Motivation | Psychology homework help

6 pages plus a title and reference page

1. Motivation arises from both internal motives (i.e. needs, cognitions, emotions) and external events (i.e. incentives, consequences, social contexts).  Is one of these sources of motivation more potent or more effective in motivating people than is the other?  Are people primarily motivated by internal motives or by external events, or are people motivated about equally by internal motives and external events? Justify your response by giving examples from your own life.

2. Selecting one physiological need (e.g. hunger, thirst, sex) as an example, explain, how the biological beginnings of this need eventually manifest themselves as a psychological drive in a person’s subjective awareness.  In other words, explain how a biological event becomes a psychological motive. Give an original example to support your explanation.

3. How does self-determination theory explain how external events (e.g. rewards, praise) sometimes produce positive effects on motivation but other times produce negative effects? Give an original example to support your explanation.

4.  Learned helplessness theory relies on the components of contingency, cognition, and behavior to explain the motivational dynamics underlying helplessness.  Explain what these three components mean and provide an original illustrative example of each.

5.  Consider the origins of the need for achievement. Discuss and provide original examples from your own life, of each of the following three sources of high need for achievement:  its socialization influences, its cognitive influences, or its developmental influences. 

6.  Differentiate the motivational and performance-based advantages versus disadvantages for performers who adopt a short-term goal (e.g., eat less than 2000 calories today) versus performers who adopt a long-term goal (e.g. lose 20 pounds this year) and offer a recommendation as to whether performers should adopt a short-term or a long-term goal. Explain/justify your recommendation.