- Student motivation
to a situation
Negative reinforcement Stimulus that increases
the likelihood of a behavior
by being removed or taken
away from a situationStimulus that motivates
by its absence or
avoidanceTeacher stops nagging
student about late
homeworkPunishment Stimulus that
decreases the likelihood of
a behavior by being
introduced or added to a
situationStimulus that
decreases motivation by its
presenceTeacher deducts points
for late homeworkExtinction Removal of
reinforcement for a
behaviorRemoval of motivating
stimulus that leads to
decrease in motivationTeacher stops
commenting altogether
about student’s homework
Shaping successive
approximationsReinforcements for
behaviors that gradually
resemble (approximate) a
final goal behaviorStimuli that gradually
shift motivation toward a
final goal motivationTeacher praises student
for returning homework a
bit closer to the deadline;
gradually she praises for
actually being on time
Continuous
reinforcementReinforcement that
occurs each time that an
operant behavior occursMotivator that occurs
each time that a behavioral
sign of motivation occursTeacher praises highly
active student for every
time he works for five
minutes without
interruption
Intermittent
reinforcementReinforcement that
sometimes occurs
following an operant
behavior, but not on every
occasionMotivator that occurs
sometimes when a
behavioral sign of
motivation occurs, but not
on every occasionTeacher praises highly
active student sometimes
when he works without
interruption, but not every
timeCautions about behavioral perspectives on motivation
As we mentioned, behaviorist perspectives about motivation do reflect a classroom reality: that teachers
sometimes lack time and therefore must focus simply on students’ appropriate outward behavior. But there are
nonetheless cautions about adopting this view. An obvious one is the ambiguity of students’ specific behaviors;
what looks like a sign of one motive to the teacher may in fact be a sign of some other motive to the student
(DeGrandpre, 2000). If a student looks at the teacher intently while she is speaking, does it mean the student is
motivated to learn, or only that the student is daydreaming? If a student invariably looks away while the teacher is