Motivation : A Biobehavioural Approach

Why do animals including humans exhibit motivated behaviours such as fear, aggression, sexual behaviour and parental care? This book provides an integrated and coherent account of motivational systems in animals and humans for students of psychology and behaviour alike.

Motivation: A Biobehavioural Approach provides the reader with an understanding of why an individual exhibits certain behaviours, and what the causes of these actions are. Roderick Wong presents an analysis of motivated behaviour such as sexual activity, parental behaviour, food selection, fear or aggression, from a biological perspective, each chapter focussing on individual systems underlying specific motivational states that result in motivated acts. The similarities, differences and integration between these motivational systems are discussed throughout. Using a framework derived from research and theory from animal behaviour and comparative psychology, this book analyses relevant issues in human motivation such as mate choice, nepotism, attachment and independence, sensation-seeking, obesity and parent-offspring conflict. It will be particularly useful for undergraduate students in psychology or behavioural science taking courses in motivation and emotion, comparative psychology, animal behaviour or biological psychology.