Human Motivation

Commentary on Goal-Directed Action

Nathan Brody

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780121348403
• eBook ISBN: 9781483265612
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Cognitive Psychology & Cognition
• Index: Psychology

Human Motivation: Commentary on Goal-Directed Action deals with human motivation, illustrating a simplistic model of a goal-directed action sequence derived from the usual layman's conception of a goal-directed action. This book consists of five chapters. After an introduction provided in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 considers the Hullian tradition in motivation, emphasizing that there is a body of evidence that requires an analysis of motivational phenomena in nonpurposive terms. The theories growing out of research on achievement motivation is examined in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 covers the theory of affective dynamics and applications of certain economic principles to human behavior, including theoretical developments to the theory of action presented in the preceding chapter. Chapter five discusses complexities in the commonsense view of action tendencies, such as the usual assumption that individuals are aware of the reasons for their actions and goals toward which their actions are directed is challenged. This publication is a good reference for students and researchers conducting work on the study of human motivation.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Human Motivation: Commentary on Goal-Directed Action
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• PREFACE
• Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION: PURPOSIVE EXPLANATION
• Chapter 2. MOTIVATION AND PERFORMANCE: THE DESCENT OF THE HULLIAN TRADITION
• Chapter 3. ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION: TOWARD A PURPOSIVE THEORY
• Chapter 4. BEYOND GOAL ATTAINMENT: REINFORCEMENT THEORY AND OPPONENT PROCESS THEORY
• Chapter 5. MOTIVATION AND COGNITION: IN SEARCH OF THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE
• EPILOGUE
• REFERENCES
• AUTHOR INDEX
• SUBJECT INDEX