Motivation
Psychology of Learning
Chapter 10

Motivation
Motivation means “to move.”
A motive is a conscious or unconscious force that incites a person to act or not to act.
Study of human motivation includes a study of reasons for and causes of behavior.
Motives are closely tied to emotions.

Reflexes
A reflex is a simple unlearned act that occurs in response to a specific stimulus; many reflexes have survival value.
Orienting reflexes are general tendencies to respond to new stimulation by becoming more alert.
Evolutionary development that assesses potential threats and opportunities.
Orienting occurs in response to novelty; as the novel becomes familiar, it ceases.
Reflexes offer valid, biologically based explanations for some behaviors.
Reflexes offer limited generality and usefulness to explain non-reflexive (most) behaviors

Instincts and Imprinting
Instincts are more complex inherited patterns of behavior that are common to an entire species and are associated with survival; Freudian theory, evolutionary psychology, sociobiology
Imprinting is an instinctual, unlearned behavior that is species-specific and does not appear until an animal has been exposed to the right stimulus at the right time.
Bowlby (1982) argues that early attachment between mother/child has important parallels with imprinting.

Motivation
Motivation means “to move.”
A motive is a conscious or unconscious force that incites a person to act or not to act.
Study of human motivation includes a study of reasons for and causes of behavior.
Motives are closely tied to emotions.

Pain and Pleasure
Operant conditioning: positive reinforcers are pleasant; punishment and negative reinforcers are not
Cognitive theories: viewing motives as goals
Three physiological motives: hunger, thirst, and sex
Each physiological motive is linked with a need, a lack that gives rise to a desire for satisfaction
Drive reduction, according to Hull, accounts for effect of reinforcers and leads to learning

Psychological Needs
Non-physical needs such as affection, belonging, achievement, independence, social recognition, and self-esteem.
differences with physiological needs
physical needs and their satisfaction result in bodily changes; psychological needs result in intellectual or emotional changes
physiological needs can be completely satisfied, whereas psychological needs are insatiable

Maslow’s Hierarchy
two major systems of needs
basic needs, deficiency needs, leading to behavior if the conditions that satisfy them are lacking
metaneeds, growth needs, marked by a human desire to grow, to become; achieving self-actualization
self-actualization
has often been viewed as a state with an endpoint, as depicted in the pyramid
best described as the process of becoming oneself, of actualizing
Maslow said self-actualizing people “may be loosely described as [making] full use and exploitation of talents, capacities, potentialities, etc,” (1970, p. 150)

Incentives
Incentive relates to the value of a goal or reward.
A goal is said to have high incentive value when it is particularly powerful in motivating behavior.
Hull recognized that drive alone could not account for motivation.
Brings behavioristic theory of motivation somewhat closer to cognitive positions through anticipating goals and estimating values.

Arousal Theory
Intensity of motivation is reflected in changes in the sympathetic nervous system which in turn reflect arousal
arousal has both psychological and physiological meaning
psychological has two dimensions, tension and energy
physiological – degree of activation of the organism, measured in heart rate, blood pressure, electrodermal response, etc.
Increasing arousal characterizes increasing intensity of motivation

Yerkes-Dodson Law
At very lowest levels of arousal, motivation tends to be low and behavior ineffective.
If arousal continues to increase, performance is likely to deteriorate badly.
There is an optimal level of arousal for most effective behavior; levels above and below this optimal level are associated with less effective behavior.

Hebb’s Arousal Theory
The optimal level of arousal differs for different tasks.
Organisms seek to maintain optimal level of arousal.
Two functions of stimuli
    Cue function is the message function; tells the organism how to feel, think, or react.
    Arousal function is defined by general activating, or arousing, effect of stimuli; involves preactivation of a larger number of cell assemblies
Unless they are tired and in need of sleep, humans appear to have a clear and strong need to maintain relatively high levels of arousal

Sensory Deprivation
Because chief source of arousal is sensation, perceptual deprivation results in a lowering of arousal.
effects of sensory deprivation
impairment of perceptual and cognitive functioning
subjects become irritable, easily amused or annoyed, and childish in their reactions
Subjects sometimes report experiencing illusions or hallucinations after prolonged isolation
Behavior is more nearly optimal under conditions of moderate arousal, and it seems that people try and maintain arousal at that level.

Sources of Arousal
One important source of high and low arousal is stimulation
Arousal is related to a variety of personal and cognitive factors
Introverts have been found to be more highly aroused than extroverts by the same stimulation.
The more difficult and important a behavior is, the higher the arousal associated with it has been found to be.
Motivational arousal may be a function of the extent to which the actor assumes personal responsibility for the outcomes of behavior

Cognitive Theories of Motivation
Present a more active view of human behavior than most behavioristic theories.
Involve
    exploring and manipulating
    predicting and evaluating consequences of behavior
    acting on environment rather than simply reacting to it
    Cognitive theories explain effectiveness of environmental circumstances in terms of the individual’s understanding and interpretation.

Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
When a person simultaneously possesses two contradictory items of information, that person will be motivated to reduce the contradiction
Dissonance theory holds that these states lead to behavior that is intended to reduce conflict and reflects the amount of conflict that exists.
Reducing dissonance – can be accomplished through:
    attitude change
    compartmentalization
    Exposure to or recall of information
    Behavioral change
    Perceptual distortion
People may not feel dissonance unless they also feel personal responsibility for their behavior

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motives
Extrinsic motives involve external goals and rewards, such as food, high marks, and verbal praise.
Intrinsic motives involve positive feelings, such as pride and satisfaction.
Differences in these types of motives are explored in Self-determination Theory, Attribution Theory, and a theory of Self-efficacy.

Self-determination Theory
Reinforcement has been found to not lower intrinsic motivation (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999).
Behaviors that appear to be externally motivated are actually a result of a person’s internal needs, such as the need to be competent and self-determining.
Major assumption: people need to be self-determining, to feel that they are in control of their own actions

Attribution Theory
To attribute in cognitive theory is to assign responsibility or to impute motives.
Both cognitive dissonance and self-determination theories tie into this theory.
People have tendencies to ascribe their successes and failures to internal or external causes, or locus of control.
externally oriented people attribute successes and failures to task difficulty, bad luck, good luck, or other factors out of their control.
Internally oriented people attribute outcomes in terms of their own ability and effort.

Attribution and Dissonance
Dissonance reflects how responsible the person feels for the outcomes of behavior.
Externally oriented people do not accept personal responsibility for successes and failures
Internally oriented people are more likely to feel pride when they succeed and shame when they fail.
Assumption: People continually evaluate their behaviors, look for reasons behind their successes and failures, anticipate the probable future outcomes of intended behaviors, and react emotionally to success and failure.

Attribution and Achievement Goals
How people explain their successes and failures is related to the need for achievement, or need to reach some standard of excellence.
Those with high need to achieve usually attribute outcomes to internal causes.
Those with low need to achieve usually attribute outcomes to ability, effort, ease of task, or luck.

Seligman’s Explanatory Style
Seligman’s ABCDE Model of Learned Optimism
    A – Adversity; Define the problem.
    B – Belief; Define the belief system that is interpreting that adversity.
    C – Consequences; Define the consequences arising from the adversity and the (in)action.
    D – Disputation; Argue the core belief and effectively dispute the belief that follows the adversity.
    E – Energization; The positive feelings that overcome the negative thoughts after the disputation step.

Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy deals with an individual’s assessments of personal effectiveness; high self-efficacy see themselves as capable and effective in dealing with the world and other people
Importance of self-efficacy judgments
    significant in determining what people do, what motivates them
    influence what people will do and how much effort and time they will devote to a task, especially when they are faced with difficulties.
    significant in the workplace

Sources of Efficacy Judgments
enactive – effects of individual’s behavior, especially as related to success or failure
vicarious – based on comparisons between individual’s performance and that of other potential equals
persuasory – based on persuasion to do things they would not otherwise do
emotive – high or low arousal, leading to either high or low estimates of capability depending on situation and person’s previous experiences in situations of high arousal.

Efficacy and Expectancy-Value Theory
Expectancy involves individuals’ beliefs about how well they will do on upcoming tasks, either in the immediate or longer-term future
The value associated with a choice reflects four distinct components:
    attainment value = personal importance of the task to the individual
    Intrinsic value = personal satisfaction and enjoyment that an individual derives from an activity
    Utility value = whether or not an activity fits in with present and future objectives
    Cost = various negative possibilities associated with a task
Humans make choices based on expectancy of success and values associated with various options.

Educational Applications
Predicting behavior
Controlling and changing behavior
Motivation in the classroom - Teachers can set up dissonant situations to motivate students and in helping them find ways (behavior change, attitude change, or exposure to new information, for instance) to reduce the dissonance
Intrinsic and extrinsic attributions
    present students with variety of short-term goals that are challenging but are accomplishable
    make schoolwork personally involving
    focus on process of learning rather than on its outcomes
    individual progress be emphasized
    comparisons with other students be minimized

Teachers should remember that students need to be self-determining; personal competence translates into personal estimates of self-efficacy.
Teachers should remember that judgments of self-efficacy are powerful motivators.
Teachers should provide children with experiences that contribute to positive judgments of self-efficacy.
Teachers should influence student goals and self-image, important factors in how students judge the value of different outcomes and the potential cost of efforts required to reach these outcomes.