Motivation and the Brain

Motivation is having a reason or reasons to act/behave in a particular way. It creates “drive” in people whether it is in pursuit of a goal, or the need to complete an activity. It produces enthusiasm and a willingness to achieve in both a work environment and in your personal life. Motivation can be increased and decreased in line with the incentives on offer.

Motivation is the key to supporting and advancing the learning of children and young people within my class. Motivation affects the nature of an individuals behaviour, the strength of the behaviour, and the persistence of the behaviour. There are many approaches to motivation: physiological, behavioural, cognitive and social. It is the crucial element on setting and achieving goals.

Motivation is the force that makes us do things: this is a result of our individual needs being satisfied (or met) so that we have inspiration to complete the task.

Motivation is all about the why of individual behaviors. There are entire books, courses, and even fields of study focused on understanding motivation, but it is all based on the same fundamental question: Why do we do the things we do?

Motivation is a very broad term that is discussed in a variety of settings. There is the motivation to perform in a business setting, the motivation to perform on the field of competition, the motivation to provide for friends and family, and the motivation to accomplish goals that have been set. These are all various motivations that any one person can be involved with at any time. According to Maslow, motivation always exists within a person and in various forms, “...motivation is constant, never ending, fluctuating, and complex, and that it is an almost universal characteristic of practically every organismic state of affairs” (Maslow, 1954). As complex as motivation seems, it is everyone’s intention to identify their personal

The system consists of the following structures: amygdala, fornix, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, and cingulate gyrus. Experience of emotions and the interpretation of emotionally laden events or stimuli appear as a result of these areas being stimulated and their communications with one another (Leo, Sánchez-Miguel, Sánchez-Oliva, Amado, & García-Calvo, 2015). In addition, the limbic system may be important in our overall consciousness. Achieving goals can become a powerful motivator in a person’s life. Some people live for reaching their goals. The need for achievement is their motivation to accomplish a challenging task quickly and effectively. Achievement makes some people content and happy. On the other hand, failure can produce pain, sadness, and unhappiness, which can lead to avoidance behaviors (Stirling, & Kerr, 2014). In athletes we typically find two types of successful motivations: Intrinsic Motivation (a construct and desire to be competent and self-determining) and Achievement Motivation (these athletes wish to engage in competition or social comparison) (Choi, Cho, & Huh,

Motivation refers to the processes that lead to certain behaviours within organisms. They are the drives, needs, wants and interests that push individuals to partake in goal directed behaviour, that is actions that contribute to the achievement of a desired outcome. Tom is a 45 year old male who was recently involved in a car accident following the request of a divorce from his wife. Consequently, Tom sustained injuries to the frontal and left temporal lobe of his brain as well as a broken leg, ankle and shoulder. He is medically stable and has recently been sent to rehabilitation, however is refusing to leave his room and resisting therapy sessions with numerous health professionals. Many motivational theories can be utilised in order to

Neuroscience and psychology seem to have been working together to try to understand how and why certain behaviors transpire in a person’s personality, and what makes or motivates a person to do the things they do. One of the most analyzed wonders that mark motivation, the thought developments, and the social interaction, is the analysis of drug obsession. Through advance forms of scanning the brain with imaging equipment like positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have advanced the knowledge of drug addiction and how the brain is affected (Volkow, Fowler, & Wang, 2003,para 2). This paper will examine the brain structures and functions, the influence of

Motivation is the number one driving force behind anything and everything an individual does each day. “Motivation is the desire to do the best possible job or to exert the maximum effort to perform an assigned task. Motivation energizes, directs, and sustains human behavior directed towards a goal.” (Honor, 2009). Motivation can determine the outcome of projects, goals, and can set limits on what an individual can obtain or what they believe they can obtain. Motivation often is the deciding factor on how successful a project in an organization is, and an individual’s needs and desires can both influence a person’s motivation greatly. Motivation can also determine how well an individual does in school, college, or university.

In “The Surprising Science of Motivation”, Dan Pink explained how the 21st century is requiring people to become more creative and think outside of the box. Allowing yourself to view all the possibilities instead of restricting solutions can provide more positive rewards. As a result, I find myself understanding the concept that external rewards like money are not the best way to motivate ourselves or others. Therefore, motivation lies within everyone by giving them the power to examine three elements of motivation which include autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Those that follow this motivation are not receiving cash reward but a reward of accomplishing their own task. In summary, I know understand that a person can be motivated by their

They regulate the functions that ensure the body's survival — blood circulation, digestion, respiration, bio-assimilation — but also emotions like fear when faced with danger. The most recent parts of the brain, those which are particularly developed in the human species, are the frontal lobes that enable reflection, knowledge, imagination, and control of emotions. For a well-balanced personality, emotions must be able to develop normally, and the brain must learn to recognize and control

When one is trying to quit smoking they need to ensure that their environment is very supportive or they have their mind set to give up the nicotine. The smoker that is trying to quit smoking cigarettes needs to take it seriously, and they should sit down and write out their goals and the reasons they hate smoking so that way when their biological brain wants to smoke this can help them fight ambivalence. Some people have a greater urge to smoke after watching another person smoke cigarettes or even seeing a pack of cigarettes. If one person experiences greater sensitivity to environmental cues then it will be particularly harder for that person. You may relapse very

Motivation is the “why” behind our behaviors. Behavior that is usually goal-oriented. The forces that lie beneath motivation can be biological, social, emotional or cognitive in nature. There are, indeed, a plethora of inducements that cause us to act the way we act and do the things we do. They include things like quenching our thirst, reading to gain knowledge, studying to ace an exam, surpassing quotas and meeting deadlines for a promotion, etc. According to Kendra Cherry’s article on “WHAT IS MOTIVATION”, there are three components of motivation: activation, persistence and intensity. Activation is the decision to initiate a behavior. Persistence is the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist. Intensity is the

Motivation is a word used to refer to the reason or reasons for engaging in a particular behaviour especially human behaviour. These reasons may include a drive, a need, a desire to achieve a goal, a state of being, or an ideal. In human beings, motivation involves both conscious and subconscious drives.

To begin this discuss a definition of motivation is presented. Motivation involves the biological, emotional, social and cognitive forces that activate behavior. In everyday usage, the term motivation is frequently used to describe why a person does something (Motivation Psychological Factors That Guide Behavior, 2016).