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 DogStage 1

UCS UCR

Pavlov’s DogStage 2 -- Repeated Trials

UCS

UCR

CS

Pavlov’s DogStage 3 -- Final Result

CRCS

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

Present NegativeReinforcer

Decreases Response

Remove Positive 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.

• 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, & self-actualization 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