Banerjee (2011) - Academic Motivation Flashcards
What is self-determination theory (Ryan and Deci, 2000)?
Human motivation can be understood in terms of 3 fundamental needs: the need for competence, the need for relatedness, and the need for autonomy. Environmental circumstances that meet these needs are likely to provide a strong foundation for intrinsically motivated behaviour.
What did Diener and Dweck, 1978 find?
Some ‘helpless-oriented’ children responded to failure with self-blame, negative emotions and deteriorations in performance, whereas other ‘master-oriented’ children focused on new strategies for solving the difficulties on the task and sustained a positive attitude towards coping with the challenge. These differences in responses map on to fundamentally different achievement goal orientations.
What are achievement goal orientations (Elliott and Dweck, 1988)?
Refers to engaging in a task in order to: maintain a positive judgement of yourself by proving or demonstrating your ability (known as performance or ego goals) or master the task and/or increase one’s ability and knowledge (known as mastery or learning goals).
What did Elliott and Dweck (1988) find?
Told children their performance would be video-recorded and evaluated by experts. Under these conditions, children less likely to select tasks that were described as challenging. Distinctive ‘helpless’ response to difficulties on the task, including blaming themselves for failures and negative attributions.
What is a performance-avoidance orientation?
A goal orientation leading to withdrawal from a task that is perceived to carry a risk of negative evaluation of performance.
What is a performance-approach orientation?
A focus on performance goals leading to a desire to demonstrate competence in front of others.
What are classroom goal structures?
Orientations within classrooms that can parallel personal goal orientation as being either performance or mastery focused.
What is causal attribution?
An explanation by an individual of the cause of a particular behaviour.
What is Weiner’s (1985) model of attribution?
Three dimensions are emphasised: locus (is the causal factor responsible for success or failure located within the individual or external to the individual?), stability (is the causal factor likely to endure over time?) and controllability (is the causal factor under the control of the individual?).
What are subjective values?
The worth to an individual of doing a task, which can be categorised into intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value and perceived cost.
What did Eccles-Parsons et al (1983) suggest?
A given task’s subjective value comprises four distinct components:
- Intrinsic value (the interest and enjoyment that are attached to doing the activity).
- Attainment value (the personal importance of doing well on the task).
- Utility value (the importance of doing well on the task for accomplishing specific achievement or career goals).
- Perceived cost (the perceived risks of engaging in the task, in terms of effort, anxiety and so on).
What is an expectancy-value account?
A theory whereby an individual’s engagement in a given academic task will depend on both estimated probability of success as well as the subjective value attached to the task.
What did Rubie-Davis (2007) find?
Those teachers with significantly lower expectations were found to provide less instructional support in terms of linking teaching material with prior knowledge and previous lessons, asking questions, giving feedback and managing behaviour positively.
What did McKown and Weinstein (2008) find?
Showed that biased teacher expectations played a significant role in the poorer achievement of African American and Latino students, especially in classrooms where low and high achievers were seen by students to be treated differently.
What did Lepper, Greene and Nisbett (1973) show?
Children who had previously shown intrinsic motivation to engage in a target activity were placed in an experimental condition where they completed that same activity in order to receive a tangible reward. Observed a significant decline in the level of interest in the target activity. This is an over-justification effect - an effect whereby the existence of an extrinsic reward can lower intrinsic motivation to complete a task.
