How do many people conceptualize motivation?
- Some “thing” within us that causes our actions
- a soccer player may be described as having high motivation when they train rigorously every day to improve their skills and earn a spot on the starting team.
What is a conceptual limitation of the traditional conceptualization of motivation?
- it involves circular reasoning. they are motivated because they work hard, and they work hard because they are motivated
- the causal “thing” (drive, motive) is usually inferred from the behavior it is supposed to explain.
List three practical limitations to conceptualizing motivation as an internal cause of behavior
- might influence some coaches to blame athletes for inferior athletic performances, rather than examining the principles and procedures for changing behavior.
- might influence athletes to blame themselves for inferior athletic performances
- might prevent some coaches from examining antecedents and consequences to motivate athletic behavior
What is a general meaning of the verb “to motivate” as used in sports? What is an implication of this approach?
- to influence individuals to behave in various ways
- implication is that motivational strategies are to be found in environmental contingencies concerning behavior, and those contingencies can be arranged by the individual to be motivated by others, such as coaches. in other words, motivation can be enhanced by arranging rewards, goals, or feedback, that reinforce desired behaviors. These contingencies can be structured by others, such as coaches, to create an environment where athletes are more likely to stay motivated.
List six types of antecedents that can be used to motivate athletic behavior.
- Goals
- Models
- Imagery
- Self-Talk
- Picture Promts
- Announcement of Friendly Competition
- schedule cross training for variety
- Train with a Partner
- Rules
What are 1. Goals
2. Models
3. Imagery
4. Self-Talk
etc.
Antecedents that can be used to motivate athletic behavior
- List six categories of consequences that can motivate participation in sports and improved practice and competitive sport performance.
- Reinforcers for Performing Well and Winning
- Coach’s Praise
- Self-Improvement
- Stimulation of the Senses - Sensory experiences (feeling of speed)
- Posted Records of Progress - Public
- Enjoying Competing
- Peer approval
- Use Fun Practice Activities as Reinforcers for Improvement
- Use External Informational Feedback as a Motivating consequence
Many athletes appear to participate in sport for the sake of the competition. How might we explain that observation in terms of a reinforcement analysis?
- because competition itself serves as a reinforcer, it offers the opportunity to win
- A sprinter regularly competes in races because the feeling of outperforming others and achieving a personal record reinforces their participation. Each time they win or improve, they experience satisfaction and recognition, and are therefore more likely to race and train.
What is external informational feedback?
- a judgement provided to an athlete about the quality of performance that the athlete has just displayed.
- A diver not knowing how well they did until the scoring is up
- a timer for a race telling the athlete how well they did
In several sentences, describe a strategy to assess the effort of young athletes at practices
to use a rating scale - Both the coach and athlete(s) agree on a rating scale of their behavior, and at the end of the practice the athletes give themselves a rating, the coach then gives either an average rating for the whole team, or if individually gives the athlete their rating.
What does it mean to suggest that extrinsic reinforcement undermines intrinsic motivation?
- when external rewards (such as money, trophies, or praise) are provided for an activity that a person already finds inherently enjoyable or satisfying, it can reduce their intrinsic motivation or their natural desire to engage in the activity for its own sake.
- The experiment of children drawing and then receiving rewards for drawing, then the children stopped drawing just for fun
Describe three problems regarding the view that extrinsic reinforcement undermines intrinsic motivation
- their definition of intrinsically motivated behaviors does not take into account natural reinforcers that are likely to influence behavior, such as the crowd cheering, high fives from teammates, sensory feedback inherent to performing a skill, etc.
- When they start a sport, the athletes may not have enough skills to perform sufficiently to experience the previously named natural reinforcers. The extrinsic reinforcers (praise from coach, points program) can give a boost so that they may experience the natural reinforcers
- the people who love their jobs, should then refuse to be paid for fear that their paycheques will destroy their enjoyment of their job
What is a UMO?
- MO is an event that temporarily alters the effectiveness of consequences as reinforcers or punishers, and influence behaviors that normally lead to those reinforcers or punishers.
- Satiation and Starvation, when starving, you crave food and will do anything for it, when satiated, that effect disappears and food loses its effectiveness as a reinforcer.
- Satiation and Starvation are MOs and since they are not learned, they are UMOs
- Unconditioned Motivating Operations
What is a CMO? Illustrate with an example.
- an MO that alters the effectiveness of conditioned reinforcers or punishers because of prior learning.
- a new schedule (list form) after repeating the same training over and over for weeks would be a CMO
How does a CMO differ from an SD? Illustrate with examples that are not in this chapter.
- SD is a cue that tells you what to do to get what you already want.
- coach blows the whistle during soccer practice, signaling that it’s time to stop the current drill and move to a different one. The whistle serves as an SD telling the players that stopping will be reinforced
- CMO temporarily changes what you want, and tells you how to get it
- a tennis player doesn’t like to practice serves, the player learns that a local tournament is coming up, where a prize will be awarded for the best serve. The knowledge of this upcoming tournament and prize serves as a CMO.
Explain how Coach Dawson’s program with the basketball players involved a CMO.
the explanation for the points program was a CMO, because it changed their behavior to be able to achieve points to have their name on the wall. the explanation establishes the points as reinforcers, and increases the likelihood of desirable practice to earn those reinforcers
Summarize, from a behavioral perspective, four steps that a coach might follow to motivate athletes.
- arrange antecedents to prompt motivated behavior
- manipulate MOs to maximize the effectiveness of reinforcers for motivated behaviors
- describe the environmental arrangements in appropriately stated rules prior to practices and competitions
- provide reinforcers following motivated behavior
