal level of
an arousal seeking the best level of
stimulation. This optimal level can vary from
individual to the next.
• Lack of desored level of arousal bring us to
seek such behaviour which would bring us
back to the desired level of arousal.
• Ex. For Low optimal level arousal and high
optimal level arousal.

22. Incentive theory
• All early theories we learnt are with the
quality that motivation derives from the
organism it self.
• Purpose for responding comes from the
internal environment of the organism.
• Incentive theory says that external stimuli
motivate individuals .
• There are positive incentives and negative
incentives.

23. Incentive theory
• Intrinsic rewards and extrinsic rewards.
• Find examples.

29. Emotions
• A feeling of pleasantness or unpleasantness
that is manifested in the conscious experience
as well as accompanying behavioural and
psychological changes.
• Emotions results in ,
- A certain conscious experience
- Physiological changes
- Behaviour

30. Emotions
• Emotion is an intense neural mental state that
arises subjectively rather than through
conscious effort and evokes either a positive
or negative psychological response to move an
organism to action.

33. Emotions
• What happens at a panic situation
- Fight or flight mechanism activated
- Autonomous nervous system is activated
making a person capable of performing
physically in a way that an individual could not
do in ordinary circumstances.

34. Emotions
• Most emotional experiences are innate , and can
not deny that some are learnt.
• Wolves can read the emotional expressions of
wolves
• More recent developments in evolutionary
theory have proposed that emotions are innate
responses to specific stimuli(Izard 1977).
• Darwin also noted similarities between human
and animal expressions.

36. James –Lange Theory
• Emotions arouse out of bodily changes
• Ex. If you see a leopard
• Bodily changes would occur as a result from
the perception of the situation, and the
recognition of the bodily changes
subsequently produces the subjective feeling.

37. Cognitive theory of emotions
Physiological
changes
External stimuli
Cognitive
appraisal
Perception
of emotion
Memories of past
experiences

38. Canon- Bard theory of Emotions
• Experience of an emotional situation triggers a
nerve impulse in the Thalamus of the brain(
Thalamus is considered to be the control centre
of emotions).
• This nerve impulse divides. One impulse goes to
Cerebral Cortex and it causes conscious feeling of
emotion. The other impulse goes(Simultaneously)
to other major organs of the body making a
physiological change.
• This theory has been supported with the
experiments done with animals.

39. Cognitive theory of emotions
• Person process all three forms of information
to arrive at the subjective emotional
experience.
• With such a cognitive appraisal of all sources
of information individuals label the emotions.

40. Opponent Process Theory