There Are Three Places Where

There are three places where I sited the textbook but did not know the title.

1. The instinct theory, or as some experts currently call it, Fixed Action Patterns, is a theory of motivation based on the fact that universally humans will react to certain releasers in a specific manner. A releaser is a triggering event for the reaction. Some experts think that we as human react instinctively to these releasers, hence the term Instinct Theory. An instinct or fixed action "resemble reflexes in that they are innate, display little variability from individual to individual, or from day to day in the same individual, and often are reliably elicited by a particular kind of event" (Chance, 1994, p. 8). According to Chance, some experts would say that humans have no instinctive, or fixed action patters that are innate, especially in regards to motivation. These same experts point to the fact that much of the behavior elicited by humans is inherited not instinctive. Inherited behavior can be defined as behavior developed through the centuries and handed down from generation to generation, most of the time not through any physical passage but through observation and interaction. Another theory would be the Need Theory. According to the Need Theory human behavior can be based on the fact that humans recognize their own needs and behave in a way that will best fulfill those needs. Abraham Maslow first presented a Needs Theory, stating that; "based on his observations as a humanistic psychologist, that there is a general pattern of needs recognition and satisfaction that people follow in generally the same sequence" (Gawel, 1997). Maslow believed that what motivated an individual to take a specific action was if a motivator was in place in order to fulfill a need.

A good example of this is when a student is having difficulty understanding certain aspects of a particular subject, realizes that help is needed, and seeks such help from a teacher or parent. A sticking point in regards to this theory is that often times the student will not seek the help necessary, instead the student disregards, or ignores the problem. Therefore, the need is not met. Other theories, such as; the learning theory of behavior state that humans adapt to circumstances based on a learned behavior. For example, several studies have shown that humans can be taught how to become aggressive. "Wilson (1978) concludes...the more violent forms of human aggression are not the manifestations of inborn drives...but are based on the interaction of genetic potential and learning" (Chance, 1994, p. 20). Studies have shown that a generally peaceful people can be taught to be fierce soldiers. The learned behavior may go entirely against the instinct of the individual but it still produces the desired results. The Cognitive Theory used in describing how students are motivated describes the individual's knowledge of what is a motivating factor and what is not. The individual displays a conscious intellectual knowledge of the motivating factors and the resulting behavior is elicited from those factors. One study concludes; "Much human behavior is regulated by forethought embodying cognized goals, and personal goal setting is influenced by self-appraisal of capabilities" (Bandura, 1989, p. 1175). Bandura states that we use our intelligence in the process of understanding motivation and make choices based on that understanding.

Bandura's thoughts differ from the humanistic theory that states that evidence shows humans are more likely to be motivated by intrinsic values. One study showed that there is "evidence that well-being and relationship quality are also better when people orient toward intrinsic values such as intimacy, community and growth" (Sheldon, 2001, ab). Each theory has its proponents and its detractors, but all, at least to some degree, have components that make sense in applying a particular theory to answer the question of what truly motivates humans to accomplish what they accomplish and take the actions they take.

2. "Children and adults do not inherit obesity, they simply inherit the tendency. How they learn to eat and live with this tendency determines whether they will grow up to be fat or lean" (Sears 2004). This statement, if true, would likely mean that obesity would never become a problem if children were taught the correct way to eat, and how to live a lean lifestyle. Obviously, that would be a huge undertaking, and probably not a feasible short-term goal, therefore, obesity will probably remain as a problem for decades to come. With the exception of the 'inherited' tendency to become overweight theories that could play a role in an individual's attempt to maintain a certain weight most theories would certainly have to concern themselves with what motivates humans. There are societal barriers that overweight people face everyday especially if they adhere to the Humanistic Theory of motivation.

The humanist wishes to promote intimacy, experience productive relationships and participate fully in society. The Humanistic Theory states that humans are going to be much happier if they achieve the realization of intrinsic values. "Studies have shown that obese children are more likely to develop a poor self-image and low self-esteem. They are prone to social isolation and, because they compete poorly in athletics, often choose more sedentary activities, which further increases their weight" (Sears 2004). It seems like a vicious cycle, especially when viewed from a humanistic viewpoint. Today's media seems to promote those people who look good, and are not overweight. This carries over into society as a perception that somehow overweight people are somehow 'less than' lean people. This perception as viewed from an overweight person could lead to stress, dysphoria, anxiety and depression. The humanistic theory would purport to a social happiness that an overweight person might not be able to achieve, most likely due to the very factors that contributed to the circumstance to begin with. The motivation to be accepted by society, to achieve intimacy and to have loving and sound relationships is a strong motivation. It would seem much more likely to foster results than the cognitive theory would in this particular instance. The cognitive theory states that the individual has an intellectual knowledge that motivates action.

In the case of obesity intellectual knowledge is not likely to achieve weight loss, whereas being in a loving relationship, or being a productive and accepted member of society would be much more likely a motivating factor.

3. Recent studies have shown that completion of a difficult task is affected primarily by the arousal motivation level experienced by the individual attempting to accomplish the task. One such study states; "Measures indicated, as expected, high effort expenditure only under the condition of an identity-relevant +difficult task, whereas the participants in all other conditions expended significantly less effort. By contrast, the analysis yielded no effects on self-reported activation and feeling states" (Gendolla 1998 p. 111). A real-life scenario to illustrate specifically what Gendolla's study presented could be when a teenage male is called upon to participate in a competitive game in which his team is losing at halftime. The problem facing his team is that the other team is a better, bigger, stronger, faster and more disciplined team. Motivation in sports is very essential and the more difficult a task is, would possibly warrant even more motivation. The coach can therefore assist the players in overcoming cognitive ideals, humanistic values, and the needs of the players by emphasizing the emotional aspect of playing against a much better team. Emotional arousal at this point overcomes knowledge that the other team is bigger and better, overcomes player's needs, and overcomes the individual's sense happiness being achieved through a sense of community.

Emotion plays the key role in this scenario, and by emphasizing the difficulty of the task, such emotion plays an even more important role in arousing the players innate motivational force. The player's desire to win is based almost entirely on the fact that the player has had his motivational force aroused, and now will attempt to complete a very difficult feat. Applying a theory in this case would probably by the Fixed Reaction theory. On its face this might seem ludicrous, however, a young, teenage male will likely respond immediately to an arousal speech even if he knows that the task is likely impossible. He may even react in that fixed pattern because the task is a likely impossible one to achieve. Young, female teenagers are likely to react in an entirely different manner. A real-life scenario featuring a young lady in front of a group of peers giving a speech on why the audience should vote for her. She is running against a teenage male. During the speech she attempts to arouse the audience by giving an impassioned speech at times expressing anger at the current circumstances. The teenage male also expresses anger but is not nearly as impassioned as the female. The male wins the election. Applying the Humanistic Theory in this scenario would say that both individuals were striving to improve the community, or improve their chances of being accepted in that community. Since both individuals were seeking to improve the circumstances, the question that begs to be asked is why did the male win?

"Male leaders received lower effectiveness ratings when expressing sadness compared to neutrality, while female leaders received lower ratings when expressing either sadness or anger" (Lewis, 2000, p. 221). Since females are perceived in a different light, their emotions are also viewed as being different as well. A response such as this does not make cognitive sense, nor is it needs based, but it could be a fixed or a learned behavior that would coincide with the fixed action theory. Appealing to the audience from a needs basis might assist the young female in achieving her goal, or she could benefit by taking a more dispassionate approach in addressing the crowd. She could benefit from arousing the students with application of a fixed action response especially from the males who would view her in a much better light if she would not show anger in her speech.

4. Considering the fact that "sleep loss reduces performance" (text book) and that it would seem that most individuals probably wish to be at their peak performance while at work, it would seem common sense that people get the required amount of sleep necessary to perform at their peak. The field chosen to specialize in does not really offer shift work, and in fact, the hours worked are normally referred to as 'banker's hours'. If there were a demand for shift work in that industry, then I would say good luck to those who wish to do so.

Because the industry is one that pays a commission instead of an hourly wage, the employees should be able to choose what hours of the day they spend working. The vast majority of the hours worked in the industry are currently set from about 9:30 am until 4:30 pm. It has been this way for a long time, and there really is no strong argument being offered to have the employees start working different hours. If the hours being worked were changed to an afternoon or midnight shift, most employees would rebel. The effects of sleep deprivation would start to cause mismanagement of client's funds and million dollar mistakes would become the norm. Dropping serotonin levels affecting those individual's reasoning abilities would mean they would lack the energy, commitment or motivation to research investment products that make sense for their clientele. That would lead to bad investment advice. The clients would not be happy because their investments would lose value, and they likely would move their accounts to someone who was at least awake enough during the day to offer sound investment advice. Since many of these individuals enjoy a 'partying lifestyle', staying up until all hours of the night, they are likely already affected by sleep deprivation, and having them suffer even less sleep could be disastrous to, not only their individual clients, but the general economy overall. With investments slipping in number and value, clients not trusting their investment advisors, and the economy going in the tank, it just does not seem worth the hassle to request employees in my industry to work afternoon or midnight shift.