- What are the differences between physiological and psychological needs? Provide examples of each in your response.
Need theories postulate that motivation is rooted on the fulfillment of once needs. Therefore, one acts and behaves in order to satisfy a need, there are many kinds and types of needs that several theorists have expounded along the years. One of the most popular need theories on motivation is that of Abraham Maslow. The hierarchy of needs differentiates between physiological and psychological needs. Physiological needs are those basic needs that must be met for survival of the individual like food, shelter, clothing and sex. Physiological needs also have to be immediately satisfied as it is crucial for the existence and stability of the human body.
For example, if a person is hungry then all other functions may be affected and it would cause the person to be dizzy, to feel weak and be unable to work on tasks or even to exist. Psychological needs are needs that are basically psychological nature and those that contribute to the well-being of the individual. For example, need for belongingness is a construct that enables us to quantify the need of people for building relationships and being part of a group or family.
Psychological needs can be satisfied immediately or it can be delayed, however a person’s sense of well-being and happiness is often associated with the fulfillment of psychological needs. Moreover, according to Maslow, psychological needs have to be satisfied in order, some needs are higher than others and it motivates people to fulfill the said needs incrementally, for example they can only begin to think about self-actualization if the individual has not been able to attain esteem needs such as the mastery of one’s profession.
- What is the relationship between arousal and behavior? Does this relationship impact performance and affect?
A person’s behavior is said to be driven by a stimulus that is a person is aroused to act in response to the stimulus that aroused the behavior. Arousal is the state in which a person or organism is prepared for action. The brain signals the specific organs in the body to react to the stimulus, if the arousal is weak then the response may also be weak. In other cases, if the arousal is strong, then the reaction may also be strong.
However, there are cases when prolonged arousal is detrimental to the body as it may result to heightened arousal which results to chronic stress. Behavior is the actions that an individual manifests in response to a stimulus. One’s behavior depends on the stimulus and the state of arousal of the individual. The relationship between arousal and behavior also affects performance and affect. For example, the level of performance of the individual can be increased by the state of arousal in the person.
Arousal may come from several sources like the promise of reward or even punishment. At the same time, the individual’s performance may also become decreased because the person is not motivated which may translate to lower arousal state. Affect is also contingent on behavior and arousal. If the person likes what he/she is doing it would then motivate him/her to perform better. When a person desires the behavior and finds it meaningful and important, then that person would have positive feelings for that behavior and hence increase performance. On the other hand, if the person has negative feelings about the behavior then performance would also be affected.
- What are the long-term and short-term effects of stress on the body, brain, and behavior?
Stress is both a good and bad thing for the body, brain and behavior of man. Stress motivates the person to act and behave in ways that would lessen or eradicate the stress. Stress may come from an event, a person, a situation or even from a personal problem. Stress affects the individual by motivating them to act or confront the behavior but it is also possible that people would evade the stressor as a means of coping with stress. Short-term effects of stress are beneficial to the body but long-term stress is not.
Prolonged stress has many physiological effects; stress may bring the body heightened arousal which is manifested by increased heart rate, sweating, sleeplessness, nervousness and the like. The body can only take too much stress, and if the body is subjected to too much stress it may result to fatigue, sickness and certain illnesses such as cardiovascular diseases and the like. Stress can also wreak havoc to the person’s brain that is too much stress has been found to be the cause of post traumatic stress disorder which is a mental disorder and can lead to psychotic breaks.
Due to very stressful situations or experiences that may result to trauma, the brain reacts to the stress to lessen it and hence tricks the brain into remembering only those events that are safe and provided a sense of security for the person. Prolonged stress can also cause behavioral symptoms such as erratic behavior, irrational thinking and low frustration tolerance. The natural response of the body to stress is to take control of it, but sometimes stress may be too much for the body.
Weinberg, R. S. & Gould, D. (2007). Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology 4th ed. Champaign, IL: Humans Kinetics.