why we do what we do: Deci Flashcards
What is the word autonomy etymologically derived from?
self-governing
What does being autonomous mean?
to act in accord with one’s self. Feeling free and volitional in one’s actions
What are the two types of controlled behavior?
- Compliance
2. Defiance
What is Compliance?
means doing what you are told to do because you are told to do it
What is Defiance?
means doing the opposite of what you are expected to do just because you are expected to do it
What is Rebellion?
the outward manifestation of defiance
Give an example of a socializing agent
What is their job?
Someone in a one up position (teacher, doctor, parent)
Their job is to facilitate motivation and responsibility
What is the concept of “imperfect self defence”?
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
How did Harlow describe the rhesus monkeys’ behavior on the puzzle task?
intrinsically motivated: the only “reward” was the activity itself
What is the behaviorist view of motivation?
people are fundamentally passive and will respond only when the environment tempts them with the opportunity to get rewards or avoid punishment
What was the first question that Deci formulated?
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
Which psychologists work did Deci use to help interpret his results?
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
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?
Choice led to
- She could organize the task in a way that was more suitable to her
- She was empowered by the opportunity to chose. Her inherent motivation had been enhanced because choice supported autonomy
What is an important factor for choice to be able to support autonomy
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
What did Ryan think might make a difference in the effect of rewards?
the intention and style of the person giving the reward
Why did the introduction of rewards initially help Lisa?
because it gave her information about what would be a good amount of time to practice
What effect did competition have on intrinsic motivation in the soma experiments?
it reduced intrinsic motivation even though the participants won all their competitions
What was the starting point of Deci’s theoretical account of why rewards undermine intrinsic motivation?
DeCharms idea that people strive for personal causation - they strive to be the origin of their own behavior
for what group was competition not detrimental to their intrinsic motivation?
what about the other groups?
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)
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?
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.
What did Grolnick and Ryan use the term “core dump” to refer to?
memorizing material for a test and forgetting it immediately after
Were the results that Kage found in Japanese students consistent with Ryan’s results about testing?
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
What are some important things to keep in mind before using rewards to motivate others?
- 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
Give examples of pay-for-performance methods?
- piece- rate payment
- sales comission
- profit sharing stock options
What is “Piece-rate payment”
Give an example
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
What should be done to minimize the negative effects of giving rewards to children?
- avoid giving them contingently for being good
2. avoid using them to motivate
What is another important aspect for successfully administering rewards?
the need to be equitable
What is the fundamental element that is necessary for motivation that central-planning economies are lacking?
they lack meaningful contingencies: the lack behavior outcome linkages
What are the linkages that allow people to see behavior outcome relationships?
instrumentalities
What 3 factors are important for instrumentalities to be effective motivators?
- there must be clarity about what behaviors are expected
- there must be clarity about what outcomes will result from the instrumental behavior
- people must feel competent at the instrumental behaviors
from what does the feeling of competence result?
from meeting optimal challanges
how does praise affect intrinsic motivation
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
what did deci suggest was the best way to criticize a nurse after she made a serious mistake?
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
what did humanistic psychology evolve out of?
the psychoanalytic tradition
what do humanistic psychology and psychoanalytic theory have in common?
- both understand human behavior in terms of motivational and emotional dynamics
- both focus promoting awareness as the basis of change
- both build theory using observation and direct experience
what do the person-as-passive-mechanism view and the infant-as barbarian view have in common
they both view development as something that must be done to the child by the social world
what 3 aspects of presenting a task are important to promote integration
- provide a rationale
- acknowledge that the person might not want to do what is being asked of them
- minimize pressure, emphasize choice rather than control
when does ego involvement develop?
when people are contingently esteemed by others
What is an additional risk of praise
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
if someone holds extrinsic goals and think they have a high probability of achieving them will they have poorer mental health?
yes
what are the possible advantages of offering choice?
- Higher quality decisions
2. Enhanced intrinsic motivation
What are some considerations to make before offering a choice
- would the decision be too stressful and conflict promoting if other participated?
- is the decision an appropriate one for them to decide, given their level of maturation
- is the decision relevant to the person?
What is the best way to use rewards?
as recognition for a job well done not as a motivator
What did Deci suggest a company change about it’s recognition ceremony?
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
