Lecture 14: The Complex Motivational Effects of Praise Flashcards
when can rewards be helpful?
- if they make you feel competent
- but even in these cases, rewards aren’t necessary
what should be our main task as a parent or coach?
to preserve intrinsic motivation
how do parents feel about praise vs. rewards
- Most parents feel guilty when they try to control their kids with rewards
- But, hardly anyone questions that praise is a good thing
Koestner’s nephews’ pictures story
- When Kevin was 3, he would draw pictures and title them
- Koestner told Kevin they reminded him of Marc Chagall’s paintings that he saw in a museum
- But, he soon realized he should also be praising Kevin’s brother
Koestner’s nephews’ pictures takeaway
You have to consider the impact of praise on other kids
4 common functions of praise
- create a bond
- motivate
- protect
- manipulate
praise as a means of creating a bond
adults think kids will like to hear praise
praise as a means of protecting
praise can help prevent kids from feeling like they’re no good at something
praise as a means of manipulating
praise helps guide kids to where you want them to go
koestner’s example of good praise
Prof. Koestener played a basketball game against Holy Child in 5th grade. The popular coach complimented his skills, which helped him become more interested in basketball
koestner’s example of bad praise
When he was in 8th grade, Prof. Koestner’s strict teacher announced that he had won a scholarship to a good Catholic high school and that no student from the school had won that scholarship in 4 years. She then went on to say that her efforts to make him better had succeeded. Instead of feeling recognized, he felt awkward about it
motivational impact of praise
is a complex question which depends on how praise is interpreted
what determines how praise is interpreted
- type of relationship
- type of praise
- age, gender, cultural background
- public nature
praise and type of relationship
praise from someone you admire, like or want to be close to will have a more positive impact, but praise from a more forbidding, strict, controlling figure will have a more negative impact
praise
to commend the worth of someone’s behaviour to express approval or admiration
common assumption of praise
praise = verbal reinforcement
when will praise act as a reinforcer
if it is contingent, specific, and credible (sincere, varied, and believable)
what percentage of teachers’ comments are praise vs. criticism
About 5% of teacher’s comments are praise and 10% are criticism
what do observational studies find about praise?
- it doesn’t function as a reinforcer
- it serves 9 functions
9 functions of praise
- positive guidance
- transition ritual
- balance for criticism
- icebreaker or peace offering
- consolation prize or encouragement
- vindication of predictions
- attempted vicarious reinforcement
- student-elicited stroking
- spontaneous expression of surprise or admiration
praise as positive guidance
- A function of the teacher’s personality
- Attempting to create a positive atmosphere
- Probably doesn’t do any harm
- Warm, well-meaning teachers usually do this
praise as a transition ritual
- A function of the teacher’s personality
- To indicate we’re moving onto something else
- Doesn’t function as praise
- Probably doesn’t do any harm
praise as balance for criticism
- A function of the teacher’s personality
- “Sandwich feedback”
- Might cause some harm because it’s insincere
praise as an ice breaker or peace offering
Let the kid know that they can resume the activity with the class
praise as a consolation prize or encouragement
- Often used for kids who are not achieving as highly
- Undermines their intrinsic motivation and makes them feel incompetent
praise as vindication of predictions
- Undermines their intrinsic motivation and makes them feel incompetent
- Ex. “I told you you could do it if you just listened to me”
praise as attempted vicarious reinforcement
- Makes the kid feel like they’re being used
- Undermines their intrinsic motivation and makes them feel incompetent
- Ex. using a kid as a positive example
praise as student-elicited stroking
- The student controls the teacher and reinforces them to say positive things to them
- The most common form
- Undermines their intrinsic motivation and makes them feel incompetent
praise as spontaneous expression of surprise or admiration
- Contingent, specific, and credible
- The only kind of praise that would have a positive effect
- The least common type of praise
- Increases intrinsic motivation
sandwich feedback
involves giving positive feedback, followed by critical feedback, and then positive feedback again
critics of the sandwich strategy
Some critics say the sandwich strategy is cowardly and lacks directness
Brophy’s conclusion
- Students do not need praise to master the curriculum, acquire acceptable role behaviours or even develop healthy self-concepts
- Teacher praise is a weak reinforcer, especially after age 8, when kids get out of the adult=pleasing mode
what is the number one motivator?
personal goals
Brophy’s recommendation
- Brophy’s recommendation: don’t bother with praise; there’s no way to do it effectively in a classroom with 25 kids
- We can be encouraging, and positive, and provide feedback without praise
teacher’s responses to Brophy
- Don’t children need to receive feedback on their performance to learn?
- Isn’t it important to create a warm classroom environment?
- Is it not important to encourage children so that they feel optimistic and confident?
Brophy’s response to teachers’ criticisms
- Praise isn’t feedback
- You can create a warm classroom environment in other ways, such as with cooperative activities, good flow, and structure
- Praise isn’t encouragement
key issues investigated by laboratory praise studies
- Competence and self-control
- Theories of ability vs. effort
- Short-term/long-term effects
- Intrinsic/extrinsic motivation
how do students who work with kids react to this lecture?
- Try some different approaches and see what happens
- Use process vs. person praise
- A different kind of sandwich for constructive feedback
parent praise to toddlers study method
- Parent praise was sampled in 90-minute naturalistic observations in a child’s home at ages 14, 26, and 38 months
- They also measured the mother’s own beliefs about malleability
process praise
Emphasizing children’s effort (e.g., “good job trying to put that back”), strategies (e.g., “I like it when you do it all different colours”), or specific actions (e.g., “great catch”)
person praise
Indicates that the child had a fixed, positive quality, for example, “Good girl” and “Let’s show her how smart you are.”
parent praise to toddlers study findings
- Found that the mother’s beliefs were not connected to the beliefs the child developed
- The kind of praise kids receive predicts whether they’ll have a malleable theory of their abilities and it also predicts their school achievement
Carol Dweck’s advice on praise
- Try to do something besides praise
- If you’re going to give praise, make it focused on the process
Koestner’s daughter’s picture story
- Koestner asked his daughter what her picture was about rather than giving her praise
- He found out that she was fascinated at that age about her parents getting married
Koestner’s daughter’s picture finding
Praise changes the way you relate to kids
praise and tennis story
One former student of this class found that the kids she coached in tennis seemed less anxious and stressed and related to each other better when she stopped giving praise
Joelle Carpentier
argues that an empathy sandwich allows people to hear a change-oriented comment
change-oriented feedback
indicates behaviours that need to be modified so that an athlete can achieve their goals
elements of change-oriented feedback
- Show empathy with the challenge
- Choice of solutions to correct problems
- Free from person-related statements
- Given in a considerate tone of voice
- End with empathy about the difficulty of changing ingrained habits
impact of public praise
can be risky
what types of praise are a function of a teacher’s personality?
positive guidance, transition ritual, and balance for criticism
