Motivation Flashcards
(36 cards)
What is motivation?
an internal state made of factors that direct and energize
What are the functions of motivation? (3)
- arouses us to action
- pushes us into particular directions
- keeps us engaged in certain activities
What are the effects of motivation? (3)
- increases energy and activity levels
- promotes initiation and persistence in activities
- affects learning strategies and cognitive processes
What was motivation considered as in the 18th century? (3)
- complete control over the self to direct and inhibit behaviour
- religious or moral influence
- hedonistic (man is a pleasure seeking and pain avoiding creature)
What is the Instinct Theory?
Who’s theory is it?
What is it’s limitation?
- People are born with pre-programmed, biologically determined behaviour which is essential for survival
- McDougall
- it does not explain the diversity of human behaviour
What is the Drive Theory? (2)
Who’s theory is it?
- drive is an internal state of need that entails the body to bring itself back to physiological homeostasis
- drives (motivational arousal) are produced to fulfil basic biological needs or to remover unpleasantness
- Woodworth
What is the Drive Reduction Theory? (2)
Who’s theory is it?
- when drive is aroused, one will behave in ways that serve to reduce the drive and satisfy the need
- strength of behaviour = habit x drive
- Hull
What are the 2 types of drives?
Acquired (external)
Biological (internal)
What is the Opponent Process Theory? (2)
Who’s theory is it?
- the brain avoids extremes of emotional experience by countering the stimulation it receives with an opposite or “opponent” reaction
- emotions and experiences work in pairs, such as happiness-sadness or fear-relief
- Solomon
Explain the Pendulum Effect and the Spring Effect (2)
- Pendulum effect: Emotions swing between opposites, like a pendulum - e.g., intense fear (one extreme) may lead to strong relief or joy (the opposite) after the fear subsides
- Spring effect: Repeated exposure works like stretching a spring - initially, the primary emotion is strong, but over time, the “spring” rebounds harder, making the opposite emotion more dominant
What is the psychoanalytical theory of motivation? (3)
Who’s theory is it?
- human behavior is driven by unconscious desires and instincts which are rooted in two key forces:
- Eros (life, sex, hunger, thirst)
- Thanatos (death and aggression)
- Freud
What is the Arousal Theory? (2)
Who’s theory is it? (2)
- we try to maintain certain levels of stimulation, increasing and reducing as necessary
- simpler tasks require more arousal
- difficult tasks require less arousal
- Yerkes and Dodson
What are 4 types of anxiety (2 performance affecters - 2 situation related)
- facilitating anxiety - helps performance
- debilitating anxiety - hinders performance
- state anxiety - related to a particular situation
- trait anxiety - a stable reaction to an activity
What are 3 sources of anxiety?
physical damage
personal appearance
social image and impression
What is intrinsic motivation? (2)
- a motivation source from within the individual
- self-initiated interest
What are some advantages of intrinsic motivation? (8)
- no prodding
- cognitive engagement
- creativity
- coping skills
- self evaluation and metacognition
- persistence in the face of failure
- pleasure
- acceptance of external stress level
What are some motivational cognitions? (4)
- value of subject
- attractive surroundings
- non-competitiveness
- high expectation of success
Distinguish between learning and performing (2)
Learning - involves attention, processing information and engaging in activities
Performing - involves the pre-occupation of their image in front of their peers - which impedes the learning process
How does emotional involvement affect memory?
high emotional involvement results in better long-term memory retrieval
What are some ways in which people avoid failure? (5)
- refusal to accept it
- interpreting it as unimportant
- setting low expectations
- making excuses for low performance
- self handicap
What are ways in which people self handicap (sabotage)? (5)
- setting impossible goals
- procrastinating
- reducing effort
- cheating
- substance abuse
What are the 3 dimensions of Weiner’s theory of attribution
- locus of control
- temporal stability
- controllability
Explain the locus of control (2)
the cause of a person’s success or failure can be perceived as:
- internal (due to personal factors, like effort or ability)
or
- external (due to situational factors, like luck or task difficulty)
Explain temporal stability (2)
interpreting events as a result of stable or unstable factors
- stable - factors that won’t change in the future
- unstable - factors which may change from time to time
