Understanding Motivation in Education

Motivation

• Motivation is the driving force behind behaviours, directed towards goals. It's a combination of wants and needs.
• Intrinsic motivation arises from internal factors (personal satisfaction), while extrinsic motivation arises from external factors (rewards, compensation).
• Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations often intertwine, and the balance can shift over time.
• The overjustification effect occurs when extrinsic rewards diminish intrinsic motivation, potentially making a once-enjoyable activity reliant on these rewards. Verbal praise, however, can sometimes increase intrinsic motivation. Tangible rewards tend to have a more negative impact than intangible rewards.
• Cultural influences vary, with collectivistic cultures prioritizing group needs over individual ones.
• Motivation in education can be enhanced by creating a sense of belonging, respect, and control over learning, minimizing evaluations, and offering challenging but attainable tasks for students.

Theories of Motivation

• Instinct theory (William James): Behavior is driven by instincts (species-specific, unlearned patterns). However, this theory overlooks learning.
• Drive theory: Deviations from homeostasis (balance) create physiological needs, prompting drive states that guide behavior towards restoring balance. Habits influence the behaviours used to reduce these drives.
• Arousal theory: Individuals strive for an optimal level of arousal. Under-arousal leads to seeking stimulation; over-arousal, to its reduction. Optimal performance is associated with moderate arousal.
  • The Yerkes-Dodson law states optimal arousal levels depend on task complexity – simple tasks need higher arousal, while complex tasks perform better with lower arousal.
• Self-efficacy theory (Albert Bandura): Self-belief in one's ability to complete a task influences motivation.
• Social motives: Achievement, affiliation, and intimacy needs shape behaviors and interactions.
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: A hierarchical model starting with basic biological needs (physiological needs), progressing through safety, social needs, esteem needs, and culminating in self-actualization (achieving full potential).
  • Maslow later proposed self-transcendence, which is beyond self-actualization and focuses on meaning and purpose beyond oneself.
  • Maslow's theory has been criticized for its subjectivity and lack of empirical grounding.
  • The needs lower in the hierarchy must be met before addressing higher-level needs.

Hunger, Eating, and Body Weight

• Physiological hunger triggers include stomach contractions and low blood sugar levels.
• Satiety signals include increased blood sugar levels, gastrointestinal sensations, and hormones like leptin released by fat cells.
• The hypothalamus and hindbrain act as control centers integrating hunger and satiety signals.
• Body weight is a result of gene-environment interactions and the balance between consumed and burned calories, with excess calories stored as fat.
• Individual metabolic rates vary significantly, affecting calorie expenditure.
• Set-point theory posits a genetically determined ideal body weight, resistant to change, though it's limited and doesn't account for external factors.
• Overweight is defined as a BMI between 25-29.9, obesity as 30 or higher (and severe obesity as over 40). BMI is a population-level tool, not a perfect individual health measure.
• Obesity increases risks for cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. Socioeconomic status and environment are contributing factors.
• Bariatric surgery may be considered in severe cases of obesity.
• Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa (starvation, distorted body image), bulimia nervosa (binge eating with purging), and binge-eating disorder (binges without purging), affect body weight and health. Risk factors may include genetic and social factors.

Sexual Behavior and Motivation

• The hypothalamus, especially the medial preoptic area, plays a role in sexual behavior.
  • Limbic system regions (amygdala, nucleus accumbens) are crucial for sexual motivation.
• Hormones influence sexual motivation and behavior.
• Kinsey's Research: Conducted surveys on human sexuality, challenging societal perceptions and highlighting diverse practices.
• Masters and Johnson's Research: Observed and recorded physiological responses during sexual activity; identified four stages (excitement, plateau, orgasm, resolution).
• Sexual orientation: A person's emotional, romantic, and/or erotic attractions towards people of the same sex(and/or opposite), different sex, or no people(asexual).
• Gender identity: One’s sense of being male, female, another gender, or somewhere in between. Transgender individuals have gender identities that differ from their assigned sex at birth. Gender dysphoria involves significant distress when identifying with their assigned gender.
  • Cross-dressing is not necessarily an indication of transgender identity. Intersex is linked to variations in sex traits/chromosomes. Cisgender identifies with their assigned sex at birth.
  • Cultural factors significantly influence views on sexual orientation and gender identities.

Emotion

• Emotions are subjective states encompassing experience, expression, appraisal, and physiological responses.

• Moods are less intense, prolonged affective states that aren’t always consciously registered.

• Theories of emotion include:

  • James-Lange: Emotions result from physiological arousal.
  • Cannon-Bard: Physiological arousal and emotional experience occur simultaneously and independently.
  • Facial feedback hypothesis: Facial expressions influence emotional experience.
  • Schachter-Singer two-factor theory: Emotions are a combination of physiological arousal and cognitive appraisal.
  • Cognitive-mediational theory: Emotional response is determined by cognitive appraisal of a stimulus; this appraisal mediates between stimulus and emotional response.
  • Automatic emotion regulation (AER): Non-deliberate emotional control based on schemas or scripts.
  • Constructivist theory: Emotions are constructed based on prior experience and predictions about world contexts.
  • Zajonc's theory: Some emotions exist independently of or prior to cognitive interpretation.
  • LeDoux's theory: Some emotions (like fear) are processed automatically without cognitive input, with the amygdala playing a crucial role.

• Biological aspects of emotion involve the limbic system (hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, hippocampus) and activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

• Cultural display rules influence how and when emotions are expressed.

• Seven universal emotions, recognizable through facial expressions, include happiness, surprise, sadness, fright, disgust, contempt, and anger. Other cues include tone of voice, body language.

• Body language is important for communicating emotion.

This quiz explores the concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, as well as their implications in educational settings. Learn about how cultural influences and the balance between these motivations can affect student learning. Test your knowledge on strategies to enhance motivation in classrooms.