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

Motivation: An overview of theories examined in the

context of music education…

Psychology of Music Learning

Dr. Miksza

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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…

Common motivational topics in practical music education literature

• Nature of musical materials

• Music as a reinforcer

• Classroom environment

• Competition

• Teaching strategies

• Teacher characteristics

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

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

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

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…