Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 59

Motivation and Desire A New Way to

Think About Why We do Everything and


its Basis in Neuroscience 1st Edition
William J Freed
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmeta.com/product/motivation-and-desire-a-new-way-to-think-about-why-
we-do-everything-and-its-basis-in-neuroscience-1st-edition-william-j-freed-2/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Motivation and Desire A New Way to Think About Why We


do Everything and its Basis in Neuroscience 1st Edition
William J. Freed

https://ebookmeta.com/product/motivation-and-desire-a-new-way-to-
think-about-why-we-do-everything-and-its-basis-in-
neuroscience-1st-edition-william-j-freed/

The Myth of Artificial Intelligence Why Computers Can t


Think the Way We Do 1st Edition Erik J. Larson.

https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-myth-of-artificial-
intelligence-why-computers-can-t-think-the-way-we-do-1st-edition-
erik-j-larson/

If God Why Evil A New Way to Think About the Question


2nd Edition Norman L Geisler

https://ebookmeta.com/product/if-god-why-evil-a-new-way-to-think-
about-the-question-2nd-edition-norman-l-geisler/

Whiskey A Tasting Course A new way to Think and Drink


Whiskey Eddie Ludlow

https://ebookmeta.com/product/whiskey-a-tasting-course-a-new-way-
to-think-and-drink-whiskey-eddie-ludlow/
Bright Green Lies How the Environmental Movement Lost
Its Way and What We Can Do About It Politics of the
Living 1st Edition Derrick Jensen

https://ebookmeta.com/product/bright-green-lies-how-the-
environmental-movement-lost-its-way-and-what-we-can-do-about-it-
politics-of-the-living-1st-edition-derrick-jensen/

Why We Do What We Do Understanding Our Brain to Get the


Best Out of Ourselves and Others 1st Edition Boschi

https://ebookmeta.com/product/why-we-do-what-we-do-understanding-
our-brain-to-get-the-best-out-of-ourselves-and-others-1st-
edition-boschi/

What Do We Know and What Should We Do About the Future


of Work? 1st Edition Melanie Simms

https://ebookmeta.com/product/what-do-we-know-and-what-should-we-
do-about-the-future-of-work-1st-edition-melanie-simms/

Land is a Big Deal Why rent is too high wages too low
and what we can do about it 1st Edition Lars A Doucet

https://ebookmeta.com/product/land-is-a-big-deal-why-rent-is-too-
high-wages-too-low-and-what-we-can-do-about-it-1st-edition-lars-
a-doucet/

Psychological Triggers Human Nature Irrationality and


Why We Do What We Do The Hidden Influences Behind Our
Actions Thoughts and Behaviors Peter Hollins

https://ebookmeta.com/product/psychological-triggers-human-
nature-irrationality-and-why-we-do-what-we-do-the-hidden-
influences-behind-our-actions-thoughts-and-behaviors-peter-
William J. Freed

Motivation and Desire


A New Way to Think About Why We do Everything
and its Basis in Neuroscience
William J. Freed
Department of Biology, Lebanon Valley College, Annville, PA, USA

ISBN 978-3-031-10476-3 e-ISBN 978-3-031-10477-0


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10477-0

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive


license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively
licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is
concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in
any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or
dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks,


service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the
absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the
relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general
use.

The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the
advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate
at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the
editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the
material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have
been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer


Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham,
Switzerland
Preface
The purpose of this book is to provide a framework for understanding
our basic motivational processes, that is, a general theory for why we
do everything that we do.
This book is divided into two sections. Part I (Chaps. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, and 10) will consider motivation based on psychological and
philosophical considerations. Part II (Chaps. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
18, 19, and 20) will consider brain mechanisms that control motivation
and several disorders that involve motivation: autism, Parkinson’s
disease, addiction, and depression.
Although Part II includes information about brain mechanisms that
control motivation, only information that is required to gain an
understanding of the process is included. Part II is not a complete
scientific discussion of the relevant brain circuits, and is written for a
general audience. Ideally, a college course that covers some basic
aspects of brain function would help in understanding Part II. My
intent, however, is that Part II can be understood by anyone, and that
each chapter from Part II can be read in isolation.
The most fundamental motivational events are related to
homoeostasis (eating, drinking, shelter in humans) and propagation of
the species (sexual activity and nurturing children). Each of these
involves proximal rewarding sensations such as taste and tactile
stimulation, but have their basis in longer-term events such as
regulation of water balance, energy balance, and chromosomal
dispersion to offspring.
The second type of motivation encompasses all social activity. To a
large extent, this involves commonplace social interactions such as play
and communication between friends, but may also extend to various
forms of seeking influence, power, or recognition.
The third category of motivation is probably the most important of
all, and is only remotely related to primary motivational factors. As
described by D.O. Hebb (1949), pleasure is derived from “growth or
development of cerebral organization.” This category includes much of
what we would consider to be enjoyable activities such as travel,
adventure, music, sports, games, puzzles, movies, writing, and reading
books.
Finally, we are often able to modulate our decisions based on long-
term goals. Our aspirations and ideals may not correspond with
immediate needs, and we may therefore inhibit our immediate
impulses in favor of other activities that advance long-term goals.
Surprisingly, there seems to be a single neurotransmitter called
“dopamine” that is critical for most, or perhaps all, motivational
activities. Dopamine-producing neurons, although few in number, are of
principal importance in controlling motivation. An important insight
involves the distinction between “wanting” or desire versus “liking” or
pleasure (Berridge 2018; Berridge and Kringelbach 2015). One would
think that we would want, or desire, exactly those things that give us
pleasure. Usually that is true; however, for the most part, dopamine
neurons seem to be involved only in desire or “wanting,” but not in
pleasure. Pleasure is also processed by particular specific brain areas,
but is not localized to neurons of one specific type.

References
Berridge K (2018) Evolving concepts of emotion and motivation.
Front Psychol 9:1647
Berridge KC, Kringelbach ML (2015) Pleasure systems in the brain.
Neuron 86:646–664
Hebb DO (1949) The organization of behavior. Wiley, New York
William J. Freed
Annville, PA, USA
Acknowledgments
I would like to first thank my wife Lois for help and support in
innumerable ways, and my son William A. Freed for preparing many of
the illustrations. I also thank the mentors and supervisors who helped
throughout my graduate school and NIH career, including Joseph
Mendelson at Rutgers University and the University of Kansas; Elias K.
Michaelis, University of Kansas; Richard J. Wyatt, National Institute of
Mental Health, NIH; and Barry J. Hoffer, National Institute on Drug
Abuse, NIH.
I would like to acknowledge Michelle Niculescu and the
Departments of Biology and Psychology at Lebanon Valley College for
inviting me to give the lecture that sparked writing of this book.
Feedback from authorities in several academic areas was important,
and I especially thank Kent Berridge, Departments of Psychology and
Neuroscience, University of Michigan; Goeffrey Schoenbaum and
Melissa Sharpe, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH; Barry Schwartz,
Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley; Yasmin Hurd, Departments of
Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai;
Brita Elvevå g, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø –
Arctic University of Norway; and Noelle Vahanian, Department of
Philosophy, Lebanon Valley College. Michael Zierler served as
developmental editor and was particularly helpful in editing and
providing detailed suggestions for additions and topics needing further
explanation.
Some of the most interesting and useful suggestions came from
discussion sessions following lectures at coffee shops in Kaohsiung,
Taiwan. I especially thank Eva Hsu, Kimi Wu, Wen-Ting Lan, Ian Huang,
Szu-Yun Cheng, and Kyle Teng for their insightful comments. Finally, I
thank my daughter Melanie Freed, my son Benjamin Freed, and my
brother Theodore Freed for their comments and support.
Contents
1 Introduction
1.​1 Overview
1.​2 Scope and Purpose
References
Part I A Classification Scheme for Motivation
2 Reward, Punishment, Desire, Pleasure, and Terminology
2.​1 Reward and Punishment
2.​2 Terms Used in Discussing Motivation
2.​3 Phases of Motivated Behavior
2.​4 Discussion Questions
References
3 A Classification Scheme
3.​1 Three Types of Motivation
3.​2 Motivation Viewed as Intrinsic, Extrinsic, Instrumental, or
Internal
References
4 Type A motivation or Biological Needs
4.​1 Eating
4.​2 Drinking
4.​3 Sex and Reproduction
4.​4 Nurturing
4.​5 Shelter
4.​6 Money
4.​7 Conclusions
4.​8 Discussion Questions
References
5 Type B or Social Motivation
5.​1 Distinguishing Type B from Type A Motivation
5.​2 Cooperation Versus Competition
5.​3 Social Dominance in Animals
5.​4 Social Dominance in Humans:​Power, Influence, and
Recognition
5.​5 Fame and Political Influence
5.​6 Reclusivity and Hikikomori
5.​7 Loneliness
5.​8 Pets
5.​9 Other Common Forms of Social Contact
5.​10 Families
5.​11 Charity Work and Volunteering
5.​12 Discussion Questions
References
6 Type C Motivation as Growth and Development of Cerebral
Organization
6.​1 Learning and Type C Motivation
6.​2 Origins of the Type C Motivation Concept
6.​3 Why Does Type C Motivation Exist?​
6.​4 Challenge and Resolution
6.​5 Why Is Type C Motivation Important?​
6.​6 Discussion Questions
References
7 Long-Term Executive Function
7.​1 How Executive Function Can Be Assessed
7.​2 Long-Term Planning as Executive Function
7.​3 Executive Function as a General and as a Scientific Concept
7.​4 Discussion Questions
References
8 Relevant Concepts from Motivational Psychology
8.​1 Behaviorism and Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Motivation
8.​2 Intrinsic-Extrinsic Versus Internal-Instrumental Motivation
8.​3 Maslow’s Essential Need Theory Versus Alderfer’s ERG
Theory
8.​4 Discussion Questions
References
9 Altruism
9.​1 Social Empathy Contributes to Altruism
9.​2 Neurocomputation​al View of Altruism
9.​3 Altruistic Acts Can Cause Pleasure
9.​4 Conclusions
9.​5 Discussion Questions
References
10 Are Some People Motivated Differently Than Others?​
10.​1 Managing Basic Necessities
10.​2 What Drives Our Social Needs?​
10.​3 Fostering Intellectual Pursuits
10.​4 Historical Figures
10.​5 Conclusion
10.​6 Discussion Questions
References
Part II Brain Mechanisms and Disorders
11 Biology of Motivation, Dopamine, and Brain Circuits That
Mediate Pleasure
11.​1 Brain Cell Types and Neurotransmitter​s
11.​2 A Closer Look at Dopamine
11.​3 Motivation to Eat
11.​4 Aversion, Novelty, and Movement
11.​5 Serotonin
11.​6 Where Is Pleasure Represented in the Brain?​
11.​7 Summary
11.​8 Discussion Questions
References
12 What Electrical Stimulation of the Brain Tells Us About
Motivation
12.​1 Electrical Brain Stimulation in Humans
12.​2 Brain Circuits in Rewarding Electrical Stimulation
12.​3 Animals Self-Activate Hunger or Thirst
12.​4 Discussion Questions
References
13 How the Brain Signals Reward
13.​1 Prediction of Reward
13.​2 Prediction Error Response of Dopamine Neurons
13.​3 What Does This Mean for Our Daily Lives?​
13.​4 Prediction Error and Habits
13.​5 Discussion Questions
References
14 Type C Motivation in Rats
14.​1 Dopamine Neurons Are Important for Learning
Associations Between Environmental Cues
14.​2 Other Neurons Inhibit Learning of Associations
14.​3 Conclusions
14.​4 Discussion Questions
References
15 Type C Motivation in Humans
15.​1 Learning Seems to Be Rewarding in Itself
15.​2 Novel Experiments to Examine Learning Without a
Tangible Reward
15.​3 A Personal Example
15.​4 Discussion Questions
References
16 Brain Mechanisms Related to Social and Reproductive Behavior
16.​1 Social Interaction Activates Brain Reward Mechanisms in
Human Subjects
16.​2 Autism
16.​3 Oxytocin
16.​4 Social Dominance and Social Defeat
16.​5 Conclusions
16.​6 Discussion Questions
References
17 Parkinson’s Disease
17.​1 Dopamine Dysregulation Syndrome
17.​2 Impulse Control Disorder in Parkinson’s Disease and in
Addiction
17.​3 Transplantation of Dopamine Neurons
17.​4 Discussion Questions
References
18 Addiction
18.​1 Multiple Types of Drugs Can Be Addictive
18.​2 Why Do Drugs Subvert Motivation?​
18.​3 Adaptations Caused by Long-Term Exposure to Drugs
18.​4 Rewarding Effects of Drugs:​Anhedonia, Pleasure, and
Motivation
18.​5 Nondrug Addictions
18.​6 Discussion Questions
References
19 Depression and Other Forms of Mental Illness
19.​1 Properties of Depression
19.​2 Motivation in Depression
19.​3 Ketamine
19.​4 Other Forms of Mental Illness
19.​5 Conclusions
19.​6 Discussion Questions
References
20 Conclusions
20.​1 How Rewards Work for Different Types of Motivation
20.​2 Positive Feedback in Type C Motivation
20.​3 Discussion Questions
References
Index
List of Figures
Fig.​1.​1 Classical compared to the current conceptualizatio​n of
motivation and types of reward.​Rewards are generally thought of in
concrete terms, such as food.​Drug abuse is often considered to
interfere with those more “natural” rewards.​The current concept
emphasizes three categories of motivated behavior:​Types A, B, and C.​
Those are sometimes modified in a positive sense, related to long-term
goals (Chap.​7), or in a negative sense by drug abuse (Chap.​18).​

Fig.​2.​1 Illustration of the shaping of behavior by reward and


punishment.​Random behaviors result in positive, neutral, or negative
consequences.​Those that result in positive consequences are
rewarding and are reinforced.​Behaviors that result in negative
consequences are eliminated from our repertoire.​We can learn quickly
not to put our fingers on a hot stove.​

Fig.​2.​2 Illustration of the various terms used to describe motivation


and related processes.​“Drive” refers to a general activation of behavior.​
Motivation refers to a specific impetus to perform a particular type of
behavior.​Pleasure refers to the experience of a positive sensation.​The
term pleasure indicates enjoyment without regard to any connection
between the pleasurable events and a behavior.​Reward indicates a
connection between a pleasurable event and a behavior, or series of
behaviors, which led to the pleasurable event.​In humans, we might
regard “reward” as involving awareness of a connection between the
behavior and the pleasurable event.​

Fig.​4.​1 Gastric fistula.​Animals will drink or eat even when food is not
absorbed (Young et al.​1974).​For a normal animal, or with the gastric
fistula closed (top rat), an animal will eat a defined amount of liquid
food and stop eating.​With the gastric fistula open (bottom rat), the rat
keeps eating indefinitely.​(Illustration prepared by William A.​Freed).​
Fig.​4.​2 Apparatus used to show that guinea pigs will lick or suck on
cold metal tubes when they are thirsty.​

Fig.​5.​1 The graph shows subjective ratings of how much men and
women felt rewarded by viewing images of men’s and women’s faces.​
The degree of reward (shown on the y-axis) ranges from 1 to 7,
representing not rewarding at all to very rewarding, respectively.​The
faces shown are examples; 11 different male and 11 female faces were
used in the study, each with three different expressions.​(Data are from
Fig.​2 of Spreckelmeyer et al.​(2013).​Image provided courtesy of Lena
Rademacher, University of Leubeck).​

Fig.​6.​1 Donald Olding Hebb in his office in 1975.​(Photograph by Brian


M.​Smith, provided courtesy of McGill University archives).​

Fig.​8.​1 Illustration of the division of motivation in terms of intrinsic-


extrinsic (Deci 1971; Deci and Ryan 1985) or instrumental-internal
(Schwartz and Wrzesniewski 2019; also see Wrzesniewski et al.​2014)
criteria, using knitting a sweater as an illustrating example.​

Fig.​8.​2 A comparison of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with Alderfer’s


ERG theory.​In Maslow’s conception, the five levels of need are
hierarchical, so that people seek to fulfill higher levels of need when the
lower levels have been satisfied.​In Alderfer’s conception, the levels of
need are not hierarchical, in that the satisfaction of one level of need is
not a prerequisite for attention to the remaining levels.​

Fig.​10.​1 An illustration of the principle that various people may have


differing levels of Types A, B, C, and X (addiction; Chap.​18) motivation.​
Fig. 11.1 Illustration of (a) brain cell types and (b) the release of
neurotransmitter at a synapse. (a) Neurons have long extensions called
axons, which send signals to other neurons, and shorter extensions
called dendrites, which receive signals. One type of glial cell, called the
oligodendrocyte, produces myelin, which insulates axons and speeds the
propagation of signals. Other glial cell types are astrocytes and
microglia. The shapes of each of the cell types can vary considerably,
but only neurons have long axon-like extensions. (b) At the end of an
axon, there is an axon terminal, from which a neurotransmitter is
released into synapses. A neurotransmitter is stored in tiny packages
called vesicles, which can fuse with the cell membrane and release the
neurotransmitter into the synapse, a short gap that is also called a
synaptic cleft. The neurotransmitter diffuses across the gap and acts on
receptors located at the opposite side, usually on a dendrite of the
receiving neuron. Synapses are most often found on dendrites but also
can occur on the main body of the cell. (Illustration prepared by
William A. Freed).

Fig.​11.​2 Dopamine pathways, shown in yellow, and serotonin


pathways, shown in red, in the human brain.​The supposed functions of
dopamine (yellow) and serotonin (red) are listed.​(Image provided by
the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health).​

Fig.​11.​3 Liking as compared to wanting.​The reactions of rats, monkeys,


and human babies to sweet tastes (liking) as compared to a bitter,
aversive taste are readily discerned by observation.​(Figure provided
courtesy of Kent Berridge, University of Michigan (also see Berridge
1996; Berridge and Kringelbach 2015)).​

Fig.​12.​1 Joseph Mendelson, formerly of the University of Kansas


Department of Psychology.​(Photograph courtesy of the University of
Kansas Spencer Memorial Library).​
Fig.​12.​2 Animals make themselves thirsty by pressing a bar to turn on
electrical brain stimulation only when water is available (Mendelson
1967).​Three rats were tested 12 times for 10-minute sessions under
three conditions:​(1) bar presses resulted in electrical stimulation of
the brain with water available (solid lines), (2) bar presses resulted in
electrical stimulation with no water available (lines with long dashes),
and (3) bar presses did not result in electrical stimulation (short
dashed lines).​The approximate median cumulative numbers of bar
presses are shown.​(Data from Mendelson (1967)).​

Fig. 13.1 Location of the orbitofrontal cortex (or OFC; shown in light
green) in the human brain. (Brain image from Traité de phrénologie
humaine et comparée, J. Vimont (1832), provided by National Library of
Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Illustration prepared by William
A. Freed).

Fig.​13.​2 Prediction error response of dopamine neurons:​Following an


unexpected rewarding event, dopamine neurons are strongly activated
over a time period of a few seconds, and may be activated to a lesser
degree over a period of minutes.​Dopamine neurons also exhibit an
ongoing low level of activity.​

Fig.​13.​3 Prediction error response and habit formation.​When a


behavior results in reward for the first time, the reward is large, and
there is a large reinforcing effect.​After 100 repetitions, the reward for
each occurrence is small, but further reinforcement still occurs.​In this
way behaviors that occur repeatedly become strongly established, or
become habits, even though the amount of subjective reward for the
100th or 1000th repetition may be minimal.​
Fig. 14.1 How optogenetics works. (a) First, receptors that are sensitive
to light are obtained from a microorganism, and sometimes modified so
that they are suitable for use in mammals. Some neurons of a particular
type in an animal’s brain are genetically altered so that they contain the
light-sensitive receptor. Two receptors that are often used are
halorhodopsin, which can be used in inhibit neurons, and
channelrhodopsin-2, which can be used to activate neurons. (b) A fiber-
optic cable is inserted into the animal’s brain so that the modified
neurons can be inhibited or activated as needed. (Illustration prepared
by William A. Freed).

Fig.​14.​2 The experimental scheme used by Sharpe et al.​(2017a) to


show that dopamine neurons are required for rats to learn an
association between two sounds, even when there is no tangible reward
for learning that association.​First, the rats are repeatedly presented by
a tone followed by a siren (1).​Then, siren is followed by food (2).​
Finally, the animals hear only the tone without siren or food (3).​The
animals go to look for food when they hear the tone.​But, if dopamine
neurons are inactivated using the optogenetics technique (Fig.​14.​1)
during the learning phase, when tone is paired with siren, they do not
learn that tone predicts food.​

Fig. 15.1 Reaction of subjects to the deduction of meanings of words,


from a study by Ripollés et al. (2016). (a) Ratings of pleasantness, on a
scale from −4 to +4. Correct deduction of a meaning (M+ correct) was
rated as pleasant, while incorrect deduction (M+ incorrect)
or ambiguous meanings (M−) were essentially neutral. (From Ripolles
et al., 2016, Figure 5) (b) Skin conductance responses to recollection of
meaning after 24 hours. Skin conductance increased markedly for
correctly recalled words (red, M+ correct remembered), consistent with
pleasantness ratings. Provided courtesy of Drs. Pablo Ripollés, New
York University, and Antonio Rodrguez-Fornells, University of
Barcelona.
Fig. 15.2 Correct recollection of a word, from presentation of the second
sentence (“M+ Corr. Rem.,” under “second sentence”) was associated
with marked activation of dopamine neurons. This activation of the
substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area (SN/VTA) was statistically
significant (**p < 0.01). The blue dot indicates the region that was
analyzed. For further details see Ripollés et al. (2016). (Reproduced
from Figure 3 of Ripollés et al. (2016) provided courtesy of Drs. Pablo
Ripollés, New York University, and Antonio Rodrguez-Fornells,
University of Barcelona).

Fig.​17.​1 Appearance of a patient with Parkinson’s disease, first


published in Gowers (1886) as Fig.​145, Paralysis agitans.​(After St.​
Leger).​

Fig. 17.2 This figure represents a way to conceptualize the role of


dopamine in Parkinson’s disease in graphic form. The y-axis indicates
amounts of dopamine activity in a general sense, arbitrarily
summarizing normal activity of neurons and drug-induced activation.
The x-axis indicates time, over the course of 30 minutes, more or less.
Green line: Under normal conditions, a moderate level of dopamine
activity serves to maintain general activity and motivation.
Superimposed on this moderate level of activity, bursts of activity occur
during motivational events. Blue line: In untreated Parkinson’s disease,
low levels of dopamine activity are insufficient to maintain general
motor activity and activation. Bursts to initiate impending reward or to
indicate novel sensory events do not occur or are greatly attenuated.
Red line: In patients with Parkinson’s disease, excessive activation of
dopamine systems, due to overtreatment with dopamine-activating
therapeutic drugs, can produce loss of impulse control and/or punding
behavior.

Fig.​17.​3 Transplantation of dopamine-producing neurons into rats


shortly after birth prevents the loss of eating and drinking behavior
following destruction of dopamine neurons in the rats as adults.​Data
show the total amount of food or water consumed by rats over a 30-day
period for animals that received transplants of dopamine neurons, or
controls that received inactive transplants of sciatic nerve.​(Data from
Schwarz and Freed (1987)).​

Fig.​19.​1 Location of the habenula, which is believed to play an


important role in the positive effects of ketamine on depression, in the
human brain.​(Brain image from Gray (1918), plate 715).​

Fig.​20.​1 Type C motivation does not satiate and can be perpetuated via
a positive feedback loop.​
List of Tables
Table 3.​1 Categorization of motivation

Table 4.​1 Type A motivation

Table 5.​1 Manifestations of Type B motivation


Author Biography
William J. Freed
Ph.D., obtained his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and
attended graduate school at the University of Kansas, where he
obtained master’s and PhD degrees working with Joseph Mendelson
and Elias K. Michaelis. During graduate school, he gained experience in
the neuroscience of motivation with Dr. Mendelson and in
neuropharmacology and biochemistry with Dr. Michaelis. After
completing a PhD, William worked as a scientist at the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) Intramural Research Program, at the National
Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) from 1977 to 1997, and at the
National Institute on Drug Abuse from 1997 to 2015. While working at
the NIMH, he was one of the scientists who performed the first studies
showing that cells could be transplanted into the brain to improve
motor function in animal models of Parkinson’s disease. At the NIH,
William also worked on several additional topics including cell
adhesion molecules in mental illness, development of techniques for
modifying cells in vitro, development of in vitro stem cell model
systems, and production of dopamine neurons from human embryonic
stem cells. During the years prior to retirement, his work focused on
understanding how cocaine interferes with development of the human
brain. William is a fellow emeritus in the American College of
Neuropsychopharmacology and the American Society for Neural
Therapy and Repair, and a Visiting Professor at the National Health
Research Institutes, Zhunan, Taiwan. He currently maintains a position
of adjunct professor in the Department of Biology, Lebanon Valley
College, Annville, Pennsylvania.
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
W. J. Freed, Motivation and Desire
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10477-0_1

1. Introduction
William J. Freed1
(1) Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, Lebanon Valley College,
Annville, PA, USA

Keywords Motivation – Drive – Reward – Reinforcement – Desire –


Pleasure – Liking – Wanting – Intrinsic motivation – Extrinsic
motivation – Instrumental motivation – Internal motivation – Growth –
Development – Cerebral organization – Executive function – Challenge –
Long-term goals

Desire, motivation, drive, reward, reinforcement, pleasure, enjoyment


—each of these terms has a slightly different meaning, but all refer to
the same process: when we do something that produces a positive
outcome, we want to do it again. This is so fundamental to our existence
that we rarely think about how it works; it just happens.
There are myriad experiments in rats and pigeons (and people too,
of course) that have examined the parameters of motivation, as well as
the brain circuitry that is involved. Various theories of motivation have
been proposed and discussed since the beginnings of psychology.
“Drive” is another term that has been used to describe motivating
factors, especially in animals, and survives in everyday language as the
term “sex drive.”
We can also find many studies of motivation in education, business,
or other walks of life related to, for example, the best ways of
motivating students to learn. In the context of education, motivation is
often divided into “intrinsic” vs. “extrinsic” motivation. In its simplest
form, intrinsic motivation refers to an internal desire to learn or to do
something for its own sake, whereas extrinsic motivation refers to
tangible rewards, such as money, status, prizes, or gold stars for
children.
Intrinsic motivation applies to activities that are, in themselves,
enjoyable. Extrinsic motivation is operative when unrelated rewards
are superimposed on an activity. Ryan and Deci (2000) provide a
particularly appealing perspective on intrinsic motivation as related to
psychological needs and social development.
A more useful distinction, recently proposed by Schwartz and
Wrzesniewski (2019; also Wrzesniewski et al. 2014), may be a division
into instrumental activities, for which a particular task leads to a
separate outcome, versus those that are internally motivated. Internally
motivated activities may involve preparation, extended practice, and
routine work needed for accomplishing a long-term task or achieving
proficiency in a skill. An internally motivated activity may involve the
ultimate goal activity that brings enjoyment on one hand and
preparation, which may not, on the other. Thus, for a long-term activity
or undertaking, some aspects of the activity may not be pleasurable but
are nonetheless internally motivated. The intrinsic-extrinsic and
internal-instrumental distinctions will be further clarified in Chap. 8.
What are rewards? We might think of the obvious elements of
reward: food, drink, sex, nurturing, and money. My former employer,
the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the US National Institutes
of Health, provides a standard slide for teachers to use in presentations.
This slide lists “natural” rewards consisting of food, water, sex, and
nurturing. Presumably, this is to be contrasted with the “un-natural”
reward of drugs. So at first glance, it seems that we work to obtain food,
money, nurturing, and sex, and that is all, unless we are diverted from
this quest by drugs. But there is much more involved, as we will see
(Fig. 1.1).
Fig. 1.1 Classical compared to the current conceptualization of motivation and
types of reward. Rewards are generally thought of in concrete terms, such as food.
Drug abuse is often considered to interfere with those more “natural” rewards. The
current concept emphasizes three categories of motivated behavior: Types A, B, and
C. Those are sometimes modified in a positive sense, related to long-term goals
(Chap. 7), or in a negative sense by drug abuse (Chap. 18).
In this book, I am proposing that motivation, especially in humans,
is best considered as being comprised of three categories: Type A,
motivation for basic biological needs, including reproduction (Chap. 4);
Type B, motivation for all social purposes, extending from simple social
connectedness to recognition by others, power, and influence (Chap. 5);
and Type C, motivation based on “growth and development of cerebral
organization,” as originally proposed by Donald Olding Hebb in 1949.
Type C motivation will be explained in practical terms in Chap. 6. This
categorization is similar to the existence, relatedness, and growth
classification system proposed by Alderfer in 1969. Type C motivation,
as mentioned above, is similar to the “growth” category of Alderfer.
Essentially, everything that we do during the course of a day (apart
from the possibility of drug abuse or addiction, which we will place in
its own category and call motivation Type X; Chap. 18) is related to one
of the three forms of motivation. We all recognize that we do things to
maintain ourselves, such as eat, drink, and work to earn a living (Type A
motivation). We also are aware that part of our lives involves socializing
with others in one way or another. Socializing can occur in many ways,
such as interactions with our families and friends, going to a pub or
social club and interacting with random patrons, or any of innumerable
other forms of social interaction (Type B motivation).
What is less commonly recognized is that “growth and development
of cerebral organization,” or essentially learning new things and having
new experiences, i.e., Type C motivation, is a fundamental part of our
existence (Chap. 6). In other contexts, this form of motivation is
sometimes called “intrinsic motivation” but is better thought of as
internally motivated (Schwartz and Wrzesniewski 2019). We can easily
go through our lives without realizing that this occurs, but recognizing
this form of motivation has many advantages. The form that this takes
varies widely between individuals, but often Type C motivation is
entirely neglected. Challenges such as puzzles, books, learning of
complex skills, sports, and language learning may involve Type C
motivation. Recognizing that Type C motivation is essential and
understanding its function are important aspects of this book.
Finally, there is a further element of human behavior that is not
classically considered to be a component of motivation. This involves
our ability to suppress immediate rewards in favor of long-term goals,
somewhat related to the concept of “self-actualization” popularized by
Maslow (1943; see Chap. 8). In scientific terms, this is termed
“executive function” but is also similar to a concept that has been
termed “grit” (Chap. 7). Executive function is a higher-level cognitive
process that is unique to humans. The choices that we make related to
long-term goals may not immediately activate reward mechanisms yet
play an important role in guiding our behavior.

1.1 Overview
Part I of this book (Chaps. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10) will consider
motivation based on psychological and philosophical considerations.
Part II (Chaps. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19) will consider the
neurobiological basis of three related topics, but in a manner that does
not require prior scientific knowledge. These topics are (i) brain
mechanisms that control motivation, (ii) how these brain mechanisms
pertain to the Type A, Type B, and Type C classification scheme, and
(iii) four brain disorders that are related to motivation—Parkinson’s
disease, autism, depression, and addiction.

1.2 Scope and Purpose


It should be emphasized that this book is not intended to replace more
conventional textbooks on the psychology of motivation, or to include a
comprehensive view of motivation theory, current research, or brain
mechanisms. Anyone who wishes to delve into these subjects might
consult any of the excellent textbooks that are available. In addition,
there are many popular self-help books that deal with motivation. The
present book is neither of the self-help variety nor entirely scholarly
but represents only my unique view.
During the late 1960s and 1970s, an influential textbook on
motivation was “Theory of Motivation” by R.C. Bolles (1967), which was
based almost entirely on studies of animal behavior. Since 1967, there
have been, of course, many additional studies of motivation; a PubMed
search on June 18, 2020, for the term “motivation” returned 277,671
citations. About 1000 new citations appear every month. Motivation
essentially encompasses why people do everything, or the whole of
human experience and behavior. Thus, many relevant topics are not
included.

References
Alderfer CP (1969) An empirical test of a new theory of human needs. Organ Behav
Hum Perform 4:142–175
[Crossref]

Bolles RC (1967) Theory of motivation. Harper and Row, New York

Hebb DO (1949) The organization of behavior. Wiley, New York

Maslow AH (1943) A theory of human motivation. Psychol Rev 50:370–396


[Crossref]

Ryan RM, Deci EL (2000) Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic
motivation, social development, and well-being. Am Psychol 55:68–78
[Crossref]
Schwartz B, Wrzesniewski A (2019) Reconceptualizing intrinsic motivation:
excellence as goal. In: Renninger K, Hidi S (eds) The Cambridge handbook of
motivation and learning (Cambridge handbooks in psychology). Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 373–394
[Crossref]

Wrzesniewski A, Schwartz B, Cong X, Kane M, Omar A, Kolditz T (2014) Multiple


types of motives don’t multiply the motivation of West Point cadets. Proc Natl Acad
Sci U S A 111:10990–10995
[Crossref]
Part I
A Classification Scheme for Motivation
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
W. J. Freed, Motivation and Desire
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10477-0_2

2. Reward, Punishment, Desire,


Pleasure, and Terminology
William J. Freed1
(1) Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, Lebanon Valley College,
Annville, PA, USA

Keywords Reward – Punishment – Pleasure – Liking – Wanting –


Incentive salience – Desire – Anticipatory – Incentive salience –
Aversion – Drive – Reinforcement – Hunger – Primary reinforcer –
Secondary reinforcer – Consummatory – Altruism – Autism – Drug
addiction

This chapter includes information that is needed for understanding the


concepts and terminology used in the following chapters. Certain words
such as “liking” have specific meanings when used in the context of
motivation. I was once asked to give a lecture on desire for a colloquium
series. Lectures in that series included topics such as “desire in art.” In
my lecture, I attempted to clarify the meaning of desire in a
motivational context. Motivation is a large subject that, in one sense or
another, encompasses all of human behavior. Some elements of
motivation are anticipatory, while others involve actions themselves
and their consequences for later behaviors. Desire, for example, is part
of motivation, essentially synonymous with “wanting” or “incentive
salience,” terms used to describe anticipatory elements of the overall
process of motivation.

2.1 Reward and Punishment


We tend to think of reward and punishment as two opposing and
roughly equivalent forces that work together to shape our behavior. In
other words, we do things that feel good and avoid things that are
painful or uncomfortable as a sort of balance between two opposing
elements of our existence. But that is not really accurate. Reward is the
primary biological mechanism that shapes our behavior; punishment is
merely an error correction mechanism. In other words, as I will try to
convince you, we need to take an action first, to seek a possible
rewarding outcome, before punishment comes into importance to
correct our mistakes.
Think of a baby who at first has no repertoire of behavior. The baby
initially makes various movements as motor skills develop. Over time,
activities that are pleasurable or have a positive result are repeated. For
example, the baby may put fingers into their mouth. Finding this
pleasurable, the frequency of putting fingers into the mouth will
increase.
Occasionally, the baby may put their fingers into their eye. But since
the resulting sensation is uncomfortable, the frequency of eye poking
will decrease rapidly. If there was no such thing as aversion or pain, the
frequency of eye poking would nevertheless decrease for two reasons.
First, there is no positive reward for eye poking, and behaviors that are
not rewarded extinguish. Also, other more pleasurable behaviors would
increase by comparison. Without punishment, or aversion, the net
effect would be more or less the same; finger sucking would increase,
while eye poking would decrease. The change would happen more
slowly and perhaps less completely, but a behavioral repertoire,
including finger sucking, would nevertheless develop.
On the other hand, what if there was no pleasure? Behavior would
continue to be random, and there would be no increase in finger
sucking. Eye poking would decrease, but there would be no coordinated
increase in positive behaviors. We would therefore fail to develop a
useful behavioral repertoire. Extend this principle to the myriad other
behaviors that we develop over a lifetime. Without aversion (or
punishment), we would still have a behavioral repertoire. Of course, we
would injure ourselves a lot more, and thankfully, we do not work that
way. But without reward, we would not be able to develop a useful
behavioral repertoire in the first place. Some behaviors, such as
brushing our teeth, eventually become habitual (Duhigg 2014) and may
not seem to be particularly rewarding, but those behaviors were
developed over time through a process involving reward (Chaps. 3 and
13).
We can apply this same principle to ourselves as adults. Suppose
that there was no such thing as punishment and that nothing had any
adverse or unpleasant consequences. Reward would remain intact, so
we would still get up from our chairs and do things. Unfortunately,
some things that we do would still have negative consequences,
sometimes leading to injury. We might eat soap and eat more of it than
we would otherwise, but since it would not be rewarding, we would not
eat much soap. The negative things would still decrease because we
would preferentially do rewarding things; in other words, we would
still prefer to eat pizza; it tastes better than soap.
But if there were no process of reward, we would just sit in our
chairs; there might be an activation process that would cause us to get
up from time to time and move around, but we would not do anything
purposeful whatsoever. In this case, our demise would be assured. We
would be like the rats that we will discuss in Chap. 11; when their
reward mechanisms have been destroyed, the animals do not eat or
drink at all and can only be kept alive if fed by a tube. Thus, without
punishment, we might do some unfortunate things, but without reward,
we would do nothing at all.
To avoid injury, we do, of course, need punishment and aversion.
Without them, we would be burning our tongues, cutting our fingers,
and banging our heads into things far too often. Nevertheless,
reinforcement/reward is the primary biological mechanism that shapes
most of our behavior (Fig. 2.1).
Fig. 2.1 Illustration of the shaping of behavior by reward and punishment. Random
behaviors result in positive, neutral, or negative consequences. Those that result in
positive consequences are rewarding and are reinforced. Behaviors that result in
negative consequences are eliminated from our repertoire. We can learn quickly not
to put our fingers on a hot stove.

2.2 Terms Used in Discussing Motivation


Before we go further, we should clarify the terms used to discuss
motivation. First, there is a concept called “drive,” which is currently
not widely used. The concept of “drive” as a unifying principle in
motivation was initially developed by Hull (1943; also see Bolles 1967).
The general idea is that there are specific “drives” for various purposes,
that is, an eating “drive,” a drinking “drive,” a sex “drive” (still a
commonly used phrase), an exploration “drive,” and so on. These are
thought of as internal, hard-wired (so to speak) tendencies to perform
various types of behavior. Each specific type of drive is thought of as an
uncomfortable state that can be relieved by performing appropriate
activities. For example, hunger drive is thought of as an aversive
condition that can be relieved by eating. Of course, this is true under
certain circumstances; extreme hunger and thirst are unpleasant, and
loneliness can have adverse consequences. Nevertheless, the
unpleasantness associated with hunger is only a partial explanation of
the motivation to eat (see Chap. 12).
A more current concept is that we function by incentive, or
“incentive salience” (Berridge 2018). Certain potential activities appeal
to us because we anticipate that performing them will result in
pleasure. The roots of this concept date at least to the 1960s
(Mendelson and Chorover 1965). The manner in which that works in
the brain will be discussed in later chapters (especially Chaps. 11, 12,
13, and 17). In an infant, “drive,” or behavioral activation, results in a
collection of almost random behaviors. Over time, behavior is
organized so that behaviors that result in pleasure, or are rewarding,
predominate.
There is a series of terms that refer to the stages of a single process
(Fig. 2.2). Motivation is a term used to describe the way in which we
develop both individual behaviors and overall behavioral patterns.
Behavior is activated in a general sense by drive and directed to specific
behaviors, or categories of behavior, by “desire” (or “wanting” or
“incentive salience”). The term “incentive salience” is used specifically
for the short term (Berridge 2007, 2018); that is, desire or wanting can
also be used in a long-term sense (see Chap. 7), such as in “I want to
ride a motorcycle from Denmark to Tibet,” “I want to be the next mayor
of Chicago,” or “My fondest desire is to see the Taj Mahal.” When
discussing motivation, “wanting” or desire refers to the anticipation of a
rewarding outcome from a specific behavior.
When a behavior results in something good, this is interpreted as
pleasure (or “liking”) by the brain. Our interpretation of that pleasure as
being connected to the behavior is called “reward.” In other words, if we
were to experience pleasure unconnected to any behavior or event, this
would not constitute a reward. Reward cannot be directly measured or
observed but rather refers to a concept involving the connection
between pleasure and specific behaviors.
Over time, certain behaviors that have previously resulted in
positive outcomes are learned, and the impulse to repeat or duplicate
those, or similar, behaviors and obtain similar outcomes can be called
“desire” or “wanting.” The process through which reward increases
further behavior of the same type is called reinforcement (Fig. 2.2).
One would imagine that pleasure and desire (or wanting and liking)
are connected, and usually that is true. Fairly recently, however, it has
been shown that under certain circumstances, “wanting” (or desire)
and “liking” (or pleasure) are separate processes and do not exactly
coincide (Berridge 1996, 2018; Berridge and Kringelbach 2015). Under
certain conditions, it is possible to desire something that does not,
when experienced, bring pleasure. This is particularly notable in drug
addiction (Chap. 18).
Two additional terms that are probably familiar from introductory
psychology are “primary reinforcer” and “secondary reinforcer.”
Primary reinforcers are things such as food, water, or sex, which have
reinforcing properties in themselves. Secondary reinforcers are things
that are reinforcing due to their association with primary reinforcers,
money being the classic example. The smell of food cooking would be
another example of a secondary reinforcer.

2.3 Phases of Motivated Behavior


We should mention that finer distinctions between specific phases of
motivated behavior have been proposed and, for some circumstances,
identified. For the most part, we will not need to consider these
distinctions to understand motivation. These include an initial or
preparatory phase, which would include “wanting,” “seeking,” or
anticipatory behavior. This first preparatory phase corresponds to
“desire,” a commonly used word that corresponds to one phase of
motivation. Then there may be an “activational” stage of behavior, in
which animals are activated as a result of the first phase. This would be
followed by “taking,” “directional,” “liking,” and “consummatory” phases
of behavior (Berridge 1996, 2018; Berridge and Robinson 1998;
Ikemoto and Panksepp 1996; Salamone et al. 2005). The most useful
distinction is between wanting/desire and liking/pleasure. Further
divisions of the process of motivation can be safely omitted from our
discussion without a loss of understanding. Various phases of
consummatory behavior remain a topic of discussion (e.g., Havermans
2011; Finlayson and Dalton 2012). Berridge (2018) details recent
concepts in the various aspects of motivation and terms that can be
used in that context.
It has been argued by various authors, starting with B.F. Skinner
(1938) and, more recently, J.D. Salamone (e.g., Salamone 2006;
Salamone and Correa 2012), that “reward” is a vague term that should
be avoided or not used at all. This is true in one sense; reward is a
concept (Fig. 2.2), not an event that we can observe. Reward indicates a
perception of a causal relationship between a behavior and a result.
Wanting or desire leads to behaviors that have the aim of achieving a
pleasurable result. If the result of the behavior is liked, or pleasurable, a
connection is formed between the desire, the behavior, and the result.
This connection constitutes a reward, is the basis of motivation, and
guides our behavioral repertoire. Whether reward has occurred can
usually be detected by measuring reinforcement, in other words,
increases in the frequency of behavior.

Fig. 2.2 Illustration of the various terms used to describe motivation and related
processes. “Drive” refers to a general activation of behavior. Motivation refers to a
specific impetus to perform a particular type of behavior. Pleasure refers to the
experience of a positive sensation. The term pleasure indicates enjoyment without
regard to any connection between the pleasurable events and a behavior. Reward
indicates a connection between a pleasurable event and a behavior, or series of
behaviors, which led to the pleasurable event. In humans, we might regard “reward”
as involving awareness of a connection between the behavior and the pleasurable
event.

Thus, when measuring behavior, “reinforcement” is often preferred


in the scientific literature because it can be directly observed in the
form of changes in behavior. Reinforcement indicates an increase in a
behavior related to a particular outcome. From the observation of
reinforcement, we can usually infer reward. Nevertheless, the concept
of “reward” is often more helpful, even though it cannot be directly
observed or measured. The fact that we cannot directly measure
reward does not mean that reward does not exist.
Usually, desire or wanting is connected to pleasure or liking.
Pleasure or liking has a motivational consequence only if connected to a
behavior. Reward is used to describe that connection. There may be
circumstances in which pleasurable events occur that are not
connected to a behavior and do not lead to behaviors to replicate that
pleasure. There are also circumstances in which liking and wanting are
disconnected, as in altruism (Chap. 9) and autism (Chap. 16). In
Parkinson’s disease (Chap. 17), liking may occur without wanting.
Wanting without liking may also occur, as appears to be the case for
drug addiction (Chap. 18). Nonetheless, most of the time, wanting
(desire) and liking (pleasure) are connected via reward.

2.4 Discussion Questions


1. Imagine a world in which animals and people could not feel pain.
Describe how this would impact a pack of wolves or a herd of cattle.

2. Imagine a world in which humans suddenly became unable to


experience pain or any aversive experience. How might humans use
their communication skills to prevent catastrophic consequences?

3. Suppose humans became unable to experience reward until their


fourth birthday, perhaps due to a virus or parasite. How might this
impact the raising of children? If there was no reward, how could
we survive as a species?

4. Can you think of examples from your own experience in which


something that you “desired” did not result in pleasure when the
desire was fulfilled?

5. Can you, conversely, think of experiences that resulted in pleasure


but for which the experience was not preceded by desire? That is,
have you experienced pleasure that resulted from your behavior,
which was not an expected outcome of the behavior?
6. Why is “reinforcement” a preferred term, as opposed to “reward,” in
scientific discussions?

7. What is the difference between reward and pleasure?

8. Is “wanting” the same as “drive”?

9. Think of some examples of secondary reinforcers.

References
Berridge KC (1996) Food reward: brain substrates of wanting and liking. Neurosci
Biobehav Rev 20:1–25
[Crossref]

Berridge KC (2007) The debate over dopamine's role in reward: the case for incentive
salience. Psychopharmacology 191:391–431
[Crossref]

Berridge KC (2018) Evolving concepts of emotion and motivation. Front Psychol


9:1647
[Crossref]

Berridge KC, Kringelbach ML (2015) Pleasure systems in the brain. Neuron 86:646–
664
[Crossref]

Berridge KC, Robinson TE (1998) What is the role of dopamine in reward: hedonic
impact, reward learning, or incentive salience? Brain Res Brain Res Rev 28:309–369
[Crossref]

Bolles RC (1967) Theory of motivation. Harper and Row, New York

Duhigg C (2014) The power of habit. Random House, New York

Finlayson G, Dalton M (2012) Current progress in the assessment of ‘liking’ vs.


‘wanting’ food in human appetite. Comment on “you say it’s liking, I say it’s
wanting...”. On the difficulty of disentangling food reward in man. Appetite 58:373–
378
[Crossref]
Havermans RC (2011) “you say it’s liking, I say it’s wanting …”. On the difficulty of
disentangling food reward in man. Appetite 57:286–294
[Crossref]

Hull CL (1943) Principles of behavior. Appleton- Century-Crofts, New York

Ikemoto S, Panksepp J (1996) Dissociations between appetitive and consummatory


responses by pharmacological manipulations of reward-relevant brain regions.
Behav Neurosci 110:331–345
[Crossref]

Mendelson J, Chorover SL (1965) Lateral hypothalamic stimulation in satiated rats:


T-maze learning for food. Science 149:559–561
[Crossref]

Salamone JD (2006) Will the last person who uses the term ‘reward’ please turn out
the lights? Comments on processes related to reinforcement, learning, motivation
and effort. Addict Biol 11:43–44
[Crossref]

Salamone JD, Correa M, Mingote SM, Weber SM (2005) Beyond the reward
hypothesis: alternative functions of nucleus accumbens dopamine. Curr Opin
Pharmacol 5:34–41
[Crossref]

Salamone JD, Correa M (2012) The mysterious motivational functions of mesolimbic


dopamine. Neuron 76:470–485
[Crossref]

Skinner BF (1938) The behavior of organisms: an experimental analysis. B.F. Skinner


Foundation, Cambridge, MA, p 1990
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
W. J. Freed, Motivation and Desire
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10477-0_3

3. A Classification Scheme
William J. Freed1
(1) Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, Lebanon Valley College,
Annville, PA, USA

Keywords Rat – Pigeon – Bar pressing – Key pecking – Motivation –


Desire – Existence – Relatedness – Growth – Eating and Drinking –
Procreation – Nurturing – Social – Social Motivation – Recognition –
Influence – Development – Cerebral organization – Challenges – Life
goals – Long-term goals – Executive function – Drug abuse – Addiction –
Extrinsic – Intrinsic – Instrumental – Internal

When motivation, reward, or reinforcement, as conceived by B.F.


Skinner (1938) and his predecessors, are discussed, we most often
think of fundamental processes involved in homeostasis, that is,
maintaining yourself and your species. Those activities include eating,
drinking, and sexual behavior, for example, rats pressing a bar or
pigeons pecking a key to obtain food. As important as these processes
are, however, homeostasis is not the whole story.
B.F. Skinner developed extensive theories of how reinforcement
shapes our overall behavior, extending far beyond the simple concept of
animals pressing bars or pecking for food. The concepts developed by
Skinner can be applied to many aspects of human behavior (Skinner
1953).
Nonetheless, what has not often been considered is how to view the
aspects of behavior that are reinforcing or pleasurable. It seems that
many of the things that we do don’t quite fit. Thus, the bar-pressing rat
(or key-pecking pigeon) does not provide a framework for motivation
that we can readily apply to most aspects of our daily lives. In this book,
we will consider what types of experiences are pleasurable and how the
various processes that comprise human motivation and desire can be
organized into a coherent framework. Skinner’s concepts often apply,
but we need to consider reward, or reinforcement, more widely than
just an analogy to pigeons pecking for food.
In human terms, we often think of motivation in terms of material
rewards that can be gained from our activity. At the most basic level,
this includes material rewards consisting of things that are necessary
for survival. For example, we work for money to buy food and shelter. It
is true that material items needed for survival, well-being, and
procreation motivate much of our activity. We also may work for the
acquisition of material goods that do not appear to have a connection to
survival or even personal comfort. In animals, motivation is studied
largely in this way; animals work for tangible rewards. But much of our
lives are occupied by activities that have no obvious relationship to
tangible rewards, yet we still engage in these behaviors.

3.1 Three Types of Motivation


In this book, we will present an argument that motivation is best
thought of as being of three types. The three categories used for this
book correspond approximately to those proposed in 1969 by Alderfer,
who specified existence, relatedness, and growth as the principal
divisions of motivation.
First, there is biological motivation, consisting of activities that are
directly related to survival, self-maintenance, and the propagation of
the species. This would include essentially all activities related to eating
and drinking, procreation, and nurturing. We will consider this to be
Type A motivation (Chap. 4).
Second, there is motivation related to social factors and interactions
with other human beings. Most of this involves simple interactions with
others, such as conversation and family interactions, but this form of
motivation may also include a desire to obtain recognition, praise from
others, or social power and influence. Social motivation is present in
everyone or nearly everyone (Chap. 5). To some degree, a desire to
obtain recognition seems to be present in everyone as well, but it is
manifest in a myriad of different ways.
To give a concrete example, let us think of a barbecue or pie-making
contest. Some people may enter the contest with the intent of winning
and be disappointed if they do not win. Others may enter and not care
whether they win but appreciate it when others like their cooking.
Others may go to the contest with family or friends just to socialize.
While social motivation is important for everyone present, the power,
influence, and recognition elements vary widely among the contestants.
I once attended a buckwheat festival in West Virginia (because I
enjoy the sour taste of fermented buckwheat cakes). In that case, eating
buckwheat cakes and sausage was a major component of the festival.
Very little of the power, influence, and recognition elements were
evident, even though a 4-H club contest for best agricultural products
was a part of the festival. Most of the festival was, apparently, a purely
social event. I did not even talk with people very much, but there still
was a social element involved in being around everyone and doing
more or less the same things.
I am grouping all social motivation, apart from sex and nurturing, as
a single category. Social motivation is considered to be Type B and is
discussed in Chaps. 5 and 16. The distinction between social behavior
and procreative activities will be clarified in Chaps. 4, 5, and 16.
Finally, there is a very important, but often unrecognized, form of
motivation that is almost entirely internal. This was initially (as far as I
am aware) proposed by Donald Olding Hebb (1949) but widely
recognized to exist before that. Hebb stated that pleasure is derived
from “growth or development of cerebral organization” (page 232).
This can be thought of as learning new things, having new experiences,
and meeting new challenges. I will discuss this type of motivation in
Chap. 6. This form of motivation will be considered to be Type C.
Remarkably, within the past few years (in fact, after I started to
write this book), experiments were performed in rats demonstrating,
essentially, that Type C motivation is real and involves the same
neuronal process that encodes other, more basic, forms of motivation
(Sharpe et al. 2017). Neuroscience studies of Type C motivation will be
considered in Chaps. 14 and 15.
We also need to consider that human beings make decisions about
their behavior based on life goals, principles of morality, or decisions
about the future. An ability to suppress immediate concerns in order to
further long-term goals is, for the most part, unique to human beings
(although great apes and cetaceans may be capable of rudimentary
long-term planning). This ability to modify behavior based on long-
term goals can be called “executive function” and is considered in Chap.
7.
Finally, drug consumption, including drug abuse and addiction,
forms a separate type of motivation. This may include the consumption
of alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and marijuana. Since drug taking involves
only the behavior related to obtaining the drug, we will call motivation
to take drugs Type X. Drug abuse will be considered in Chap. 18 (Table
3.1).

Table 3.1 Categorization of motivation

Type A: Type B: Type C: Growth and Type X: Executive


Homeostasis Social development of Drug function
cerebral addiction
organization
Hunger, eating Family New experiences Direct Motivation
Drinking, Friends Challenges activation priorities
thirst Pets Learning a language of reward may be
Sex by drugs modified to
Contests Puzzles meet long-term
Nurturing Chapter 18
Recognition, Studying any topic goals
Shelter power Travel Chapter 7
Money, Fame Reading books
sometimes Chapters 5 Adventure
Chapter 4 and 16
Chapters 6, 14, and
15

3.2 Motivation Viewed as Intrinsic, Extrinsic,


Instrumental, or Internal
In psychology, motivation is often discussed in terms of intrinsic vs.
extrinsic motivation (Ryan and Deci 2000). That is, extrinsic motivation
involves factors such as money, grades in school, requirements for
graduation, awards, medals in sporting events, and the like. Intrinsic
motivation is an internal drive to accomplish something or engage in an
activity without any obvious material or tangible gain as a result,
roughly corresponding to Hebb’s (1949) description.
Extrinsic motivation refers to the concept of arbitrarily
superimposing a reward unrelated to an activity. Thus, think of buying
and eating a pizza. Eating a pizza is intrinsically motivated because you
enjoy eating, which is a Type A activity. In contrast, if you did not really
want a pizza and you are not hungry but you eat it anyway because
someone offers a $50 reward for consuming the pizza, the motivation
becomes extrinsic.
A refinement of the extrinsic-intrinsic motivation concept, proposed
by Schwartz and Wrzesniewski (2019), divides motivation into internal
versus instrumental components. Buying a pizza for the purpose of
eating it is an instrumental activity, in that the buying is directly related
to the pizza. Eating the pizza is intimately connected to buying it, not
arbitrarily assigned to the buying and thus not an extrinsic motivator.
Activities that are in themselves enjoyable are intrinsically
motivated, in that the motivation consists of performing the activity
itself. Experiments to study intrinsic motivation often involve activities
such as children drawing pictures that do not require long periods of
practice and study. But more commonly, and especially in adults,
intrinsic motivation is related to complex activities that may involve
long periods of practice and the refinement of a skill. The practice itself
is not necessarily pleasurable. The overall activity, including both the
final activity and the practice, can be considered to be internally
motivated. The concept of internal motivation is related to Type C
motivation (Chap. 6) with elements of executive function (Chap. 6).
These concepts will be considered in more detail in Chap. 7.

References
Alderfer CP (1969) An empirical test of a new theory of human needs. Organ Behav
Hum Perform 4:142–175
[Crossref]

Hebb DO (1949) The organization of behavior. Wiley, New York

Ryan RM, Deci EL (2000) Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: classic definitions and
new directions. Contemp Educ Psychol 25:54–67
[Crossref]

Schwartz B, Wrzesniewski A (2019) Reconceptualizing intrinsic motivation:


excellence as goal. In: Renninger K, Hidi S (eds) Cambridge handbook of motivation
and learning. Cambridge handbooks in psychology. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, UK, pp 373–394
[Crossref]

Sharpe MJ, Chang CY, Liu MA, Batchelor HM, Mueller LE, Jones JL, Niv Y, Schoenbaum
G (2017) Dopamine transients are sufficient and necessary for acquisition of model-
based associations. Nat Neurosci 20:735–742
[Crossref]

Skinner BF (1938) The behavior of organisms: an experimental analysis. Appleton-


Century-Crofts; Published by B.F. Skinner Foundation, New York, p 1990

Skinner BF (1953) Science and human behavior. Macmillan, New York


Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the
collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the
individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the
United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright
law in the United States and you are located in the United
States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying,
distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works
based on the work as long as all references to Project
Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will
support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free
access to electronic works by freely sharing Project
Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this
agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name
associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms
of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with
its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it
without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also
govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most
countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside
the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to
the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying,
displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works
based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The
Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright
status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project


Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other


immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must
appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project
Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed,
viewed, copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United


States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it
away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg
License included with this eBook or online at
www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United
States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is


derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to
anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges.
If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the
work, you must comply either with the requirements of
paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use
of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth
in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is


posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and
distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through
1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder.
Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™
License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright
holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project


Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files
containing a part of this work or any other work associated with
Project Gutenberg™.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute
this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1
with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the
Project Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form,
including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if
you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project
Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or
other format used in the official version posted on the official
Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at
no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a
means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other
form. Any alternate format must include the full Project
Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,


performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™
works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or


providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works provided that:

• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive
from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using
the method you already use to calculate your applicable
taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to donate
royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or
are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns.
Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at
the address specified in Section 4, “Information about
donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation.”

• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who


notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt
that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project
Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return
or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical
medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other
copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.

• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full


refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy,
if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported
to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.

• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project


Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different
terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain
permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™
trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3
below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend


considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on,
transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright
law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite
these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the
medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,”
such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt
data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other
medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES -


Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in
paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark,
and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic
work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for
damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU
AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE,
STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH
OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH
1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER
THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR
ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF
THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If


you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of
receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you
paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you
received the work from. If you received the work on a physical
medium, you must return the medium with your written
explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the
defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu
of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or
entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.
If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund
in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set


forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’,
WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR
ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied


warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this
agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this
agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the
maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable
state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of
this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the


Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the
Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any
volunteers associated with the production, promotion and
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless
from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that
arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project
Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or
deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect
you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of


Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new
computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of
volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project
Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™
collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In
2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was
created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project
Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your
efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the
Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project


Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-
profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the
laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by
the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal
tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax
deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and
your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500


West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact
links and up to date contact information can be found at the
Foundation’s website and official page at
www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to


the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without
widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission
of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works
that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form
accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated
equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly
important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws


regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of
the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform
and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many
fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not
solicit donations in locations where we have not received written
confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or
determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit
www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states


where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know
of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from
donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot


make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations
received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp
our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current


donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a
number of other ways including checks, online payments and
credit card donations. To donate, please visit:
www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project


Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could
be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose
network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several


printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by
copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus,
we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any
particular paper edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,


including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new
eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear
about new eBooks.

You might also like