Practice question · Multiple choice
Drive-reduction theory holds that behaviour serves to restore homeostasis. Why do curiosity and thrill-seeking count as evidence against it rather than as behaviours it has yet to explain?
Hints
- Ask what physiological need is being reduced when someone queues for a rollercoaster.
- "Not yet explained" and "predicted the opposite" are different problems for a theory.
Show the answer
A. Because they raise arousal from a satisfied state, not lower it.
Why
A theory has a gap when a behaviour falls outside it and a refutation when a behaviour runs the way it says nothing can, and a well-fed, safe person seeking a frightening ride is deliberately leaving equilibrium with no deficit in sight. Arousal theory kept the useful part by making the target an optimum rather than a minimum.
Practise Motivation and Drive-Reduction Theory
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More questions on Motivation and Drive-Reduction Theory
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