INSTINCT

AND DRIVE
By Archana Sharma
BWU/BPY/22/035
 INSTINCTS
Instincts are goal-directed and innate patterns of behavior
that are not the result of education or experience. All
animals have an innate biological instinct that helps us
survive and these instincts are what drive our motivations
and behaviors.
Eg.- sleeping , eating
- the reflex of catching a ball when it is thrown at you is
an instinct.
 WILLIAM JAMES
 our behavior is based purely on our instinct to survive.
 main instincts that drive our motivation and behavior are
fear, love, anger, shame, and cleanliness
 human motivation and behavior is strictly influenced by
our innate want to survive.
 Eg. - humans have fears such as heights and snakes.
 we are born with instincts that drive our actions in
everyday life.
 McDougall Theory
 instincts are made up of three parts which are: perception,
behavior, and emotion.
 outlined instincts as predisposed behaviors that focus on
stimuli that are important to our innate goals.
 E.g. -humans are innately motivated to reproduce.
 lists 18 different instincts including: sex, hunger, parental
instincts, sleep, laughter, curiosity, and migration.
 INSTINCTIVE BEHAVIOUR

COGNITION AFFECTION CONATION

(knowing) (feeling) (doing or striving)

Eg. – when a child sees a bull coming towards him. First, he

sees a bull, second, he experiences an emotion of fear and third,
he tries to run away.
 CRITICISMS OF INSTINCT
THEORIES

 Instincts cannot be readily observed or

scientifically tested.
 Not all behaviors can be explained by
instincts.
 SIGMUND FREUD

 Instincts are the root cause of all activities in

human being.
 Identified 2 basic instincts : life and death
instinct are the ultimate sources of motivation.
 unconscious mind contained two forces
influencing our behavior : Eros and Thanatos
 THANATOS
EROS
Thanatos, Greek god of death,
Eros, the Greek god of love, shares
shares his name with the death
his name with the life instinct.
instinct. This describes a human’s
This instinct leads us not only
instinct to relieve trauma, to self-
toward survival, but also toward
destruct, or commit other risky
cooperation and procreation.
acts.
 DRIVE
An aroused state of psychological tension that typically arises from a
need. A drive, such as hunger or thirst, motivates the organism to act
in ways that will reduce the tension. So, for example, when you become
hungry (tension caused by need for food) you are motivated to eat
(method of reducing the tension).
 DRIVE REDUCTION THEORY
 by Behaviourist Clark Hull
 theory is based on the idea that the motivation behind all
human behavior is to reduce ‘drives.’
 when a person’s drive emerges, they will be in an unpleasant
state of tension.
 to reduce the tension they feel, they will seek out ways to satisfy
their biological needs.
 theory is based on the concept of homeostasis, idea that the
body actively works to maintain a state of balance or
equilibrium.
PRIMARY DRIVES
Motive based on innate, biological
and survival oriented needs, such
as: need for sleep, air, food, water.
SRCONDARY DRIVES
Secondary drives are those learned
through conditioning or association
with a primary drive, such as: money
has no value to an infant, it is only
through a learned process does the
paper become valuable and a
motivator for behaviour.
 PSYCHOLOGICAL NEED
(hunger, thirst, sex)

DRIVE
SATISFACTION
(organism engages in
(organism’s need have been
random activity to satisfy its
satisfied)
needs)

GOAL-DIRSCTED BREHAVIOUR
(organism adopts a behaviour that
reduces the drive)
 CRITICISM
Major criticism of the drive reduction theory of learning
is that it does not explain why people engage in behaviors
that do not reduce drives. For example, people often eat
when they’re not hungry or drink when they’re not
thirsty.
THANK YOU