Motivation: An overview of theories examined in the context of music education…

1. Motivation: An overview of theories examined in the context of music education… Psychology of Music Learning Dr. Miksza

2. VERY brief background… • Hull • Organismic/intervening variables • Drive theory • Internal state of need - trying to reach homeostastis • Heron • Arousal theory • Individual’s need for stimulation, risks, and sensations • Arousal can be defined as “the level of internal energy an organism is currently experiencing (Ormrod)” • Deterioration of cognitive ability and a general inability to function as deprivation grew • Concluded that people have a basic need for sensation • Lewin • Field theory • Lifespace, needs, social influences

3. Definitions and relevance… • Motivation provides energy for seeking out and being involved in tasks • Arouse interest • Influence choice, direction, goals • Starting, sustaining, and/or stopping behavior • 11% to 17% of variance in achievement explained by motivation • Important because it can be manipulated by the teacher

4. Extrinsic sources (tends to be behavioral) • Reinforcement • Environment • Social sources • Approval, disapproval, tokens, rewards, etc. • Disadvantages • Unlikely to choose similar activities without extrinsic rewards • Don’t pursue activities outside of class • Inhibit the development of intrinsic orientation • May lead to negative performance outcomes in the long-term

5. Intrinsic Sources (tends to be cognitive) • Internal decisions and energy • Engaged in ‘for their own sake’ • Advantageous • Persist even when external sources aren’t available • Higher self-concept • See Weiner (1986) quote - anti-behaviorist approach • Contrast Weiner with Deci & Ryan (1985) - using extrinsic to ‘stoke’ intrinsic

6. Maximizing extrinsic motivation… • Only use rewards when necessary • Don’t reward a learner for an inherently interesting task • Limit use of rewards for behavioral control and participation • Avoid rewards with divergent tasks • Use rewards for acknowledging competence • Use rewards for memorization and convergent tasks

7. Contemporary intrinsic/extrinsic approaches…Goal orientations… • Elliot - Achievement goal orientations • Performance goals (aka - ego) • Norm-referenced achievement orientations • E.g., doing well in comparison to others, trying not to look bad, competing • Mastery goals (aka - task) • Self-referential achievement orientations • E.g., to satisfy interest, to make personal improvement

8. Contemporary intrinsic/extrinsic approaches…Goal orientations… • Approach and Avoid ‘valence’ • Highest achievers tend to have strong mastery- AND performance-approach orientations • Learner traits… • Approach - help-seeking, organized • Avoid - disorganized, anxiety, avoidance, avoid help-seeking

9. Goal orientations in music… • Given findings in general ed - seems to be an important avenue to go down… • Just beginning… …both mastery/approach and task/ego terminology used… • Given findings in general ed. • Miksza (2008) - some evidence for the 2 X 2 model… • Smith (2002) and Schmidt (2005) - high correlations among sub-scales

10. Self-concept/Self-esteem • Achievement and success enhance self-concept • Failure may also have constructive effects on self-concept if: • The goals, conditions, assessment, and attributions are appropriate • Especially if the learner is intrinsically motivated to pursue the task in the first place • More control over the task the learner has the stronger effect on self-concept

11. Vispoel (1994) • Self-concept has been poorly defined over time - especially in music • Self-concept is: • Organized, multi-faceted, hierarchical, stable, complexity changes with age, descriptive and evaluative, distinct from other constructs like achievement and intelligence • Music self-concept correlated with general artistic self-concept and verbal-academic self-concept • Music self-concept is also hierarchically structured • Music self-concept may differentiate by instrumental vs. non-instrumental

12. Self-concept in music… • Positive self-concept related to achievement in music • Music participation related to positive general self-concept • Results mixed for minority and disadvantaged students • Pre-service practice teaching experiences lead to enhanced teacher self-concept • Self-concept increased as result of participation in contest • Consistent correlation between music self-concept and magnitude of motivation

13. Self-concept in music… • Austin and Vispoel (1991) • Self-concept related to music achievement as measured by Colwell’s MAT • Klinedinst (1991) • No relation between self-concept, using the Svengalis self-concept measure, and teacher ratings of music students • Sandene’s (1997) • Study also included self-concept using an adaptation of Schmitt’s Self-Esteem in Instrumental Music Scale (1979) • Significant decrease in self-esteem means from 5th to 8th grade • Drop outs were found to be lower on self-esteem than students who continued in band • Schmidt (2005) • No significant differences by grade level or gender on music self-concept when surveying high school band students

14. More foundational theories… • Maslow - Drive Theory • Meet needs… see hierarchy from last week… • Atkinson and McClelland - Achievement Theory • Approach success • Interaction of previous successes, motive to achieve, expectancy of success, and perceived value of success • Optimal level: perceived difficulty and expectancy of success is intermediate • Avoid failure • Ring toss experiment… (Atkinson & Litwin) • Protect self-perception - choose task that’s too easy or too difficult to explain away failures…

15. Perceptions of success and failure… • Rotter - Locus of Control • Internal and external reasons for future successes and failures • Internal: ability, effort • External: luck, powerful others • Weiner - Attribution Theory • Perceived causes of past successes and failures • Internal/External, Stable/Unstable, Controllable/Uncontrollable

16. Locus of Control in music… • Sandene (1987) • Middle school band drop outs are likely to be more external than those who continue • Madsen and Goins (2002) • Music majors more internal than the general population • Music ed majors more internal than music therapy and performance • Kornicke (1992) • Piano performance majors achievement related to external locus of control • ‘Defensive externals’ - optimal level of anxiety • Miksza (2005) • Trend of correlations between performance achievement and internal LOC

17. Attribution theory in music… • Effort and ability most commonly cited by younger students • Attributions tend to become more stable with age • Task difficulty more commonly cited by older students • Attributions somewhat distinct from magnitude of motivation • Those with high magnitude tend to cite effort more often • Ability attributions positively related to successes but negatively related to failure • Asmus motivational factors • Effort • Background • Classroom environment • Musical ability • Affect for music

18. Attribution theory in music… • Asmus (1986) • 6th graders attributions of success and failure in music were mostly internal • Stability of these attributions fluctuated greatly between effort and ability • Austin (1988) • Predominance of internal attributions in public school students • Effort attributions in particular • Schmidt (1995) • Public school choral students mostly internal, unstable attributions of effort • Austin and Vispoel (1991) • Attributions of success and failure regarding related to cognitive music achievement scores • Ability attributions for success were positively related to achievement scores • Ability attributions for failure were negatively related to achievement scores • Students believed that ability was related to success regarding achievement but not failure

19. Attribution theory in music… • Vispoel and Austin (1995) • Differences between attributions for success and attributions for failure • Effort in particular in general music • Ability attributions for success and failure were significantly related to achievement in all areas • Asmus and Harrison (1990) • AMF with college non-music majors showed two factors rather than five • (Internal) - Ability, effort, background and affect attributions made up one factor while (external) - environment stood alone on the other • Legette (1998) • Public school students AMF • Internal attributions were found to be more prominent • Females scored higher on all five sub-scales than males • Urban students reported more effort and ability attribution • Rural students reported higher environment attributions • Sandene (1997) • AMF and Asmus’ Magnitude of Motivation Scale (MMS) • This study showed a still different underlying structure of the AMF • A comparison across grade levels showed significant decreases in all AMF sub-scales as grade level increased All AMF sub-scales highly related suggesting one global factor with this population rather than 2 or 5 as in earlier studies • AMF and MMS related • AMF related to task goals but not ego goals

20. More theories… • Bandura - Self-efficacy • ‘a person’s beliefs in ability to produce intended outcomes on a specific task’ • Effect: choice of activity, effort, persistence • Deci & Ryan - Self-determination • Sense of control enhances intrinsic motivation • Satisfying an inherent need to be competent and self-determining

21. Self-efficacy in music… • McPherson & McCormick (2002) • Model of self-efficacy and other related variables showed that self-efficacy was best predictor of performance achievement • Madura (1996) • Self-efficacy best predictor of improvisation skill • Bergee (2006) • Music teacher classroom management efficacy…

22. Common motivational topics in practical music education literature • Nature of musical materials • Music as a reinforcer • Classroom environment • Competition • Teaching strategies • Teacher characteristics

23. McPherson & Zimmerman (2002) • Self-regulation • From a social-cognitive perspective… • Interaction of individual, environment, and behavior (reciprocal causation/determinism) • Dimensions • Motive - why • Strategies - how • Time management - when • Performance behavior - what • Social elements, help - with whom

24. McPherson & Zimmerman (2002) • Motivation • Parental support, self-motivation • Strategies • Task-oriented, alone vs. with help of a teacher, mental strategies • Time management • Efficiency, avoidance, use of time • Behavior • Metacognition, problem solving, self-evaluation, adaptive mastery-oriented or maladaptive performance-oriented, physical environment • Social elements • Parents, teachers, siblings and peers

25. McPherson & Zimmerman (2002) • Stages of self-regulation • Observation • Learning from a model • Emulation • Imitation of a model, imitation with social assistance • Self-control • Independent display of model’s skills under structured conditions • Self-regulation • Adaptive use of skill across changing personal and environmental conditions

26. Schmidt (2005) • A parsimonious model… • Two-factor solution of many, many motivation constructs… …task/learning (intrinsic) and ego/performance (extrinsic) • Marsh et al. nearly replicated • Overall - mastery and intrinsic motivation were driving students’ motivation (based on ratings) • Subjects who were high in intrinsic motivation also reported more practicing and received higher effort ratings from their instructors • Similar findings with a college population…