KENYA MEDICAL TRAINING COLLEGE

GATUNDU CAMPUS
PHYSIOTHERAPY DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT TITLE: PSYCHOLOGY
LECTURER: CAROLINE MWANGI
LECTURE 3

LEARNING AND MOTIVATION

Motivation cycle
  Our motives have a cyclical nature-they are aroused, trigger behavior, which leads to goal, and
after the goal is reached, they are cut off. Wants for something is followed by action to attain a
certain desire which leads to get the desired thing. A person constantly attempts to please his
wants and desires following the cycle: need or necessity, impulse or drive, action, incentive, and
satiety or reward. If the need is not satisfied while it is moving in a cycle it has to move again to
find the point. Once it is reached then it is over. A need builds up again; individual will go
through to the same pattern. The circular pattern is known as the motivational cycle.                
  
Stages of motivation cycle
1. Need/Necessity
This is any lack or deficiency which is felt by the organism to be inimical to his welfare
(Chaplin, 1973). The need produces a drive, which is a state of tension that motivates the
organism to act to reduce the tension. The body returns to a more balanced state once the need is
satisfied. The tendency of the body to return to, and remain in a more balanced state is known as
homeostasis, which is very essential for the human survival. There are two categories of needs:
Biological needs (physiological requirements critical to our survival and physical well-being)
examples are food, water, air, oxygen, etc. and the Social needs (needs required through learning
and experience) in relation to the happiness and well-being of the individual example are the love,
power, and etc.

2. Impulse/Drive –this is a state of tension that motivates the organism to act to reduce the
tension and return the body to homeostasis .It energizes the person to act. Drives motivate us to
engage in a wide variety of behaviours to satisfy the needs. A drive is the psychological
consequences of a need .Action- activity that triggers the individual to achieve something.

3. Incentive- is condition or object that is perceived as satisfier of the need. It is the purpose that
guides the action these are the motivators of behavior. Incentive is a status at which sustained
activity eases. It would be either negative or positive.
4. Satiety/Reward –It is the satisfaction or pleasantness resulting from having obtained the
incentive or the desired goal.
Example of a motivation cycle

CLASSIFICATIONS OF MOTIVES

Classification of Motives:
It is divided into two general classes:
1. Physiological:
Primary Drives:
It consists of unlearned drives that emerge in the course of maturation.
2. Social:
Secondary Drive:
Those which are acquired through learning. These drives involve a large element of learning.
1. Physiological Drive or Primary Drive:
Three cause of physiological drive:
(i) Stimuli
(ii) Tissue, and
(iii) Hormonal substance in blood.
Homeostasis:
This is the tendency of the body to maintain a balance among internal physiological conditions.
It is essential for individual’s survival.
Body temperature, pressure, blood circulation, pulse and heart beating. Many homeostatic
mechanisms are involved in keeping the condition within the normal limits. The behaviour that
has the effect of regulating internal physiological condition to maintain the balance physiological
mechanism for maintaining homes state balances within the body.
Hunger warmth, cold and pain physiological drives, thirst, hunger and sex. Thirst motivates to
drink. Sleep is a typical of physiological drive. The need of sleep is real. Sexual motivation is
unique in biological motivation.
Sex habit then, is much more important in sexual behaviour of man and higher animal, than it is
among the lower animals.
Maternal drive has its basis in a combination of hormones secreted during pregnancy.
2. Secondary Drives—Psychological and Social:
Much behaviour is motivated by psychological drive:
1. Activity:
One of the drive that is generally characteristic of all species in the drive for bodily activity. But
physiological needs are more active. Activity may also have its origin in sensory stimulation.
Activity is a drive shows that activity itself can be reward for rearing habit.
ii. Fear:
It must be considered a drive simply because it motivates behaviour. It motivates one to try to
escape a fear-producing situation or negative goal. It is powerful drive. Many fears are learned
but some are unlearned.
iii. Curiosity:
The interest in novel stimulation has been called curiosity drive. This is characteristic of the
satisfaction of all drives. Curiosity drive like physiological drive is an unlearned drives that
increase with deprivation and decrease with satisfaction.
Iv. Manipulative Drive:
It is quite difficult, if not impossible; to separate that is done in exploring a novel situation from
what is experienced. We have not as yet determined whether different drives are involved. The
manipulated drives are not distinct from curiosity drive or exploratory drive. It manipulates the
objects.
v. Affectional Drive:
Love is a powerful motive in human affairs. Learning aside the sexual component, affection for
others is still a drive of considerable importance. It emerges in the normal course of maturation.
The affection largely learned.
Fear curiosity and affectional drives may conflict with one another. Novel situation may arouse
fear as well to curiosity. An affectional drive for contact comfort with a mother like object
appears to be an unlearned drive. Its satisfaction can alleviate fear support the expression of
curiosity.
In the comparison of primary drives in animals the maternal drive is stronger than the thirst,
hunger, and sex drives; these in turn are stronger than curiosity or exploratory drives.
vi. Deprivation:
When a drive is severely deprived, it dominates other drives, and activity is directed towards its
satisfaction. Reducing sensory stimulation to a minimum causes restlessness and loss of ability to
concentrate. It usually cannot be tolerated very long by human subjects.
Functions of Motives:
Three Functions of Motive:
(a) Motive energises the behaviour
(b) Motive arouses the activity,
(c) Motive releases the energy

ABRAHAM MASLOWS THEORY OF HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model
of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid. Needs lower down in the
hierarchy must be satisfied before individuals can attend to needs higher up. From the bottom of
the hierarchy upwards, the needs are: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-
actualization. Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and
that some needs take precedence over others.
Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates our
behavior. Once that level is fulfilled the next level up is what motivates us, and so on.
Five stages according to Maslow
1. Physiological needs - these are biological requirements for human survival, e.g. air, food,
drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep.
If these needs are not satisfied the human body cannot function optimally. Maslow considered
physiological needs the most important as all the other needs become secondary until these needs
are met.
2. Safety needs - Once an individual’s physiological needs are satisfied, the needs for security
and safety become salient. People want to experience order, predictability and control in their
lives. These needs can be fulfilled by the family and society (e.g. police, schools, business and
medical care).
For example, emotional security, financial security (e.g. employment, social welfare), law and
order, freedom from fear, social stability, property, health and wellbeing (e.g. safety against
accidents and injury).
3. Love and belongingness needs - after physiological and safety needs have been fulfilled, the
third level of human needs is social and involves feelings of belongingness. The need for
interpersonal relationships motivates behavior
Examples include friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance, receiving and giving affection and
love. Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends, work).
4. Esteem needs- are the fourth level in Maslow’s hierarchy - which Maslow classified into two
categories: (i) esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, independence) and (ii) the
desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g., status, prestige).
Maslow indicated that the need for respect or reputation is most important for children and
adolescents and precedes real self-esteem or dignity.
5. Self-actualization needs- refer to the realization of a person's potential, self-fulfilment,
seeking personal growth and peak experiences. Maslow (1943) describes this level as the desire
to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be.
Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically. For example, one individual
may have a strong desire to become an ideal parent. In another, the desire may be expressed
economically, academically or athletically. For others, it may be expressed creatively, in
paintings, pictures, or inventions.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs