They try to explain the behavior through arguments from learning theories so that, sometimes, it is difficult to separate the concepts of learning and motivation. abnormal psychology It is the study of psychological problems and the best way to treat them. The behavioral model of abnormality says that psychological problems are learned behaviors. The behaviors They are learned in a process called conditioning, by which a person associates one thing with another.
Concepts such as drive, incentive motivation and learned motives are central factors in this type of approach.
Momentum
It is an energy existing in the organism that drives it to act.
Need – Energy – Drive – Behavior – Satisfaction – Drive reduction
According to Hull (1943), the execution of the behavior (E), depends on the intensity of the learned response or habit (H) and the intensity of the impulse (D); If any of the factors is “zero”, the behavior does not occur. Motivation is internal to the organism that activates it to carry out a behavior:
E = H x D
In later works (1951-2), Hull also takes into consideration the motivation of the incentive (K) the characteristics of the target object also influence motivation. Motivation is seen as the result of internal and external factors.
E = H x D x K
Theories that have attempted to explain this homeostatic regulation have emphasized the importance of:
- local mechanisms (local theories): homeostasis is achieved through specific mechanisms located outside the CNS, Canon (1929),
- good of central mechanisms (central theories): there are specialized brain areas that detect the changes that occur in the body, and produce the activation of certain circuits to eliminate these changes and restore balance, Morgan (1943).
How have these motives been acquired? This is the fundamental argument in learning-based theories of motivation.
Paulov (1960), attempted to demonstrate how some unconditioned and therefore innate reflexes can be replaced by conditioned stimuli, that is, when learned, an unconditioned impulse can be considered as reinforcing the association between an initially neutral stimulus and a particular response. This idea is separated from mentalist approaches, considering observable responses as the basic core of his research (defended by Watson).
Contributions from Razran (1961): focused on interoceptive conditioning:
- Intero-exteroceptive conditioning: the conditioned stimulus is applied internally; the externally unconditioned stimulus.
- Intero-interoceptive conditioning: the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli are applied internally.
- Extero-interoceptive conditioning: the conditioned stimulus is applied externally and the unconditioned stimulus internally.
Features of interoceptive conditioning:
- 1. The subject is not aware that this type of conditioning occurs.
- 2. Usually, it cannot be avoided.
- 3. Longer lasting than typically external classical conditioning.
- 4. Important implications in psychosomatic medicine.
2. Operant conditioning:
Skinner rejects any approach that goes beyond specific relationships “If then” between stimuli and responses. It even avoids motivational denominations to refer to situations that clearly focus on aspects of motivation.
Reinforcement acts as a motivator for future behaviors:
- According to Bindra (1969)reinforcement and incentive motivation are two names for the same phenomenon.
- According to Bolles (1978)you can dispense with hedonism and motivation, and fully study reinforcement, behavior must be studied from the point of view of what reinforces it and not from the point of view of what motivates it.
“Effect of reinforcement amount” and “reinforcement quality effect”: Motivation is greater the greater the reinforcement and/or the better the reinforcement fits the subject’s needs.
3. Observational learning:
Bandura (1969): Much motivated behavior is learned by observing the behaviors of others. The functioning of a subject is not the result solely of internal forces, nor of environmental forces, but of an interaction between particular behaviors and the conditions that control such behaviors.
In this form of learning motivated behaviors, the processes of attention, storage and recovery are important, and it should be noted in this regard that, to learn a behavior, it is not necessary to reproduce it.
Bandura makes a distinction between:
- observational learninglearning a behavior by simple observation of a model, regardless of the consequences that the model receives for its behavior
- vicarious reinforcement, includes observational learning plus the consequences of the model’s behavior; These consequences alter the probability that the observed response occurs in the observing subject.