physiological psychology

In psychology, motivation is the driving force (desire) behind all actions of human beings, animals, and lower organisms. Many textbooks define it as an internal state or condition that activates behavior and gives it direction, desire or want that energizes and directs goal-oriented behavior, or an influence of needs and desires on the intensity and direction of behavior. Motivation is often based on emotions, specifically, on the search for positive emotional experiences and the avoidance of negative ones, where positi ...

Including:

• Motivation - Types of motivation
• Motivation - Physiological needs
• Motivation - Other biological motivations
• Motivation - Secondary goals
• Motivation - Coercion
• Motivation - Self control
• Motivation - Controlling motivation
• Motivation - Early programming
• Motivation - Organization
• Motivation - Drugs
• Motivation - In Education
• Motivation - Is Money a Motivator?
• Motivation - Reference

Read more here: » Motivation: Encyclopedia - Motivation

Psychophysiology is the science of understanding the link between psychology and physiology. For example, psychologists are interested in why we may fear spiders and physiologists may be interested in the input/output system of the amygdala. A psychophysiologist will attempt to link the two. He might, for example, try to explain arachnophobia in terms of impulses coming in and out of the amygdala. Psychophysiology is different from physiological psychology in that psychophysiology looks at the way psychological activities produce physiological responses, while physiological psychology looks at the physiol ...

Including:

• Psychophysiology - Commonly Used Measures
• Psychophysiology - Uses of Psychophysiology
• Psychophysiology - References/Links

Read more here: » Psychophysiology: Encyclopedia - Psychophysiology

Animal cognition is the title given to a modern approach to the mental capacities of animals. It has developed out of comparative psychology, but has also been strongly influenced by the approach of ethology and behavioral ecology. Much of what used to be considered under the title of animal intelligence is now thought of under this heading. Animal cognition - Historical background. For most of the twentieth century, the dominant approach to animal psychology was to use experiments on intelligence in animal ...

Including:

• Animal cognition - Historical background
• Animal cognition - Methodology
• Animal cognition - Research questions
• Animal cognition - Attention
• Animal cognition - Categorisation
• Animal cognition - Memory
• Animal cognition - Tool use
• Animal cognition - Reasoning and problem solving
• Animal cognition - Language
• Animal cognition - Consciousness
• Animal cognition - Deception empathy and theory of mind
• Animal cognition - Continuing controversy

Read more here: » Animal cognition: Encyclopedia - Animal cognition

The control of motivation is only understood to a limited extent. There are many different approaches of motivation training, but many of these are considered pseudoscientific by critics. To understand how to control motivation it is first necessary to understand why many people lack motivation. In recent years, non-work related activities like Internet surfing have become an increasing concern for employers in industrialized nations. Some companies have used prohibitive tactics to counter this perceived threat, others try to d ...

See also:

Motivation, Motivation - Types of motivation, Motivation - Physiological needs, Motivation - Other biological motivations, Motivation - Secondary goals, Motivation - Coercion, Motivation - Self control, Motivation - Controlling motivation, Motivation - Early programming, Motivation - Organization, Motivation - Drugs, Motivation - In Education, Motivation - Is Money a Motivator?, Motivation - Reference

Read more here: » Motivation: Encyclopedia II - Motivation - Controlling motivation

Among the thinkers who are considered to have set the stage for transpersonal studies are William James, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, and Roberto Assagioli (Cowley & Derezotes, 1994; Miller, 1998; Davis, 2003). A major motivating factor behind the initiative to establish this school of psychology was Abraham Maslow's already published work regarding human peak experiences. Maslows work grew out of the humanistic movement of the 1960's, and gradually the term "transpersonal" was associ ...

See also:

Transpersonal psychology, Transpersonal psychology - The development of the field, Transpersonal psychology - Research Interests, Transpersonal psychology - Contributions to the academic field, Transpersonal psychology - Criticisms of Transpersonal psychology

Read more here: » Transpersonal psychology: Encyclopedia II - Transpersonal psychology - The development of the field

Given the broad programme of animal cognition, of looking for the animal analogues of human cognitive processes, the areas of study in animal cognition follow more or less from those in human cognitive psychology. However progress in the different areas has been variable. Among the fields of interest are: Animal cognition - Attention. Research has focused on animals' ability to distribute attention between different aspects of a stimulus, and on visual search. As in humans, it appears that sharing attentio ...

See also:

Animal cognition, Animal cognition - Historical background, Animal cognition - Methodology, Animal cognition - Research questions, Animal cognition - Attention, Animal cognition - Categorisation, Animal cognition - Memory, Animal cognition - Tool use, Animal cognition - Reasoning and problem solving, Animal cognition - Language, Animal cognition - Consciousness, Animal cognition - Deception empathy and theory of mind, Animal cognition - Continuing controversy

Read more here: » Animal cognition: Encyclopedia II - Animal cognition - Research questions

Criticisms of transpersonal psychology has come from several commentators. One of the earliest criticisms of the field was issued by the Humanistic psychologist Rollo May, who disputed the conceptual foundations of transpersonal psychology (Aanstos, Serling & Greening, 2000). May was particularly concerned about the low level of reflection on the dark side of human nature, and on human suffering, among the early transpersonal theorists. A similar critique was also put forward by Alexander (1980) who thought that Transpersonal Psychology, ...

See also:

Transpersonal psychology, Transpersonal psychology - The development of the field, Transpersonal psychology - Research Interests, Transpersonal psychology - Contributions to the academic field, Transpersonal psychology - Criticisms of Transpersonal psychology

Read more here: » Transpersonal psychology: Encyclopedia II - Transpersonal psychology - Criticisms of Transpersonal psychology

Although any model of human development can only be understood as an intellectual abstraction of reality, transpersonal psychology has made significant contributions to the understanding of human development and consciousness. While authors like Wilber and Battista tend to emphasize the understanding of development in the form of levels, where each superior level includes and integrates its junior dimensions, theorists like Washburn and Grof tend to emphasize the regressive nature of consciousness. Regressive in the sense that the individual ...

See also:

Transpersonal psychology, Transpersonal psychology - The development of the field, Transpersonal psychology - Research Interests, Transpersonal psychology - Contributions to the academic field, Transpersonal psychology - Criticisms of Transpersonal psychology

Read more here: » Transpersonal psychology: Encyclopedia II - Transpersonal psychology - Contributions to the academic field

Yes, at lower levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, such as Physiological needs, money is a motivator, however it tends to have a motivating effect on staff that lasts only for a short period (in accordance with Herzberg's two-factor model of motivation). At higher levels of the hierarchy, praise, respect, recognition, empowerment and a sense of belonging are far more powerful motivators than money, as both Abraham Maslow and Douglas McGrego ...

See also:

Motivation, Motivation - Types of motivation, Motivation - Physiological needs, Motivation - Other biological motivations, Motivation - Secondary goals, Motivation - Coercion, Motivation - Self control, Motivation - Controlling motivation, Motivation - Early programming, Motivation - Organization, Motivation - Drugs, Motivation - In Education, Motivation - Is Money a Motivator?, Motivation - Reference

Read more here: » Motivation: Encyclopedia II - Motivation - Is Money a Motivator?

For most of the twentieth century, the dominant approach to animal psychology was to use experiments on intelligence in animals to uncover simple processes (such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning) that might then account for the apparently more complex intellectual abilities of human beings. This reductionist philosophy was combined with a strongly behaviorist methodology, in which overt behavior was taken as the only valid data for the study of psychology, and in its more extreme forms (the radical behaviorism of B. F. Skin ...

See also:

Animal cognition, Animal cognition - Historical background, Animal cognition - Methodology, Animal cognition - Research questions, Animal cognition - Attention, Animal cognition - Categorisation, Animal cognition - Memory, Animal cognition - Tool use, Animal cognition - Reasoning and problem solving, Animal cognition - Language, Animal cognition - Consciousness, Animal cognition - Deception empathy and theory of mind, Animal cognition - Continuing controversy

Read more here: » Animal cognition: Encyclopedia II - Animal cognition - Historical background

Some would argue that the two best types of motivation are fear and desire. Motivation can be viewed as either extrinsic or intrinsic. Motivation - Physiological needs. The easiest kinds of motivation to analyse, at least superficially, are those based upon obvious physiological needs. These include hunger, thirst, and escape from pain. The analysis of the processes underlying such motivations can make use of research on animals, in ethology, comparative psychology, and physiological psychology, and the ho ...

See also:

Motivation, Motivation - Types of motivation, Motivation - Physiological needs, Motivation - Other biological motivations, Motivation - Secondary goals, Motivation - Coercion, Motivation - Self control, Motivation - Controlling motivation, Motivation - Early programming, Motivation - Organization, Motivation - Drugs, Motivation - In Education, Motivation - Is Money a Motivator?, Motivation - Reference

Read more here: » Motivation: Encyclopedia II - Motivation - Types of motivation