LUIS ANTONIO (TONY) GARCIA MIDTERM ESSAY EXAMINATION NOVEMBER 11TH 2008 HUMAN MOTIVATION PSY420 Discuss the differences among theories of Human Motivation. How universal is each and how much is each particular to a specific type of behavior? In my opinion the theories were more alike than different. Most of them derived and evolved from one another. The reason why I believe this is because all of these theories were all born from the core ideas of arousal, direction and persistence behavior. With that being said, there are some fundamental differences between them, which I will attempt to point out. The instinct theories are based on as “purposive activities”. These activities are defined as such that are naturally instilled in animals. It has been said that they were placed there by “The Creator”, this according to writers like Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1225-1274). The basic idea behind this theory is that animals would use this theory as means for survival and preservation. There were some similarities between animals and humans, but the differences were prevalent. Rene Descartes (1596-1650) explained that the behavior of the body could be explained with the instinct theory, but that area which reasoned with morality and sexual conduct was controlled by the pineal gland. He said this human distinction was controlled by the mind. Not those of an animal like automatic impulse. He believed that this was why humans could be held responsible for their own actions. This thought correlated with the church’s position on human creation. Since the Catholic Church is the largest organization in the world, Aquinas’ instinct theory and Descartes’ views are in my opinion universal. Any country, region or group of people with the believe that there is a sole creator of humanity would definitely accept this theory as true, just because it agrees with the Church’s point of view. The evolutionary theory, on the other hand suggested that humans were motivated...