science

Motivational deficiency disorder

Motivational deficiency disorder is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Motivational deficiency disorder rather than just read about it. In short: Motivational deficiency disorder is the name of a fake disease introduced on April Fool's Day 2006 as part of a health campaign to raise awareness of disease mongering. Campaign The disease was first described in an effort coordinated by Ray Moynihan when BMJ published a description of it for April Fool's Day in 2006.

Key takeaways

Motivational deficiency disorder belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Motivational deficiency disorder to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Motivational deficiency disorder from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Motivational deficiency disorder is the name of a fake disease introduced on April Fool's Day 2006 as part of a health campaign to raise awareness of disease mongering.

Campaign

The disease was first described in an effort coordinated by Ray Moynihan when BMJ published a description of it for April Fool's Day in 2006. Fake neurologist "Leth Argos" is said to have described the disorder, finding that "extreme laziness may have a medical basis" and that "motivational deficiency disorder can be fatal, because the condition reduces the motivation to breathe." Despite the condition being poorly understood, it is also "underdiagnosed and undertreated." A person living with the condition complained that he would spend all day at the beach. In the original campaign medical marketers recommended treating the disease with a drug called "Indolebant". They presented a case study in which a lazy man who took the drug then got off his sofa to begin a job as an investment adviser. The original campaign also contained an advertisement for an issue of PLOS on disease mongering. In 2008 Consumers International revived the campaign to draw further attention to the issue of disease mongering. Although a spoof, some news outlets have reported the disease as if this were a real disorder. The disease was invented and presented to the public as a demonstration that some media outlets are willing to publish sensational health stories and that people respond with worry when they do.

References

External links 4-minute report about motivational deficiency disorder 1-minute video advertising a drug to treat motivational deficiency disorder issue of PLOS advertised in original article transcript of radio report on the condition

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Motivational deficiency disorder

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Motivational deficiency disorder claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Motivational deficiency disorder before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Motivational deficiency disorder ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Motivational deficiency disorder

In research: Motivational deficiency disorder appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Motivational deficiency disorder in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Motivational deficiency disorder is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2006 in mass media, April Fools' Day, Health campaigns, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Motivational deficiency disorder outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Motivational deficiency disorder in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Motivational deficiency disorder means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Motivational deficiency disorder out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Motivational deficiency disorder in simple terms?

Motivational deficiency disorder is the name of a fake disease introduced on April Fool's Day 2006 as part of a health campaign to raise awareness of disease mongering. Campaign The disease was first described in an effort coordinated by Ray Moynihan when BMJ published a description of it for April…

Why does Motivational deficiency disorder matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Motivational deficiency disorder?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Motivational deficiency disorder.