Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Foreword
- Contents
- Part 1 Background
- Part 2 The Nature of Human Motives
- Part 3 Important Motive Systems
- Part 4 Contextual Effects on Human Motives
- 11 Motivational Trends in Society
- 12 Cognitive Effects on Motivation
- 13 How Motives Interact with Values and Skills to Determine What People Do
- 14 Motivation Training
- 15 Milestones in the Progress Toward a Scientific Understanding of Human Motivation
- Bibliography
- Acknowledgments
- Index
13 - How Motives Interact with Values and Skills to Determine What People Do
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2014
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Foreword
- Contents
- Part 1 Background
- Part 2 The Nature of Human Motives
- Part 3 Important Motive Systems
- Part 4 Contextual Effects on Human Motives
- 11 Motivational Trends in Society
- 12 Cognitive Effects on Motivation
- 13 How Motives Interact with Values and Skills to Determine What People Do
- 14 Motivation Training
- 15 Milestones in the Progress Toward a Scientific Understanding of Human Motivation
- Bibliography
- Acknowledgments
- Index
Summary
Ever since psychologists observed that motivated people or animals learn faster, they have been interested in how motives combine with other variables to increase the probability that a response will occur. In more general terms the question is, What factors in what combinations will best predict what response will be made, or if made, how often and how strongly it will be made?
All psychologists except a few association theorists like Guthrie (1935) assume that motives, rewards, or reinforcers are one of the determinants of response strength, and that there are also several other determinants that need to be taken into account. To begin with, the environmental Situation is obviously important. A hungry rat will run faster through a maze or learn the correct turns more quickly than a satiated rat, but only if there is food in the goal box, and only if the rat can get into the maze. In other words, if one is interested in predicting the strength of the maze-running response, it is helpful not only to know how hungry the rat is, but also that the rat has access to the maze and that there is food available at the end of it. Response strength is jointly determined by a motivational variable in the organism and certain environmental variables.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Human Motivation , pp. 514 - 546Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1988