MOTIVATION (L1 notes)
1. Motivation
Salovey and Sluyter, 1997: Motivation is ‘one of the
three traditional spheres of mental activity (along with
affect and cognition) that concerns both basic urges
such as hunger, thirst, and more complex goal-directed
activities such as pursuit of friendship, achievement, or
power’. Motivation is key for both survival and the satisfaction of more complex
needs
Motivation is an internal state that arousesm directs and maintains behaviour.
i.e. it will impact how much attention you pay, how long you sustain it
It is helpful to regard motivation as a process rather than a product. We cannot
see it. We can only infer it from behaviours that we can observe. This might be
in terms of choices made, effort applied, how long something is carried out for,
and what we say about it.
2. Assessing Motivation
A. Indexes
(standardised measures to position one’s results in the context of the population,
getting an indication of whether he’s more or less motivated than we could expect.
Multidimensional Measure of Children's Perceptions of Control (MMCPC)
(Connell,1985).
Pupils’ Feelings about School Work Inventory (PFSSW) (Entwistle, Kozeki & Tait,
1989).
Motivation to Reading Questionnaire (MRQ) (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997).
Questionnaire for identifying behavioural problems associated with maladaptive
motivational style (Leo & Galloway, 1994).
B. Methods of Assessment
Direct observation
Ratings by self and others
, 3. Approaches to thinking about motivation
Behavioural: The source of the motivation is extrinsic reinforcement. Focus on:
reinforces, rewards, incentives & punishers. Key theorist: Skinner.
Social learning: the source of motivation can be both extrinsic or extrinsic.
Focus on: value of goals, expectation of reaching goals; The key theorist is
Bandura
Cognitive: The source of motivation is intrinsic; Focus on: Beliefs, attributions
for success and failure, expectations; The key theorist is Weiner Covington
Humanistic: The source of motivation is intrinsic; Focus on theneed for self-
esteem, self-fulfilment and self-determination. The key theorist is Maslow Deci.
4. Theories of Motivation
A. Attribution theory
(cognitive theory about how we think; why do we think something happened.
Individuals are really motivated to understand others and env., thus we want to
explain causes of events, using 3 broad areas:)
Lipe, 1991: The cause of an event may be attributed to: the person; the
stimulus or situation; the occasion; Using information about consensus (what did
other people think?), distinctiveness (is it the norm or a one-off?), consistency
(is it always like that?)
Heider, 1958: This is a cognitive model of motivation. It is based on the
metaphor of the naïve scientist and assumes that the individual will use a
number of sources of information to make inferences, or attributions, about the
causal determinants of behaviour. This information can come from the
environment and from within the individual. The theory suggests that the
individual will attempt to detect ‘covariation between causes and effects’
Attribution theory by Weiner (1985, 1993): Locus (internal to the person VS
external—our position); Stability (stable vs unstable—is it always like this?);
Controllability (controllable vs uncontrollable to the person) --- all of these
influence the attribution
1. Motivation
Salovey and Sluyter, 1997: Motivation is ‘one of the
three traditional spheres of mental activity (along with
affect and cognition) that concerns both basic urges
such as hunger, thirst, and more complex goal-directed
activities such as pursuit of friendship, achievement, or
power’. Motivation is key for both survival and the satisfaction of more complex
needs
Motivation is an internal state that arousesm directs and maintains behaviour.
i.e. it will impact how much attention you pay, how long you sustain it
It is helpful to regard motivation as a process rather than a product. We cannot
see it. We can only infer it from behaviours that we can observe. This might be
in terms of choices made, effort applied, how long something is carried out for,
and what we say about it.
2. Assessing Motivation
A. Indexes
(standardised measures to position one’s results in the context of the population,
getting an indication of whether he’s more or less motivated than we could expect.
Multidimensional Measure of Children's Perceptions of Control (MMCPC)
(Connell,1985).
Pupils’ Feelings about School Work Inventory (PFSSW) (Entwistle, Kozeki & Tait,
1989).
Motivation to Reading Questionnaire (MRQ) (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997).
Questionnaire for identifying behavioural problems associated with maladaptive
motivational style (Leo & Galloway, 1994).
B. Methods of Assessment
Direct observation
Ratings by self and others
, 3. Approaches to thinking about motivation
Behavioural: The source of the motivation is extrinsic reinforcement. Focus on:
reinforces, rewards, incentives & punishers. Key theorist: Skinner.
Social learning: the source of motivation can be both extrinsic or extrinsic.
Focus on: value of goals, expectation of reaching goals; The key theorist is
Bandura
Cognitive: The source of motivation is intrinsic; Focus on: Beliefs, attributions
for success and failure, expectations; The key theorist is Weiner Covington
Humanistic: The source of motivation is intrinsic; Focus on theneed for self-
esteem, self-fulfilment and self-determination. The key theorist is Maslow Deci.
4. Theories of Motivation
A. Attribution theory
(cognitive theory about how we think; why do we think something happened.
Individuals are really motivated to understand others and env., thus we want to
explain causes of events, using 3 broad areas:)
Lipe, 1991: The cause of an event may be attributed to: the person; the
stimulus or situation; the occasion; Using information about consensus (what did
other people think?), distinctiveness (is it the norm or a one-off?), consistency
(is it always like that?)
Heider, 1958: This is a cognitive model of motivation. It is based on the
metaphor of the naïve scientist and assumes that the individual will use a
number of sources of information to make inferences, or attributions, about the
causal determinants of behaviour. This information can come from the
environment and from within the individual. The theory suggests that the
individual will attempt to detect ‘covariation between causes and effects’
Attribution theory by Weiner (1985, 1993): Locus (internal to the person VS
external—our position); Stability (stable vs unstable—is it always like this?);
Controllability (controllable vs uncontrollable to the person) --- all of these
influence the attribution
