Sources of Motivation and the Impact

Solution Preview

1. In a few paragraphs or so, what are the major sources of motivation?

According to one source, the following components are some "internal" sources of motivation:

1. Curiosity: According to behaviorism, extrinsic motivation, like rewards and punishments are the main influence on learning. Behavior can be focused toward a reward or away from a punishment. This is true, but there are also intrinsic motivation sources that need to be tapped. Human behavior is complex. People are naturally curious. They seek new experiences; they enjoy learning new things; they find satisfaction in solving puzzles, perfecting skills and developing competence. A major task in teaching a child/student is to nurture the individual's curiosity and to use curiosity as a motive for learning. Providing the person with stimuli that are new but not too different from what they already know stimulates curiosity. Presenting stimuli that are completely foreign may create anxiety rather than curiosity. There must also be a balance between complexity and clarity. Curiosity is tapped through asking questions or creating a problem situation rather than presenting statements of fact. This increases both interest and curiosity to learn more about the topic. Curiosity is a motive that is intrinsic to learning, and thus continued learning is not dependent upon the teacher rewarding learning.

2. Self-Efficacy: The term self-efficacy is linked to the phase of "the power of positive thinking." For example, a sports psychologist who was hired by the Saskatchewan Roughriders prior to their winning the Grey Cup in 1989 gave some good advice to build self-efficacy and confidence. He had each player wrap a piece of tape on their ring fingers to represent the grey cup ring they would be wearing after winning the grey cup. They were asked to believe in their ability to win. This concept of ...