Phenomenological, existential, behavioristic, social learning, and psychoanalytic theories are examined. This history can be traced from the early speculation of philosophers to the scientific research of contemporary psychologists. In this course, the student will survey the major philosophical points of view concerning motivation and will study intensively the work of psychologists interested in motivation. The student will also study emotion in this course. Emotions are linked closely to motivation because they influence the way people perceive and adapt to the world.
Psychologists believe that emotions determine the quality of motivated behavior.
Psychologists assume that certain changes occur in man's central nervous system, but these changes have not yet been fully identified. Even so, the facts of learning are among the basic facts of human behavior. The kinds of learning man displays and that are studied in this course are conditioned response learning, rote learning, trial and error learning, and cognitive-insight learning. Through an evaluation of current learning theories and their supportive research, students acquire a deeper appreciation of this highly complex form of human behavior. Each man lives in his own world, for his world is determined by what and how he experiences it.