As you read the text, try to answer the following questions. The strength of the hunger drive can be varied by depriving an experimental subject of food for varying amounts of time. The strength of the drive can be measured by observing how hard the subject will work for food. Because the primary drives are based on objective procedures, experimental findings are generally consistent. There is little disagreement among psychologists about how the primary drives work.
Secondary drives are another matter.
Because the secondary drives are so difficult to measure, statements of what they are and how they develop are much more speculative than statements about the primary drives. Theories of adult human motivation differ. Three theories of motivation are shown in the following table along with the major behavioral mechanism stressed by each. The Cognitive Theory of Motivation Mechanism Emphasized Stimulus-Response Learning Suppression Perception and Cognition Figure 6. The theory that emphasizes stimulus-response learning as the basic mechanism of human motivation is the behavior theory of motivation.