THE FOUNDATION OF PSYCHOLOGY

Running head: FOUNDATION OF PSYCHOLOGY
FOUNDATION OF PSYCHOLOGY
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Introduction:
Academic motivation is not a single concept rather it includes a range of diverse concepts
such as the ability of self-concepts, task standards, goals of achieving academic excellence, and
achievement motives (Krame & Kusurkar, 2017). Majority of existing studies that examined
diverse motivational constructs of academic achievement of the students and the findings
revealed that majority of motivational constructs predicted academic achievement beyond
intelligence and that students’ ability self-concepts, as well as task values, are more powerful
factors that assist in estimating their achievement compared to the goals and achievement
motives (Hagger and Chatzisarantis, 2016).. This essay aims to provide an in-depth discussion
regarding the theories that assist in the development of the motivation strategy, the mechanism
associated with the strategy, stimulating factors and barriers to stimulate the motivation learning
in the following paragraphs.
Discussion:
The theory that facilitates motivation strategy:
In the classroom setting, students are engaged to various meanings and attitudes
associated with academic activities. The personal meanings, as well as attitudes that direct their
energies in different ways, are considered as the motivation for engaging with the academic

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activities. While intrinsic motivation comes within the student from the factors inherent in the
task being performed, external motivation comes from the external source to the student. One of
the prominent instances of intrinsic motivation is when a student enjoys the reading which means
there is something about the reading that acts as a reward (Krame & Kusurkar, 2017). On the
other hand, one of the prominent instances of the extrinsic motivation is when a student is
provided a token of the economy of praise for involving in the academic activity (Sman & Ogbu,
2019). Therefore, the common practice of educators in this area is to encourage a student in
lifelong learning through intrinsic motivation or extrinsic factors so that can task goal can be
accomplished.
The operant conditioning can be the most suitable theory that can assists in developing
motivational strategies for the student. Goddard (2018), suggested that the operant condition
theory of B.F skinner has the ability to explain the real-life situation and explain the behaviors of
their children. From early life, parents usually nurture the behavior of their children using a
range of rewards which in later life shape the personal values and beliefs. Therefore, this theory
will be the most suitable foundation of developing a motivational strategy. Skinner suggested
that learning occurs through punishment and rewards for the behaviors. Through operant
conditioning, individuals a particular behavior and consequence of the particular behavior.
Blackman (2017), argued that while many psychologists provided a complex explanation of the
human mind and how the behavior of human being shaped, work of Skinner has rooted in a

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perspective that classical conditioning was far too simplistic to be a complete explanation of
complex human behavior. The possible strategy to understand the behavior of human beings is to
assess the causes of action and associated with its consequences (Fennell & Dillenburger, 2018).
Therefore, in this case, motivation is the motivation and reinforcement is a motivator. This
concept is highly prominent in the primary school setting. For example, in the primary setting,
each student answers a question asked by the teacher, the teacher praises the individuals with the
correct answer. In this case, an operant is a behavior that suggests increase motivation such as
questions asked by teacher and reinforcement is the stimulating factor that motivates to engage in
the activity such as praise and token of an economy that increases the proper functioning (De
Houwer, Hughes & Barnes-Holmes, 2017). Therefore, positive reinforcement can be used to
develop motivations. The most accurate strategy to motivate the students is to encourage students
in active engagement through positive remarks and praises. However, Hornstra et al. (2016),
argued that a similar kind of approach each time with different task can reduce the value of
Reinforcement. In this context, a variable ratio of the Reinforcement can produce a high response
rate for engaging in the activity and learning new tasks where initial reinforcement is required to
occur through praise at frequent intervals. When performance improves the reinforcement occurs
less frequently until the only exclusive and extraordinary outcome is obtained from the learning
(Yu et al., 2019). For example, the first teacher encourages students in every attempt regardless
of whether their answer is correct or not. Gradually educators are required to praise those

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students with correct answers to shape learning behavior. Over time the teacher is required to
praise only those students with exceptional answers. Other effective strategies to motivate
students in active engagement to learning include setting goals, using creative ways to involve in
the learning such as through playing, positive imagery, inspirational quotes, and collaborative
study.
Mechanism:
The common mechanism can be discussed using neurobiology. Considering the
neurobiology, it can be said that the root of the motivation is the basal ganglia as well as
mesolimbic (dopaminergic) pathways. Yu et al. (2016), suggested that motivation is an action
that has two part such as activated seeking phase and liking phase. When reinforcement is
provided by the teacher in the classroom setting through praise or positive remarks, the
dopamine released as anticipation of reward. Dopamine then collected in the synapse for
producing an amplified signal to the receiving neurons (Yu et al, 2016). Consequently,
individuals experience a sense of happiness and involve into similar behavior. In this context, the
praise and positive remark, as well as feedback of the performance from the educator, is acting as
a pleasurable experience which resulted in increased similar behavior. Therefore, in order to
increase both internal and external motivation, educators are required to involve in a range of
strategies discussed above which can shape attitude towards lifelong learning.

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Difficulties:
Davis et al. (2018), argued that while increasing motivation of the students through a
range of techniques that are acting as a Reinforcement, educators may experience various
difficulties. The common difficulty is a lack of adequate time for involvement in the creative
activities and therefore, focusing on the appropriate behavior would be accurate. On the other
hand, another concern experience by the educator is mismatched expectations. However, in a few
cases, teachers usually ignore students’ choices and preferences in order to shape the behavior of
the students. Yu et al. (2016), argued that sometimes despite the motivation, students do not
motivate. The prime reason can be intrinsic motivation cannot be altered sometimes due to
motivation stimulation provided by the teachers. Students usually are aware of their desires
which may not always correspond to what a teacher chooses to reinforce or ignore. Therefore,
approaches that are specifically behavioral rather than emotional failed to stimulate the students
in a way that can stimulate their ability to involve in the learning (Yu et al., 2019). Therefore,
students exhibit tardiness, disengagement, and other experiences. In this context, being selective
as well as thoughtful with the behavior of the student can be considered as the more cognitively
oriented theories of motivation which can be used in developing motivation strategies for the

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student. The use of the goals, interests, and beliefs of students can be used in developing the
strategy since it will explain differences in students’ motives.
Conclusion:
On a concluding note, it can be said in the classroom students are engaged with academic
activities that require motivation. Personal meanings and attitudes are what motivates the
students for engaging with academic activities. Operant conditioning can be the most suitable
theory that can assist in developing motivational strategies for the student. According to this
theory, individuals a particular behavior and consequence of the particular behavior and
therefore, through appropriate positive reinforcement, the teachers are required to shape the
behavior of the primary school students. The most accurate strategy to motivate the students is to
encourage students in active engagement through positive remarks and praises. However, the
difficulties can be a lack of adequate time for engagement and mismatch goals with the student.
This problem can be ignored by considering the beliefs of the students.

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References:
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Yu, S., Zhou, N., Zheng, Y., Zhang, L., Cao, H., & Li, X. (2019). Evaluating student motivation
and engagement in the Chinese EFL writing context. Studies in Educational
Evaluation, 62, 129-141.