Instinct Theory

This is an instinct.


This is technically not an instinct... but it's still funny.

At the base of all behavior, no matter from which animal, are instincts. Instincts are defined as "An innate, typically fixed pattern of behavior in animals in response to certain stimuli"^[2]. In other words, it's a behavior which is inborn and consistent across a species. It's what makes us run from snakes^[3]. It's what makes babies turn when you touch their cheek (a behavior called rooting)^[4]. We evolved instincts during the past few millennia. They are what allowed us to survive this far. Therefore, they're the basis behind all basic, simple, crude - primary, so-to-speak - behaviors.

Instinct Theory claims that behavior is a result of our instincts pushing us to do something. It has a strong basis in Evolutionary Psychology, since we evolved our instincts. Our ancestors with good instincts - such as running from snakes - managed to survive and pass on their genes, whereas those with bad instincts died. As a result, our human instincts today are very well suited to primitive survival skills - don't pet poisonous snakes - but they don't necessarily work well in modern day society.

Ducklings imprint on their mothers. This is an instinct.

This is where the critics of Instinct Theory come in. While it works great for basic tasks - and indeed, it does a great job of explaining why animals behave the way they do - it fails spectacularly when it comes to explaining more complex human behavior^[5] - what makes us us.

Back to sleeping. One of the major theories of why we sleep is that it was good for our ancestors. It allowed them to conserve energy during a time when their eyes became severely less effective. It also forced them to lay low and stay still during the most dangerous period of the day^[6]. This forced inactivity may have helped them survive, which is why it lives on as a basic instinct today.

Drive Reduction Theory

The Sims 3's Needs Panel - In order to keep your Sim happy,
you must fulfill their basic needs, or, in this case, drives.

Homeostasis is the maintenance of a steady internal state^[4]. Homeostasis is when your body works together to make sure everything functions as it needs to to support life. In essence, homeostasis is what supports life. Therefore, it makes sense if everything we do is directed towards maintaining, or regaining, homeostasis.

That's what went through Clark Hull's mind when he developed Drive Reduction Theory in 1943^[7]. According to him, we have innate "drives" that build up over time. In order to regain homeostasis, we must reduce those drives by meeting their basic requirements. For instance, when we're low on water, we get thirsty. Our thirst drive, potentially, would be getting full. To reduce this drive, we'd drink water, thus regaining homeostasis.

Drives are classified into two main types. Primary drives are inborn - thirst, hunger, etc. These cannot be changed and are present in all human beings. Secondary drives, however, can consist of things like money. They're learned later in life, typically through conditioning. Secondary drives are almost always paired with a primary drive, which is how they got their name. For instance, money, a secondary drive, can usually buy food, which satisfied a primary drive.

Sleep is fairly easy to explain with Drive Reduction Theory. According to most sources, sleep is a fundamental human drive^[8]. When we don't sleep, we get sleepy, which, as you may very well know, causes us discomfort. To alleviate this, we go to bed, thus reducing our sleep drive.

Incentive Theory

A Carrot-On-A-Stick is a
classic example of an incentive -
the carrot incentivizes the pig to walk.

In the good ol' days of Behavioral Psychology, psychologists, such as BF Skinner, sought to explain human activities by simply looking at behaviors. To this extent, they eventually realized that offering something pleasant in return for an action was a good way to make an action occur. That "something pleasant" is, of course, a reward or incentive (called, in this context, a reinforcer), and from that came Operant Conditioning.

Money - one of modern society's
most effective incentives.

With the creation (discovery?) of Operant Conditioning, Incentive Theory started getting attention. Incentive Theory states that a reward, be it a physical thing or something else, is presented after an action, thus encouraging it^[9]. This is similar to the concept of positive reinforcement used in Operant Conditioning. There's slight differences between the two, but they all give similar results. They're both presented after the stimulus in order to encourage, or in this case, motivate a behavior.

Incentive Theory is different from other theories in that it involves a stimulus to attract a person, rather than pushing a body towards something, such as homeostasis^[9]. Whereas other theories involve internal pushes, Incentive Theory instead assumes that some external factor is what motivates us to do things^[10]. Of course, the problem here is that not everything is motivated by external factors. When something is caused by an external motivator, it's called extrinsic motivation. However, somethings we do because we want to do them (such as programming a site from scratch for something as simple as a school project, when I could've just used something like Google Sites). That's intrinsic motivation, and Incentive Theory doesn't cover it.

In this case, the presence of his boss would be the incentive.

Sleeping gives you energy and prevents you from getting the aversive side effects of not sleeping. Arguably, this could be a "reward" for sleeping, and it's what, according to Incentive Theory, motivates us to sleep every day. This could be potentially classified under Operant Conditioning, but it's still an example of motivation.

Optimal Arousal

Your optimum arousal level, displayed in a chart.

Arousal is defined as "the degree of energy release and the intensity of readiness of the performer or as drive or excitation"^[11]. Essentially, it's how reactive we are to stimuli - too low a level of arousal, and we become bored and / or disinterested. Were it to become too high, we would become stressed, or too strung out. Neither of these states are not comfortable to be in.

Different levels of arousal.

This is where the theory of Optimal Arousal comes in. It states that we do everything to try to stay within our zone of "optimal arousal"^[12] (hence its name). If we're bored, we get up and do something, like sky-diving. If we're too stressed, we do something more soothing, like lying down or taking a walk. The entire point of Optimal Arousal Theory is that everyone has a different level of optimal arousal. Some people may be perfectly happy with watching Netflix all day to fit their low arousal needs. Others may try extreme sports, like skydiving, to satisfy their high level of arousal.

Interestingly, optimal arousal has also been tied to performance, in what's commonly known as the Yerkes-Dodson Law^[12]. It states that too low a state of arousal could lead to things like disinterest or distraction. Therefore, a certain level of arousal is needed to do anything well, and that's almost common sense. However, too much arousal could lead to things like stress, tension, and lack of concentration. More arousal improves performance up to the optimal arousal level, after which it drops off again^[11].

Sleeping is an extremely low arousal activity. In order to fall asleep, our optimal arousal level must dip very low. However, thanks to many biological and other factors (such as the Circadian Rhythm), this happens every night, which forces us to fall asleep.

Maslow's Pyramid

A diagram of Maslow's Pyramid.

As humans, we always have needs and goals. For those in third world countries, getting food and water is where all energy is invested. For those in more developed countries, we worry about higher ideals - justice, entertainment, fitness, etc. (#FirstWorldProblems). We're never satisfied - we always have something that we're working towards. No human being is ever content just sitting down forever, saying "I have food and water - I'm done with life." However, up to this point, no theory has been able to tie all of this together.

In 1943, Abraham Maslow introduced his Hierarchy of Needs in the paper "A Theory of Human Motivation"^[12]. In it, he argued that humans have a hierarchy / pyramid of needs that we are constantly aiming to fulfill. However, unlike the other theories thus far, Maslow's pyramid has a hierarchy. We start at the bottom and work our way up. If a lower need isn't met, we aren't motivated to pursue higher goals. For example, without water, we lose interest in self-esteem.

A probably more accurate
version of Maslow's Pyramid.
At least, for me.

At the bottom of the pyramid are physiological needs - food, water, sleep, etc. Bearing surprising similarity to Drive Reduction Theory, these are needs required to maintain basic life. After that comes safety needs - the need to feel safe and somewhat in control. Following that are social needs - love, friendship, etc. Once that's met, we move on to the need for self-esteem, confidence, and respect. Finally, we, as humans, pursue Self Actualization - the so-called "higher ideals", such as morality and the pursuit of your true potential^[12]. Debatably, there's another tier called Self Transcendence, which is the need to find meaning and identity beyond the self, but that's not consistent across sources^[4].

Jet lag can make you lose interest
in everything else.

Sleep, according to Maslow, is a basic physiological need. When night time rolls around, our basic need for sleep makes itself apparent. According to Maslow's Pyramid, if we don't satisfy this need, we lose interest in higher goals, which causes us to go to bed. That's why you're not interested in eating when you're jetlagged - your body is so low on sleep, you lose interest in food.

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