View motivation as a change in the rate, frequency of occurrence, or form of behavior

Function of environmental events and stimuli

Reinforcing consequences make behavior more likely to occur

Punishing consequences make behavior less likely to occur

Stress mental structures and the processing of information and beliefs

View motivation is an internal process -- we cannot observe it directly

Disagree on which specific processes are important

Processes: attributions, perceptions of competence, values, affects, goals, social comparisons

Volition/Will

Instincts

Mind comprised of knowing (cognition), feeling (emotion), and willing (motivation)

Wundt introduced method of introspection -- required subjects to verbally report their immediate experiences following exposure to objects or events.

Is volition an independent process or a by-product of other mental processes?

A central, independent factor in human behavior

Presumably accompanies such processes as sensation, perception, attention, and formation of mental associations

Helps translate our thoughts and feelings into action

Motivation is psychical energy

Forces within the individual are responsible for behavior

"Moving force"

Psychical energy builds up and develops when needs exist

Energy can be repressed

Connectionism

Classical conditioning

Operant conditioning

Thorndike (1913)

Learning involves formation of associations (connections) between sensory experiences (perceptions of stimuli or events) & neural impulses that manifest themselves behaviorally

Law of Effect is central principal

When a modifiable connection between a situation and a response is made and is accompanied by a satisfying state of affairs, that connection’s strength is increased.

Classical Conditioning

Pavlov (1927, 1928)

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) & unconditioned response (UCR)

Conditioned stimulus (CS) & conditioned response (CR)

Operant Conditioning

Skinner (1953)

Stimulus Response Consequence

Reinforcement -- increases the rate or likelihood of responding

Punishment -- decreases the rate or likelihood of responding

Ensure that students have the readiness to learn

Help students form associations between stimuli & responses

Associate learning & classroom activities with pleasing outcomes

Drive Theories -- Emphasized the contribution of internal factors (drives) to behavior. Drives are internal forces that seek to maintain homeostasis, or the optimal states of bodily mechanisms.

Woodworth’s theory

Systematic behavior theory

Incentive motivation

Mowrer’s theory

Acquired drives

Purposive Behaviorism -- Stresses the goal directedness of behavior. Environmental stimuli are means to goal attainment & must be studied in the context of behavioral sequences to understand people’s actions.

Expectancy learning

Latent learning

Arousal Theories -- Look at motivation in terms of level of emotional arousal. Deal with behaviors, emotions, & other internal mechanisms. Motivation depends strongly on affective processes (as opposed to cognitive or behavioral processes.)

James-Lange theory

Optimal level of arousal

Applying arousal theories in the classroom

Schachter’s theory of emotion

Every psychological event depends upon the state of the person and at the same time on the environment

The person and environment constitute the individual’s life space

Motivation represents the individual’s efforts to satisfy needs and impose homeostasis on the field

Cognitive Consistency --

Address the cognitions people have & how these cognitions affect behavior.

Balance theory

Cognitive dissonance

Trait Theory -- Allport’s Functional Autonomy of Motives

People were best viewed as unique systems constantly evolving & striving towards goals

Traits are part of system but are idiosyncratic & can be studied only with references to particular individuals

Traits are unique realities within individuals that help to account for the relative consistency of behavior across situations

Humanistic Theory -- Emphasizes people’s capabilities & potentialities. Stresses that individuals have choices & seek control over their lives. Does not explain behavior in terms of unconscious, powerful inner forces and does not focus on environmental stimuli & responses as determinants of behavior

Rogers’ client-centered therapy

Actualizing tendency

Need for positive regard

The study of humans is holistic -- we must understand their behaviors, thoughts, & feelings. Emphasis is on individuals’ subjective awareness of themselves & their situations

Human choices, creativity, & self-actualization are important areas to study

It is better to study an important problem with a less refined methodology than a trivial problem with a complex methodology

Show positive regard for students

Separate students from their actions; accept them for who they are rather than for how they act

Encourage personal growth by providing students with choices & opportunities to initiate learning activities & establish goals

Use contracts & allow students to evaluate their learning

Facilitate learning by providing students with resources & encouragement

Mechanistic model

Organismic model

Contextual model

Assumes that the laws of natural science are the basic laws in the world & that everything is reducible to them

Reductionistic -- Complex events can be reduced to simpler phenomena

Additive because complex phenomena represent the summations of many basic phenomena

Stresses the environment

Assumes that changes in organisms often are qualitative & cannot be reduced to previous behavior

Changes can emerge suddenly (like in human development)

Metaphor: a living, growing organism like a plant. Course of growth is uneven.

Emphasizes the individual

Contends that environmental conditions play a greater role in change than organismic ones

Metaphor: A historical event -- does not operate in isolation; to understand events, one must know something about the dispositions of the principal individuals involved & the situation prevailing at the time

Places importance on the individual in relation to, or in dynamic interaction with, the environment