Exam 3

Self-determination theory and types of motivation.

Different types of motivation can be organized along a continuum of self-determination or perceived locus of causality. AMOTIVATION - EXTRINSIC - INTRINSIC

What makes a good day?

Engaging in the sort of daily activities that provide one with psychological nutriments to promote development and well-being.

Origins of extrinsic motivation:

Environmental incentives and consequences, Because we desire to gain attractive consequences and avoid unattractive consequences, the presence of incentives creates in us a sense of wanting to engage in behaviors. Passive engagement in environment.

Difference between escape and avoidance behaviors:

Escape behaviors are reactive against aversive stimuli Avoidance behaviors are proactive in preventing our encountering them again.

Proposition 3: CET

Events relevant to the initation and regulation of behavior have 3 potential aspects: informational, controlling, and amotivational. Controlling events undermine intrinsic motivation Informational events promote intrinsic motivation Amotivational events suggest incompetence, which undermines intrinsic motivation.

What factors explain what type of rewards decrease intrinsic motivation?

Expectancy: When a person expects a reward; "If-then or "in-order to" Tangibility: Money, awards, food tends to decrease motivation, but intangible rewards (praise) do not.

Proposition 2: CET

External events affect a person's intrinsic motivation for an optimally challenging activity when they influence a person's perceived competence. Events that promote greater perceived competence enhance intrinsic motivation.

Proposition 1: CET

External events affect a person's intrinsic motivation when they influence the perceived locus of causality (PLoC) for that behavior. Events that promote External PLoC will decrease intrinsic motivation and increase extrinsic.

Examples of extrinsic goals:

Financial success, social recognition, physical image.

Conceptual understanding:

Flexibility in one's way of thinking. Allows you to integrate information in a flexible, less rigid, and conceptual way.

Organismic approach to motivation:

How organisms initiate interactions with the environment and hjow organisms adapt, change, and grow as a function of those environmental transactions. Organism acts on environment.

Intrinsic Motivation

Inherent inclination to engage one's interests and to exercise one's capacities and, in doing so, seek out and master optimal challenges. it emerges spontaneously from psychological needs and innate striving for growth. People act "for the fun of it." Active engagement in environment.

What do rewards do to intrinsic motivation?

It's viewed as coercing individuals to engage in a task, which shifts their understanding of why they choose to engage in the task from one of autonomy to one of the environment.

Do extrinsic rewards undermine intrinsic motivation for uninteresting tasks?

No - rewards can make otherwise uninteresting tasks suddenly worth pursuing. However, extrinsic bribery is not the best way to encourage participation because it still undermines performance and distracts people.

Amotivation

No motivation Impersonal PLoC

Controlling motivation style

One person pressures the other towards a prescribed outcome and uses social influencing techniques to achieve that targeted outcome. Motivate others by using outer motivational resources; introducing incentives, guilt, or punishment. Do not communicate value of task; "Get it done!"

Autonomy supporting motivation style

One person's willingness to take the other's perspective and to value personal growth opportunities during an activity. Nurturing inner motivational resources by listening and working collaboratively with the person to solve problems. Amotivation is a challenge to be solved. Communicate value of the task.

Key environmental conditions for competence:

Optimal challenge, clear and helpful structure, and high failure tolerance. Positive feedback and perception of progress.

External regulation:

Performing an activity to receive a reward or avoid a punishment; Compliance. External PLoC,

Benefits of intrinsic motivation:

Persistence, creativity, conceptual understanding, and subjective well-being.

Operant Conditioning:

Process by which a person learns how to operate effectively in the environment; learning to engage in behaviors that produce attractive consequences while also learning not to engage in behaviors that produce aversive consequences.

Internalization

Process through which an individual transforms a formerly externally prescribed regulation or value into an internally endorsed one. to occur, individual must see the value, meaning, and utility in the other's claims.

How to support competence?

Provide feedback. Feedback comes from 4 sources: 1. Task itself 2. Comparison of current performance with past 3. Comparison of current performance with others 4. Evaluations of others

Six considerations that determine a positive reinforcer's effectiveness:

1. Quality 2. Immediacy 3. Person/reinforcer fit 4. Recipient's need for that particular reward 5. It's intensity 6. Recipient's perceived value of reinforcer

Types of consequences:

1. Reinforcers; Positive and Negative 2. Punishers; Response Cost

Long-term effects of corporal punishment:

Aggression Antisocial behavior Poor mental health Poor moral internalization Abuse (of own children)

Distinction between reinforcers and rewards

All positive reinforcers are rewards, while only some rewards function as positive reinforcers (because not all rewards increase behavior)

Structure:

Amount and clarity of information about what the environment expects the person to do to achieve desired outcomes. Clear goals and guidance = nurtured competence.

Incentives:

An environmental event that attracts or repels a person towards or away from initiating a particular course of action. Incentives always precede behavior, so they create in a person an expectation that attractive or unattractive consequences are forthcoming. Incentive value is learned through experience.

Negative Reinforcer

An unpleasant stimulus whose removal leads to an increase in the probability that a preceding response will be repeated in the future. Say, "Do it!"

Punisher:

Any environmental stimulus that, when presented, decreases the future probability of the undesired behavior. Say, "Stop it!"

Positive Reinforcer:

Any environmental stimulus that, when presented, increases the likelihood of the desired behavior occurring.

Reinforcer:

Any extrinsic event that increases behavior.

Rewards:

Any offering from one person given to another person in exchange for his service or achievement. Extrinsic; POTENTIAL motivators.

Organismic needs:

Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness

Origins of intrinsic motivation (also examples):

Autonomy: we desire choice and decision making flexibility. we want to call the shots. Competence: desire to interact effectively with their surroundings. Relatedness: need to belong

Indentified regulation

Behavior is self-determined with one's own values and goals. "because it's important" Somewhat internal PLoC

What choices promote autonomy?

Choices that are left entirely to the person. Either-or choices do not promote autonomy as much.

Good way to motivate others:

Rationale: verbal explanation of why putting forth effort during the otherwise uninteresting activity might actually be useful and important. the more fully a person transforms an externally prescribed regulation into an internally endorsed one, the more autonomous his extrinsic motivation will become and, the greater his subsequent effort will be.

Exchange relationship

Relationships between acquaintances or between people who do business together. No obligations exist to be concerned with welfare, caring, etc.

Communal relationship:

Relationships between people who care about the welfare of the others, as exemplified by friendships, family, and romantic relationships

Do punishers actually work?

Research shows that punishment is ineffective. Punishment generates worrisome and unintentional "side effects," including negative emotionality (crying, screaming, afraid), impaired relationship between punisher and punishee, and negative modeling of how to cope with undesirable behavior in others.

S: R -> C

Situational Cue: Behavioral Response -> Consequence The colon shows the situational cue sets the occasion for (but does not cause) the behavioral response. The arrow shows that behavioral response causes a consequence to happen. Consequences increase or decrease behavior.

How does interest appear?

Situational interest: Triggered by appealing external events and exists as a short-term attraction to an activity. Individual interest: more stable and content-specific; it develops over time as an enduring personal disposition and the person develops a clear preference to direct his attention and effort toward. Something catches your attention and you gain knowledge about it, which makes the activity more interesting.

Flow

State of concentration that involves a holistic absorption and deep involvement in an activity. It occurs when a person uses his or her skills to overcome a challenge. Challenge > Skill: Anxiety Challenge = Skill: Flow Challenge < Skill: Boredom Challenge and Skill are low: Apathy

Cognitive evaluation theory:

Suggests that events affect motivation through the individuals perception of the events as controlling behavior or providing information.

Response Cost:

Suppress behavior by imposing the cost of losing some attractive resource if one engages in the undesirable behavior. The loss of the attractive resource is a "cost" of the "response."

Mechanistic approach to motivation:

The environment acts on the person and the person reactc.

Hidden cost of reward

The imposition of an extrinsic reward to engage in intrinsically interesting activity typically undermines future intrinsic motivation. Rewards also interfere with learning by distracting from the material; Difficulty regulating behavior when not offered reward. The reward's adverse effect on intrinsic motivation is the hidden cost.

Engagement

The intensity and emotional quality people show when they initiate and carry out activities. When highly engaged, people show emotional engagement, behavioral engagement, cognitive engagement, and voice. Autonomy, structures, and involvement enhance engagement.

How are social bonds satisfying?

The other person must: 1. Care about my welfare 2. Like me for who I am. People are lonely when relationships do not involve liking, caring, accepting, and valuing.

Person-environment dialect:

The relationship between person and environment is reciprocal.; The environment acts on the person and the person acts on the environment. Needs are either fulfilled or frustrated by the environment.

What types of rewards are good?

Unexpected and verbal rewards are good.

When will intrinsic motivation flourish?

When competence and autonomy are high. For those to be high, an event must be non-controlling and informational.

When is competition good?

When little emphasis is placed on the winning aspect, the informational aspect becomes more salient. Winning and making progress promote intrinsic motivation.

Failure tolerance:

When people face moderately difficult tasks, they are as likely to experience failure and frustration as they are success. Hallmark of optimal challenge: Failure and success equally likely. Before people engage in optimally challenging tasks, the social context must tolerate failure.

Integrated regulation

When person does behavior because it's part of identity and congruent with life goals and values. "i'm an exerciser" "i am an active person" Internal PLoC

When do people perceive challenge?

When they start a task; initial performance feedback is the first sign of challenge.

Perceived locus of causality (PLoC)

refers to an individual's understanding of the causal source of his or her motivated actions. - Exists on a Bipolar continuum: Internal (behavior initiated by self) or External (behavior initiated by environment)

Introjected regulation

when behavior is performed to avoid guilt or shame or due to pressure from others, should do something. "Ought to" Because I should.." Somewhat external PLoC