Attention and Effort

Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence.

In this article we propose mechanisms that govern the processing of emotional information, particularly those involved in fear reduction. Emotions are viewed as represented by information structures in memory, and anxiety is thought to occur when an information structure that serves as program to escape or avoid danger is activated. Emotional processing is denned as the modification of memory structures that underlie emotions. It is argued that some form of exposure to feared situations is common to many psychotherapies for anxiety, and that confrontation with feared objects or situations is an effective treatment. Physiological activation and habituation within and across exposure sessions are cited as indicators of emotional processing, and variables that influence activation and habituation of fear responses are examined. These variables and the indicators are analyzed to yield an account of what information must be integrated for emotional processing of a fear structure. The elements of such a structure are viewed as cognitive representations of the stimulus characteristic of the fear situation, the individual's responses in it, and aspects of its meaning for the individual. Treatment failures are interpreted with respect to the interference of cognitive defenses, autonomic arousal, mood state, and erroneous ideation with reformation of targeted fear structures. Applications of the concepts advanced here to therapeutic practice and to the broader study of psychopathology are discussed.

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Emotional processing of fear : exposure to corrective information

Prelude. Cycle 1. Introduction. Cycle 2. Structure defines function. Cycle 3. Diversity of cortical functions is provided by inhibition. Cycle 4. Windows on the brain. Cycle 5. A system of rhythms: from simple to complex dynamics. Cycle 6. Synchronization by oscillation. Cycle 7. The brain's default state: self-organized oscillations in rest and sleep. Cycle 8. Perturbation of the default patterns by experience. Cycle 9. The gamma buzz: gluing by oscillations in the waking brain. Cycle 10. Perceptions and actions are brain state-dependent. Cycle 11. Oscillations in the "other cortex:" navigation in real and memory space. Cycle 12. Coupling of systems by oscillations. Cycle 13. The tough problem. References.

Rhythms of the brain

Two laboratory experiments and one field experiment were conducted to investigate the effects of external rewards on intrinsic motivation to perform an activity. In each experiment, subjects were performing an activity during three different periods, and observations relevant to their motivation were made. External rewards were given to the experimental subjects during the second period only, while the control subjects received no rewards. Of interest was the difference in the experimental group's motivation between Period 1 and Period 3, relative to the difference in the control's. The results indicate that (a) when money was used as an external reward, intrinsic motivation tended to decrease, whereas (b) when verbal reinforcement and positive feedback were used, intrinsic motivation tended to increase. Discrepant findings in the literature were reconciled using a new theoretical framework which employs a cognitive approach and concentrates on the nature of the external reward. If a boy who enjoys mowing lawns begins to receive payment for the task, what will happen to his intrinsic motivation for performing this activity? Or, if he enjoys gardening and his parents seek to encourage this by providing verbal reinforcement and affection when he gardens, what will happen to his intrinsic motivation for gardening? These are examples of the classical problem concerning the effects of external rewards on intrinsic motivation. One is said to be intrinsically motivated to perform an activity when he receives no apparent rewards except the activity itself. This intrinsic motivation might be either innate or learned (White, 1959). It is not the purpose of this study to deal with the specific nature of, or development of, intrinsic motivation, but rather, it assumes that at a given time a person can be intrinsically motivated to do an activity, and it then asks: What are the effects of external rewards on this motivation ? In the two examples of the boy, he is performing the activity for no apparent rewards 1 These studies were conducted at Carnegie-Mell on University. The author wishes to thank Victor H. Vroom and Daryl J. Bern for helpful suggestions about the research and about earlier drafts of the manuscript.

https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/h0030644

Effects of Externally Mediated Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation.

In connection with a study of various aspects of the modifiability of behavior in the dancing mouse a need for definite knowledge concerning the relation of strength of stimulus to rate of learning arose. It was for the purpose of obtaining this knowledge that we planned and executed the experiments which are now to be described. Our work was greatly facilitated by the advice and assistance of Doctor E. G. MARTIN, Professor G. W. PIERCE, and Professor A. E. KENNELLY, and we desire to express here both our indebtedness and our thanks for their generous services.

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John D. Dodson

Papers

The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation