Activity 7.5 (What Makes a Successful Learner)

Pink (2009) offered an interesting perspective being that intrinsic motivation generally can’t be brought about with carrots (rewards) or sticks (punishment). However, in situations or for tasks where carrots and sticks could be deemed fruitful, careful assessment and implementation is necessary (easy vs. challenging, routine vs. creative). Researchers have found that individuals perform better at tasks or problems where incentives were either not given or they were minimal in comparison to what they were being asked to do. Incentives such as rewards, money, or other tangible items switch the view of the task or problem from play to work.

I think the factors discussed by the author fit somewhat in the social cognitive theoretical framework, the majority lying mostly within personal factors. It seems to me that the way in which the task is perceived (cognitive) as well as the moral and emotional aspects (affective) has the most merit. If we see the task as work instead of play or helpful versus burdensome, then that shifts the amount of time and effort we care to put into something.

Throughout the entire article I couldn’t help but think about Behaviorism and how this idea of carrots and sticks fits in with reinforcement and punishers. As a whole this would be the most obvious connection; however there are others mixed in. I saw how James’ view of will or effort and attention (passive vs. voluntary) could be applied. For example, one of the experiments discussed was that of artists completing a piece where some were being paid and others weren’t. The pieces that were non-commissioned were evaluated as having more creativity and vice versa. When asked about the process the artists felt as if there were more constraints for the paid pieces and were more concerned about the outcome and the client than about the act of painting. I associated this with non-commissioned artists have more passive attention, therefore resulting in a sense of putting forth less effort. Not to say that either way had more or less effort, but the thoughts and feelings about the effort being put forth is what I’m referring to.  There are several other theoretical views that the author’s perspective could coincide with, a few more connections with James, motivation and drive theory, and information processing. However Behaviorism is the stand out for me.

I think Pink would believe that the role of failure in learning is ineffective identification and incorporation of reinforcement. James would probably tag several elements to it, but the main ones being associations and habits, memory, and self-regulation. Behaviorists would most likely align with Pink’s perspective of inaccurate placement of reinforcers or faulty conditioning. I think Bandura would point at a piece (or pieces) missing from the triad of reciprocality, since each factor contributes and relies upon the other. It could be the individual’s self-efficacy, which is probably the first place he’d look, and then the social factor of environment along with behavior related to motivation. Piaget and Vygotsky would probably isolate a few areas as well, the main ones being assimilation and accommodation along with proper assistance during the learning process.

Is there a recipe for success? I don’t think there is one specific recipe for success because individuals provide different ingredients based on personality, experience, schemas, culture, and so on. I think there are certain ingredients that are staples, such as attention perception), associations, will/motivation/persistence/self-regulation (take your pick), self-efficacy (at least at a medium level, it’s difficult to learn something when you don’t believe you can), and memory (repetition, retrieval cues, connections, etc…). This is much like most food recipes that usually have salt, sugar, or oil/butter. I do think however that learning is similar to what I do when I am preparing most meals. I look at what ingredients I already have (skills, abilities, knowledge, and experience) and I either connect with a recipe I’ve done before while putting a little spin on it or I look up a recipe in a cookbook, pinterest, or google to see what new dish I could make with what I already have on hand. Now, will it turn out to be a fabulous and tasty dish? Maybe, maybe not, but at least something was made and we won’t starve.

1. Does reinforcement carry as much weight for intrinsic motivation as the authors believe? What do you think?
2. What are some examples of properly identified and appropriately placed reinforcers in the classroom? Or at home?
3. How would you connect Behaviors (reinforcement) and Motivation? Short of reading Dr. Usher's mind, which can't be done unless you're psychic, why do you think she would have chosen this chapter from a book on motivation to be one of our last readings?