PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS - MOTIVATIONAL THEORY

Motivation is used in Psychology as education to boost and direct student behavior. It points students in the right direction and attempts to keep them going in that direction.

Because students are not always internally motivated, they sometimes need situated motivation, which is found in environmental conditions that the teacher creates.

There are two different kinds of motivation.

The first one is intrinsic motivation, and the other is extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic occurs when a person is internally motivated to do something because it either brings them pleasure, they think it is important, or they feel that what they are learning is ethically significant.

Extrinsic motivation comes into play when a student is compelled to do something or act a certain way because of factors external to themselves.

Instinct Theory: Instinct theory is resultant from our biological

make-up.  We've all seen spider's webs and perhaps even witnessed a spider in the dull job of creating its home and trap. 

We've all seen birds in their nests, feeding their young or thoroughly placing the twigs in place to form their new home. 

All creatures are born with exact natural knowledge about how to survive.  Animals are born with the capacity and often time’s knowledge of how to survive by spinning webs, building nests, avoiding danger, and reproducing. 

These innate tendencies are preprogrammed at birth, they are in our genes, and even if the spider never saw a web before, never witnessed its creation, it would still know how to create one.   

Humans have the same types of innate tendencies.  Babies are born with a unique talent that allows them

to survive; they are born with the ability to cry.  Crying allows a human infant to survive. 

We are also born with particular reflexes which promote survival. 

The most significant of these include swallowing, coughing, blinking.  Newborns can perform physical movements to avoid pain; they will turn their head if touched on their cheek and they will grasp an object that touches the palm of their hands.

Drive Reduction Theory: According to Clark Hull, humans have internal

natural needs which motivate us to perform a certain way. 

These needs, or drives, are defined by Hull as internal states of arousal or tension which must be reduced. 

A prime example would be the internal psychological approach of hunger or thirst, which motivates us to eat. 

According to this theory, we are driven to reduce these drives so that we may keep a sense of internal calmness.

Intrinsic motivation: Intrinsic motivation is also one of Psychological

Concepts and it is when I am motivated by internal factors, as opposed to the extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation drives me to do things just for the fun of it, or because I believe it is a good or right thing to do.

There is a paradox of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is far stronger a motivator than extrinsic motivation, yet external motivation can easily act to move intrinsic motivation

Extrinsic Motivation: Extrinsic motivation is when I am motivated by

external factors, as opposed to the internal drivers of intrinsic motivation.

Extrinsic motivation drives me to do things for touchable rewards or pressures, rather than for the fun of it.

When I do something, I have to explain why I do it. If I am being satisfied extrinsically for doing it, then I can explain to myself that I am doing it for the reward.

In this way, rewards can decrease internal motivation as people work to gain the reward rather than because they like doing the work or believe it is a good thing to do.

In effect, extrinsic motivations can change a agreeable into work.