For example, a person responds to hunger (motive) by going to a restaurant (strategy) to get food (goal).
Motives are relatively general needs or desires that energize people to initiate purposeful action sequences. In contrast, goals (and related strategies) are more specific and used to explain the direction and quality of action sequences in particular situations (Thrash & Elliot, 2001).
In the classroom context, the concept of student motivation is used to explain the degree to which students invest attention and eff ort in various pursuits, which may or may not be the ones desired by their teachers. Student motivation is rooted in students’ subjective experiences, especially those connected to their willingness to engage in learning activities and their reasons for doing so. Th is book develops the argument that teachers should focus on encouraging students to engage in activities with motivation to learn: the intention of acquiring the knowledge or skills that learning activities are designed to develop.
EVOLVING VIEWS OF MOTIVATION
Behavior Reinforcement Theories
Most contemporary views on motivation emphasize its cognitive and goal-oriented features. Earlier views were infl uenced heavily by behavioral theory and research (much of it done on animals rather than humans). Early behavioral views depicted humans as responsive to basic drives or needs, but otherwise relatively passive: “… a creature quietly metabolizing in the shade, occasionally goaded into action by the hot sun or the lure of a cold glass of beer” (Murray, 1964, p. 119).
Behaviorists later shift ed from drives or needs to focus on reinforcement as the primary mechanism for establishing and maintaining behavior patterns. A reinforcer is anything that increases or maintains the frequency of a behavior when access to it is made contingent on performance of that behavior. For example, careful work on assignments might be reinforced by giving verbal or written praise, awarding high grades,
affi xing stars, allowing access to some privilege, awarding points that can be exchanged for prizes, or in some other way compensating students for their eff orts or recognizing their accomplishments by providing rewards that they value.
In explaining how to establish and maintain desired behavior patterns, behaviorists usually talk about control rather than motivation. Th ey speak of using reinforcement to bring behavior under stimulus control. Th e stimulus is a situational cue that reminds learners that performing a certain behavior pattern in this situation will gain them access to reinforcement. If the learners are not able to perform this pattern immediately, gradual improvement toward the target level is shaped through successive approximations. Once the desired pattern is established, it is maintained by reinforcing it oft en enough to ensure its continuation. Any behaviors that are incompatible with the desired pattern are extinguished through nonreinforcement or (if necessary) suppressed through punishment.
Much of the culture of schooling reflects the behavioral view, especially report card systems, conduct codes, and honor rolls and awards ceremonies. In the classroom, behavioral views lead to carrot-and-stick approaches: teachers are advised to reinforce students when they display desired learning eff orts and withhold reinforcement when they do not (Alberto & Troutman, 1999; Schloss & Smith, 1994).
Behavioral reinforcement models are still emphasized in applied behavior analysis treatments, especially in school psychology and special education (Landrum & Kauff - man, 2006). However, most behavioral models have evolved into more complicated forms that consider learners’ thoughts and intentions. Meanwhile, cognitive models of motivation have developed that emphasize learners’ subjective experiences such as their
needs, goals, or motivation-related thinking. Th ese cognitive models include the concept of reinforcement but portray its eff ects as mediated through learners’ cognitions.
That is, the degree to which task engagement can be motivated by reinforcer availability depends on the degree to which learners value the reinforcer, expect its delivery upon completion of the task, believe that they can complete the task successfully, and believe that doing so will be worth the costs in time, eff ort, and foregone opportunities to pursue alternative agendas.
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