Transcript presentation source

Chapter 2: Historical & Metatheoretical
Perspectives on Motivation
Notes from class
textbook:
Pintrich, P.R., &
Schunk, D.H. (1996).
Motivation in Education:
Theory, Research, &
Applications. Englewood
Cliff, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Behavioral Theories
• View motivation as a change in the
rate, frequency of occurrence, or form
of behavior
• Function of environmental events and
stimuli
• Reinforcing consequences make
behavior more likely to occur
• Punishing consequences make
behavior less likely to occur
Cognitive Theories
• Stress mental structures and the
processing of information and beliefs
• View motivation is an internal process
-- we cannot observe it directly
• Disagree on which specific processes
are important
• Processes: attributions, perceptions of
competence, values, affects, goals,
social comparisons
Early Views of
Motivation
• Volition/Will
• Instincts
Volition/Will
• Mind comprised of knowing
(cognition), feeling (emotion), and
willing (motivation)
• Wundt introduced method of
introspection -- required subjects to
verbally report their immediate
experiences following exposure to
objects or events.
• Is volition an independent process or a
by-product of other mental processes?
Volition according to Wundt
• A central, independent factor in
human behavior
• Presumably accompanies such
processes as sensation, perception,
attention, and formation of mental
associations
• Helps translate our thoughts and
feelings into action
Freud’s Theory
• Motivation is psychical energy
• Forces within the individual are
responsible for behavior
• “Moving force”
• Psychical energy builds up and
develops when needs exist
• Energy can be repressed
Conditioning Theories
• Connectionism
• Classical conditioning
• Operant conditioning
Connectionism
• Thorndike (1913)
• Learning involves formation of
associations (connections) between
sensory experiences (perceptions of
stimuli or events) & neural impulses
that manifest themselves behaviorally
• Law of Effect is central principal
Law of Effect
• When a modifiable
connection between a
situation and a
response is made and
is accompanied by a
satisfying state of
affairs, that
connection’s strength
is increased.
Law of Effect
• When a modifiable
connection between a
situation and a
response is made and
is accompanied by an
annoying state of
affairs, that
connection’s strength
is decreased.
Classical Conditioning
• Pavlov (1927, 1928)
• Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) &
unconditioned response (UCR)
• Conditioned stimulus (CS) &
conditioned response (CR)
Pavlov’s Dog
Stage 1
UCS
UCR
Pavlov’s Dog
Stage 2 -- Repeated Trials
CS
UCR
UCS
Pavlov’s Dog
Stage 3 -- Final Result
CS
CR
Operant Conditioning
• Skinner (1953)
• Stimulus
Response
Consequence
• Reinforcement -- increases the rate or
likelihood of responding
• Punishment -- decreases the rate or
likelihood of responding
Reinforcement
Present Positive
Reinforcer
Increases Response
Remove Negative
Reinforcer
Increases Response
Punishment
Remove Positive
Reinforcer
Decreases Response
Present Negative
Reinforcer
Decreases Response
Applying Conditioning in the
Classroom
• Ensure that students have the readiness
to learn
• Help students form associations
between stimuli & responses
• Associate learning & classroom
activities with pleasing outcomes
Applying Conditioning in the
Classroom (…continued)
• Reinforce desired behaviors &
extinguish undesired ones
• Reinforce progress in learning &
behavior
• Make participation at valued activities
contingent on working on less-valued
ones
Drive Theories -- Emphasized the
contribution of internal factors (drives) to
behavior. Drives are internal forces that seek to
maintain homeostasis, or the optimal states of
bodily mechanisms.
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Woodworth’s theory
Systematic behavior theory
Incentive motivation
Mowrer’s theory
Acquired drives
Purposive Behaviorism -Stresses the goal directedness of behavior.
Environmental stimuli are means to goal
attainment & must be studied in the
context of behavioral sequences to
understand people’s actions.
• Expectancy learning
• Latent learning
Arousal Theories -- Look at
motivation in terms of level of emotional
arousal. Deal with behaviors, emotions, &
other internal mechanisms. Motivation depends
strongly on affective processes (as opposed to
cognitive or behavioral processes.)
• James-Lange theory
• Optimal level of arousal
• Applying arousal theories in the
classroom
• Schachter’s theory of emotion
Applying Arousal Theories in
the Classroom:
• Maintain student motivation at an
optimal level; avoid periods of boredom
& high anxiety
• Incorporate novelty & incongruity into
teaching & student activities
• Develop in students positive emotions
about learning rather than uncertainty
Field Theory
• Every psychological event depends
upon the state of the person and at
the same time on the environment
• The person and environment
constitute the individual’s life space
• Motivation represents the
individual’s efforts to satisfy needs
and impose homeostasis on the field
Cognitive Consistency -Address the cognitions people have &
how these cognitions affect behavior.
• Balance theory
• Cognitive dissonance
Trait Theory -- Allport’s
Functional Autonomy of Motives
• People were best viewed as unique systems
constantly evolving & striving towards
goals
• Traits are part of system but are
idiosyncratic & can be studied only with
references to particular individuals
• Traits are unique realities within
individuals that help to account for the
relative consistency of behavior across
situations
Humanistic Theory -- Emphasizes
people’s capabilities & potentialities. Stresses that
individuals have choices & seek control over their
lives. Does not explain behavior in terms of
unconscious, powerful inner forces and does not focus
on environmental stimuli & responses as determinants
of behavior
• Rogers’s client-centered therapy
– Actualizing tendency
– Need for positive regard
Assumptions of Humanistic
Theories
• The study of humans is holistic -- we must
understand their behaviors, thoughts, &
feelings. Emphasis is on individuals’
subjective awareness of themselves & their
situations
• Human choices, creativity, & selfactualization are important areas to study
• It is better to study an important problem
with a less refined methodology than a
trivial problem with a complex methodology
Applying Humanistic
Theories in the Classroom
• Show positive regard for students
• Separate students from their actions; accept them
for who they are rather than for how they act
• Encourage personal growth by providing students
with choices & opportunities to initiate learning
activities & establish goals
• Use contracts & allow students to evaluate their
learning
• Facilitate learning by providing students with
resources & encouragement
Metatheoretical Models
and Metaphors
• Mechanistic model
• Organismic model
• Contextual model
Mechanistic Model
• Assumes that the laws of natural
science are the basic laws in the world
& that everything is reducible to them
• Reductionistic -- Complex events can
be reduced to simpler phenomena
• Additive because complex phenomena
represent the summations of many
basic phenomena
• Stresses the environment
Organismic Model
• Assumes that changes in organisms
often are qualitative & cannot be
reduced to previous behavior
• Changes can emerge suddenly (like in
human development)
• Metaphor: a living, growing organism
like a plant. Course of growth is
uneven.
• Emphasizes the individual
Contextual Model
• Contends that environmental conditions play
a greater role in change than organismic ones
• Metaphor: A historical event -- does not
operate in isolation; to understand events, one
must know something about the dispositions
of the principal individuals involved & the
situation prevailing at the time
• Places importance on the individual in
relation to, or in dynamic interaction with, the
environment