Chapter 4 - Physiological Needs

Chapter 4 was about basic physiological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sex. The chapter starts off by describing what exactly a need is and then goes on to describe seven fundamental processes of regulation. These are: physiological need, psychological drive, homeostasis, negative feedback, multiple inputs/multiple outputs, intraorganismic mechanisms, and extraorganismic mechanisms. Next, the concept of thirst was described on a physiological basis as being a motivational state that is characterized by a water deficit. The environmental influences of thirst were also discussed. Hunger was next in the chapter and two different models were focused on. The first one was the short-term appetite model and the second one was the long-term energy balance model. Like with thirst, the environmental influences on hunger were talked about. Sex was also discussed in chapter 4 and the way men and women experience sexual desire was hit on. The concept of facial metrics, sexual scripts, and sexual orientation were then talked about. Lastly, a small section was dedicated to discuss why people fail to self-regulate their physiological needs.

The most interesting thing I learned in this chapter was probably that when our water volume falls by 2% we feel thirsty and that we are dehydrated when our water volume falls by 3%. This was very shocking to me especially when you consider our bodies are 2/3 water. It’s hard to imagine a such a small decrease in water volume would cause someone to be dehydrated!

Something I was a little confused on was the idea of set points. I have heard of this theory before in previous classes and it had confused me then as well. I just don’t understand the concept of how our bodies have a biologically determined weight. If this were the case, then why is it that so many people can lose weight and keep it off for the rest of their life just by dieting and exercising? I understand that a lot of people who try to lose weight can’t and this theory describes their situations perfectly. However, when people successfully lose weight and keep it off, set-point theory doesn’t do a good job of providing an explanation.

Physiology relates to motivation in that when our physiological needs are not being met, we are motivated to meet them in order to survive. We are motivated to meet our physiological needs to “avoid tissue damage and to maintain bodily resources” (p. 77). For example, we are motivated to both eat and drink because without these behaviors, we would no longer live. Each of us goes through the process of experiencing a physiological need (low blood sugar), experiencing a psychological drive (appetite) and taking part in the behavioral action (find and consuming food).

Physiological mechanisms are made up of specific brain mechanisms. For example, the physiological need of hunger is further broken down into specific brain mechanisms such as the lateral hypothalamus, and ventromedial hypothalamus. The physiological need of thirst is further broken down into specific brain mechanisms such as the hypothalamus. Moreover, physiological mechanisms are more specific to the three needs of food, water, and sex. On the other hand, brain mechanisms play a part in not just in our physiological needs, but also our emotional needs.

Terms: physiological need, psychological drive, homeostasis, negative feedback, multiple inputs/multiple outputs, intraorganismic mechanisms, extraorganismic mechanisms, short-term appetite model, long-term energy balance model, facial metrics, sexual scripts, set-point theory, lateral hypothalamus, ventromedial hypothalamus, hypothalamus

Chapter 4 discusses physiological need that our bodies need to function on a daily basis. Along with the discussion and description of physiological and psychological needs, the chapter goes in depth on the concept of drive and drive theory, needs and their relation to well being, the process and importance of thirst, hunger, and sexual drives and how physiological and psychological needs play a key role in it all.
There were many things in this chapter that stood out to interesting to me. The one thing however that stood out the most was the needs structure. As mentioned in an earlier chapter, the discussion of needs automatically stood out to me and I wanted to learn more about what needs were. This chapter began to expand more on needs. The needs structure categorizes needs into three different types, physiological, psychological, and social needs. All of which encompass different types of needs that we experience. A physiological need is when there is a deficiency in biological conditions such as thirst or hunger. Psychological needs include things such as relatedness and competence. Social needs are the desire to have affiliation and intimacy with others or the need for power. I find this needs structure interesting in the fact that it helps put our drives and motivation to do something into perspective and begins to make sense of why we do what we do on a day to day basis. Although these things are what stands out to me the most, they are also the one thing that is a bit unclear to me. The interchanging of psychological needs and physiological needs is a bit confusing. Although I understand the basic concept of what each one means, being able to inter mix them together is somewhat hard to follow and throughout the reading, I really had to double think at parts trying to get all my thought and processing in a row.
Both physiology and physiological reactions relate to motivation in the fact that motivation is the reasoning behind doing what we do. There are many different forms of motivation, physiology is just another one of them. Physiology is the needs that our bodies have in order to keep functioning. These needs must be met in order to survive. Although we may not notice physiological needs as motivating us to say get something to eat or drink because we are hungry or thirsty but without these needs there would be nothing to motivate us to a positive outcome of fulfilling the need to drink or eat which is something we all need to survive.
Although there are many similarities in physiological mechanisms an brain mechanisms, there are also something’s that make them stand apart. One of which is that we are often aware of physiological needs such as we know when we are hungry or when we are thirsty. But when it comes to brain mechanisms, we don’t necessarily notice when our brain is releasing hormones causing us to want to do something or causing a specific feeling inside of us.

This chapter was, in my opinionm more interesting than Chapter 3. This chapter emphasized and supported Hull's Drive Theory of our motivational drive for bodily needs is physiological deprivations. Our need for hunger, thirst, sex, sleep is so essential that our bodies will force us to achieve getting them. The four main pillars of this chapter were drive, thirst, hunger and sex. This chapter broke each section down and talked about whether these were physiological needs or psychological drive, or both. I'll briefly touch on all 4 of the pillars. Above, I already explained most of the drive section. As for thirst, it talked about how our cells need water and how there is a difference between needing water and drinking water. The need is essential, whereas the drinking is based on the taste, availability, following the cultural role "drink 8 glasses a day", etc. As for hunger, it talks about the different between hunger and eating. Hunger is a bodily need whereas desired eating is based on smell, taste, availability, stress, presence of others, etc. Sexual motivation in males is based on physiological forces and psychologically felt desire. For women, sexual motivation and physiological desires relationship is low, which explains why females want to have less sex than males.

The most interesting thing I read about was the negative feedback. We have all ate so much to the point where we feel like our stomachs are going to blow. What I haven't really payed attention to is what stops us from eating like that all of the time? According to the book, negative feedback systems signal satiety before the physiological need is replenished. What happens with eating and drinking is that the body displays amptitude and estimates how much food and water is needed to fulfill the physiological need. During drinking, the body monitors the volume of fluid ingested on each swallow. This also explains why drinking pop fills us up so quickly. Pop is not needed and isn't moved from our stomach into our bloodstream so it just sits in our stomach and our body counts it towards fulfilling the physiological need. At this time, I found all the topics to be clear in the chapter and don't have any quetions or confusions.

Physiology and physiological reactions are main components for motivation. If we didn't have these certain needs/desires such as sleep, hunger, thirst, sex, etc. then there would be no need for motivation. We wouldn't have any motivation to make ourselves eat when we were hungry or to sleep when we were tired. Every physiological reaction that we have comes down to some sort of motivation movement or cause. You cannot have physiological needs without motivation, unless you are refusing to meet every bodily function, in which you would essentially be slowly dying.

Physiological mechanisms and brain mechanisms are both related to motivation and deal with our bodily needs. They also both mention all of our internal drives for motivation. Physiological mechanisms seem to focus mostly on the drive theories of thirst, hunger & sex. Whereas the brain mechanisms cover all topics of needs. When we feel hungry or thirsty, there isn't a hormone or neurotransmitter that goes off in our brain. Instead, our stomach will send neurotransmitter signals to our brain, that then recognizes our bodily need to eat or drink. This is a physiological mechanism & something that we can feel. With brain mechanisms, we can't feel the neurotransmitters traveling through our body delivering signals.

Terms: Hulls drive theory, needs, motivational drive, physiological deprivations, hunger, thirst, sex, physiological need, psychological drive, sexual motivation, physiological forces, negative feedback, hormone, neurotransmitter, physiological mechanisms, brain mechanisms

Chapter 4 focuses on one of the three types of needs the human body experiences, physiological needs. There are two other types of needs the body experiences that will be discussed later and these include psychological needs and social needs. The three main physiological needs include thirst, hunger, and sex and this is what the chapter focuses on.
The first concept that needs to be understood is the drive theory. This theory states physiological deprivation creates a biological need which in turn produces psychological drive to satisfy the unsatisfied need. This drive is what motivates us to seek out the substance that is lacking in our bodies. After the body seeks out what it needs, a state of homeostasis is created which means there is an ample amount of water (or any other substance needed for survival) in the body. After this, negative feedback occurs and tells the body it is satiated and it no longer needs anymore of what was being consumed. Soon the body will need more water and the cycle will start over again. This is happening constantly in everyone’s body without us even realizing it.
Thirst was the first topic discussed in the chapter. The book states that after two days, most people will not be able to survive without water because it is so prominent in the body. Not only does it make up the bloodstream (extracellular fluid), but it also contributes to an additional 40% of the body’s weight inside of cells throughout the body (intracellular fluid). The actual feeling of thirst comes from the body’s intracellular fluid being deficient. I found this very interesting and did not know that thirst comes from cells in the body being dehydrated. After some thought, it does make sense, however. There are sites throughout the body that alert the brain that the body has consumed enough water. The negative feedback system is vital so toxic amounts of water are not consumed.
Hunger is not as straightforward as thirst is. According to the glucostatic hypothesis, people want to eat when glucose levels are low in the blood. Glucose is a source of energy and when it is low, the lateral hypothalamus alerts the body that it is hungry and needs to replenish its glucose. The ventromedial hypothalamus is the portion of the brain that tells the body it no longer needs food to replenish the body. This is the negative feedback system for hunger. Not only does the brain influence eating habits of an individual, but social and environmental cues also influence food consumption. When people are in large groups or they are provided with large portion sizes, they tend to eat more. Lack of variety in availability of food causes individuals to eat less.
The most interesting thing in the chapter was the portion about sex. I found the physiological aspect of sex very interesting. Men’s arousal can be measured physically because there is a direct correlation between desire and physical arousal. This is not the same for women because physical signs of arousal actually do not relate to actual desire. Women care much more about the emotional intimacy rather than the physical aspect. I found this interesting because it just confirms what I (and most likely a lot of other people) have observed in real life. Even more interesting is the information on page 103. This information states that men just want a young, attractive women while women desire a high-status, powerful male. I have learned about this before, but it always intrigues me because it makes a lot of sense to me from an evolutionary aspect.
I think I am clear on most concepts in the chapter although I would like to learn more about what exactly men and women as a whole find attractive in the opposite (or same) sex. Physiology and physiological reactions relate to motivation because these physical experiences detect a deficiency and drive us to satiate our needs. Drive is “the conscious manifestation of underlying unconscious biological needs.” Without knowing we need to satisfy a need, we would not survive so both parts of the system are very important.

As I sat reading my chapter whilst eating an orange earlier today, I thought to myself ‘Claire, are you really hungry for this orange?”. I concluded that my body was in fact telling me that I was slightly hungry but I think my main motivations for eating the orange were that 1. I had it near me 2. It was going bad so needed to be eaten soon and 3. I was just kind of bored and oranges taste good. This chapter really caught my attention especially the section on hunger. I love when the book says that too often we try to cognitively control the physiological motivations of our body and how this doesn’t usually work. It’s so true! All too often people try to subdue the motivational messages that our body’s physiology creates. Why? If we can just become more aware of when our body is speaking to us we would learn to respond appropriately (e.g. eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full instead of eating when it is “lunch time” and stopping when you have nothing left to eat).
The difference between short term appetite and long term balance also interested me. Our body receives and reacts to two sources of energy. In the short term, we rely on the absence of glucose to tell us when we are hungry and the excess (or “just right” amount) of it to tell us when we are full. This helps regulate our daily eating habits. In the long term, fat cells are monitored. If not enough fat is present, homeostasis is not reached. Because the body wants to achieve homeostasis, ghrelin is released to encourage us to eat and in turn promote weight gain. Likewise, if our fat levels are too high the body will signal the brain to motivate us to lose weight. Eliminating fat from our diets would pose a problem to our body’s health. We need fat and our body is well aware of this fact. Therefore, if a dieter attempts to eliminate fat from their diet, they are trying to cognitively alter their natural physiology. Their body will not enjoy this. Their body will try it’s hardest to signal the brain that it needs fat. When this happens the brain will then try its best to motivate us to seek out high fat foods and just foods in general. Our metabolism rate will also change. If we do not consume enough fat, our metabolism may slow down in order to retain whatever fat stores it has remaining in the body. We should stop trying so hard to alter and control our bodies’ natural tendencies (in certain situations at least).
The last thing I’d like to mention in regards to hunger is that I don’t think I was 100% aware that colder temperatures stimulate hunger…tricky! There are so many environmental (extraorganismic mechanisms) that influence our hunger. I think this is often where we get tripped up when it comes to thinking about whether or not we are hunger/whether or not we want to eat.
Physiological mechanisms trigger brain mechanisms which fuel us with energy and provide us with direction on how to satiate certain physiological needs. The way that the body works is just so fascinating. While I think it’s very important to be conscious and aware of our bodies’ needs and feelings, I think too often we try to control and override our natural physiology. It’s a tough thing to overcome but we should try our best to live in tune with our physiology in most situations at least.

Chapter 4 was about all our basic physiological needs and drives. The chapter discussed the topics of thirst, hunger, and sex. The chapter starts by defining what a need is. A need is any condition within a person that is esscential for life, growth, and well being. When we do not satisfy our needs we then become motivated to do so. The text goes on to explain that we have different types of needs. These needs are physiological, psychological, and social. Chapter 4 though, focuses on psyiological needs, which like stated earlier are, thirst, hunger, and sex. The movie assignment especially helped me understand how we are motivated to satisfy our needs for water and food. One of the most important concepts to understand in the chapter is Hulls drive theory. Hulls theory says that physiological deprivations and deficits create biological needs. If the needs continue to be unmet then the biological deprivation occupys attention and creates a psychological drive. There is a clinical pattern that shows the rise and fall of psychological drive and it involves 7 processes. These processes are need, drive, homeostasis, negative feedback, multiple inputs/multiple outputs, intraorganismic mechanisms, and extraoranismic mechanisms.

The topic I found most interesting in this chapter was the topic of thirst. I had never realized before just how complex it is. I already knew that our bodies are about 2/3 water, but, I did not know that a loss of only 2 percent of our water results in the feeling of thirst. I also found it interesting that a drop of only one more percent of our bodies water results in dehydration. It doesn't seem like much because of the fact that our bodies are mostly water, but a small drop in the percentage of our water has major consequences. Our bodies continually lose water through think like sweating, breathing, urinating, and even bleeding. We we drink though we do not drink forever. This seems obvious, but there is a reason that this occurs. Our negative feedback system come into play here. We have to drink enough water to satisfy our need, but we can't drink too much or we run the risk of causing cellular dysfunction. I also found it interesting that drinking occurs for three reasons. These reasons are, water replenishment, sweet taste when something is added to the water, and addiction to a substance in the water. I don't feel there are any concepts I'm not understanding at this point in time. I think I am beginning to get used to the structure of this class and how to get the most out of the text.

Physiological mechanisms trigger brain mechanisms which in turn give us energy and provide us with direction on how to satisfy certain physiological needs. Physiolgical needs motivate us to satisfy them. We become motivated to do what it takes to satisfy our needs at the time. These can be simple things like taking a drink of water, or eating a meal. There are many different processes that our bodies go through to regulate how we satisfy these needs and when to stop once they are satisfied.

Terms: physiological needs,thirst, hunger, and sex, need, physiological, psychological, and social needs, Hulls theory, need, drive, homeostasis, negative feedback, multiple inputs/multiple outputs, intraorganismic mechanisms, and extraoranismic mechanisms.

Chapter 4 was primarily about the basic physiological needs. These are things such as hunger, thirst, and sex. The chapter starts off by defining what a need is. A need is any condition within the person that is essential and necessary for life, growth, and well-being. When needs are satisfied, a person upholds their well-being. On the other side, if need is ignored, this can become damaging to the individual. It then goes on to describe the seven fundamental steps of the regulation process. Need gets tied back into the physiological aspect by telling us that physiological needs are inherent within the workings of biological systems. These are: physiological need, psychological drive, homeostasis, negative feedback, multiple inputs/outputs, intraorganismic mechanisms, and extraorganismic mechanisms. First off, need is biological and can harm a person, while drive is psychological and unconscious. Those describe the first two fundamental steps. Homeostasis is the ability to balance a stable internal state. Contradicting, negative feedback is stopping homeostasis. Intra/extraorganismic are the last two. Intra has all the biological regualatory systems that activate the needs of drive. Extra does the same thing as intra, but only they come from environmental influences.
As mentioned before, hunger, thirst, and sex were very important facets of this chapter. Each of these is a conscious experienced motivational state that activates our bodies to be ready to perform certain behaviors. For example: thirst activation happens when a person is in need of water. This is similar to what happens with hunger and sex. Something triggers you and you act upon your need.
The whole concept of facial metrics was very interesting to me. It was intriguing to see how much facial metrics and sex correlate. The physical attractiveness of a potential partner is perhaps the most potent external stimulus that affects sexual motivation. I can see why this statement is so true, but it was just interesting actually reading it in-text. I think facial metrics sounds pretty cool, since it describes the study of peoples’ judgments of the attractiveness of facial characteristics. This study just seems so unique and “out there” that it would be more enticing to learn about.
The whole idea of set points was not very clear for me. I had a hard time understanding this theory and reading about it made it confusing. The thought that our bodies have a biologically set weight seems a bit farfetched. I feel like there are many ways to show why this is considered false. One example is if someone loses weight and they keep it off, that argues the point of “set-point.”
Physiology relates to motivation because if our needs are not being met, then we start to get motivated to meet them in order to survive. It is clear that we must maintain our bodies and lifestyle; therefore, we have to have physiological needs. As I keep mentioning, it is clear when we must eat or drink because without these behaviors telling us to do so, we would not be living. We go through these processes on a daily basis.
Physiological mechanisms are involved with specific brain mechanisms inside of them. The hypothalamus, medial forebrain bundle, and neurotransmitters are physiological mechanisms that are included in the brain mechanisms. The physiological mechanisms mostly focus on aspects like thirst, appetite, sex, and many other physical aspects of life. In other words, the physiological mechanisms get further broken down into specific brain mechanisms. These physiological mechanisms can stimulate motivational states.
Terms: physiological need, physiological drive, homeostasis, negative feedback, multiple inputs/outputs, intraorganismic mechanisms, and extraorganismic mechanisms, facial metrics, stimulus, set points, physiological mechanisms, hypothalamus, medial forebrain bundle, neurotransmitters, brain mechanisms

Chapter four was completely centered on physiological needs. It discussed the fundamentals of regulation, which include physiological need, psychological drive, homeostasis, and negative feedback. The physiological need describes a deficient biological condition, such as water loss, and psychological drive describes a conscious manifestation of the biological need. Homeostasis is the body’s state of equilibrium and steadiness. Negative feedback is the “stop system” for homeostasis, which means that it inhibits behavior once it is satiated. The book goes on to discuss three basic physiological needs: thirst, hunger, and sex.

The section on thirst explained how water inside our bodies is in both intracellular and extracellular fluids, which means water inside the cells and water outside of the cells. Thirst can arise from deficits of both of these. Being thirsty comes mostly from the dehydrated cells. Obviously the body plays a large role in thirst, but the book also discussed that there are environmental influences as well, and the most important environmental influence is taste. If a drink tastes sweeter, it can be more attractive to a person, even if they are not thirsty.

The book then moved on to the section on hunger. It described the short-term appetite model, where immediately available energy is constantly monitored, and the long-term energy balance model, where stored energy is available and used as a resource to supplement glucose-monitored energy regulation. The comprehensive model of hunger regulation combines both of these models, thus showing that there are short-term as well as long-term influences on hunger. Aside from the body, there are environmental influences at play when it comes to hunger. Eating is often times a social occasion, which causes people to eat more when they are around others who are consuming food. It also went into discussion about how dieting can be another influence on eating behavior because of the fact that it gets harder to have control when you are around others that are eating. Often times this will cause dieters to break their diets and eat more than they normally would have. The section went on to further discuss how dieting is a difficult thing to do, and that one must shut out all of the physiological signs and symptoms of being hungry and activate their own cognitive thoughts about it to be successful. This is a hard regimen to stick to, and relapse is likely to occur because of how easy it is to give in to temptation in different situations.

The final section discussed sex. It told how sex hormones, such as testosterone and estrogen, play a role in influencing sexual behavior. It told how men and women experience and react to sexual desire in very different ways. It also talked about facial metrics, which are certain measurements of facial features that make someone desirable and physically attractive. Neonatal features, such as big eyes and a small nose, sexual maturity features, such as prominent cheekbones, and expressive features, such as a wide smile, are all associated with physical attractiveness. This section went further into discussing what are known as sexual scripts, which is one’s mental representation of the step-by-step sequence of events that happen during sex. It shared that females relate their arousal to intimacy and relationships, whereas males coordinate theirs with the stages of desire, arousal, and orgasm. After that, the section talked about the qualities that people find attractive in their mates, and for men, they desired physical attractiveness, and women desired status and resources.

The most interesting thing I learned from this chapter would definitely have to be about the difference in physiological regulation when it comes to sex between males and females. It discussed how men show a triphasic sexual response cycle that involves desire, arousal, and orgasm. Apparently that describes men’s sexual motivation. Females, on the other hand, did not have a strong correlation between physiological arousal and psychological desire. Instead, sexual desire for females is linked to relationship factors like emotional intimacy. I thought that the differences between males and females were rather cool to read about!

As of now, there are not really any concepts or ideas that I am unclear about. Everything seems to be making sense, and I am able to apply it to life situations to make it easier to comprehend.

Physiology and physiological reactions relate to motivation in a huge way. When our physiological needs are not met, then we have to take action and do something to be able to survive. We are motivated to eat and drink when we are hungry or thirsty because our body is telling us we need to do so in order to live. Our needs fuel our drives and motivate us to satiate whatever it is that we are deficient of.

What differentiates physiological mechanisms and brain mechanisms is that our physiological mechanisms are a portion within brain mechanisms. Our body realizes the needs of hunger, thirst, and sex ultimately through brain mechanisms, because physiological mechanisms are a part of the brain. Parts of the brain, such as the lateral hypothalamus and the ventromedial hypothalamus play large roles in hunger. Hormones such as testosterone and estrogen are released during arousal and sex. It is obvious that brain mechanisms encompass physiological mechanisms, and both work together so that we are able to fulfill our needs.

Terms: physiological needs, psychological drive, homeostasis, negative feedback, thirst, hunger, sex, intracellular fluids, extracellular fluids, short-term appetite model, long-term energy balance model, comprehensive model of hunger regulation, hormones, testosterone, estrogen, facial metrics, sexual scripts, needs, lateral hypothalamus, ventromedial hypothalamus

Chapter four is about our physiological needs; thirst, hunger, and sex. Our needs are what kicks off our motivational state. Clark Hull came up with what is called the Drive Theory. Drive is what motivates us into action. The model of need-drive- behavior sequence is to explain the step by step process of a physiological behavior. The body has a great ability to maintain homeostasis - "the body's tendency to maintain a stable internal state", as the book describes. Our bodies are not the only ways to activate or gain a physiological need (intraorganismic mechanisms are what goes on inside our bodies), extraorganismic mechanisms are what controls our physiological needs outside of our own bodies. Thirst, hunger, and sex all are influenced by organisms inside of our bodies, and outside.

The most interesting part of this chapter was the information on the evolutionary basis of sexual motivation, and gender differences in mate preferences. It was interesting to me that evolutionary psychologists have found that, for some time now, men and women tend to look first for the same things in sexual partners, or mates. According to studies, men are more drawn towards young, attractive mates, while women look for more powerful, high-status mates. It is said that the more the person feels confident about their looks, they in turn look for a suitable mate (men-attractive, trophy-wife; women-strong, wealthy man). This is an idea that has been around for a very long time, and that is what is most interesting to me. Although, I have noticed, personally, that this has changed slightly since the earlier years. Women have had higher status jobs, and we see more and more men staying at home and taking care of the children ("women's work). This is different from earlier years, but the more traditional way of living is more popular, still.

I also noticed (another interesting point) in table 4.2, the gender differences in mate preferences, that males have greater preference for a mate of a different race. I wondered if this had to do with sexual scripts ("one's mental representation of the step-by-step sequence of events that occur during a typical sexual episode), because the book says that men have a stronger tie to sexual scripts due to an increased amount of masturbatory fantasies, when compared to females. Maybe sexual scripts influence the idea that men prefer, or are more attracted to different races (they fantasize about it more).

One thing that is unclear to me, still, is set point/settling points. I am under the impression that it is some sort of natural, or average point where we all are bound to, whether how far we get from it or not, we all go back to this point. Again, my explanation for this makes it clear that the concept is very confusing to me.

Physiology and physiological reactions are the end result of our motivation to reach a homeostatic point. For example, if we had to eat and had nothing telling us to go eat, we would starve ourselves to death. Our brain, and our intraorganismic mechanisms (our brain structures, the endocrine system, and bodily organs) help us "activate, maintain, and terminate our physiological needs that underlie drive". Our need to eat is driven by our insides telling us to do so.

Physiological mechanisms differentiate from brain mechanisms because we can actually feel physiological mechanisms when they are happening, or being used. We can feel when we are hungry, thirsty, or sexually aroused. Although, physiological mechanisms are part of the brain mechanisms, but much easier to pin point with our conscious mind.

Terms: physiological mechanisms, brain mechanisms, drive, need, intraorganismic mechanisms, extraorganismic mechanisms, physiological need, psychological drive, homeostasis, set point, settling points, sexual scripts

Chapter 4 discusses physiological needs such as thirst, hunger, and sex. Every day we are faced with satisfying our needs so we can maintain our lives. It is very important that we take care of our bodies so we are able to live longer. A need is any condition within a person that is necessary for life, growth, and overall well-being. If our needs are not met our bodies begin to suffer and thus become damaged. Before damage occurs motives arise from our physiological needs to avoid tissue damage. It is interesting that our bodies recognize that damage could occur; and then fix the problem through motivation or drive. According to drive theory physiological deprivations and deficits create biological needs; such as lacking water or food. As stated in the book there is a cyclical pattern depicting the rise and fall of psychological drive involves seven processes; need, drive, homeostasis, negative feedback, multiple inputs/outputs, intraorganismic and extraorganismic mechanisms.

Physiological needs occur with tissue and bloodstream deficits and if neglected the body will be harmed. Psychological drive involves directing and energizing a behavior, it prepares an individual to engage in a goal directed behavior. Homeostasis is when the body attempt to keep it at a steady state. This becomes difficult when an individual is constantly changing environments. I find negative feedback to be very interesting because we are so focused on being motivated to do something yet negative feedback stops us from causing harm. For example drinking water, there is a certain amount that can cause harm to us, thus negative feedback tells us to stop drinking. I found these four out of the seven to be very interesting to examine because they all have a different way to get to the same goal.

I found the study about thirst in relation to negative feedback to be the most interesting topic in this chapter. The animals that drank water through their mouths but the water did not reach their stomach actually drank four times their normal amount. This expressed the idea that water passing though the mouth does provide one way of thirst inhibition. It is interesting to see how different aspects of our bodies are able to basically protect ourselves from making bad choices that can cause harm.

Our environment impacts several behaviors one being hunger or eating. It has been found that when there are more choices in even one type of food we are more likely to eat more. Also, food availability and large portion sizes lead people to overeat. For example during a holiday there are often large amounts of food that are readily available thus causing us to eat more than we would in a usual day. In our society it is difficult for individuals to lose weight because there is an abundance of resources. According to the book if an individual uses these three motivations they will be able to lose weight; self-regulation of food intake, mindfulness over one’s environmental influences, and exercise motivation. If an individual gains control and motivate themselves to do these three things their outcome will be beneficial.

A concept that I am unclear on is the set point idea. I find it slightly confusing because how can we know we are programed to be at a specific weight. It’s not like there is a formula that would be able to explain every single person. There are several different people and body types in the world as well as many environmental factors that influence weight as well. Physiological reactions relate to motivation because our bodies are recognizing that there is a problem and then it looks for a solution. The solution involves our body to become motivated so it can complete its goal to maintain homeostasis. Our body is constantly being motived to start a behavior, stop, or prevent a behavior. After looking at all of the concepts through this chapter it is apparent that there are numerous factors that influence motivation as well as the decisions we make. Physiological mechanisms differ from the brain because the brain deals with structures and how they are impacted by motivation and vice versa. Physiological mechanisms deal with needs such as thirst, hunger, and sex.

Terms: physiological needs, motive, thirst, hunger drive, homeostasis, negative feedback, set point.

This chapter is all about how the brain’s psychological needs affect how our body achieves homeostasis. Homeostasis is how our body maintains normality, or a state of equilibrium. This chapter explains how the body uses our motivation to achieve this normalcy. It explains that when we are sleep deprived, our brain sends us a signal to motivate us to sleep so we can return back to our original state before we became sleep deprived. This is the same for hunger and thirst. If our body had no mechanisms to motivate us to achieve homeostasis, we would not have our basic motivation to eat multiple times a day, drink the essential amount of water, and keep our self well rested. When the water in our body drops by 2%, we feel thirsty; around 3% dehydration starts to kick in. This again relates back to homeostasis because when our body’s liquids drop, our brain sends a signal that resembles thirst. Even sex relates to our brain’s psychological needs. Since humans are focused on reproducing, the human body acts in a way that is to preserve the human race. Men and women have different characteristics that they look for in a mate though. Men look for women that have the biological qualities to bear children and the emotional capability to take care of children. Women look for qualities in a man that show he can provide for the family.

The concept of the intraorganismic mechanisms is unclear to me right now because I am having a difficult time remembering what all the different structures and chemicals do to promote behavior. I understand how extraorganismic mechanisms affect motivation and behavior. I hope that the book covers this more in later chapters.

The physiological regulation is what controls when our brain tells our body that we have achieved homeostasis. It’s what tells us that we are hungry and need to eat and when we are thirsty and need to drink. It also tells us when to stop. Without this function, we would continue to eat and drink forever. This is what shuts off the motivation to keep eating and drinking.

Physiological mechanisms are different than brain mechanisms on the idea that we can tell when our physiological mechanisms are being activated. We can tell when our brain is telling us that we are hungry or thirsty or any other scenario in which we need to achieve homeostasis. Biological mechanisms do not alert us that our brain is releasing chemicals.

1) Since chapter three looked at our biological needs, chapter four transitions and talks about our physiological needs. Chapter four starts off with talking about needs, defining them, etc. Needs are conditions within the person that is essential and necessary for life, growth, and well being. When needs are ignored, it causes damage to our body. 4) This is where motivation plays in. Motivation arises to perform certain behaviors to satisfy these needs in order to prevent damage happening to our body. We have three different types of needs: physiological, psychological, and social. This chapter, as stated above, just focuses on the physiological needs: thirst, sex, and hunger. The chapter then leads into how to regulate these needs. We learn concepts like the model of need-drive-behavior sequence and the homeostatic mechanism. I talked about this in my blog for the movie, and I found it to be one of the most interesting things in the chapter, so I’ll elaborate.

2) As I just stated, the Homeostatic Mechanism was one of my favorite (most interesting) things I read in the chapter. The Homeostatic Mechanism is how we maintain homeostasis. Homeostasis is when our body is at equilibrium, aka healthy and happy. We have certain neural, hormonal, and physiological intraorganismic mechanisms that monitor and regulate our homeostatic status. Obviously our environment is ever changing: sometimes we eat and sometimes we don’t, sometimes were hot and sometimes were cold, etc. These intraorganismic mechanisms wort with one another to make sure our body stays healthy and happy – homeostasis. Sometimes are internal conditions are too low, perhaps from neglect. Then our physiological need activates drive. It is telling our body “I need more of ___”. 4) This is where motivation plays in. This neglect brings drive which motivates us to perform certain behaviors in order to raise our internal state back up to homeostasis. On the other side, sometimes are internal conditions are too high, say from overuse (e.g. over eating). Then we have negative feedback that signals satiety; basically it tells our body, “Stop! We have had enough!”. 3. This negative feedback provides the motivation to either emit or stop certain behaviors in order to lower our internal state back down to homeostasis.

3) I understood pretty much all of the chapter, but if I had to pick one thing that was a little confusing I would pick the section on weight gain and obesity. In this paragraph, there is a sentence that states “Little or no research supports the claim that weight loss produces health benefits, as the cure for obesity, might very well be worse than the condition.” It goes on to say that obesity is “cured” through adapting a healthy lifestyle, as well as types of motivations. Certain types of motivations such as self-regulation (of food intake), mindfulness (of your environment), and exercise motivation can all help prevent/”cure” obesity. Yet in the earlier sentence that I quoted, the text stated that the cure may be worse than the condition. Do they mean that the cure is harder, as this motivation is sometimes hard for people to come by? I know I definitely struggle with self regulation of my food intake, as less than an hour ago (and its 10:30 pm now) I was eating a chocolate malt from Four Queens – YIPES! Anyway – this sentence and then all of the helpful information that follows is what really confused me about the chapter.

5) The difference between chapter four and chapter three is that chapter four was in some ways a sub chapter of chapter three. Chapter four fits in with chapter three because it is a section of it more specific. Physiological mechanisms are certain and specific brain mechanisms. In my Tuesday post one of the things I talked about was hunger and the motivation behind eating (e.g. the hormone grhelin). This is a physiological mechanism.

Terms:
Hormone, physiological mechanism, grhelin, self regulation, mindfulness, exercise motivation, satiety, needs, Model of the Need-Drive-Behavior Sequence, The Homeostatic Mechanism, homeostasis, intraorganismic mechanisms,

Chapter four explains and expands on the topic of human physiological needs. A need is any condition within a person that is essential and necessary for life, growth, and well-being. There are five needs that form the need structure. The three main needs are: psychological needs (autonomy, competence, etc.), social needs (achievement, intimacy, etc.), and physiological needs (thirst, hunger, etc.). Two other needs to satisfy the need structure are: deficiency needs (anxiety, pain, etc.), and growth needs (interest, vitality, etc.).

Fundamentals of regulation of humans are based on five aspects: (1) physiological need, (2) psychological drive, (3) homeostasis (body’s tendency to maintain and return to stable internal/basal state), (4) negative feedback (homeostasis’s physiological stop system), (5) multiple inputs/outputs (drive has multiple inputs and outputs), (6) intraorganismic mechanisms (all biological regulatory systems within a person that act in concert to activate, maintain, and terminate physiological needs that underlie drive), and (7) extraorganismic mechanisms (all environmental influences that play part in activating, maintaining, and terminating psychological drive). The fundamentals of regulation can also be described through the drive theory. The drive theory states that physiological deprivations and deficits create biological needs; if need continues unsatisfied, the biological deprivation becomes potent enough to occupy attention and generate psychological drive.

Focusing back on the chapter title, and as stated above, we define physiological needs as thirst, hunger, and sex. The physiological regulation of thirst is described by the “double-depletion model” that states: when intracellular fluid needs replenishment, osmometric thirst arises – cellular dehydration causes osmometric thirst, and cellular hydration stops thirst; when extracellular fluid needs replenishment, volumetric thirst arises – hypervolemia (reduction of plasma) causes volumetric thirst, and hypervolemia stops thirst. Physiological regulation of hunger is based on the lateral hypothalamus, the ventromedial hypothalamus, and the glucostatic hypothesis. The lateral hypothalamus is responsible for generating psychological experiences of hunger, whereas the ventromedial hypothalamus is responsible for the termination of meals. These processes are regulated by the glucostatic hypothesis that states: appetite rises and falls in response to changes in plasma glucose that, when low, stimulates lateral hypothalamus to increase hunger and that, when high, stimulates ventromedial hypothalamus to decrease hunger. The physiological regulation of sex is influenced by human sexual behavior, and not determined by hormones. Important contributions to sexual regulation are facial metrics, sexual scripts (representation of step-by-step sequence of events that occur during typical sexual episode), sexual orientation, and the evolutionary basis of sexual motivation. The evolutionary analysis described in chapter four is that men and women are hypothesized to have evolved distinct psychological mechanisms that underlie sexual motivations and mating strategies.

The most interesting thing I learned in chapter four was that of facial metrics. I have heard of facial metrics before and how one can be seen as more or less attractive based on the measurements of facial features. I found it interesting that facial metrics was divided into three main “attractive faces:” neonatal features, sexual maturity features, and expressive features. It was interesting to learn that youthfulness/agreeableness, strength/status, and happiness/openness are most attractive in terms of one’s facial metrics.

I did not have any particular concepts or ideas that were unclear to me. Something that I had never thought about before though, was the fact that there are particular failures of self-regulating physiological needs. Chapter four states that these failures are: (1) routine underestimating how powerful a motivation force biological urges can be when one is not currently experiencing them, (2) lacking standards, or having inconsistent, conflicting, unrealistic, or inappropriate standards, and (3) failing to monitor what one is doing as they become distracted, preoccupied, overwhelmed, or intoxicated. This is definitely food for thought for me and I am glad that our text laid out the reasons so clearly – making it a bit easier for me to understand.

Physiology and physiological reactions relate to motivation by serving as a sort of base for our reasoning. Everyone has physiological needs (and reactions) and thus everyone will be motivated to fulfill these needs in order to maintain homeostasis and ultimately survive. For example, with the physiological need of thirst, one is motivated to find and consume liquids in order to maintain the need and maintain homeostasis.

A main difference between physiological mechanisms and brain mechanisms is that brain mechanisms occur unconsciously, whereas physiological mechanisms usually occur with some conscious thought (such as: “I am hungry/thirsty”). Another main point is that brain mechanisms are what activate, or motivate, our physiological mechanisms to take over.

Chapter 4 is about physiological needs. A need is any condition within the person that is essential and necessary for life, growth, well-being. Physiological needs specifically are inherent within the workings of biological systems such as neural brain circuits, hormones and bodily organs; for example, thirst, hunger, and sex. If these needs continue to be unsatisfied, the biological deprivation becomes potent enough to occupy attention and generate psychological drive, which is a term used to depict psychological discomfort stemming from the underlying and persistent biological deficit. The rise and fall of drive is depicted of a cyclical pattern involving sever core processes, need, drive, homeostasis, negative feedback, multiple inputs/outputs, intraorganismic mechanisms, extraoganismic mechanisms. The first physiological need discussed is thirst which occurs when our body loses water through natural processes, creating a bodily need. The second physiological needs discussed is hunger. Hunger follows a "depletion-repletion" model, and is regulated by both short-term processes, and long-term processes. Cognitive/Social/Environmental models are also a contributing factor in hunger. The third physiological need discussed was sexual motivation and emotion. Human sexual behavior is influenced by hormones. Men and women experience and react to sexual desire very differently. Men's sexual desire can be predicted and explained in the context of their sexual arousal; whereas women's sexual desire is highly responsive to relationship factors, such as emotional intimacy. Control over our physiological needs often does more harm then good because of two main reasons: under appreciating the strength physiologically and biologically based motives, and losing control over one's attention and standards.
The most interesting thing I learned in this chapter were the studies about being thirsty/hungry and how the body reacts to these needs. It is interesting that, even when water/food is withheld or given in excess, the body works itself out to quickly get what it needs to be back to one's own "normal". I also find the differences in sexual desire between men and women to be very interesting because men and women are so similar in the needs for food and water, but when it comes to sexual desire, they are completely different. What I found to be the most confusing in this chapter was the comprehensive model that combines short-term and long-term influences on appetite and hunger regulation. The Lipostatic and Glucostaic Hypotheses are confusing to me, and the way that everything goes together just doesn't seem to make sense to me.
Physiology relates to motivation because we are motivated to meet our physiological needs (thirst, hunger and sex) when they are not being met by our body's requirements. Our physiological needs leads to psychological drive, which then further leads to goal-directed motivated behavior, which ultimately leads to consummatory behavior to satisfy our needs.
Physiological mechanisms stem from brain mechanisms. The main brain mechanism associated with physiological needs is the hypothalamus. This helps create, maintain, and terminate the psychological experience of drive. These brain mechanisms are what triggers the needs/drive that we cannot feel. They tell our body what it needs, and our body responds to the feelings they create.

Terms: need, physiological need, drive, homeostasis, negative feedback, multiple inputs/outputs, intraorganismic mechanisms, extraoganismic mechanisms, thirst, hunger, hormones, Lipostatic and Glucostaic Hypotheses, hypothalamus

Chapter four begins by defining and discussing needs, which the book defines as 'any condition within the person that is essential and necessary for life.' The book then breaks down our needs into three different needs with in the need structure; physiological, psychological, and social needs, to eventually focus on the physiological needs for this particular chapter. The book explains Clark Hull's drive theory, which essentially means that if we are deprived of needs, or bodies will eventually force us to meet and achieve those needs. Homeostasis is the body's consistency to maintain a stable internal environment and conditional properties. It is because of homeostasis that the body so diligently seeks to meet needs such as hunger and thirst, so that it can maintain levels of blood sugar, proteins, etc. The chapter focuses on three important needs in detail; thirst, hunger, and sex. Each of these physiological needs drive us to act in certain ways. We are driven by thirst to seek water we have lost, and we are eventually driven to stop drinking due to negative feedback, or homeostasis' 'stop' button.
To me, the most interesting thing I learned in the chapter is the conflict between physiological needs and self-regulation. Its fascinating to me that often times dieting can cause more harm than good, especially when it comes to fasting. When an individual neglect to eat, then often induce a subsequent binge afterwards, and becomes susceptible to what our textbook calls disinhibition, causing us to misunderstand when our need is bet and instead over eat.
It is very easy to see how physiological needs relate to motivation. When the human body lacks more than 2% of water it feels thirsty, and after 3% it becomes dehydrated. Because of drive theory, we are eventually driven and motivated to do whatever is necessary to meet those needs. An example used in class that fits well is the idea that at some point an individual, if trapped in their car, will become thirsty enough to drink the week old warm water, and if they were to go even longer and become even thirstier, they would be driven to drink the open soda from a month ago. The longer our physiological needs go without being met, the more insistent they become, motivating us to do (or rather drink) whatever is necessary in order to meet at least some of those needs.
Though both brain mechanisms and physiological needs are important motivators, however physiological needs are much more primal and basic. Without meeting physiological needs the body is literally unable to survive, whereas brain mechanisms are more sophisticated and effected by several factors (environment, brain structures, biochemicals, etc.)

Terms:Need, Need Structure, Drive Theory, Homeostasis, Negative Feedback, Disinhibition.

Chapter 4 introduced our need structure. Physiological needs, are needs for survival, psychological needs, are needs healthy development and human nature needs, and social needs, and are like emotional and socializing needs. Although the chapter briefly discusses psychological and social needs chapter 4 emphasizes on physiological needs. Physiological needs are thirst, hunger and sex. Physiological needs are essential and necessary for life, growth and human well-being. Throughout the chapter there are sections of these physiological needs. Chapter 4 discusses in detail about our needs and how we use motivation to acquire them.
I think the most interesting part of the chapter was in the thirst chapter. The thirst section basically discusses the need for water and other drinks. There are sections like thirst satiety which is being full or reached the capacity where your body tells you, you no longer are thirsty. When I read this part of the thirsty section, I began to think of my friend. Right now he is trying to drink one gallon of water a day. Before reading this chapter, I thought that was a bad idea because I heard of a people dying for drinking too much water, but I was unsure if it was true or not. But according to the book, my friend should receive a negative feedback if he has had too much water. The thirst section also discusses environmental influences, why do we choose to satisfy our thirst with a specific drink. Some of those reasons are due to our environmental influences. It had some interesting facts like, when our water volume level reaches two percent, which is when we begin to feel thirsty.
The physiological reactions relate to motivation because if we are not meeting those needs, the thirst, hunger and sex needs, it sends a signal to our brain which then motivates us into satisfying those needs. For example when we go through a food deprivation, we generate a hormone that stimulates the hypothalamus, pleasurable feelings associated with feeding, drinking and mating, (physiological needs) and the stimulation creates the hunger which motivates us to get something to eat.
Terms: Physiological needs, Psychological needs, social needs, satiety, hypothalamus, thirst, hunger, sex, negative feedback

This chapter focuses heavily on drive-theory, which is when physiological deficits and deprivations create biological needs in our bodies. The “drive” is the psychological discomfort we get when we have that biological deficit. This chapter also spends a lot of time discussing the sequence that occurs from our need-drive-behavior. We start in a satiated state, and then physiological deprivation occurs, if there is prolonged physiological deprivation then that produces a bodily need, the need intensifies and gives us a psychological drive, we then develop a goal-directed motivated behavior, consummatory behavior begins, and then the drive is reduced. The easiest example to look at when observing this cycle is to simply use the example of being hungry, however, the first state would be content and not hungry yet. The chapter also discusses inputs and outputs. The input would be sources that cause the drive, and the output would be the behavior resulting from that source causing the drive. Homeostasis is another key term from this chapter, which is the body’s ability to maintain a stable internal state. Facial metrics (the study of attractiveness based on facial characteristics) and sexual scripts were focused on at the end of the chapter, which also covers the idea of one’s sexual orientation being based on genetics.
One of the most interesting things I learned in this chapter was that if our body was not able to shut off our drives, specifically hunger, we could eat ourselves to death. I know that I tend to mindlessly eat at parties or any time there is food being offered on a table. What I didn’t understand was our body’s abilities to regulate our needs and the different stages we go through when consuming food or thinking about consuming food or what we psychologically go through when we are hungry!
Our physiological needs involve thirst, hunger, and sex (mostly). When these needs are not being met, our brain and body take over and cause the motivation to occur for us to have these needs met. Thirst and hunger specifically, are something that our body needs for us to live. The motivation to consume water and food when we have a physiological deficit is so strong that we will spend most of our time thinking about those things and looking for ways to obtain them until have. The hypothalamus plays a key role. If one part of the hypothalamus is stimulated we feel hunger, and if another part is stimulated we feel satiated. All motivational and emotional states involve brain participation. P 49.
Physiological needs are something we can feel inside us. The need for thirst and hunger is so strong that it becomes quite uncomfortable to concentrate on anything besides those deficits in our bodies. Our brain mechanisms focus on those needs. The brain does not feel hunger first, but our stomach does and it sends a message to the hypothalamus saying “feed me!” the brain and the body works together sending messages and creating the drive for us to get those needs met.
I thought this chapter gave great definitions to the different terms and gave pretty good examples along with them. It is easy to think about the physiological need for food and what happens to get us focused on consuming a meal because most of us have probably been there at one point. Whether you’re stuck at work and forgot to eat lunch or you were completely broke last month and had to manage what little food you have left in your cupboard. I think the only thing I was confused on was set points and settling points so I am hoping they are discussed more in class.
Terms: drive-theory, hypothalamus, physiological need, homeostasis, inputs/outputs, drive, need-drive-behavior sequence, facial metrics

Chapter 4 discusses how “drive” is influenced by physiological needs. A physiological need is “any condition within the person that is essential and necessary for life, growth, and well-being (pg 77).” Physiological needs help us avoid damaging our body through means such as food deprivation and even social deprivation. Maintenance of physiological, psychological, and social needs influence our well-being. The chapter also explains the three basic physiological needs: hunger, the complex physiological need to not only replenish what has been depleted, but also maintaining energy balance and incorporating the effect that our social setting has on our food consumption; thirst, the conscious drive to satisfy the unconscious biological need to replenish water; and sex, hormonally influenced sexual behavior with the evolutionary basis of reproduction of a species.

The most interesting thing I learned from this chapter, as well as the one that is not completely clear, is the “drive theory.” I did not realize the complexity of drive and all of its components. The chapter explains the “drive theory,” developed by Clark Hull. This theory states, “physiological deprivations and deficits create biological needs (pg 79).” Drive is essentially psychological discomfort caused by biological deficits. There is a rise and fall in psychological drive and it runs in a cyclical pattern. This pattern begins with need, the biological deficit. This need leads to psychological drive, the unconscious physiological need become conscious. Drive occurs because of the bodies desire for homeostasis. That is, the body wants to maintain a stable internal state (pg 80). When our body has a physiological need to satisfy, such as thirst, we are driven to drink, but without negative feedback, we would continue to drink to the point of destroying our body. Negative feedback is what makes us stop. It inhibits the drive, in this case, to keep drinking. Drive has multiple inputs and multiple outputs, meaning that drive “arises from a number of different sources and motivates a number of different goal-directed behaviors (pg 81).” There are mechanisms in the body as well as in the environment that are regulating the activation, maintenance, and termination of physiological needs. These mechanisms are intraorganismic (body) and extraorganismic (environment) mechanisms. All of these components mentioned above are needed to regulate drive and motivation to satisfy physiological needs.

Physiology and physiological reaction relate to motivation in that our unconscious physiological needs become conscious psychological drive that must be fulfilled. Our body must maintain a homeostatic level in order to function properly. We are motivated by the psychological drive to replenish and restore any biological need that has been depleted in order to return the body to a homeostatic state.

Physiological mechanisms and brain mechanisms go hand-in-hand. In order to understand how physiological mechanisms, you must also understand the brain’s role in motivation. However, physiological mechanisms are those that regulate the biological needs of the body, such as thirst, hunger, and sex, while the brain mechanisms are the messengers and senders of information about the various needs of the body that need to be restored. Without the brain mechanism sending messages throughout the body, our physiological needs would go unmet because our brain plays such a key role in motivation.

Terms: physiological needs, psychological drive, hunger, thirst, sex, drive theory, homeostasis, negative feedback, multiple inputs/outputs, intraorganismic mechanism, extraorganismic mechanism

I found chapter 4 to be more interesting than the previous chapters. Maybe that is just because I find the topic of physiological needs easier to understand than the other chapter topics. In this chapter it discusses the three main physiological needs which are thirst, hunger, and sex. This chapter discusses those needs and also the things that motivate them. I enjoyed this chapter because everyone can relate to it because everyone has experienced one of these physiological needs. The only thing is that we don’t normally put much thought into it because it is something that we have always known. When your body needs something you are programmed to fulfill that need.

Something that I found pretty interesting was the table 4.2 about gender differences in mate preferences. There were a few different variables in this table, such as physical appearance, age, earning potential, and things like race and religion. The greater preferences for men were physical appearance, being younger than them by five years, and being of a different race. So in summary this is saying men prefer an attractive, younger woman who is of a different race. As for females, the greater preference were being older than them by five years, steady job, earns more than them, has more education then them, and has children. So in summary, women prefer an older man who is financially secure, who also has children. To me it sounds like men prefer the younger girl who they may be able to take care of. Whereas women prefer the older male who is able to take care of them and a family. Females appear to want the security. I just found this to be an interesting report of sexual motivation

Physiology and physiological reactions relate to motivation because physiological reactions are some of the biggest motivators that we encounter. Everyone experiences physiological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sex. We all have those built in reactions. When you are hunger you eat something. When you are thirsty you drink something. When you have those needs you are programmed to automatically fulfill them. Your body is motivated to fulfill those needs because your body is rewarded by those bodily needs being met.

Physiological mechanisms and brain mechanisms both deal with motivation and what drives us to fulfill our needs. Physiological mechanisms talk more about our bodily needs such as thirst, hunger, and sex. Our physiological mechanisms are the ways that we fill those needs. For example when we are hungry we eat. Whereas the brain mechanisms are more automatic and it discusses more of the neurotransmitters such as dopamine and how it affects your feelings. The brain mechanisms are more focused on neurotransmitters and chemicals that help to even your feelings, emotions, and reactions out.

Terms: Physiology, physiological relations, physiological needs (hunger, thirst, and sex), sexual motivation, needs, drive, physiological mechanisms, brain mechanisms

I found chapter 4 to be more interesting than the previous chapters. Maybe that is just because I find the topic of physiological needs easier to understand than the other chapter topics. In this chapter it discusses the three main physiological needs which are thirst, hunger, and sex. This chapter discusses those needs and also the things that motivate them. I enjoyed this chapter because everyone can relate to it because everyone has experienced one of these physiological needs. The only thing is that we don’t normally put much thought into it because it is something that we have always known. When your body needs something you are programmed to fulfill that need.

Something that I found pretty interesting was the table 4.2 about gender differences in mate preferences. There were a few different variables in this table, such as physical appearance, age, earning potential, and things like race and religion. The greater preferences for men were physical appearance, being younger than them by five years, and being of a different race. So in summary this is saying men prefer an attractive, younger woman who is of a different race. As for females, the greater preference were being older than them by five years, steady job, earns more than them, has more education then them, and has children. So in summary, women prefer an older man who is financially secure, who also has children. To me it sounds like men prefer the younger girl who they may be able to take care of. Whereas women prefer the older male who is able to take care of them and a family. Females appear to want the security. I just found this to be an interesting report of sexual motivation

Physiology and physiological reactions relate to motivation because physiological reactions are some of the biggest motivators that we encounter. Everyone experiences physiological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sex. We all have those built in reactions. When you are hunger you eat something. When you are thirsty you drink something. When you have those needs you are programmed to automatically fulfill them. Your body is motivated to fulfill those needs because your body is rewarded by those bodily needs being met.

Physiological mechanisms and brain mechanisms both deal with motivation and what drives us to fulfill our needs. Physiological mechanisms talk more about our bodily needs such as thirst, hunger, and sex. Our physiological mechanisms are the ways that we fill those needs. For example when we are hungry we eat. Whereas the brain mechanisms are more automatic and it discusses more of the neurotransmitters such as dopamine and how it affects your feelings. The brain mechanisms are more focused on neurotransmitters and chemicals that help to even your feelings, emotions, and reactions out.

Terms: Physiology, physiological relations, physiological needs (hunger, thirst, and sex), sexual motivation, needs, drive, physiological mechanisms, brain mechanisms

Chapter 4
Chapter four was about people’s needs and the different kinds of needs. This chapter talked about physiological needs, psychological needs, and social needs. This chapter talked about Clark Hulls biological based theory of motivation called drive theory. This chapter talked about Intraorganismic mechanisms and etraoganismic mechanisms. This chapter talked about thirst and hunger and how if it is not kept at a functional level in the body the body will trigger so many parts of the body until it is replenished. This chapter talked about sex and how hormones influence a person’s sex drive but androgens contribute to a man’s sex drive and estrogens contribute to a woman’s sex drive. The chapter talked about the different stimuli that arise in a person when seeking out a partner. The chapter ended with talking about what happens to the body when physiological needs are met.
Other then learning about the different types of needs in the body the most interesting thing I about the chapter I feel was when it talked about how the body needs sex and the different things that draw a person to a sexual partner. I think it was really interesting that a person’s sex drive starts to decline in the mid twenties. I thought this was interesting because most people are finding their life partner about this time and starting a family so I would think that most people’s sex hormones would be elevated. It’s crazy to think that a person’s sex hormones and sexual desires are about half of what they are 40 then when they were 20 years old. My favorite part in the chapter was when it talked about the traditional sex response cycle and alternative sex response cycle. This was my favorite because it described so well how a woman needs emotional intimacy to spark sexual desire. I read this to my friend because he never understood why woman don’t want to have sex all the time like men. He seemed to think that a woman at the bars are there for sex but when he would make a move he would get shut down and now he understand why woman want to cuddle after sex. A woman’s sex response cycle is a continuum and even after orgasm, a woman’s arousal emotionally is still high, where as a man, it declines after orgasm. I think it was also interesting to read about facial metrics. I never thought that woman found thick facial hair and thick eyebrows to be associated with strength, status, and competency. The only part of the chapter that I thought was confusing was the facial diagram in the facial metrics section.
Physiology and physiological reactions relate to motivation because they affect the body’s mood and emotions that in turn affect motivation. In the book it talked about how if certain needs are not me, like food for example, it will cause a person to feel moody and crabby and have low energy which in return might cause a person to have low motivation. For example, someone who always runs might not have motivation to on a day that they have not ate anything or be deficient in water. The body tells that person that food and water are a higher priority, more motivation, then running. Physiological reactions exist within ever human. This affects motivation because people are naturally motivated about similar things. Physiological reactions involve many emotions and motivation to help generate positive emotion or negative emotion. We seek out challenges and try to improve interpersonal relationships with are all driven by some level of motivation.
Some differences between physiological mechanism and the brains mechanism is that the physiological mechanisms are based on food, water, and sex. When the body becomes deficient in food, water, or sex they will trigger the unconscious mind that the brains mechanisms works to send a response to our conscious mind. The two work hand in hand. Physiological mechanisms involve biological systems such as the brain.

Chapter four is by far my favorite chapter so far. It simply is about needs. But I found out that basic needs are not so simple. A need is something the body needs for life, growth and well being. This chapter focused on physiological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sex. These are the basics and yet very much dictate a person life. The chapter looks closely at each of the basics thirst, hunger, and sex. A living body for both animals and people needs water. A body can only live about two days without water. When a person loses over 2% of the water in their body that is when they are thirsty and are getting close to dehydration. Next need was food. A body needs food to use as energy. The book talked about how hunger dictates when we are hungrier and how much we will eat. Earlier in the chapter it talked about dieting and why it is so hard for people to do. If is person is told they have to gain weight they will have trouble and the body is not going to want food/ If they are trying to lose weight the person is going to always feel hungry. This is because of homeostasis or equilibrium. The body finds a set point that is it happy at and will try to keep it there. The last physiological need talked about in the book is sex. Men and women are very different when it comes to sex. Men show their sexual desire with desire arousal and then orgasm. Women on the other hand, for women the sexual desire is more based on intimacy with their sexual partner. Humans are attracted to each other by a lot of different factors. Appearance is a reason, but also a person smell, taste, and sound of their voice can attract a mate. All three of the different needs have a few things in common. A person has a drive to get them. Drive is a persistent feeling that won’t stop until the need is fulfilled. It can lead a person to do a certain behavior. What is happening in a person’s life has a lot to do with the needs. Their environment, emotions, etc will play into how much a person will want the need. Example is a person is stressed they might feel hungrier and eat more. Different environmental influences are their always affecting the needs.

In this chapter what I thought was most interesting was the idea of set points and homeostasis. I find it interesting that the body finds a place it is comfortable and stays there, The Chapter once again talked about dieting and how hard it is. Suddenly when a person goes on a diet, food suddenly to looks better, smells better, and taste better making a person want to eat more. The body is trying to get you to eat more and get back to your equilibrium. Yet the experiment in the book they over feed some hamsters and under feed so but after a few months of getting the normal amount of food they all weighted the same again. I found that very interesting that they body will change but it will fight you as trying to lose or gain weight.

What I’m confused about/ what questions I still have relate back to the movie Cast Away. In the movie the main character was meeting the basic needs, He had food, he had water, and he had someone to interact with. Yet, it was not enough he still tried to commit suicide. When is the basic needs not enough? I know motivation plays a role but how much?

I understand that motivation is greatly tied into the needs, people are motivated to survive and basis their lives around the basic needs, eating, drinking, etc. People are motivated to live and survival, it is what many would call survival skills. If dropped in the wilderness most of us would not just give up and die we would try to find food and water.

Chapter three and four are different but go hand in hand. Physiological mechanisms and brain mechanisms are different both are needed to help us survive. Physiological mechanisms are more complex, it go through many more different part of the brain. With physiological mechanism we see/ feel the result. We feel hungry, or thirsty. With brain mechanisms the brain sends us messages and releases chemicals. We do not always notice the action taking place. We may not notice a certain feeling or realize why we are doing a certain behavior.

Terms: Hunger, thirst, sex, need, drive, physiological needs, homeostasis or equilibrium, set points, motivation, Physiological mechanisms and brain mechanisms

I liked this chapter better than 3. This song talks mostly about physiological needs, and more specifically thirst, sex, and hunger. It also talked about Hull’s biologically based drive theory, and how the longer you deprive yourself of these physiological needs, their becomes psychological motivation and when we consume enough to get to that satiated state, our desire decreases. This is called the Need-Drive-Behavior Sequence. The chapter talked more in-depth about each of the four main points in this article, drive, thirst, hunger, and sex. Drive I already explained, but thirst happens because we deplete our water in two ways, through intracellular (inside) thirst and extracellular (outside) thirst. We are influenced by our environment to drink more water, with addictions to caffeine in pop and coffee, or alcohol. Hunger involves both glucostatic hypothesis (short-term) and lipostatic hypothesis (long-term) regulation. The sexual motivation of an individual depends on a number of factors, and a woman’s motivations for sex are much more complex than a male’s, because often times, a woman is more likely to have her needs revolve around emotional intimacy needs.
The most interesting thing I read about in this chapter was about sexual motivation, and all the factors that go into someone feeling sexual or not, I suppose because I never really thought of it in that much depth. For instance, the chemical, tactile, auditory and visual stimulations, as well as the androgens and estrogen (hormones) that both sexes have, and how they all play a role in whether or not someone is sexually aroused. I also thought it was extremely interesting that guys don’t need the same kind of intimacy level that a woman needs in order to have sex, or get off. I wonder how this explains single women who masturbate? I liked that they included the waist-t0-hip ratio, as that was something that I had heard about in a previous class. I liked the more up-to-date research on the facial symmetry and how people base attractiveness off of that. I also thought it was interesting the idea of a sexual script (a person’s mental idea of a step-by-step process of events that occur during sex), and how important that is to males while females, who tend to have a harder time ‘getting off’ don’t really have one.
Physiological reactions on physiology are vital for motivation. Without needs and desires such as sex, hunger, thirst, etc then we wouldn’t have any need for motivation, nor would we probably be functioning at the level we are. In fact, we would probably be dead without these needs and the physiological pressure to satiate these needs.
The brain and our physiological are related to our needs and motivation. They also both deal with our internal drives for motivation, with the use of the hypothalamus. Physiological needs are mostly things that all animals need; thirst to keep their fluids in their bodies, hunger to stave off dying and for energy, and sex for reproduction. The brain, however, deals with all needs and our motivations for them. Neurotransmitters go off and send signals both to our brain, as well as from it, letting the brain know what is going on with everything; including hunger and thirst.
Terms: Hull’s Biologically Based Drive Theory, needs, Need-Drive-Behavior Sequence, drive, thirst, sex, hunger, intracellular thirst, extracellular thirst, glucostatic hypothesis, lipostatic hypothesis, androgens, estrogen, waist-to-hip ratio, facial symmetry, sexual script, hypothalamus, neurotransmitters