Ch 1 & 2-Introduction and Perspectives

Motivation is determined by the person. Certain things motivate different people. Motivation affects how people behave. Different theories bring different explanations for what motivates people like needs, cognition, instincts, and drives. These theories are brought together and it is seen that they all have something to do with motivation.
Cognition is a way of motivating. People’s different thoughts leads to different amounts of motivation.
It was interesting to look at how we should not look at what people are doing but why they are doing it. If you think about it, everything we do has motive behind it. There are reasons we do everything. Motive plays a huge part in our lives.
I also found it interesting how instinct had to do with motivation. People do things because of their instinct to do so.
Drives are another way of motivating. In Freud’s drive theory, Freud looked at how behavior was driven by our needs.
I found it surprising that the studying motivation recently started. Motivation has so much to do with our daily lives and people don’t really stop to think about it.
Terms used:
Cognition, Freud’s drive theory, instinct, motivation

From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you?
The topic I find most interesting came in chapter one. The fact that motivation needs supportive conditions is interesting to me, because when you think about it, what I consider supportive may not be what you consider supportive. The chapter talks about how being able to motivate is an art and not all people are good at it. I find it interesting to know what makes a person supportive and a good motivator? Can it be taught?

If you had to describe to someone not in this class what Motivation is all about, what would you tell them based on your understanding of this chapter?
I would tell them motivation is the underlying reason to why someone does or does not do something. It explains why we make the decisions that we do and how we go about getting ourselves to perform those behaviors. Everyone’s personal motivation is ever changing with the time of the day, our physical state, our feelings, thoughts and needs. Motivation could explain why my roommate, who I who got similar grades to in high school, was practically failing out of school while I was excelling. Motivation would explain why I have been talking about losing weight for 8 years and am still just talking about it. Motivation could be used to understand pretty much everything. The difficulty becomes understanding motivation because as stated in the book “Motivation is a private, unobservable, and seemingly mysterious experience.

What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?
The most surprising part of the reading that in the 70’s the study of motivation was almost nonexistent and a research field and that is wasn’t until the 90’s that it came “back to life”. I would think this subject would be at the base of many questions within psychology. The most memorable part of this reading is just the overall complexity of, the seemingly simple subject of motivation. Looking at motivation in more of a “which kind” way rather than a “how much” way is something I never even took the time to consider. I never thought to tie motivation to things I would naturally do like take care of a head ache.

Provide a list of Motivation and Emotion terms that you used in your comment at the bottom of your post.
Motivation

From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you?
I find that the origins of motivation to be the most interesting. I am an Anthropology major and find that the origins of thoughts and their counterparts to be extremely interesting. Culture and various other social structures are built off of people and their interactions. So, in order to have those interactions, they have these inner processes. And the motivation behind their actions and interactions can be fascinating!

If you had to describe to someone not in this class what Motivation is all about, what would you tell them based on your understanding of this chapter?

Motivation involves the processes that encourage or spark behaviors. In order to a behavior to occur it must be “motivated” to do so. Motivation is made up of 4 main processes involving the cognition, needs, emotions, and external events. Motivation is expressed by behaviors, engagements, brain activations and and physiology, and self-reports.

What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?

Many theories seem to emphasize that motivation stems from biological means. There are some behavioral theories but most have a large focus on biology.

Provide a list of Motivation and Emotion terms that you used in your comment at the bottom of your post.

Grand theory. Emotion. Motivation. Behavior. Intrinsic. Extrinsic. Grand Theories.

What interested me the most from the reading are the answers to one out of the 2 perennial questions; “what causes behavior?”, the fact that motivation is unobservable and that we can tell someone is motivated through their behavioral manifestations and the antecedents known to give rise to motivational states, the 8 behavioral expressions of motivation; attention, effort, latency, persistence, choice, probability of response, facial expressions and bodily gestures, and the history of the study of motivation/the grand theories; will, instinct, drive (Freud’s Drive Theory and Hull’s Drive Theory).

Motivation is an internal feeling or urge (biological or not) that we get either from internal forces or external forces. Through our external behaviors is how we satisfy our internal feelings or urges. The internal feelings that we get is the urge to do something (which is acted out through behavior).

What surprised me the most is the section in Chapter 2 that discusses the history of motivation. I didn’t realize that motivation is a newly studied topic within the last 100 years, and that there have been a number of grand theories to try and describe it.

Perennial, Behavioral manifestations, Antecedents, Attention, Effort, Latency, Persistence, Choice, Probability of response, Facial expressions, Bodily gestures, Internal forces, External forces

I was really interested in the section talking about engagement. As a marketing major, engagement is one thing that we really focus on when we are designing an advertisement. Customer engagement is the holy grail of marketing. Probability of Response is probably the most important Behavior Expression of Motivation in terms of my future career goals as the goal of marketing efforts is to encourage the customer to purchase our product over the other products available. Motivation is the science of understanding of “why people do things” to put it in simple terms. This includes the study of intrinsic and extrinsic variables, environmental factors, and biological factors. One thing I didn’t really think about was that there is not only motivation to do something but also motivation to avoid something. In the section talking about approach and avoidance tendencies I thought it was interested to think of motivation to avoid something that is aversive or painful such as exercising or dieting. Although those are positive things, people often avoid them in order to avoid the aversive and negative things that go along with them, over powering their motivation to get in shape or lose weight. I also thought that the section describing the Grand Theories of motivation: instinct, will, and drive was very interesting because it really makes sense if you think about it in terms of common sense. You’re hungry, you eat. That is an example of drive motivation. You are seeking a specific goal, you make a plan to get there. That is an example of will. You see a bear in the woods, you hide. That is an example of instinctual motivation. Overall, I think it is really important to study and understand motivation, especially in our very competitive society.

Terms: engagement, probability of response, behavior expression of motivation, motivation, approach and avoidance tendencies, instinct, will, drive, grand theories

Throughout reading the first two chapters in the text, what I found most interesting was the amount of detail and in-depth breakdown of what truly signified motivation and what it is all composed of. For instance, previously I would define motivation as a universal idea in that taking a quote from Michael Jordan for instance would in and of itself define what motivation is to everyone. However in my reading I learned that it is much more complex than that. The study of motivation and emotion is what is known as a behavioral science in that it requires an extensive study of data, empirical evidence, and analyses to formulate how different motivational processes work given numerous hypothesis and tests. For instance motivation from an athlete may very well differ from motivation from a veterinarian. With this we can understand that motivation revolves around two fundamental questions 1.) what causes behavior? And 2.) Why does behavior vary in its intensity (why is one motivated to work out yesterday morning, yet less motivated the following day)? In summary, motivation is the study that concerns those processes that give behavior its energy and direction. Further, What starts one’s behavior and/or how is that character sustained over time? Why is Bob’s behavior as an athlete directed towards some ends but Paula’s as a Veterinarian is completely different? What are the underlying factors that determine this difference and what forces give person A more motivational direction than person B? The questions of this sort are ones that I never even began to ponder previous to reading the chapter, yet I fully understand how they are essential and necessary to answer in order to understand what motivation fully consist of.

Explaining to an individual what motivation is all about:
In the study of motivation we are primarily concerned with what processes drive ones behavior via its energy and direction. In regards to energy, we focus on what sparks the behaviors purpose such as intensity or persistence. Why might I be fully motivated to wake up at 5 A.M. every morning to run five miles as opposed to my friend waking up at the same time to lift weights? What gives me that energy to run whereas my friend it is to lift weights? The energy implies the behaviors strength. Further, the direction denotes why ones action has a purpose, why one has energy to achieve some particular goal whereas mine is much different. With motivation we understand that through processes we as humans individually have distinct personal drives that arise from both environmental and internal experiences. Internally we refer to needs, cognitions, and emotions that shape an individual’s approach whereas environmental or external events such as culture or social structure shape our long-term mindset’s course of action. In unison, energy and direction lay at the basis to define what motivation truly is, yet is not simply a formula that works for everyone in that it is only through science and its study of behavior by which we can ultimately establish what motivation is all about.

The most memorable piece of information that I took from the reading was the emphasis on the Internal Motives involved with motivation and emotion. I was aware of the ‘Needs’ that every individual needs, but the in-depth analysis of how ‘Cognitions’ and ‘Emotions’ also played a vital role in shaping ones process of motivation was something that I hadn’t previously thought of. For instance the ‘Cognitions’ refers to the mental events, such as thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and the self-concept. These sources of motivation consistently revolve around the individual person’s way of thinking. Given that it is all too obvious that we all have different opinions it really shines light on the idea that motivation is not something that can be derived from a universal antidote, each and every one of us demands much different sources of energy and direction; hence explaining why it is considered a behavioral science.

Terms: behavioral science, energy, direction, Internal Motives, External Motives, Needs, Cognitions, Emotions, Intensity.

From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you?

From the reading, the most interesting topics for me to read about were the different forms of motivation and ways of viewing it. Often people want to consider ways to improve motivation among themselves and others. If a person’s goal is to achieve success, than they are more likely to outperform another equally able individual who has a goal of avoiding failure.
I also found expression of motivation to be interesting. We can make assumptions about why someone behaves in a certain way, but in all honesty, we have no clue as to why they did it. It is a private and mysterious experience for viewers to witness a person’s motivation.

If you had to describe to someone not in this class what Motivation is all about, what would you tell them based on your understanding of this chapter?

Motivation varies for each individual and within each situation. In terms of how much a person can have, it can be nonexistent, low, moderate, high, or very high. In addition to this, it is vital to remember that humans are motivationally complex, which means that individuals are and can be motivated for completely different reasons.
When considering motivation, it can be broken into Internal and External Motivation. Internal motives are a process that occurs within the individual, where the needs, cognitions, and emotions exist to shape behavior. Needs are the aspects that are necessary for maintenance of life and well-being. Cognitions are the expectations, beliefs, and self-concept that occur in a person’s thinking. Emotions are short-lived expressive phenomena that illustrate how an individual feels or reacts to important occurrences in their life.
For External Motivation, it can occur from the environment, social, and cultural sources to energize and direct behavior. It can be but is not limited to money being a major form of External Motivation for people.
Motives have the ability and power to affect our behavior and direct our attention to a certain aspect over others. If a person was trying to give a presentation and they were very thirsty, their attention may shift to their thirst and make it difficult for them to continue with the presentation.

What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?

I found it surprising that although Motivation has roots from the ancient Greeks and other philosophers, that courses and studies of motivation have not been around very long. There were three grand theories of motivation that existed prior to 1960s—will, instinct, and drive.
Will was difficult to explain and very mysterious. Descartes believed that bodily needs, passions, pleasures, and pains excited the will. Instincts express themselves through inherited bodily reflexes. The final motivational concept that replaced instinct was drive. Drive is the instrumental way to service what the body needs. It was acknowledged that to understand motivation and gain progress, individuals would have to step away from the grand theories and consider alternative ideas. As much as the perspective of motivation has changed, it is important to remember that each motivational agent—needs, cognitions, emotions, and external events—all interact and influence one another.

Provide a list of Motivation and Emotion terms that you used in your comment at the bottom of your post.

Internal Motives
Needs
Cognition
Emotions
External Motivation
Motives
Will
Instinct
Drive

From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you?

From these two introduction chapters, I think what I found to be the most interesting was the concept of behavior itself. The book described behavior as not being just one single entity, but actually being composed of multiple aspects of motivation. I never really saw behavior in from this perspective. I will be interested to learn more about how these aspects of behavior (attention, effort, latency, persistence, choice, probability of response, facial expressions, and bodily gestures) play into our everyday behaviors.

If you had to describe to someone not in this class what Motivation is all about, what would you tell them based on your understanding of this chapter?

If I were to describe motivation to someone, based on these chapters, I think I would say that motivation is that inner force that drives a person to act and make the decisions that they do. This force may come from some sort of physiological response or even from some other internal motive or external event.

What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?

What I thought to be both surprising and memorable was the history of the study of motivation and emotion found in chapter two. History is not something I usually find all that interesting or exciting, but in this case I thought the connection made between Plato and Freud’s theories made this part of history stick with me. As a psychology major, we have been taught all about Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and the unconscious motivators of the id, ego and superego. However, until now I did not realize that this theory dates all the way back to Plato’s time. Plato’s philosophy regarding the triparitite composes the same characteristics of Freud’s theory. The appetite aspect deals with one’s basic desires (the id); the competitive aspect takes into account social standards such as honor and shame (the superego); and finally the calculating aspect of this theory involves reasoning and decision making (the ego).

Provide a list of Motivation and Emotion terms that you used in your comment at the bottom of your post.

Behavior, Motivation, attention, effort, latency, persistence, choice, probability of response, internal motive, external event, Plato, Freud, triparitite, appetite/id, competitive/superego, calculating/ego

From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you?

Motivation and Emotion are two topics that are very broad and very hard to put into a concise statement. I think Expressions of Motivation was my favorite topic for this chapter. I find it interesting that they break down and analyze some basic understanding of motivation. Example is page 9 where they map out two different kinds of motivation; Internal Events and External Events. Also another favorite part is on page 12 when they explain the fundamentals of Brain activity and Physiology of Motivation. I never would have thought though that Physiology would play some kind of part in someone being motivated.
If you had to describe to someone not in this class what Motivation is all about, what would you tell them based on your understanding of this chapter?
Motivation is not a simple definition; there are different affects that play into people being motivated. There are internal factors and external factors that influence us to be a motivated individual. Examples of getting motivated are driving down the road, getting up in the morning, work etc. All of these examples are called Motives, which provides the basic thought that, “Motives direct attention and Prepare Action”. Motives are always changing, always rising and falling in different various ways. At one moment I could be motivated to go bowling or at the next have little interest in it.

What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?

The most memorable thing that I have learned is that there are different types of motivation. I originally thought there was only one way of being motivated and that was just etheir wanting to do something or not. They explain in the book that if you watch a doctor work on a patient, athlete practice, and an employee work you will notice a difference in their intensity of motivation. Different experiences call for different types of motivation, obviously if I am an athlete I want to be experienced at being motivated to practice my skills so I can get better

Provide a list of Motivation and Emotion terms that you used in your comment at the bottom of your post.

Motives direct attention and Prepare Action

intensity of motivation

Brain activity and Physiology of Motivation

Expressions of Motivation

Internal Events and External Events

From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you?

I found the two perennial questions to be the most interesting. Before, I thought that motivation could be a fairly simple question to address when in reality it is not! The two questions they ask are 1) What causes behavior? and 2) Why does behavior vary in it’s intensity? There is so much more information that is needed to explain motivations and behaviors associated with them, I really am excited to learn about these processes. I was impressed that they demonstrated to us that there were many different approaches, or grand theories, that attempted to completely explain motivation. Using the will, instinct, and drive it was very difficult for individuals to explain what is was as a whole. Therefore, they use mini-theories to explain different aspects of motivation which is much easier to do! I am also excited to learn more

If you had to describe to someone not in this class what Motivation is all about, what would you tell them based on your understanding of this chapter?

I would probably explain motivation as a particular urge or drive to do a specific activity. For example, If someone is hungry, their body is going to send them impulses that triggers their brain to tell them that they are hungry. Once that is triggered, they are going to sense those urges and probably get something to eat. There are also different influences, including intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Which means that motivation doesn't necessarily come all from within your body, other factors could influence your motivation as well.

What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?

The most memorable thing I learned about in this reading was learning about all the different kinds of motivation. Before taking this class, I didn't realize that motivation could be such a hard word to explain in psychology. I thought I knew a good definition but reading this chapter definitely changed that definition. I am eager to learn more about motivation and the various aspects that affect it.

Terms: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, will, instinct, drive, grand theories, mini-theories

From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you?
Motivation is a complex, rich topic, and I find it fascinating that, for example, there could be 14 different (scientific) explanations for why someone would exercise. I think it’s interesting that motivation is “a constantly flowing river of needs, cognitions, and emotions” (p. 15) and that although several different motives may be vying for an individual’s attention, one may dominate the others even when the others may seem more pressing in another situation. It’s a system so complex that it reminds me of something we learned in Intro to Counseling. No one theory explains what is “wrong” with a person or why they feel the way they do. Sometimes one theory makes more sense at one time, while another client may benefit from the structure of a different theory. (This is why many counselors say the theory they use is “eclectic.”)
If you had to describe to someone not in this class what Motivation is all about, what would you tell them based on your understanding of this chapter?
I would say motivation is the reason we do things, stop doing things, do things for a certain period of time, or do things at a certain intensity. I had a hard time with this part of the post, but I think I will be better able to answer it after we talk about the text in lecture. There are a lot of concepts to internalize.
What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?
I can’t say I was necessarily surprised by the fact that motivation can’t be observed, since that is completely logical, but it kind of framed for me the idea of studying motivation. When we study motivation, we’re not hooking people up to EEGs or looking at their GSR. It’s about a very internal process involving that constant flow of variables.
TERMS: motive, motivation, behavior

* From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you?

There are many topics that are interesting to me from chapters 1 &2. The first one being that there are four sources of motivation: needs, cognitions, emotions (all three being internal motives), and external events. I have learned about internal and external motivations before, but never explained in this way. It is interesting to me that external motivations, not only include specific events, but also include environments: physical or mental environments. I was then able to think about that of my own life, of how I am affected by environments and act or change my behavior based on them. The other topic which I found especially interesting was the drive theory of Freud and Hull. In trying to discover the source of behavior, the topic of drive is very interesting. I especially liked the quote of "drive, cue, response, reward". It definitely helped me understand the concept and made it clear.

* If you had to describe to someone not in this class what Motivation is all about, what would you tell them based on your understanding of this chapter?

Motivation is the source and answer to the question "why?". It studies why we do the things we do, what sources push us to act, and the different aspects and degrees of behavior.

* What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?

It surprised me how many theories there are of motivation and the sources of behavior. The history of motivation and the theories involved is incredible, and how the theories have been proven, or have faded away, or have been built upon, is interesting in how they all relate and point to the question of "why?".

* Terms: Motivation. Needs. Cognitions. Emotions. Internal and External Motives. Drive theory. Freud. Hull.

Many terms can be applied to describe motivation: inspiration, drive, and enthusiasm. Motivation is a feeling or emotion that you get when you feel the need to strive for an accomplishment. In chapter one is the mechanics of motivation.

The hierarchy of the four sources of motivation explains that motivation comes from two sources internal motives and external events. There are three different sub-branches in internal motives called needs, cognitions, and emotions. Needs are conditions within individual that are essential and necessary for the maintenance of life and for the nurturance of growth. Hunger and thirst are great example of motivational needs. Cognitions refer to mental events, such as thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and the self-concept. A professional athlete motivation is be the best is a great example of cognitions. Emotions are short- lived subjective-physiological-functional-expressive phenomena that orchestrate how we react adaptively to the important events in our lives. External events are environmental, social, and cultural sources of motivation that have the capacity to energize and direct behavior, for instance, to motivate someone with money as reward for doing something.

In chapter two, it explains some of the theories that pasted psychologist and philosophers have had about motivation. The grand theory is an all-encompassing theory that seeks to explain the full range of motivated action- why we eat, drink, work, play, compete, fear certain things, read, fall in love and so on. The three grand theories of motivation chapter two focuses on are will, instinct, and drive. Ultimately, it became clear that if we were going to fully understand motivation we had to go beyond grand theories and explore mini theories. Mini-theories seek to understand or investigate one particular: motivational phenomenon, particular circumstances that affect motivation, groups of people, and theoretical questions. Three historical developments explained this evolution. “First, motivation study rejected its commitment to a passive view of human nature and adopted a more active portrayal of human beings. Second, motivation turned decidedly cognitive and somewhat humanistic. Third, the field focused on applied, socially relevant problem. To sum up the chapter it is a comparison of the different views and theories motivation.

Terms: Motivation, Internal Motives, needs, cognition, emotions, external events, grand theory mini theories

Many terms can be applied to describe motivation: inspiration, drive, and enthusiasm. Motivation is a feeling or emotion that you get when you feel the need to strive for an accomplishment. In chapter one is the mechanics of motivation.

The hierarchy of the four sources of motivation explains that motivation comes from two sources internal motives and external events. There are three different sub-branches in internal motives called needs, cognitions, and emotions. Needs are conditions within individual that are essential and necessary for the maintenance of life and for the nurturance of growth. Hunger and thirst are great example of motivational needs. Cognitions refer to mental events, such as thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and the self-concept. A professional athlete motivation is be the best is a great example of cognitions. Emotions are short- lived subjective-physiological-functional-expressive phenomena that orchestrate how we react adaptively to the important events in our lives. External events are environmental, social, and cultural sources of motivation that have the capacity to energize and direct behavior, for instance, to motivate someone with money as reward for doing something.

In chapter two, it explains some of the theories that pasted psychologist and philosophers have had about motivation. The grand theory is an all-encompassing theory that seeks to explain the full range of motivated action- why we eat, drink, work, play, compete, fear certain things, read, fall in love and so on. The three grand theories of motivation chapter two focuses on are will, instinct, and drive. Ultimately, it became clear that if we were going to fully understand motivation we had to go beyond grand theories and explore mini theories. Mini-theories seek to understand or investigate one particular: motivational phenomenon, particular circumstances that affect motivation, groups of people, and theoretical questions. Three historical developments explained this evolution. “First, motivation study rejected its commitment to a passive view of human nature and adopted a more active portrayal of human beings. Second, motivation turned decidedly cognitive and somewhat humanistic. Third, the field focused on applied, socially relevant problem. To sum up the chapter it is a comparison of the different views and theories motivation.

Terms: Motivation, Internal Motives, needs, cognition, emotions, external events, grand theory mini theories

Which topics are most interesting to you?
The most interesting topic for me was the origin of motivation. I like that the chapter made me think about what motivates me in my life and what motivation actually is. The example that chapter one uses with exercise gave me a clear and new perspective of what motivation is. I also never realized that there were fourteen reasons why people exercise but then again people have lots of reasons as to why they do things. Those different reasons are both intriguing and interesting to me.

If you had to describe to someone not in this class what motivation is what would you tell them?
My definition of motivation is a strong need to conquer a goal or to feed a necessary need. Someone who is motivated is also very disciplined and ignores the fear of failure.

What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?
The most memorable thing that I read was in chapter two. The section that talks about a person’s drive really captured my attention. It talked about how we as human beings need have bodily needs such as food and water. Drive can also be something else other than nourishment too. Drive and motivation combined are internal needs that reach for something that will fill the soul.
(That last line was mine. Not from the book.)

Terms:
Motivation and Drive

From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you?
Something that I found surprising or interesting was the internal motives, specifically what it said about emotions. Emotions are short lived subjective phenomena that orchestrate how we react to important events. I thought it was interesting how they broke up emotions into aspects of experience. Feelings – subjective descriptions of experience, Physiological preparedness- how our body reacts to meet situational demands, Function – what we specifically want to accomplish at the moment and Expression – how we communicate our emotional experience to others. I thought this was interesting because I had never thought to break down emotion into important aspects.

If you had to describe to someone not in this class what Motivation is all about, what would you tell them based on your understanding of this chapter?
Motivation is a process which gives reason to a certain behavior. It is whey people do the things they do. It can give explanations to certain behaviors and can change for many different reasons. An example of motivation could be what energizes us to make our goal, whatever that certain goal maybe. I could also tell that person that motivation can be expressed by behavior, engagement, brain activity and self report.

What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?

One thing that I did find interesting was how motivation was originally thought of so many from a biological view. I especially found the instinct factor to be interesting. Where he thought motivation force came from in the first place. I liked his thoughts that motivation was inherited by biological urges, impulses and appetite

Emotions, Feelings, Physiological preparedness, Function, Expression, motivation, engagement, brain activity, behavior, self report, biological,

After reading chapters 1 and 2, I found the topic discussing how motivation varies in different individuals and even varies day to day in one individual, going from high motivation one day to low motivation the next. I found this interesting because finding motivation is hard for almost anyone some days and if we can figure out how to help regain motivation that could really benefit others and myself. The second topic I found interesting was the grand theories discussing the, “will.” Past philosophers tried for many years to understand the will but it was later, psychologists found that it wasn’t necessarily willpower that made people behave the way the do, but goals and strategies.
If I had to describe what motivation is all about to someone not in the class, I would describe it as the amount of energy that is directed toward a specific goal that emits certain behaviors by individuals that vary in intensity due to personal needs, antecedents, and outside factors.
The most memorable thing I learned in this reading is that motivation is not just a simple definition. It took years and years for philosophers, physiologists, and psychologists to find numerous definitions to just get a grab on what motivation entails. Motivation is a hierarchy that includes internal motives and external events. Within the internal motives, needs, cognitions, and emotions all play a role in the strength of the motive.

Terms: motivation, grand theories will, willpower, emits, antecedents, internal motives, external events, cognitions, and emotions.

In Ch.1 I enjoyed reading about how motives vary over time. I started thinking about how motivated I felt when I sat down to read the chapter and then after a few pages how I was easily distracted and was losing the motivation to keep reading. Being able to instantly relate helped me to understand and remember the information in this section. I am interested in learning more about how supportive conditions can help motivation flourish. I am a group fitness instructor and am also looking into the field of health coaching as a career, so I would like to better understand how to create these supportive conditions for others. In Ch.2 I felt the history of how the study of motivation evolved from more simplistic ideas such as a person’s will, and then instincts, and then drive, to a complex study of how all aspects of a person create a behavior was very interesting.

If you asked me to describe motivation before I read the first two chapters I would have had a simple answer such as ‘Motivation is a drive or desire to do something’. After reading these chapters I understand there is a lot more to it than that. Motivation is the source of all behaviors. Many different factors determine motivation, including both internal factors and external events. A person may have many different motives or factors influencing their motivation at one time, and the greatest of these at a specific time determines their behavior.

I have never thought about basic needs being motives. I suppose that is because they feel like they require little to no motivation. When I feel hungry I eat, and when I feel tired I sleep, but never felt that I was motivated to eat, or motivated to sleep. I have always thought about motivation as something you have to conjure up, such as finding the motivation to go exercise or write a paper. What also surprised me is how many different aspects there are that contribute to motivation. It is a word I use so much in my vocabulary but realized it is so much more complex than how I usually think of it.

Terms: Behavior, drive, external events, instincts, internal factors, motivation, motives, needs, will

After reading through the first couple chapters, the section I found the most interesting was the topic of how motivation study reveals what people want. The reading describes how everyone possesses the same potential to achieve the things they need or want to do in life, but it all comes down to motivation. Our motivations are learned from cultural and social experiences.

If I were to describe to someone that wasn’t in this class what motivation was all about then I would explain to them how motivation is always changing. Motivation is a “constantly flowing river of needs cognitions, and emotions.” Motivation can come from intrinsic or an extrinsic force. It is the process that gives us the energy and direction that we need in order to fill our voids.

The thing I found the most surprising to read was the history behind the different themes and theories used to describe motivation. The ancient Greeks and European Renaissance believed in only the will and physiological needs which then eventually got rid of “the will.” As time passed, and the study of motivation became to evolve; the grand theories were pretty much gone from existence. Terms used: Motivation, cognition, emotion, intrinsic, extrinsic, physiological, Will, Grand theories, cultural, potential.

Words used in previous comment:
Motivation, intrinsic, extrinsic, theory, behavior, task importance

From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you?
My favorite topic from chapters one and two would have to be the section on will in chapter two. I’ve always been interested in the philosophical concept of will. Do we as humans express true, free will, or is this just an illusion. This topic is very interesting to me, and I would like to read more about will in relation to human motivation.

If you had to describe to someone not in this class what Motivation is all about, what would you tell them based on your understanding of this chapter?
In layperson’s terms, motivation is what drives you to act the way you do. “Why do you go to school?” In other terms, “What motivates you to go to school?” There are factors and influences to affect your decision making process with that behavior. For instance, your parents may make you go to school and you avoid punishment by going to school. Identifying these factors can help laypersons easily understand the actions of other people.

What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?
There was nothing overly surprising in either chapter. If I must say that something stuck out above the rest, I would have to choose Freud’s views on motivation. I always enjoy learning more and more about how Freud thought people operated, so it’s easy to see why that section would stick out more than the other sections. I enjoy the way Freud broke down many of his views on the psychology of humans. In terms of motivation, he stated that humans were motivated through four components: source, impetus, aim, and object. This makes learning about Freud’s views easy, and it makes them easy to remember.

From your reading, which topics are most interesting to you?
I didn’t realize there was so much depth that went into the definition of motivation. First of all, the study of motivation revolves around providing the best possible answers to fundamental questions like, “What causes behavior?” From here we can decide how motivation affects behavior’s initiation, persistence, change, goal directedness, and eventual termination. In addition, motivation and emotion also influence our own thoughts, our feelings, and our dreams and aspirations. It is interesting to find out that there are decades of research that have went into figuring out peoples motives toward certain goals.
If you had to describe to someone not in this class what Motivation is all about, what would you tell them based on your understanding of this chapter?
Motivation is a want or need to do something. Whether it be eating because you are hungry, or exercising because it’s fun; motivation is what drives a person to reach these goals. Motivations first perennial question is, “What causes behavior?”
What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?
Again, I am very surprised that there is so much depth behind the meaning of motivation. I have never really taken the time to think about motivation until now. It seems crazy that there are so many theories on motivation and behavior that follows. These thoughts go back to the Greek ages with Plato giving its earliest ideas on the meaning behind motivation. Motivational concepts have philosophical origins.
Also, it is interesting that motivation went from instinct, to drive, to incentive and arousal. The concept of instinct is unlearned, automated, mechanistic animal behavior. The concept of drive motivated whatever behavior was instrumental to servicing the body’s needs. An incentive is an external event(stimulus) that energizes and directs approach or avoidance behavior.
List of Motivation and Emotion terms used.
Motivation. Instinct. Drive. Incentive.

Most people know what it means to be motivated, though they don't typically dig deep enough to really think about what it entails. As we are learning in this class, there is an entire field of study dedicated to this concept of motivational science, which is the main focus of this class. The book elaborates: the study of motivation concerns those processes that give behavior its energy and direction. Our motivation is highly affected by our emotion, which help coordinate our feelings, physiological preparedness, function, and expression. One thing that I found fascinating that I found in both the book and in class lecture was the list of different ways people are motivated. Certain types of motivation "work" better for different people, and I'd love to learn about the "types" of people who are more apt to be motivated by different styles. For example, why kind of person is most lkely to respond best to extrinsic motivation, and who is more likely to be most influenced by their possible self? (More than likely, the type of task that needs motivating is the most influencial factor, not the person-- though i am interested in reading psych literature to figure it out.)
Another thing that really interested me is the philosophical part of motivation. I think it's beneficial to speak of will, instinct, and drive separately. They have different origins and philosophical backgrounds that's worth learning about. Only after we have identified these differences can we move on to elaborate on how these differences pan out in the real world.
Lastly, I liked to see how motivational science is a subfield of the different schools of psychology. Of the students in our class, we all have different interests and plan on pursuing different fields after graduation-- some going on for masters and PhDs. Since psychology is such a diverse field, it's captivating to see how motivation and emotion can be applied to all its areas of specialization. As a student with a particular emphasis in cognitive and social psychology, it's interesting to see how the study of motivation can play into this field of interest. This relevant use of information thus makes it more memorable (motivation and emotion in practice!)

Terms: motivational science, motivation, energy, direction, emotion, feelings, physiological, function, expression, extrinsic motivation, possible self, instinct, drive, will.

From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you? What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned from in this reading.
The topic I found most interesting was actually the overall summary of chapter one, the framework of understanding the study of motivation. I knew it took more than psychological thought to put in motion motivation for an organism to do something. But I had never really thought about everything it takes to influence motivation (Needs, cognitions and Emotions). I have taken behavior modification in which we analyse how a subject behaves under certain conditions (reinforcements and punishments). I find it fascinating to go into more depth about what motivates the individual to react the way he or she does. The most memorable thing i learned from this chapter was the different types of source of motivation and how they could be illustrated. I hope to go more in depth about the different sources later in the book. (such as Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation)

If you had to describe to someone not in this class what Motivation is all about, what would you tell them based on your understanding of this chapter?

You can think of Motivation as an umbrella term to describe the feeling and thought process of actually doing something whether its from getting lunch because you are hungry(biological motivation) or exercising because to lose weight( value motivation). It takes needs, cognition, and emotions to form motivation towards something. It is also something that is not always constant it rises and falls throughout the day. For example when one feels hungry, the need your body feels motivates you to get lunch, and once you have done so the feeling of hunger is no longer there.
Terms motivation, intrinsic, extrinsic, needs, cognition, emotions, behavior modification, value motivation, biological motivation