Hi Gwyn:

Yes it is due, Modula 5 Weekly Journal, here is the Lecture Reading.

Thanks for checking with me.

Bernice:

Introduction

What motivates students to open the textbook and start reading? Perhaps it is an upcoming exam on the topic or just some assigned reading. Regardless of the response, the study of motivation is largely the result of Abraham Maslow. This lecture details his history and philosophy, which has had a significant impact on psychology today.

Theory

One of the many interesting things Maslow (1968) noticed while he worked with monkeys early in his career was that some needs take precedence over others. For example, between hunger and thirst, there is a tendency to take care of thirst first since a body can go without food for weeks, but it can go without water for only a few days. He concluded that thirst is a stronger need than hunger. Maslow took this idea and created his now famous hierarchy of needs. Beyond the details of air, water, food, and sex, he laid out five broader layers: the physiological needs (oxygen, water, protein, salt, sugar, calcium, and other minerals and vitamins), the needs for safety and security, the needs for love and belonging, the needs for esteem, and the need to actualize the self, in that order.

In terms of overall development, people move through these levels a bit like stages. As newborns, the focus is on the physiological. Soon, infants begin to recognize the need to be safe. Soon after that, they crave attention and affection. A bit later, they look for self-esteem. All of this occurs within the first couple of years.

Under stressful conditions, or when survival is threatened, a person can regress to a lower need level. This can occur on a society-wide basis as well. When society suddenly flounders, people start clamoring for a strong leader to take over and make things right. When a society is attacked, it looks for safety; when food stops coming in, the needs become even more basic.

Maslow suggests asking people for their philosophy of the future, i.e. what would their ideal life or world look like, and get good information as to what needs they do or do not have covered.

If a person has significant problems with development, such as a period of extreme insecurity or hunger as a child, or the loss of a family member through death or divorce, or significant neglect or abuse, he or she may fixate on that set of needs throughout life. This is Maslow's understanding of neurosis.

Self-Actualization

This last level is a bit different. Maslow (1968) has used a variety of terms to refer to this level. He has called it growth motivation, being needs or B-needs, and self-actualization.

These are needs that do not involve balance or homeostasis. Once engaged, they continue to be felt. In fact, they are likely to become stronger as they are fed. They involve the continuous desire to fulfill potentials, to be all that you can be. They are a matter of becoming the most complete, the fullest you.

Now, in keeping with his theory up to this point, a person who wishes to become self-actualized must have the lower needs met, at least to a considerable extent. When lower needs are not fully met, epople cannot devote themselves to fulfilling potentials. With the world as difficult as it is, Maslow (1968) believes and suggests that only about 2% of society may meet the criteria.

The question now becomes, what does Maslow mean by self-actualization. In order to answer this he identified characteristics of self-actualizers. He did this by using a qualitative method called biographical analysis. He began by picking out a group of people, some historical figures, some people he knew, whom he felt met the standard of self-actualization. Included in this group were the likes of Lincoln, Jefferson, Einstein, Roosevelt, Adams, and others. He looked at their biographies, writings, acts, and words, and from this he developed a list of qualities that seemed characteristic of this group.

These people were reality-centered, which means they could differentiate what is fake and dishonest from what is real and genuine. They were problem-centered, meaning they treated life's difficulties as problems demanding solutions instead of personal issues, or troubles to be railed at or surrendered to. They had a different perception of means and ends. They felt that the ends do not justify the means, that the means could be ends themselves, and that the means, or the journey, was often more important than the destination.

Motivation in the Education Setting

In the educational world, anything that energizes, directs, and sustains behavior in school is referred to as motivation; this is largely due to Maslow's work. Virtually all students are motivated in one way or another, and it can be influenced by environmental factors. Motivation has several effects on learning and behavior in and out of the classroom setting. The list below provides some of those which will have an impact on student learning:

It directs toward particular goals: If learning is meaningful it will impact motivation.

It increases effort and energy: It will determine whether or not students will pursue it or not.

Task persistence: Most students will begin a task they actually would like to do.

It enhances cognitive processing: Students are more likely to pay attention and process information into long-term memory.

It determines the consequences for behavior: The more they are motivated, the more likely they are to avoid negative behaviors.

It always leads to increased performance: Students who are the most motivated will tend to be the highest achievers (Brophy, 1988).

In motivation, people are driven by forces that are either intrinsic or extrinsic in nature, that is, internal or external to the self. Covington and Mueller's 2001 research demonstrates that people are most likely to see beneficial effects with internal motivation over external. Unfortunately, this intrinsic motivation appears to decline over the course of one's school career (Covington & Mueller, 2001).

Students differ in the extent to which they desire and actively seek out relationships with others for approval (Kupersmidt, Buchele, Voegler, & Sedikides, 1996). This is referred to as the need for affiliation and will often be reflected in school by the choices that are made. For many, this may be the sole source reasoning for coming to school. Educators' responsibility then turns to providing the opportunities for students to interact with each other with a productive educational outcome. Some of this may be best accomplished by group collaborations such as discussions, debates, role-playing, and even competitions among teams, all of which allow for affiliation while simultaneously acquiring new learning and skills (Brophy, 1987).

A general partner to motivation is affect (the feelings, emotions, and general moods that a student brings into the classroom). How students feel in the school setting is largely the result of whether their needs are being met and their goals are being accomplished. This is another good reason to include students in the plans for the classes they are taking or will take (Hartner, Whitesell, & Junkin, 1988).

Anxiety can improve performance but too much can have negative impact and significantly interfere with learning. In adolescence, some of those factors that can have a challenging impact may be some of the following:

Physical appearance.

New situations.

Evaluations by peers.

School material too difficult for success.

Excessive classroom demands.

An educator's responsibility will be to maintain levels of anxiety at reasonable levels in the classroom setting.

CONCLUSION:

Different theories of development and personality are applicable to motivation as well. In the trait theory, the focus is on enduring personality characteristics. In the behaviorist theory, motivation is primarily affected by reinforcing outcomes or avoiding negative outcomes. The social cognitive theory's primary focus is on the goals people work toward as reflected by their choices. The cognitive theory supports how mental processes affect what people do. It attempts to make sense of the world and establish a homeostatic relationship.

Educators are more likely to motivate children and adolescents' if instruction strategies take their existing motives into account. In an ideal world, students would find the classroom exciting, fascinating, and satisfying. If they do not have such intrinsic motivation, educators need to provide the means to relate it to real world experiences for them.

REFERENCES:

Brophy, J. E. (1987). Synthesis of research on strategies for motivating students to learn. Educational Leadership, 45(2), 40-48.

Covington, M. V., & Mueller, K. J. (2001). Intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation: An approach/avoidance reformulation. Educational Psychology Review, 13, 157-176.

Hartner, S., Whitesell, N. R.,& Junkin, L. J. (1988). Similarities and differences in domain-specific and global self-evaluations of learning-disabled, behaviorally disordered, and normally achieving adolescents. American Research Journal, 35, 653-680.

Kupersmidt, J. B., Buchele, K. S., Voegler, M. E., & Sedikides, C. (1996). Social self-discrepancy: A theory relating to peer relation problems and school maladjustment. In J. Juvonen & K. R. Wentzel (Eds.), Social motivation: Understanding children's school adjustment (pp. 66-97). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Maslow's works Toward a Psychology of Being (1968), Motivation and Personality (first edition, 1954, and second edition, 1970), and The Further Reaches of Human Nature (1971).

OK, Thanks

Ok, I will

The funds is posted, you can send the journal.

Bernice;