why we do what we do: Deci

Question 1

What is the word autonomy etymologically derived from?

Answer 1

self-governing

Question 2

What does being autonomous mean?

Answer 2

to act in accord with one’s self. Feeling free and volitional in one’s actions

Question 3

What are the two types of controlled behavior?

Answer 3

1. Compliance

2. Defiance

Question 4

What is Compliance?

Answer 4

means doing what you are told to do because you are told to do it

Question 5

What is Defiance?

Answer 5

means doing the opposite of what you are expected to do just because you are expected to do it

Question 6

What is Rebellion?

Answer 6

the outward manifestation of defiance

Question 7

Give an example of a socializing agent

What is their job?

Answer 7

Someone in a one up position (teacher, doctor, parent)

Their job is to facilitate motivation and responsibility

Question 8

What is the concept of “imperfect self defence”?

Answer 8

The person does not deny that they committed the acts but maintain that those actions were not volitional, they were driven by a personal environment so painful they saw no other choice

Question 9

How did Harlow describe the rhesus monkeys’ behavior on the puzzle task?

Answer 9

intrinsically motivated: the only “reward” was the activity itself

Question 10

What is the behaviorist view of motivation?

Answer 10

people are fundamentally passive and will respond only when the environment tempts them with the opportunity to get rewards or avoid punishment

Question 11

What was the first question that Deci formulated?

Answer 11

What happens to people’s intrinsic motivation for an activity when they receive an extrinsic reward for doing the activity that they had previously been quite willing to do without the reward

Question 12

Which psychologists work did Deci use to help interpret his results?

Answer 12

Richard deCharms and his concept of Personal Causation: the key to intrinsic motivation is the desire to be the “origin” of one’s own actions rather than a “pawn” manipulated by external forces

Question 13

When a woman’s doctor offered her a choice about how she wanted to take her hypertension medication what two things happened that helped her follow throw in a more responsible way?

Answer 13

Choice led to

1. She could organize the task in a way that was more suitable to her
2. She was empowered by the opportunity to chose. Her inherent motivation had been enhanced because choice supported autonomy

Question 14

What is an important factor for choice to be able to support autonomy

Answer 14

the person must be given all the information, constraints and hidden features or else a choice will feel more like a burden and lead to mistakes

Question 15

What did Ryan think might make a difference in the effect of rewards?

Answer 15

the intention and style of the person giving the reward

Question 16

Why did the introduction of rewards initially help Lisa?

Answer 16

because it gave her information about what would be a good amount of time to practice

Question 17

What effect did competition have on intrinsic motivation in the soma experiments?

Answer 17

it reduced intrinsic motivation even though the participants won all their competitions

Question 18

What was the starting point of Deci’s theoretical account of why rewards undermine intrinsic motivation?

Answer 18

DeCharms idea that people strive for personal causation - they strive to be the origin of their own behavior

Question 19

for what group was competition not detrimental to their intrinsic motivation?

what about the other groups?

Answer 19

competition was not detrimental to the intrinsic motivation of those who were not pressured and won the competition

It had a negative effect for everyone else (those who were pressured and won, those who were pressured and lost and those who were not pressured and lost)

Question 20

What was the effect on children’s learning when they were told that they would later be tested on the material compared to when they weren’t?

What were the effects after one week?

Answer 20

Children who were not told they would be tested on the material displayed superior conceptual understanding

Children who were told they would be tested displayed greater rote memorization

When tested again after 1 week the students who had been told about the first test forgot much more than those who weren’t.

Question 21

What did Grolnick and Ryan use the term “core dump” to refer to?

Answer 21

memorizing material for a test and forgetting it immediately after

Question 22

Were the results that Kage found in Japanese students consistent with Ryan’s results about testing?

Answer 22

Yes, Kage found that when students were tested as a part of their grade their learning was worse than if they were told the test would not count toward their grade and was simply to monitor their own performance

Question 23

What are some important things to keep in mind before using rewards to motivate others?

Answer 23

1. the behavior will only last as long as the rewards

2. Once people are oriented to rewards they will likely take the shortest/quickest path to get them

Question 24

Give examples of pay-for-performance methods?

Answer 24

1. piece- rate payment
2. sales comission
3. profit sharing stock options

Question 25

What is “Piece-rate payment”

Give an example

Answer 25

A pay-for-performance method that is the central motivation technique of the Scientific Management approach.

It involves compensating employees for each piece of work they do

ex pay employee per bar of iron they move

Question 26

What should be done to minimize the negative effects of giving rewards to children?

Answer 26

1. avoid giving them contingently for being good

2. avoid using them to motivate

Question 27

What is another important aspect for successfully administering rewards?

Answer 27

the need to be equitable

Question 28

What is the fundamental element that is necessary for motivation that central-planning economies are lacking?

Answer 28

they lack meaningful contingencies: the lack behavior outcome linkages

Question 29

What are the linkages that allow people to see behavior outcome relationships?

Answer 29

instrumentalities

Question 30

What 3 factors are important for instrumentalities to be effective motivators?

Answer 30

1. there must be clarity about what behaviors are expected
2. there must be clarity about what outcomes will result from the instrumental behavior
3. people must feel competent at the instrumental behaviors

Question 31

from what does the feeling of competence result?

Answer 31

from meeting optimal challanges

Question 32

how does praise affect intrinsic motivation

Answer 32

if it is controlling it decreases intrinsic motivation for both males and females

if it is not controlling it enhanced intrinsic motivation for both males and females

if it is ambiguous females have a greater tendency to interpret it as controlling than males

Question 33

what did deci suggest was the best way to criticize a nurse after she made a serious mistake?

Answer 33

to ask her about her thoughts on the incident and she would likely tell you all the things you would have said to her but it would be autonomy supportive instead of critical and controlling

Question 34

what did humanistic psychology evolve out of?

Answer 34

the psychoanalytic tradition

Question 35

what do humanistic psychology and psychoanalytic theory have in common?

Answer 35

1. both understand human behavior in terms of motivational and emotional dynamics
2. both focus promoting awareness as the basis of change
3. both build theory using observation and direct experience

Question 36

what do the person-as-passive-mechanism view and the infant-as barbarian view have in common

Answer 36

they both view development as something that must be done to the child by the social world

Question 37

what 3 aspects of presenting a task are important to promote integration

Answer 37

1. provide a rationale
2. acknowledge that the person might not want to do what is being asked of them
3. minimize pressure, emphasize choice rather than control

Question 38

when does ego involvement develop?

Answer 38

when people are contingently esteemed by others

Question 39

What is an additional risk of praise

Answer 39

it runs the risk of bolstering contingent self-esteem rather than true self-esteem and strengthens a controlling dynamic where people become dependent on the praise

Question 40

if someone holds extrinsic goals and think they have a high probability of achieving them will they have poorer mental health?

Answer 40

yes

Question 41

what are the possible advantages of offering choice?

Answer 41

1. Higher quality decisions

2. Enhanced intrinsic motivation

Question 42

What are some considerations to make before offering a choice

Answer 42

1. would the decision be too stressful and conflict promoting if other participated?
2. is the decision an appropriate one for them to decide, given their level of maturation
3. is the decision relevant to the person?

Question 43

What is the best way to use rewards?

Answer 43

as recognition for a job well done not as a motivator

Question 44

What did Deci suggest a company change about it’s recognition ceremony?

Answer 44

instead of having teams compete against each other and try to use the competition to motivate them they should give an award to each team for it’s biggest accomplishment so they would be competing against themselves and the award would function as recognition for a job well done instead of trying to motivate/control