Individual Differences inc. attribution theory, mindset, intelligence, rewards, motivation Flashcards
Intellectuality
fundamentally a state of mind, and acceptance of the need to be effortful, strategic and persistent in meeting challenging intellectual tasks.
Intellectuality is primarily about “habits of mind”: a disposition to be effortful, strategic and persistent
it is HOW we use intellectual skills
Domains in student learning
Affective Domain
Cognitive Domain
Metacognitive Domain
Kinds of DISPOSITIONS
Epistemological Goal Structure Approach to Learning Ontological Self-regulation Perception of Learning Environment Self-efficacy Intelligence Causal Attributions
Motivation is
Internal Process
Energises, directs and maintains behaviours
Engagement is
Energy in action
How an individual connects to an activity
Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation comes from within, or internal factors such as:
Curiosity, Excitement, Enjoyment, Confidence, Satisfaction at a job well done
Extrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic motivation comes from without, or external sources (incentives) such as:
Praise, Rewards, High marks/grades, Food, Money
School rewards - over justification effect
Occurs when an expected external incentive (money, prizes, etc.) decreases a person’s intrinsic motivation to do a task:
Once the reward no longer offered, interest in the task may not return
School rewards - sensible approach
Concrete rewards can motivate students to attend class, to behave well, or to produce better work. But if you are not careful in choosing what you reward, they can prompt students to produce shoddy work — and worse, they can cause students to actually dislike school subjects.
Therefore: Don’t use rewards unless you have to; use rewards for a specific reason, and use them for a limited time.
With time, appropriate pedagogies, you can move a student from being bored and unmotivated into a keen, intrinsically motivated one.
Traits
stable and lasting dispositions that students come with
States
short-term conditions and feelings, which can recur and are innate (e.g. hunger) or learnt (e.g. test anxiety).
Anxiety
causes feelings of tension, uneasiness and even apprehension
Arousal
heightened alertness and attentiveness
Extrinsic reinforcement
smiles, praise, stickers, stamps, rewards
Maslow’s heirarchy
theories of motivation
certain needs must be met before moving to next level
hard to learn when basic needs aren’t met such - hunger etc
Self-determination theory
3 needs in this area
Competence (Feel effective)
Autonomy (own locus of causality)
Relatedness (feel emotionally connected to others)
Achievement motivation theories
in striving for success, the motivation of the students will be to approach success or avoid failure. In the latter case, failure will not be their fault
Expectancy-value beliefs:
motivation is linked to achievement and competence theory with four key values when approaching tasks.
Intrinsic value: personal pleasure
Utility value: usefulness to a future goal
Attainment value: importance of doing it well
Cost value: toll it could take on the person
Attribution Theory
Individuals try to make sense of what happens to them and others, often by asking ‘why’ questions.
Examples of such questions include:
Why did I get a HD last assignment or
why did I fail that exam?
The reasons/answers you give are attributions
Dimensions of Attribution Theory
Individuals have three dimensions to consider when attributing success or failure
LOCUS: Internal (to one) OR external (to one)
STABILITY: Stable OR unstable
CONTROLLABILITY: Controllable OR uncontrollable
Locus of control
Causes of success or failure are linked to:
one’s ability or effort, i.e. internal, OR
luck, task difficulty, or even poor teaching, i.e. external.
Stability
Causes of success or failure may be:
stable, e.g. aptitude or ability OR
unstable, e.g. mood or health during a test
Controlability
Causes of success or failure are linked to certain factors being:
controllable, e.g. effort expended on a task, OR
uncontrollable, e.g. degree of difficulty or quality of the task or questions
Mastery Goals
Intrinsic, usually involves deep learning strategies
Performance Goals
Extrinsic, performing well, and getting good grades, may exhibit avoidance strategies.
Performance-approach Goals
Are more adaptive that performance-avoid goals. Individuals are motivated to appear competent to others and show that they can outperform them, striving to achieve good grades.
Performance-avoid Goals
These individuals are concerned with avoiding the appearance of incompetence.
Learned Helplessness
When children learn to feel helpless and believe there is nothing they can do to improve, no matter how hard they try, they give up. Unresponsive environment. Such students attribute to their own inadequacies, which undermines their self-worth and motivation.
Fixed Mindset
Fixed. “I can’t get any smarter”.
Negative internal dialogue. ‘stuck’ ‘I can’t’ Gives up quickly. Ignores constructive criticism.
Growth Mindset
If I work hard and use good strategies I can get smarter in this area.
Positive internal dialogue. Learns from criticism. Says “I can’t do it YET”
Classroom Strategies 1 (mindsets etc)
Encourage your students to adopt a growth mindset
Don’t worry about whether or not you are smart
Focus on effort and good strategies (SR)
Utilise the power of the word yet ( I may not be able to yet, but…)
Provide models of success
Peer models
Multiple models
Coping models (not flawless experts)
Classroom Strategies 2 (mindsets etc)
Encourage students to set achievable goals
Help students develop self-regulation skills
Provide students with reality checks to challenge false beliefs that are negative (disequilibrium)
Praise effort above all else
Be honest (students need to be able to trust you)
Help students develop strategies that are appropriate to tasks
Embrace failure as part of learning
Encourage questions (no such thing as a stupid question)
Teaching (mindsets etc)
Enjoy your work Design engaging and meaningful lessons Know your students Utilise the Quality Teaching model Model when you can
INTELLIGENCE
the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.
The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new experiences.
is NOT fixed, can grow, change, brain neuroplasticity,
(genes can account for more than 50% of our intelligence?
Nature & Nurture
Nature = genes, hormones Nurture = environment you grow up in - family/home structure, upbringing, nourishment, etc
Dundedin Study in NZ
Longitudinal Study. From 60’s/70’s still going. Blood samples taken.
Investigate the nature and prevalence of health and development problems and causal factors, implications and longer-term consequences.
1037 babies
Epigenetics
study of interaction of genes/hormones (nature) & the environment
Impact of life situations on genetics
Genes can be turned on or off
These changes can pass on to new generations
not all genes activate - changes in lifestyle can activate these (or turn them off)
Nature VIA Nurture
Epigenetics studies show it’s not nature vs nurture but
Nature VIA nurture
Robert Sternberg - intelligence
- Focus is on acting intelligently in one’s life, not having a set “amount” of intelligence (such as an IQ score of 118)
- Intelligence is changeable
- Schools should be not just teach content, but also develop students’ intelligence.
Sternberg’s ‘Triarchic’ theory of intelligence
Componential intelligence (analytic): think abstractly, process information, verbal ability (rather similar to IQ tests) - analytical intelligence = mental steps/components used to solve problems Experiential intelligence (creative): formulate new ideas, combine unrelated facts - Creative intelligence = use of experience in ways that foster insight Contextual intelligence (practical): adapt to a changing environment, problem-solving in specific situations - Practical intelligence = ability to read and adapt to the contexts of everyday life.
Howard Gardner - intelligence
Argues for at least 8 separate intelligences
Many psychologists disagree - these are valuable talents or abilities but not forms of intelligence
Lacks empirical evidence to support theory
Theory used simplistically in schools (e.g., make use of each intelligence in every lesson) – this approach to be avoided
Cognitive styles/learning styles (preferences)
different ways people perceive and process and remember information
ways in which students prefer to learn, i.e., how they interact with information in order to learn
Modality preference
seeing it (VISUAL) hearing it (AUDITORY) touching it (KINESTHETIC)?
Note: We may have a natural preference for the way in which we receive information
Teaching - Learning Styles
Teaching students in their preferred modality does not lead to higher marks
Teach students in best modality for the lesson
You want students to remember what things mean, not what they look like or sound like (recall deep Vs surface learning)
Deliver content in different ways
Charles Spearman - intelligence
Two factors
General capacity ‘g’
Specific mental abilities ‘s’
Raymond Cattell - intelligence
Cattell
Two components of ‘g’
Crystallised intelligence
Fluid intelligence
Affective Domain defintion
The affective domain involves our feelings, emotions, and attitudes, and includes the manner in which we deal with things emotionally (feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasm, motivations, and attitudes).
BLOOM
Our beliefs, our attitudes and confidence all have a part to play in our learning.
They impact both our motivations and attributions.
Remember, they can be positive or negative, and might not even be accurate!
Self-concept - definition
How we see ourselves. Our mental model or representation of ourselves. Who am I?
Self-esteem - definiton
Our sense of pride or satisfaction in our self
Do I like who I am?
Am I a lovable person?
Self-efficacy - definiton
How confident we are that we can successfully do a specific task. Belief whether we can or can’t do a task. Linked to mindsets.
I can/can’t do this task!
I believe
Differentiated Self-Concept
Primary children Self-concept becomes more differentiated as children start to compare themselves to others. Social: I have lots of friends Physical: I’m short for my age Academic: I’m not one of the smart kids
High school children
By adolescence, they tend not to have a global self-concept, the focus is on domain specific self-concepts.
There are more comparisons (recall Erikson),
more differentiation,
up to 12 domains (including maths, verbal, physical ability, appearance, peers, parents, religion and honesty)
Big Fish Little Pond Effect
when students who used to come in top percentile at primary school, negatively compare themselves to others. It is linked to a student’s academic self-concept
Self-concept. Can start to have a negative effect.
Self-esteem - needs to be at healty levels
too high = narcisissm - unhealthy focus on self, doesn’t cope well with failure
too low = depression - unhealthy focus on self, gives up easily, negative view of self e.g. unlovable, hopeless, at fault etc
Healthy = also a focus on others, not just on self,
realistic of faults but happy in themselves
Self-efficacy - summary
Belief/confidence in one’s ability to perform tasks successfully
Students with high self-efficacy (I can do this task) set high goals and persist even when things become difficult or hard
Students with low self-efficacy (I can’t do this task) refuse to even try, or give up easily when difficulties occur
Students with ACCURATE self-efficacy - know how well they expect to do
Recall the power of the word ‘yet’
NB: There is a strong link between self-efficacy and self-regulation.
A student’s self-efficacy is their PERCEPTION of competence, NOT their actual competence.
Teaching - Self-efficacy
Use the word yet, align it with time and effort (no one gets everything right first go)
Mastery skills – set students tasks they can succeed at, increase difficulty slowly
Use peers to help model skills
Ensure the class atmosphere is about personal best, encouragement and mistakes are a part of learning; avoid competition
Provide models
Encourage without patronising
Depressed students may need more help (school counsellor or psychologist)
Delayed Gratification - definition
Delayed gratification is the skill/ability of being able to persistently avoid immediate gratification, i.e. hold off on something pleasurable in order to achieve a specific goal
Reasons students don’t thrive at school
beliefs that they don’t belong or aren’t smart;
learning or language difficulties;
SES status;
ATSI;
cultural identity;
see no relevance to school and their future; and/or
family history.
Students who get most out of school
believe they belong in school both academically and socially; see school as relevant to their future; set future goals; work hard; delay immediate gratification; are not derailed by learning or social difficulties; seek out challenges; and they remain engaged over the long haul.
Teaching - keeping all students engaged/motivated
Revise the Quality Teaching model
Develop lesson plans that are relevant and engaging
Make the effort to help students feel that they belong in school
Show students (and sometimes their parents too) how school is relevant to their future lives (e.g. freedom to make choices about careers)
Help students learn how to set future goals
Encourage hard work, praise their efforts
Help students delay immediate gratification (help develop and use SR skills)
Encourage them to seek out challenges, to accept mistakes are essential to learning
Encourage them not to give up when difficulties arise
Praise their efforts and remember the power of the word yet
What does MA & CA mean?
MA = Mental Age CA = Chronological Age IQ = (MA/CA) x 100
Flynn effect
IQ scores are increasing over time (across generations, e.g. years and decades)
