Chapter 10 page 204
According to attribution theory, students want to protect their self-worth. They don’t want to admit that
they have failed because of lack of ability. They would rather fail because of lack of effort, because this is
less embarrassing and shameful. So they say that the class is boring as an excuse for not trying. The
solution: try to convince the student that failure is not due to lack of ability but rather to lack of effective
cognitive skills and strategies. Then teach those skills and strategies so that the student can succeed.
In short, if a student says that the problem is a lack of interest, don’t assume that the problem is that
the teacher is using boring teaching techniques. Instead, the real source of the problem may be that the
student lacks the knowledge, skills, and strategies needed to succeed, and/or that the student has fallen into
a pattern of avoiding failure by making a big show of making no effort. Note that this is not just true of
kids who do poorly in school. Kids who do moderately well may show the same symptoms.
Rewards enhance motivation. One of the surprising findings of motivational research is that
external rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation. Here are two classic studies that showed this.
- Deci (1971) had college students work on a geometric puzzle that most college students find
interesting. Deci gave half of the students money to work on the puzzle. The other half worked without
being offered money. Then the college students came back for a second session and were given an
opportunity to engage in any of several tasks. Students who had received no pay were more likely to spend
more time playing with the puzzle than were students who had been paid. Conclusion? External rewards
(money) seems to undermine intrinsic motivation to engage in a task. - Lepper, Greene, & Nisbett (1973) selected preschool children who had shown high initial intrinsic
interest in a particular art activity. The children were then randomly assigned to one of three groups.
Children in one group were offered a reward for engaging in the activity. Children in a second group were
not offered a reward but instead simply worked on the activity without reward. Children in a third group
were not offered a reward but were unexpectedly given a reward later on. The children were observed
again three weeks later in their natural play environment. Children in the first group spent significantly less
time engaging in the particular activity than were children in the other two groups. Conclusion? Again,
external rewards undermine intrinsic interest.
Recent research suggests that external rewards are most likely to be harmful when the rewards are
seen by students as “bribes” to engage in the activity. External rewards may even have positive effects on
intrinsic motivation when the rewards are seen as “bonuses” for good performance rather than as bribes.
The Relationship Between Motivation and Strategy Use
Recent research has demonstrated an important relationship between goal type and use of cognitive
strategies. In a nutshell, here are the findings:
- Students with learning goals tend to use effective cognitive strategies (all the effective strategies
discussed in Chapter 7). - Students with performance goals tend to use ineffective cognitive strategies (such as rote
memorizing). They do not use strategies such as explanation, elaboration, planning, etc. - Students with avoidance goals basically do not use any cognitive strategies at all.