Chapter 3

Learning and Theory Of Learning

Learning Outcomes
After you have studied this chapter, you will be able to:
Explain the general meaning, types, and factors of
learning
Identify the characteristics of learning
Describe some of the theories designed to explain the
characteristics of learning
Differentiate the viewpoints of different theories of
learning
Discuss the applications of theories of learning
State techniques used to motivate and reinforce behavior.
3.1. Definition, Characteristics and Principles of
Learning
3.1.1. Definitions of learning
Brain storming
• What is the meaning of learning to you?
• What are the elements of learning?
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior
occurring as a result of experience or practice.

The above definition emphasizes four attributes of learning:

 Learning is a change in behavior
 This change in behavior is relatively permanent
 It does not include change due to illness, fatigue, maturation
and use of intoxicant.
 This permanent change in behavior is not because of
biological factors (like hormonal changes) that bring
permanent changes in behavior; but because of experience, or
practice
 The learning is not directly observable but manifests in the
activities of the individual
 3.1.2. Characteristics of learning
Yoakman and Simpson have described the following major
important characteristics of learning:
1. Learning is continuous modification of behavior throughout life
2. Learning is pervasive, it reaches into all aspects of human life
3. Learning involves the whole person, socially, emotionally &
intellectually
4. Learning is often a change in the organization of experiences
5. Learning is responsive to incentives
6. Learning is an active process7. Learning is purposeful8.
Learning depends on maturation, motivation and practic
9. Learning is multifaceted
 3.1.3. Principles of learning
The important principles that help explaining how
learning occurs effectively are;
1. Individuals learn best when they are physically,
mentally, and emotionally ready to learn.
2. Students learn best and retain information longer
when they have meaningful practice and exercise
3. Learning is strengthened when accompanied by a
pleasant or satisfying feeling, and that learning is
weakened when associated with an unpleasant
feeling
4. Things learned first create a strong impression in
the mind that is difficult to erase
5. Things most recently learned are best remembered
6. The principle of intensity implies that a student will
learn more from the real thing than from a
substitute.
7. Individuals must have some abilities and skills that
may help them to learn.
8. Things freely learned are best learned the greater
the freedom enjoyed by individuals, the higher the
intellectual and moral advancement.
1.
Motivation:- the higher the motives the greater are the effort to learn.
2. 3.2. Factors
Maturation: Neuro-muscular Influencing
coordination Learning
and maturation
3.
Health condition of the learner:- physical and biogical health
4.
Psychological wellbeing of the learner:- like worries, fears, feelings
of loneliness and inferiority hinders learning. Whereas self-respect,
self-reliance, and self-confidence are necessary for effective learning.
5.
Good working conditions :-fresh air, light, comfortable surroundings,
temperature, absence of distractions, learning aids
6.
Background experiences: having background experiences
7.
Length of the working period: learning periods should neither be too
short nor too long.
8.
Massed and distributed learning: learning that spreads across time
with reasonable time gaps brings better results compared with
crammed learning that occurs at once or within short span of time.
• avril9oacross time with reasonable time gaps bring better results compared with cramed learning that occurs at once
3.3. Theories of Learning and their Applications
3.3.1. Behavioral Theory of Learning
• learning occurs as a result of stimulus-response
associations.
• They emphasize observable behaviors, seek laws to
govern all organisms, and provide explanations
which focus on consequences.
• They differ among themselves with respect to their
views about the role of reinforcement in learning.
• The two major behavioral theories of learning are
classical and operant Conditioning.
 3.3.1.1. Classical conditioning theory/respondent learning

Brainstorming Question
What do you expect/feel when there is thunder? “What does
a child expect when he sees the mother coming back home?
Each of the responses in these questions seem to illustrate
the nature of what is called classical conditioning that you
are to explore know now.
Classical conditioning/substitution learning/ focuses on
the learning of making involuntary emotional or
physiological responses(reflex) to stimuli that normally
elicit no response; e.g. fear that are associated with
increased heartbeat, salivation or sweating at the sight of
some natural stimuli
Basics of Classical Condition
• Neutral stimulus: a stimulus that, before conditioning, does
not naturally bring about the response of interest.
• Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that naturally
brings about a particular response without having been
learned.
• Unconditioned response (UCR): a response that is natural
and needs no training (e.g., salivation at the smell of food).
• Conditioned stimulus (CS): a once neutral stimulus that has
been paired with an unconditioned stimulus to bring about a
response formerly caused only by the unconditioned stimulus.
• Conditioned response (CR): A response that, after
conditioning, follows a previously neutral stimulus (e.g.,
salivation at the ringing of a bell)
Steeps in conditioning
1. Before conditioning
Neutral stimulus (NS/CS) e.g. bell no response (NR)
UCS (meat) UCR (Saliva)
2. During conditioning
NS/CS + UCS UCR(Saliva)

3. After conditioning
CS /bell CR(Saliva)

Pavlov's classical conditioning experiment

Principles of Classical Condition
A. Stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination
• A stimulus generalization :-is a process in which, after
a stimulus has been conditioned to produce a particular
response, stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus
begin to produce the same responses.
• Stimulus discrimination:- is the process of
distinguishing two similar stimuli; the ability to
differentiate between stimuli. Example, the dog
salivates only in response to the dinner bell instead of
the doorbell or the telephone bell.
B. Extinction and spontaneous recovery
• Extinction:- if a CS is repeatedly presented without
presenting the UCS, the CR will diminish and
eventually stop occurring.
• Spontaneous recovery :- is the reemergence of an
extinguished conditioned response after a period of
rest and with no further conditioning.
• In spontaneous recovery, the CR is weaker and
extinguishes faster than it did originally.
Reflection
• Suppose a one-year old child is playing with a toy near an
electrical out-let. He sticks part of the toy into the outlet.
He gets shocked, becomes frightened, and begins to cry.
For several days after that experience, he shows fear
when his mother gives him the toy and he refuses to play
with it. What are the UCS? UCR? CS? CR? Show in
diagram there association into three stages of processes?
a) UCS___________________________________
b) UCR___________________________________
c) CS____________________________________
d) CR___________________________________
Could you please explain of something you learned through
classical conditioning?
3.3.1.2. Operant/Instrumental conditioning
Brainstorming Questions
• Why do you think a child cries when feeling hungry?
• why do you think a child learns to become aggressive?
• What is the role of reward and punishment in learning?
• What are the types and schedule of reinforcement?
Operant conditioning is learning in which a voluntary
response is strengthened/more recur or weakened less
recur, depending on its favorable or unfavorable
consequences.
• An emphasis on environmental consequences is at the
heart of Operant Conditioning (Reward and punishment)
• In operant conditioning, the organism's response operates
or produces effects on the environment. These effects, in
turn, influence, whether the response will occur again.
• B.F Skinner, argued that to understand behavior we
should focus on the external causes of an action and the
action‘s consequences (look outside the individual, not
inside).
• In Skinner‘s analysis, a response (operation) can lead to three
types of consequences, a neutral consequence, a
reinforcement or punishment.
• A neutral Consequence that does not alter the response
• A reinforcement that strengthens the response or makes it
more likely to recur increases the probability that the behavior
that precedes will be repeated.
There are two basic types of reinforcers or reinforcing stimuli:
primary and secondary reinforcers.
• Primary reinforcers: food, water, light, stroking of the skin,
and a comfortable air temperature
• Secondary Reinforcers: they reinforce behavior because of
their prior association with primary reinforcing stimuli. money,
praise, applause, good grades, awards, and gold stars are
common secondary reinforcers.
• Both Reinforcers can be positive or negative. Positive
reinforcement is the process whereby presentation of
a stimulus makes behavior more likely to occur again.
• Negative reinforcement is the process whereby
termination of an aversive stimulus makes behavior
more likely to occur.
• The basic principle of negative reinforcement is that
eliminating something aversive can itself be a
reinforcer or a reward. For example, if someone nags
you all the time to study, but stops nagging when you
comply, your studying is likely to increase- because
you will then avoid the nagging.
Negative reinforcement explained by escape and
avoidance learning.
1. Escape learning :- animals learn to make a
response that terminates/stops a noxious, painful or
unpleasant stimulus.
2. Avoidance Learning:-which refers to learning to
avoid a painful, noxious stimulus prior to exposure.
Schedules of reinforcement
i. Continuous reinforcement:- when a response is first acquired,
learning is usually most rapid if the response is reinforced each time
II. Partial or intermittent:- involves reinforcing only some
responses. 1. Fixed-ratio schedules: reinforcement occurs after a
fixed number of responses. produce high rate of responding.
Employers often use fixed ratio schedules to increase productivity.
An interesting feature of a fixed ratio schedule is that performance
sometimes drops off just after reinforcement. 2.Variable-Ratio
Schedule: reinforcement occurs after some average number of
responses. It produces extremely high steady rates of responding and
more resistant to extinction 3. Fixed Interval Schedule: occurs only
if a fixed amount of time has passed since the previous reinforcer.
4.Variable Interval Schedule: a variable interval schedule of
reinforcement occurs only if a variable amount of time has passed
since the previous reinforcer.
Schedule Description Example
Fixed-ratio • occurs after a fixed number of Employers often use
schedules responses fixed ratio schedules to
• produce high rate of responding increase
• performance sometimes drops productivity/contractual
off just after reinforcement work -- birr per days or
weeks
Variable- • reinforcement occurs after some The vigorous
Ratio average number of responses characteristic of
Schedule • produces extremely high steady gambling
rates of responding
• more resistant to extinction
Fixed • reinforcement occurs only if a Studying habit of
Interval fixed amount of time has passed students for fixed
Schedule since the previous reinforcer scheduled test
Variable • occurs only if a variable amount Giving assessment in
Interval of time has passed since the undefined schedule
Schedule previous reinforcer
 Punishment
• Punishment is a stimulus that weakens the response
or makes it less likely to recur.
• Punishers can be any aversive (unpleasant) stimuli
that weaken responses or make them unlikely to
recur.
1. Primary punisher:- Pain and extreme heat or cold
are inherently punishing and are therefore known
as primary punishers.
2. Secondary punishers:- criticism, demerits,
catcalls, scolding, fines, and bad grades are
common secondary punishers
The two forms of punishment are ;
1. Positive Punishment:- the administration of
aversive stimulus following behaviours.
2. Negative punishment:- the removal of pleasant
stimulus following behaviour
 Four ways of modifying behaviour

Reinforcement Punishment
Something valued or Some unpleasant;
Positive (adding) desirable Punishment by application
Positive reinforcement .e.g. Example; getting spanking for
getting a good start disobeying
Negative Something unpleasant; Something valued or
(removing/avoiding Negative reinforcement desirable;
Example avoiding a ticket by Punishment by removal
stopping at a read light Example losing a privilege
such as going out with friends
The Pros and Cons of Punishment
Factors affecting the effectiveness of punishment are;
1. Immediacy – when punishment follows
immediately after the behavior to be punished.
2. Consistency- when punishment is inconsistent the
behavior being punished is intermittently
reinforced and therefore becomes resistant to
extinction.
3. Intensity- severe punishments are more effective
than mild ones. However even less intense
punishments are effective if applied immediately
and consistently.
when punishment fails:
1. People often administer punishment inappropriately or
mindlessly.
2. The recipient of punishment often responds with
anxiety, fear or rage. Negative emotional reactions can
create more problems than the punishment solves.
3.The effectiveness of punishment is often temporary,
depending heavily on the presence of the punishing
person or circumstances
4. Most behavior is hard to punish immediately.
5. Punishment conveys little information. An action
intended to punish may instead be reinforcing because it
brings attention.
Shaping
• Shaping is an operant conditioning procedure in
which successive approximations of a desired
response are reinforced.
• In shaping you start by reinforcing a tendency in the
right direction.
• Then you gradually require responses that are more
and more similar to the final desired response.
• The responses that you reinforce on the way to the
final one are called successive approximations.
Application/implication of the theory of operant condition
1. Conditioning study behavior: for effective teaching, teachers
should arrange effective contingencies of reinforcement. E.g.
reinforcing with variety of incentives - smile, praise,
affectionate patting
2. Conditioning and classroom behavior: during a learning
process, children can acquire unpleasant experiences. This
unpleasantness becomes conditioned to the teacher, subject
and the classroom and learners begin to dislike the subject and
the teacher.
3. Managing Problem Behavior: teachers should admit positive
contingencies like praise, encouragement etc. for learning.
One should not admit negative contingencies. Example
punishment (student will run away from the dull and dreary
classes – escape stimul..
4. Dealing with anxieties through conditioning: to break the
habits of fear, a teacher can use desensitization techniques.
5. Conditioning group behavior: conditioning can make an
entire group learn and complete change in behavior with
reinforcement. Asking questions, active participation in class
discussion will make the teacher feel happy – interaction will
increase and teaching learning process becomes more effective.
6. Conditioning and Cognitive Processes: reinforcement is
given in different form, for the progress of knowledge and in the
feedback form. When response is correct, positive reinforcement
is given. Organizing in logical sequence helps in learning.
7. Shaping Complex Behavior: Complex behavior exists in the
form of a chain of small behavior. Control is required for such
kind of behavior.
 3.3.2. Social Learning (observational
learning)
Brainstorming Question
• Who is the person that you admire the most?
• Why do you aspire to become like him/her?
• What do you do to become one?
• What do you feel if you manage to become like
your model?.
• Social learning is learning by watching the behavior of another
person, or model (Albert Band).
• Bandura identifies three forms of social reinforcement in
observational learning.
1. Modeling :- the observer may reproduce the behaviors of the
model and receive direct
reinforcement. The from what one think prestigious, respected,
popular person
2. Vicarious reinforcement :-, the observer may simply see others
reinforced for a particular
behavior and then increase his or her production of that behavior.
3. Self-reinforcement, or controlling your reinforcers:- we want our
students to improve not because it leads to external rewards but
because the students value and enjoy their growing competence.
• Conditions that are necessary before an individual can
successfully model the behavior of someone else as to
Bandura;
1. Attention: the person must first pay attention to the model.
2. Retention: the observer must be able to remember the
behavior that has been observed.
3. Motor reproduction: the observer has to be able to
replicate the action.
4. Motivation: learners must want to demonstrate what they
have learned.
Remember that since these four conditions vary among
individuals, different people will reproduce the same behavior
differently.
Educational Implications of Social Learning Theory
• Social learning theory has numerous implications for
classroom use.
1. Students often learn a great deal simply by observing
other people.
2. Describing the consequences of behavior can
effectively increase the appropriate behaviors and
decrease inappropriate ones.
3. Modeling can provide a faster and more efficient
means for teaching new behavior than shaping .
4. Teachers and parents must model appropriate
behaviors and take care that they do not model
inappropriate behaviors.
5. Teachers should expose students to a variety of other
models. This technique is especially important to break
down traditional stereotypes.
6. It is very important to develop a sense of self-efficacy
for students. Teachers can promote such self efficacy
by having students receive confidence-building
messages, watch others be successful, and experience
success on their own.
7. Help students set realistic expectations for their
academic accomplishments.
8. Self-regulation techniques provide an effective
method for improving student behavior.
 3.3.3. Cognitive Learning Theory
cognitive learning may take two forms Latent
learning and Insight learning (gestalt learning or
perceptual learning)
1. Latent/hidden learning:- Latent‘ means hidden
and the learning occurs but is not evident in
behavior until later.
A great deal of human learning also remains
latent until circumstances allow or require it to be
expressed.
2. Insight Learning “the Aha learning”
• It is a cognitive process whereby we reorganize our
perception of a problem.
• In a typical insight situation where a problem is
posed, a period follows during which no apparent
progress is made, and then the solution comes
suddenly.
• What has been learned in insight learning can also
be applied easily to other similar situations.
• Human beings who solve a problem insightfully
usually experience a good feeling called an 'aha'
experience.
 CHAPTER FOUR
MEMORY AND FORGETTING
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this unit, you will be able to:
 Define memory and forgetting.
 Describe the stages and memory structures proposed by
theory of memory.
 Explain the processes that are at work in memory
functions.
 Identify how learned materials are organized in the long
term memory.
 State the factors underlying on the persistence, and loss of
memory.
 Explain different theories of forgetting.
Brain storming Question
 What comes to your mind about memory?
 What is the meaning of memory?
 What is the function of memory in your studying?
• Intelligent life does not exist without memory.
• If you don‘t have a memory, you cannot remember
whatever information you acquire that makes your
life disorganized, confused and meaningless.
• Your memory provides the function that your life to
have continuity in place and time, adapt to the new
situations by using previous skills and information,
enriches your emotional life by recoiling your
positive and negative life experiences.
 5.1 Memory

Brain storming Questions

 What is memory?
 Are there different kinds of memory?
 What are the biological bases of memory?
4.1.1 Meaning and Processes of Memory
• Memory is the retention of information /what is learnt
• Memory is a blanket label for a large number of
processes that form the bridges between our past and
our present.
• To learn about the nature of memory, it is useful to
separate the process from the structure
Processes of Memory
• Memory processes are the mental activities to put information into
memory, to store and to make use of it later. This involves three
basic steps:
a)Encoding: refers to the form (i.e. the code) in which an item of
information is to be placed in memory.
• It is the process by which information is initially recorded in a
form usable to memory.
• Transforming a sensory input into a form or a memory code that
can be further processed.
b)Storage: It is the location in memory system in which material is
saved. Storage is the persistence of information in memory.
c)Retrieval: information in memory storage is brought into
awareness and used.
• Memory is the process by which information is encoded (phase1),
stored (phase 2) and later retrieved (phase 3).
 Sensory register

The initial information processing unit that transforms

the incoming stimuli into information so that we can
sense of them.
• Retention mechanism -attention, perception
• Capacity- Unlimited information
• Duration -Fraction of seconds, less than one second
• Form-Direct replica of Sound, color etc.
 Short-term (working) memory
it is a temporary information store.
contains conscious experience or what we are thinking
about the moment.
• Retention mechanism- Maintenance rehearsal
• Capacity -7±2 items or chunks
• Duration- Less than 30 seconds
• Form- Word , figure
ways of keeping forgetting in STM
• Chunk is a meaningful group of stimuli that can be stored
as a unit
• Maintenance rehearsal:- is the process of repeating
information over and over either verbally or mentally
 Long-term memory
Information in long-term memory is filled and cataloged
so that it can be retrieved when we need it.
•Retention mechanism- elaborative rehearsal
•Capacity- unlimited information
•Duration - relatively permanent
•Form- idea, meaning


 Elaborative rehearsal: - involves connecting the
information you are trying to learn with something you
already know or with knowledge from long-term
memory.
Sub Systems Or Contents Of LTM
1.Declarative/explicit memory- the conscious recollection of
information such as specific facts or events that can be verbally
communicated. Subdivided into;
a.Semantic memory- factual knowledge like the meaning of words,
concepts and our ability to do math. They are internal
representations of the world, independent of any particular context.
b.Episodic memory- memories for events and situations from
personal experience. i.e. experiences of you late childhood
2. Non-declarative/implicit memory- refers to a variety of
phenomena of memory in which behavior is affected by prior
experience without that experience being consciously recollected.
e.g. procedural memory:-It is the ―how to knowledge of
procedures or skills: Knowing how to comb your hair, use a pencil,
or swim.
Serial Position Effect
• If you are shown a list of items and are then asked
immediately to recall them, your retention of any
particular item will depend on its position in the list.
1. The primacy effect :-recall will be best for items at
the beginning of the list
2. The recency effect:-recall for items the end of the
list
Remark:-when retention of all the items is plotted,
the result will be a U-shaped curve
 4.1.3 Factors Affecting Memory
1. Ability to retain: This depends upon good memory traces left in
the brain by past experiences.
2. Health: it matters the degree of retain the learnt material
3. Age of the learner: e.g. youngsters vs. aged
4. Maturity: the maturity of the individual affect learning
5. Will to remember: if willing it helps for better retention
6. Intelligence: degree of intelligence matters for memory
7. Interest: interest affect in learning and retention
8. Over learning: over learning will lead to better memory
9. Speed of learning: quicker learning leads to better retention
10.Meaningfulness of the material: meaningful materials remained
more than nonsense material
11.Sleep/rest: sleep/rest immediately after learning strengthens
connections in the brain and helps for clear memory.
 4.2 Forgetting
Brainstorming Questions
• What is forgetting?
• How forgetting occur or what causes forgetting?
• Why do human beings forget information?
• In what way and how do we forgot that
information?
• Is forgetting bad or good for us?
 4.2.1 Meaning and Concepts of Forgetting
• The term forgetting refer to the apparent loss of
information already encoded and stored in the LTM.
• The first attempts to study forgetting were made by
German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885-1913).
• The most rapid forgetting occurs in the first hours.
• After nine hours, the rate of forgetting slows and
declines little, even after the passage of many days.
• Always a strong initial decline in memory, followed by a
more gradual drop over time.
• Relearning of previously mastered material is always
faster than starting from a scratch (academic knowledge
or a motor skill)
4.2.2. Theories of Forgetting
Psychologists have proposed five mechanisms to account for
forgetting: decay, replacement of old memories by new ones,
interference, motivated forgetting, and cue dependent forgetting.

4.2.2.1.The Decay Theory

• Memory traces fade with time if they are not accessed now and then.
• This explanation assumes that when new material is learned a memory
trace or engram- an actual physical change in the brain- occurs.

• The trace simply fades away with nothing left behind, because of the
passage of time.
• Decay occurs in sensory memory in STM as well unless we gibe
attention and rehearse the material
• However, the mere passage of time does not account so well for
forgetting in long-term memory.
4.2.2.2. Interference
• Forgetting occurs because similar items of
information interfere with one another in either
storage or retrieval.
• There are two kinds of interference that influence
forgetting:
1. Proactive :- old information interferes with recall
of newer material.
2. Retroactive:- new information interferes with the
ability to remember old information.
4.2.2.3. New Memory for Old/ Displacement Theory
• new information entering memory can wipe out old
information
• This theory is mostly associated with the STM,
where the capacity for information is limited.
• It cannot be associated with the LTM because of its
virtually unlimited capacity.
4.2.2.4. Motivated Forgetting
• Sigmund Freud maintained that people forget
because they block from consciousness those
memories that are too threatening or painful to live
with, and he called this self-protective process
Repression.
• Today many psychologists prefer to use a more
general term, motivated forgetting.
4.2.2.5. Cue Dependent Forgetting
•When we lack retrieval cues, we may feel as if we have lost the call number
for an entry in the mind‘s library but may not.
•In LTM retrieval cues failure the most common type of all.
•Cues that were present when you learned a new fact or had an experience are
apt to be especially useful later as retrieval aids.
•That may explain why remembering is often easier when you are in the same
physical environment as you were when an event occurred: Cues in the present
context match from the past.
•Cues present during the initial stage of learning help us to recall the content of
the specific learning materials in an easy manner.
•Your mental or physical state may also act as a retrieval cue, evoking a state
dependent memory. For example if you are intoxicated when something
happens, you may remember it better when you once again have had a few
drinks than when you are sober.
Likewise, if your emotional arousal is specially high or low at the time of an
event, you may remember that event best when you are once again in the same
emotional state.
 4.3. Improving Memory
General guidelines to improve memory through mental strategies
1.Pay Attention: when you do have something to remember, you
will do better if you encode it.
2.Encode information in more than one way: the more elaborate
the encoding of information, the more memorable it will be
3.Add meaning: the more meaningful the material, the more likely
it is to link up with information already in long-term memory.
4.Take your time: minimize interference by using study breaks for
rest or recreation. Sleep is the ultimate way to reduce interference.
5.Over learn: studying information even after you think you already
know it
6.Monitor your learning: testing yourself frequently, rehearsing
thoroughly, and reviewing periodically
4.1. Motivation
4.1.1. Definition and types of motivation
Learning Outcomes
After successful completion of this chapter, you are
expected to:
 Define what motivation is
 Identify the two types of motivation
 compare the different theories of motivation
 Explain the different types of conflicts of motives
 Define what emotion is
 Discuss the three elements of emotion
 Discuss the different theories of emotion
 4.1. Motivation
4.1.1. Definition and types of motivation
• Motivation is a factor by which activities are started,
directed and continued so that physical or psychological
needs or wants are met
• Motivation is what ―moves‖ people to do the things they do.
• Motivation can be categorize into two:
1.Intrinsic motivation:- a person acts because the act itself is
rewarding or satisfying in some internal manner.
2.Extrinsic motivation:- individuals act because the action
leads to an outcome that is external to a person.
 4.1.2. Approaches to /theories of/ motivation
• Instinct, drive-reduction, arousal, incentive, cognitive,
and humanistic theories are the dominant theories
1. Instinct approaches to motivation:- the biologically
determined and innate patterns of both humans and
animals behavior
• Instincts in humans including curiosity, flight),
pugnacity (aggressiveness), and acquisition (gathering
possessions)
• This approach forcing psychologists to realize that some
human behavior is controlled by hereditary factors
2. Drive-reduction approaches to motivation
• This approach involved the concepts of needs and drives
• A need is a requirement of some material (e.g.. food, water)
that is essential for the survival of the organism
• Drive-reduction :- is the connection between internal
psychological states and outward behavior
• there are two kinds of drives- primary and secondary.
i. Primary drives:- involve survival needs of the body
ii. Secondary/acquired drives:- are learned through experience
or conditioning, such as the need for money, social approval.
• This theory includes the concept of homeostasis, or the
tendency of the body to maintain a steady-state.
• When there is a primary drive need, the body is in a state of
imbalance it stimulates behavior
3. Arousal approaches: beyond drive reduction
• Explain behavior in which the goal is to maintain or
increase excitement.
• To motivation, each person tries to maintain a
certain level of stimulation and activity.
• If our stimulation and activity levels become too
high, we try to reduce them, but, if levels of
stimulation and activity are too low, we will try to
increase them by seeking stimulation.
4. Incentive approaches: motivation’s pull
• motivation stems from the desire to attain external
rewards, known as incentives. Eg. grades, money,
affection, food
• the internal drives proposed by drive-reduction theory
work in a cycle with the external incentives of incentive
theory to ―push and ―pull behavior, respectively.
• Hence, at the same time that we seek to satisfy our
underlying hunger needs (the push of drive-reduction
theory), we are drawn to food that appears very
appetizing (the pull of incentive theory). Rather than
contradicting each other, then, drives and incentives
may work together in motivating behavior
5. Cognitive Approaches: the thoughts behind
motivation
• Motivation is a result of people‘s thoughts, beliefs,
expectations, and goals.
• They draw a key difference between intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation.
• Intrinsic motivation causes us to participate in an
activity for our enjoyment rather than for any actual
or concrete reward that it will bring us.
• In contrast, extrinsic motivation causes us to do
something for money, a grade, or some other actual,
concrete reward.
6. Humanistic approaches to motivation (Abraham Maslow )
• Human behavior is influenced by a hierarchy of needs or motives.
• Needs of the lowest level of the hierarchy must be at least partially satisfied
before people can be motivated by the ones at higher levels.
i.Physiological needs- biological requirements for human survival (air, food,
drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep).
ii.Safety needs- protection from elements, security, order, law, stability,
freedom from fear.
iii.Love and belongingness needs- friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance,
receiving and giving affection and love.
iv.Esteem needs- the need to be respected as a useful, honorable individual;
which Maslow classified into two categories:
a.Esteem for oneself:-dignity, achievement, mastery, independence
b.The desire for reputation or respect from others :- status, prestige
V. Self-actualization needs- realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment,
seeking personal growth and peak experiences.
A desire ―to become everything one is capable of becoming.
4.1.3. Conflict of motives and frustration
• Based on the sources of motivation and the importance of
the decision, people usually face difficulty choosing among
the motives that creating far more internal conflict and
indecision. The types of motivational conflicts are:
1.Approach-approach conflicts - must choose only one of the
two desirable activities.
2.Avoidance-avoidance conflicts - must select one of the two
undesirable alternatives.
3.Approach-avoidance conflicts - happen when a particular
event or activity has both attractive and unattractive features
4.Multiple approach-avoidance conflicts - exist when two or
more alternatives each have both positive and negative
features.
 4.2. Emotions
4.2.1. Definition of emotion
• The Latin word meaning ―to move is the source of
both words used in this chapter over and over again-
motive and emotion.
• Emotion can be defined as the ―feeling aspect of
consciousness, characterized by certain physical
arousal, certain behavior that reveals the feeling to the
outside world, and an inner awareness of feelings.
• from definition, we can understand that there are
three elements of emotion: the physiology, behavior
and subjective experience.
1. The physiology of emotion - is physical arousal
created by the sympathetic nervous system.
• The heart rate increases, breathing becomes more
rapid, the pupils of the eye dilate.
• facial expressions do differ between various
emotional responses, emotions are difficult to
distinguish from one another based on outward
bodily reactions alone.
• It is quite easy to mistake a person who is afraid or
angry as being aroused if the person‘s face is not
visible, which can lead to much miscommunication
and misunderstanding
2. The behavior of emotion- facial expressions, body
movements, and actions that indicate to others
how a person feels.
• Frowns, smiles, and sad expressions combine with
hand gestures, the turning of one‘s body, and
spoken words to produce an understanding of
emotion.
• People fight, run, kiss, and yell, along with countless
other actions stemming from the emotions they
feel.
• Facial expressions can vary across different cultures,
although some aspects of facial expression seem to
be universal.
3. Subjective experience or labeling emotion :- it
involves interpreting the subjective feeling by
giving it a label: anger, fear, disgust, happiness,
sadness, shame, interest, surprise and so on.
• The cognitive component of labeling:- ‖ the label a
person applies to a subjective feeling is at least in
part a learned response influenced by that person‘s
language and culture.
• Such labels may differ in people of different cultural
backgrounds.
 4.2.2. Theories of emotion
1. James- Lang Theory of Emotion (William James
-functionalism )
• a stimulus of some sort (e.g.. the large snarling dog) produces
a physiological reaction.
• This reaction, which is the arousal of the ―fight-or-flight
sympathetic nervous system (wanting to run), produces
bodily sensations such as increased heart rate, dry mouth, and
rapid breathing.
• James and Lang believed that physical arousal led to the
labeling of the emotion (fear).
• Simply put, ―I am afraid because I am aroused, I am
embarrassed because my face is red, I am nervous because
my stomach is fluttering, and I am in love because of my
heart rate increases when I look at her or him.
II. Cannon-Bard theory of emotion
• theorized that the emotion and the physiological
arousal occur more or less at the same time.
• The fear and the bodily reactions are, therefore,
experienced at the same time-not one after the other.
I am afraid and running and aroused!

Physiological arousal
(high blood pressure,
stimulus Sub-cortical high heart rate,
brain activity sweating)
Emotion
/fear
III. Schechter-Singer and Cognitive Arousal Theory
• The physical arousal and labeling of the arousal base on cues from the
surrounding environment.
• These two things happen at the same time, resulting in the labeling of
the emotion.
• I am aroused in the presence of a scary dog; therefore, I must be
afraid.

Cognitive
appraisal
Emotion
stimulus
or fear
Physiological arousal
(high blood pressure,
high heart rate,
sweating)