Motivation and emotion/Book/2010/Student motivation theories/Definitions of key terms

Key Terms Defined:

Amotivation: A psychological state of diminished energy and focus. Amovational state is the polar opposite to a motivated state. Amotivational syndrome

Autonomy: A sense of independence and self-regulation where choices are free of external control 

Attribution Theory: How individuals internalised perception of external events effect behaviour Attribution theory

Behaviouristic Perspective: A psychological school of thought that states that only objective behaviours can be studied empirically rather than inferences gathered from philosophising about unconscious states. Behaviorism

Competence: A persons perceptions of their repertoire of skills in reflection of a task. Similar to Maslow’s (1970) notion of self-efficacy.

Drive: A psychological process that energises and directs behaviour towards or away from an event. Similar to the notion of motivation.

External Incentive: An externally influencing event or reward offered to direct an individual’s behaviour in a specific manner i.e. shaping targeted behaviour through offering external rewards

Extrinsic Motivation: Behaviour that is directed and energised through an external incentives. For example, the student who remains on-task in order to receive a gold star from the teacher is demonstrating extrinsic motivational behaviour.

Flow: A state or condition an individual experiences when there is optimal match between the demands of a task and the individual’s skills need to fulfil those requirements (while at the same time the task offers a challenge but is not over demanding or boring)

An energised and focused state or condition an individual experiences when there is optimal match between the demands of a task and the individual’s skills need to fulfil those requirements (while at the same time the task offers a challenge but is not over demanding or boring)

Humanistic Perspective: A theoretical perspective, introduced in the early 1960’s, that emphasises the human nature of individuals such as the importance of self-actualization, choice, individual’s core value system (for example). Humanistic psychology



Intrinsic Motivation: Behaviour that is motivated by inherently intrinsic reinforcements such as interest, curiosity, pleasure and joy that a student may feel when working on an educational activity 

Learning: The process of acquiring new skills, information, knowledge and is primarily facilitated by a motivational response. Learning

Learned helplessness: In an educational setting, an amotivational state where an individual (following a numerous experiences of uncontrollable events), gives up on a task or experiences because they have learnt that there efforts are often punished or go unrewarded.

Self-Efficacy: Bandura’s (1980) notion of an internalized process where an individual assess their skills in reflection of the task they are experiencing. Self-efficacy is part of the process of regulting and monitoring oneself.

Student Motivation: A process, where behaviours are directed and energise towards engagement in the educational experience. For example, a motivated student will demonstrate on-task behaviours, be responsive to others in the educational setting and strive to meet educational goals.

Student Engagement: Where an individual is seen to be committed to the educational process they are experiencing such that behaviours seem ‘on-task’. Some examples of student engagement is seen when a student appears attentive to class instruction, contributes to class discussions, adheres to school policy, concentrates on assigned projects, strives to meet educational goals, monitors own progress, shows initiative in asking for further information

Task Engagement: A student’s behaviour towards a specific task that demonstrates they are focused on meeting the demands of that task

Theory: In psychology, a theory is body of principles or idea presented in a proposed model that demonstrates relationships among proposed constructs, comprising of a premises, sometimes philosophically based, but nevertheless poses testable hypothesis(ses) that is based on observations of human behaviour.