Motivation is best described as
A) the physiological triggers that tell us we may be deprived of something and cause us to seek out what is needed, such as food.
B) the body's physiological processes that allow it to maintain consistent internal states in response to the outer environment.
C) the stimuli we seek to reduce the drives such as social approval and companionship, food, water, and other needs.
D) the physiological and psychological processes underlying the initiation of behaviors that direct organisms toward specific goals.
Answer: D
Rationale: Motivation concerns the physiological and psychological processes underlying the initiation of behaviors that direct organisms toward specific goals. The other options describe related concepts or elements of motivation, but are not the best description for motivation in general.
You might also like to view...
A psychologist is reluctant to use parents' observations of their children in determining levels of their children's depression. However, parents often insist on being consulted. What is the psychologist likely to find when parents are asked to evaluate
their children's levels of depression? a. Parents tend to underestimate the extent of depression reported by their children. b. Parents frequently mistake the symptoms of depression as signs of a developing psychotic process. c. Parents tend to overreact to minor symptoms and overestimate the severity of the depression. d. Whenever parents are involved in such data collection, they immediately put themselves in the role of the therapist and begin treatment, often with disastrous results.
"Thinking about your own thoughts" is called __________
a. self-consciousness b. metacognition c. reversed cognition d. minimal consciousness