Drive theory

In psychology, a Drive theory, theory of drives or drive doctrine is a theory that attempts to analyze, classify or define the psychological drives. A drive is an instinctual need that has the power of driving the behavior of an individual; an "excitatory state produced by a homeostatic disturbance".Drive theory is based on the principle that organisms are born with certain psychological needs and that a negative state of tension is created when these needs are not satisfied. When a need is satisfied, drive is reduced and the organism returns to a state of homeostasis and relaxation. According to the theory, drive tends to increase over time and operates on a feedback control system, much like a thermostat.

In 1943 two psychologists, Clark Hull and Kenneth Spence, put forward a drive theory as an explanation of all behavior. In a study conducted by Hull, two groups of rats were put in a maze, group A was given food after three hours and group B was given food after twenty-two hours. Hull had decided that the rats that were deprived of food longer would be more likely to develop a habit of going down the same path to obtain food.