MOTIVATION

Melissa Griggs
Learning Theories Into Practice
September 26, 2015

WHAT IS
MOTIVATION?

MOTIVATION IS...
The process of instigating and sustaining goal-directed behavior.
Not observed directly but rather inferred from behavior.
Is an explanatory concept that helps us understand why people

behave as they do.

An important role in education by engaging students in activities

that facilitate learning.

MODEL OF
MOTIVATED
LEARNING

PRETASK
Students enter tasks with various goals that might include learning

the material, performing well, being the first to finish, etc. Not all
goals are academic.

Students enter tasks with various expectations that may involve

capabilities for learning (self-efficacy) and perceptions of the

consequences of learning (outcome expectations).

Students enter tasks with different social support which includes

types of assistance at school from teachers and peers as well as

help and support from parents and other family at home.

DURING TASK
Instructional, contextual, and personal variables are important to

students during this time.

Instructional variables include teachers, forms of feedback, materials

used, and types of equipment that is used.These variables are

typically viewed as influencing learning as well as motivation.

Contextual variables include social and environmental resources such

as location, time of day, distractions, temperature, ongoing events,

etc. Social comparison of ability with peers directly links to motivation.

Personal variables include those associated with learning, such as

knowledge construction and skill acquisition, self-regulation variables,

and motivational indexes. Motivational indexes include choice of
activities, effort, and persistence.

POSTTASK
Self reflection occurs at this point since the task is completed.
Variables are similar to those found in the pretask model.
Variables now also affect future motivation and learning.

MORE ON MODEL OF
MOTIVATIONAL LEARNING
Students who believe that they are progressing toward their learning goals

and who make positive attributions for success are apt to sustain their selfefficacy for learning, outcome expectations, perceived value, and positive
emotional climate.

Students who expect to do well and receive positive outcomes from

learning are apt to be motivated to continue to learn assuming they believe

they are making progress and can continue to do so by using effective
learning strategies.

Pretask

During Task

Posttask

Goals

Instructional Variables
Teacher
Feedback
Materials
Equipment

Attributions

Expectations
Self-efficacy
Outcome

Contextual Variables
Peers
Environment

Goals
Expectations
Affects

Values

Personal Variables
Values
Knowledge construction Needs
Skill acquisition
Social Support
Self-regulation
Choice of activities
Effort
Persistence

Affects
Needs
Social Support

HISTORICAL
PERSPECTIVES

DRIVE THEORY
Originated as a psychological theory that was eventually broadened

to include psychological needs.

Woodworth defined drives as internal forces that sought to maintain

homeostasis body balance.

Hull defined motivations as the "initiation of learned, or habitual,

patterns of movement or behavior".

Drive theory is not an ideal explanation for much human motivations.

CONDITIONING THEORY
Explains motivation in terms of responses elicited by stimuli

(classical conditioning) or emitted in the presence of stimuli

(operant conditioning).

In classical conditioning model, motivational properties of an

unconditioned stimulus are transmitted to the conditioned stimulus

through repeated pairings.

In operant conditioning, motivated behavior is an increased rate of

responding out a greater likelihood that a response will occur in the

presence of a stimulus.

COGNITIVE CONSISTENCY
THEORY
Assumes that motivation results from interactions of

cognitions and behaviors.

This theory is homeostatic because it predicts that when

tensions occurs among elements, the problem needs to be

resolved by making cognitions and behaviors consistent with
one another.

BALANCE
THEORY
Heider's balance
theory postulates that
a tendency exists to
cognitively balance
relations among
persons, situations,
and events. Cognitive
imbalance occurs
with one negative and
two positive relations,
two negative and one
positive relations, or
when all relations are
negative.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
Festinger formulated a theory of cognitive dissonance which postulates that

individuals attempt to maintain consistent relations among their beliefs,

attitudes, opinions, and behaviors.

Two cognitions are consonant if one follows from or fits with the other.

Dissonant cognitions exist when one follows from the opposite of the other.

Dissonance can be reduced in various ways:

Change a discrepant cognition
Qualify cognitions
Downgrade the importance of the cognitions
Alter behavior

HUMANISTIC THEORY
As applied to learning is largely constructivist and emphasizes

cognitive and affective processes.

They address people's capabilities and potentials as they make

choices and seek control over their lives.

There are two assumptions that are made with this theory. One

is holistic which means that you study their behaviors,

thoughts, and feelings. The second is that human choices,
creativity, and self-actualization are important areas to study.

MASLOW'S
HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS
Lower-order needs to

be satisfied
adequately before
higher-order needs
can influence
behavior.
The first four needs

are deprivation needs.

The highest level is

the need for selfactualization or the

desire for selffulfillment.

ACTUALIZING TENDENCY
Carl Rogers says that life represents an ongoing process of personal

growth or achieving wholeness which is a motivational construct and

presumably innate.

The development of self-awareness produces a need for positive regard or

feelings such as respect, liking, warmth, sympathy, and acceptance.

People also have a need for positive self-regard or positive regard that

derives from self-experiences.

Problems occur when people experience conditional regard or regard

contingent on certain actions.

EDUCATIONAL
IMPLICATIONS
Students perceive meaningful learning as relevant because

they believe it will enhance them personally.

Learning requires active participation combined with self-

criticism and self-evaluation by learners and the belief that

learning is important.

The primary job of teachers is to act as facilitators who

establish a classroom climate oriented toward significant

learning and help students clarify their goals.

ACHIEVEMENT
MOTIVATION

FAMILIAL INFLUENCES
AND FEAR OF SUCCESS
Achievement motivation refers to striving to be competent in effortful

activities.

It is plausible that achievement depends strongly on factors in children's

homes.

Although it is clear that families can influence children's motivation,

attempts to identify parental behaviors that encourage achievement

strivings are complicated because parents display many behaviors with
their children.

The achievement motive manifests itself in behaviors such as

competition, independence, and professional advancement.

Fear of success is a stable motivational disposition manifested by anxiety

that inhibits achievement behavior.

CONTEMPORARY MODEL OF
ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION
Early achievement motivation theory stressed the person's

perceptions and beliefs as influences on behavior, which shifted the

focus of motivation from inner needs environmental factors to the
subjective world of the individual.

Task-specific self-concepts are students' perceptions of their ability

or competence in different domains

Perceptions of task difficulty refer to judgements of how difficult the

task is to accomplish.

Attainment value is the importance of doing well on the task.

Intrinsic or interest value refers to the inherent, immedicate

employment one derives from the task.

CONTEMPORARY MODEL OF
ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION
Utility value relates to task importance relative to a future

goal.

Cost belief is defined as the perceived negative aspects of

engaging in the task.

The expectancy construct refers to the individuals perceptions

concerning the likelihood of future task success.

SELF-WORTH THEORY AND

TASK AND EGO
INVOLVEMENT
Self-worth theory refines this idea by combining the emotional

aspect with cognitive factors.

Success is valued and failure, or the belief that one has failed,

should be avoided because it implies low ability.

Task involvement stresses learning as a goal.

Task-involved students focus on task demands such as solving

the problem, balancing the equation, and writing the book report.

Ego involvement is a type of self-preoccupation.

Ego-involved students want to avoid looking incompetent.

ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION
TRAINING
Aims to help students develop thoughts and behaviors typical

of learners high in achievement motivation.

ATTRIBUTION
THEORY

LOCUS OF CONTROL.
Attributions are perceived causes of outcomes.
Attribution theory explains how people view the causes of their

behaviors and those of others.

A central tenet of most cognitive motivation theories is that

people seek to control important aspects of their lives.

Locus of control is important in achievement contexts because

expectancy beliefs are hypothesized to affect behavior.

Regardless of whether locus of control is a general disposion or

is situationally specific, it reflects outcome expectations

(beliefs about the anticipated outcomes of one's actions).

ATTRIBUTION THEORY OF
ACHIEVEMENT
Students attribute their academic successes and failures largely

to ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck.

Ability is internal and relatively stable. Effort is internal but

unstable. Task difficulty is external and relatively stable because

task conditions do not vary much from moment to moment. Luck
is external and unstable because one can be lucky one moment
and unlucky the next.

The stability dimension is thought to influence expectancy of

success.

Attribution may vary as a function of gender and ethnic

background.

SOCIAL
COGNITIVE
THEORY

GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS

Goal setting and self-evaluation of goal progress constitute important

motivational mechanism.

Goal setting works in conjunction with outcome expectations and self-

efficacy.

RESOURCES
Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective by Dale H. Schunk