EPSY 275 Learning Motivation School Motivation Basic Motivational

EPSY 275: Learning & Motivation School Motivation

Basic Motivational Concepts • Motivation energizes and directs behavior • Motivated behavior is goal-directed behavior • Motivation has qualitative and quantitative properties • Motivation can only be inferred from behavior

Behavioral Indicators of Motivation • Choice • Intensity • Persistence

Choice • Goal setting stage of motivation (first stage) • Decision about which goal to pursue among available options • Reflects consciously or unconsciously learner’s priorities • Most informative when unrestrained • Measure of qualitative property

Intensity • Goal striving stage of motivation (second stage) • Measure of strength (a quantitative property) • Logic – the greater the strength of a motive the greater the amount of energy a person will expend to obtain that goal

Persistence • Also refers to goal striving stage • Also a measure of the strength of a motive • Related duration of effort to strength • Logic - the greater the strength of a motive the greater the duration of time a person will attempt to obtain that goal (particular after experiencing failure or difficulty)

The Expectancy-Value Principle • Effort = Expectancy X Task Value • Expectancy refers to the strength of person’s belief that they will achieve the goal • Task Value refers to the relative importance of the goal given the other available options • People try the hardest and longest to obtain a goal when they are confident they can obtain it AND they place great value on it

Expectancy for Success

Outcomes = Goals • Outcomes result from our actions • Outcomes often confused with actions (i. e. , my goal is to run 2 miles) • Outcome can be intangible (maybe a psychological or physical state) resulting from an action (i. e. , how I feel after running 2 miles and the endorphins “kick in”) or tangible (prize money won from running)

Three classes of Outcomes (Motivators) • Positive & negative physical effects • Positive and negative social effects • Affective self-reactions

Relationship between Outcome & Efficacy Expectancies Outcome Expectancies + - + Protest Grievance Social Activism Milieu Change Productive Engagement Aspiration Personal satisfaction Resignation Apathy Self-devaluation Despondency

Sources of Efficacy Expectancies • • • Task accomplishments Vicarious experiences Verbal persuasion Physiological State Causal analysis

Attribution Theory • Concerned with causal analysis phase of self-evaluation • Our beliefs about the cause of our performance in a situation influences our expectancy for future performance in that situation • Focus on achievement situation - a situation in which a person's performance is compared to some standard

Dimensions of Causality • Stability • Locus • Controllability

The Stability Dimension • Causes that are expected to be consistently or regularly operating in the situation are said to be stable • Causes that are expected to be irregularly or only occasionally operating in the situation are said to be unstable

The Locus Dimension • Causes that originate outside of the person are said to be external • Causes that originate within the person are said to be internal

The Controllability Dimension • Causes that are under the control of the person are said to be controllable • Causes that are not under the control of the person are said to be uncontrollable

The Process of Causal Analysis

Possible Outcomes According to Expectancy Principle of Attribution Theory