Abstract
Poetically speaking, motivation may be considered to be about the ‘springs of action’. More prosaically, motivation theorists ask themselves why any bit of behaviour occurs: what are the necessary and sufficient conditions which make any organism, human or animal, in the ever-flowing stream that constitutes behaviour give up one activity and take up another?
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Atkinson, J.W. and Birch, D. (1979) An Introduction to Motivation. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand.
Murrell, H. (1976) Motivation at Work. London: Methuen.
Rachlin, H. (1976) Introduction to Modern Behaviorism. San Francisco: Freeman.
Rachman, S.J. (1978) Fear and Courage. San Francisco: Freeman.
Armotated reading
Atkinson, J.W. and Birch, D. (1979) Introduction to Motivation. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand. This book covers the area of human motivation well from the point of view of internal trait motives interacting with environmental contingencies. It fills in the details of recent research in achievement motivation and allied topics. At times the mathematical statements of theory might be too much for certain arts-biassed students, but the essential logic — all that is needed for an introductory appreciation — is clear.
Evans, P. (1975) Motivation. London: Methuen. This is a short book which should not present the reader with any difficulty. It is very much a theoretical-cumhistorical overview of approaches to the study of motivation, leaving it to other texts, such as the one above, to fill in details of particular approaches. It also has chapters on instinct and on biologically based motivations such as hunger, thirst, sex, and sleep. This might interest a student who wishes to extend the chapter’s coverage at a still introductory level.
Rachlin, H. (1976) Introduction to Modern Behaviorism. San Francisco: Freeman. The best introductory book for the student who is interested in following up the idea mentioned in the chapter that ‘Motivation = Reinforcement’. In line with that view, it is no surprise that the word ‘motivation’ does not occur in the index! (Reinforcement, however, does.)
Copyright information
© 1982 The British Psychological Society
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Evans, P.D. (1982). Motivation. In: Psychology and People: A Tutorial Text. Psychology for Professional Groups. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16909-2_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16909-2_11
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-33147-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-16909-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Religion & Philosophy CollectionPhilosophy and Religion (R0)