User:U3005872

About me
My name is Siar Azad and I am a Bachelor of Science in Psychology student at the University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia. This semester (semester 2, 2010) I am studying a unit called Motivation and Emotion taught by Dr. James Neil. One of the assessment tasks is that all students are required to create an online e-portfolio for the purpose of sharing their learning reflections about motivation and emotion and the learning activities involved in this unit throughout this semester. Another task is to author an online textbook chapter about motivation and education.

This assessment task involves:

ongoing record: An ongoing record of my learning experiences throughout the unit. The use of the e-portfolio explores and synthesizes what is discovered during my learning journey this semester.

deep processing: Reflecting on learning experiences helps to encourage deeper processing and understanding of the ideas.

sharing: Sharing of my learning experiences facilitates social interaction and peer-to-peer learning.

style and format: The style and format are open, as long as it reflects my participation and engagement in the unit's learning activities (esp. lectures, tutorials, readings, and assessment exercises).

References

Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. United States of America, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Important note:

All of the information in this e-portfolio is either derived from the assigned text book for the Motivation and Emotion unit (Reeve, 2009), or the lectures and tutorials run by the unit convener, Dr. James Neill, readings, and assessment exercises.

Lecture one
In the first lecture Dr. Neil went through assessment tasks for this unit. The assessment items such as the text book chapter (students were asked to create a free online text book chapter on Wikiversity website), e-portfolio (ongoing record of student learning throughout the semester) and multimedia (an instructional video explaining the main content covered by the text book chapter) were completely new to me. This is because every other assessment item I have done throughout my tertiary education experience were essays, laboratory reports, examinations or online quizzes. The text book we have been asked to read for this unit is Understanding Motivation and Emotion written by Reeve, 2009. In addition, in the first lecture Dr. Neil introduced the unit and looked at the study of motivation and its history. The main aspect of this lecture was the equation

Motivation = Energy + Direction

motivation defined as “to move” in Latin.

energy is created through strong, intense and persistent behaviours.

direction behaviour aimed toward achieving a particular purpose or goal.

My understating is that motivation is a combination of energy and direction. There are four motivational sources (needs, cognitions, emotions and external events) that give behaviour its energy and direction.

Needs refers to psychological, physiological and social needs. These needs force individuals to look for satisfaction in these areas. For example: the physiological need to use the restroom.

Cognitions are needs and drivers of behaviour, for example a person’s ideological or religious beliefs can influence their decisions.

The internal motives such as emotions are the reasons for motivation. For example if someone is sad, sadness would be the driving force behind their chosen actions.

External events such as familial/cultural influences/pressure influence a person’s behaviour.

Questions such as “Why do people do what they are doing?” (What causes behaviour?) and “Why do people behave one way in a situation but differently in another situation?” (Why does behaviour change in its intensity?) relate to the study of motivation. Dr. Neil also talked about the theoretical history behind motivation. This part of the lecture was helpful to know how the study of motivation has developed over the years. There were originally three grand theories consisting of will, instinct and drive. In the later years mini theories were in on the rise and more attention was given to more specific behaviours. Therefore, motivation is now studied from a range of perspectives, all of which contribute to answering two main questions: What causes behaviour? Why does behaviour vary in its intensity? References Neill, J. (2010). [Introduction to Motivation and Emotion Lecture]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208

Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. United States of America, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lecture two
Dr. James Neil gave more details of the assessment items and answered questions regarding assignments. He introduced Wikiversity website and explained how it works and who is behind it. All the students enrolled in the Motivation and Emotion unit at the University of Canberra this semester were encouraged to create an account at Wikiversity and lodge all their assessment items in there to be marked. This new method of learning and communication has been very new to the majority of the students.

References

Neill, J. (2010). [Assessment task skills]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208&topic=14

Lecture three
Biological / physiological aspects of motivation and emotion were explained in this lecture. Chapter three of the text book was to be studied before attending this lecture. This chapter looked at the physiological motivated brain. The main points of physiological motivational research include:
 * Association of different emotional or motivational experiences with different brain structures.
 * Engagement of particular motivational or emotional state with specific brain structure activation
 * Activation of this continuous process within the brain in relation to instances in everyday life

Three principles are formed through the research in these three areas and are used when there is research conducted on motivation, emotion and the brain. They include:


 * Particular motivation is stimulated by specific brain structures
 * Communication within the body is allowed by biochemical agents which are stimulating the receptor sites
 * Reasons that how everyday life events stimulate these processes into action

Thirst, hunger and sex are the three specific physiological needs of humans. These needs were discussed in the second part of this lecture. Dr. Neil explained that humans cannot live without food and drink but they can live without sex. Therefore, the question is raised whether sex is really a vital human need or humans are put on this earth to procreate? Therefore, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was also mentioned. According to Maslow thirst, hunger and sex are the three primary needs that are the most basic and vital for human survival.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is shown in the diagram below:



Tutorial

Students formed small groups and together defined Motivation and Emotion.

Motivation can be defined as the activation or energization of a goal-oriented behaviour. Motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic and is generally used for humans; however it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behaviour.

Emotion can be defined as a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as internally interacting with biochemical and externally with enviormental influences.

In this tutorial questions related to motivation and emotions such as below were raised and discussed.

What is the difference between emotion and mood?

How does personality affect emotion/mood?

How do other people influence and individuals emotion/mood?

Dr. Neil introduced all the topic to be chosen for the text book chapter and encouraged students to choose one topic as soon as possible. Some students already made up their mind and selected a topic.

References

Neill, J. (2010). [Brain and physiological needs]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208&topic=13

Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. United States of America, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lecture four
This lecture was on psychological and social needs. I learned the following for this lecture. Psychological needs of an individual include:


 * People are inherently active
 * This theory emphasises on a static relationship between the person and the environment (stimulation is created by the environment). An interactive and dynamic relationship between a person and his/her environment is shaped by the person himself/herself. Individuals always engage in a goal directed activity and do not do anything. However, goals are not always obvious.

Person-Environment dialectic

This theory suggests that the relationship between the person and the environment is reciprocal. People seek out an environment which expresses their individuality. They interact within such an environment as it assists in their development. In contrast, the environment can upset the inner resources and can create an un-nurturing and less productive environment for an individual. .

Social needs of an individual include:


 * achievement, affiliation, intimacy and power
 * acquired psychological processes that activate emotional responses to a particular need relevant incentive
 * achievement goals (mastery and performance)
 * mastery goals: development of competencies, progression, improvement of the self, overcoming any difficulties with effort and persistence
 * performance goals: to prove competencies, display high ability, outperform others and succeed with little or not many problems.

Tutorial:

Text book chapter outlines, humanistic mechanisms associated with humans’ basic needs including thirst, hunger and sex were discussed within the small groups.

References

Neill, J. (2010). [Psychological and social needs]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208&topic=12

Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. United States of America, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lecture five
This lecture focused on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and goal setting.

Intrinsic Motivation

The desire to engage in activities that promote personal growth and satisfy different psychological needs. Intrinsically motivation occur when an individual engages in a behaviour because they find it rewarding on its own, not due to the prospect of an external reward. These psychological needs include: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Intrinsic motivation promotes:

Persistence the higher the intrinsic motivation the greater the level of persistence

Creativity is enhanced when intrinsic motivation is high

Conceptual Understanding embodies flexible thinking and imaginative learning

Optimal Functioning and Well-being influences and promotes feelings of psychological health and well-being.

Extrinsic Motivation

o	this type of motivation is externally regulated and fuelled by environmental benefits and the promise of more tangible incentives, consequences and rewards. An individual is extrinsically motivated to obtain something for themselves from the environment. However this type of motivation does not necessarily reward an individual internally.

Goal-setting

o	goal setting and goal striving is a dynamic process that helps people maintain motivation until the set goal is reached. It focuses on the cognitive aspects of personal control and self-related constructs.

o	when challenging goals which increase effort and persistence, they combine with a specific goal which drives and enhances performance in an individual.

References

Neill, J. (2010). [Intrinsic-extrinsic motivation and goal-setting]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208&topic=11

Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. United States of America, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Tutorial:

In this tutorial there was a revision of ‘what are needs?’, and “what is the motivated and emotional brain?” There was a class discussion on brain structures and students were provided with a handout that presented a diagram of the brain and demonstrated the anatomic position of key brain structures. Students were asked to identify additional specific neural structures and their motivational function. These specific neural structures were the:

o	reticular formation o	medial Forebrain bundle o	hypothalamus o	amygdala o	septal area o	hippocampus o	cerebral cortex.

In addition, students were required to identify the motivational role of key hormones such as dopamine, serotonin, endorphin and testosterone. During this tutorial psychological and social needs of an individual was also reviewed and questions were answered.

Approximately twenty minutes of the tutorial time was dedicated to the assessment item (the textbook chapter). Students were able to discuss their textbook chapter outline with other students and collaborate to develop more ideas. Students also received some constructive criticism which helped them to complete their textbook chapter.

References

Neill, J. (2010, August 18). [Psychological and social needs]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208&topic=12

Neill, J. (2010). [Brain and physiological needs]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208&topic=13

Neill, J. (2010, August 18). [Intrinsic-extrinsic motivation and goal-setting]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208&topic=11

Lecture six
This week the focus was on personal control beliefs and the self and its strivings. There are many different ways that an individual can cope with various situations. These approaches include:

o	employ an approach versus avoidance approach to coping This suggests that an approach to coping involves either taking an action by moving toward and interacting with the problem or simply walking away from the problem.

o	employ a social versus solitary approach to coping This suggests that individuals can choose to either take action with a group of people or take action independently.

o	employ a proactive versus reactive approach to coping This suggests that individuals can choose to take action to prevent the problem from happening or they can take action after the problem has occurred.

o	adopt a problem focused versus emotion focused approach to coping This suggests that individuals either take action in an attempt to manage the problem that is causing stress or regulate their emotional response to the problem.

'''Self constructs were also explained. They include:'''

o	self-esteem refers to an individual’s feelings of self-worth or self-value.

o	self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief about their abilities to perform specific tasks.

o	self-confidence refers to an individual’s belief in their own personal wealth and possibilities of succeeding. It is a combination of self-esteem and self-efficacy.

o	self-concept is the nature and organization of beliefs about one’s self.

o	self-schema is a combination of all the self concepts.

References

Neill, J. (2010). [Personal control beliefs and the self & its strivings ]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208&topic=10

Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. United States of America, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Tutorial:

This tutorial focused more specifically on several applied aspects of motivation. These applications include:

•	students started a discussion in small groups about what they believed their motivations were for attending university. •	groups identified several motivating factors including: o	financial opportunities that a degree provides. Therefore, students spend money for paying for subjects, buying any materials and go though financial difficulties during their university studies to receive financial compensation on the completion of their degree. o	family members, friends and society put a lot of pressure on students to achieve higher educational status. o	studying at university provides students with a vast range of social opportunities that are available to them. For example making new friends, opportunities to join social groups within the university and to participate in the range of activities that are run throughout the university channels.

During this tutorial students were asked to complete two short questionnaires. These questionnaires were designed to find the motivation of students at the University of Canberra.

Lecture seven
This lecture started with a revision of motivation topics covered before. After that basic emotions of an individual and the utility of these emotions were explained. Primary emotions act as coping functions and social functions. They include:

o	fear the response to the threat of harm; it has a unique cognitive and physiological response.

o	anger the experience that something is not right (when an injustice has occurred or someone has been wrong)

o	disgust the drive to repel from an object that an individual does not want to be connected with

o	sadness being sorrowful for what you do not have

o	joy happiness which can be derived from progression and achievements

o	interest arousal of curiosity

James-Lange theory to emotion suggests that:

o	our emotional experiences depend on our bodily responses

o	an individual’s body will react uniquely to different emotion-eliciting events

o	an individual’s body will not react to non emotion-eliciting events

o	screaming for example can increase heart rate and widens eyes

There are many biological and environmental triggers for experiencing an emotion. However, there is varied debate as to how many there actually are, and the function that they serve.

References

Neill, J. (2010). [Nature of emotion]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208&topic=7

Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. United States of America, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lecture eight
This lecture focused into biological, cognitive and socio cultural causes of emotion. It was explained that emotion is hard to define as people have trouble identifying what an emotion is. However there is no agreement on what constitutes the criteria for core emotions.

o	Every individual has different life experiences, values and cultural norms. Emotions is an abstract construct that is not easy to define or measure.

o	However six basic emotions have been identified. Unfortunately negative emotions outweigh the positive emotions in humans.

o	The biological aspect of emotion occurs unconsciously in the brain. For example joy is associated with a decrease in the frequency of neural activation over time.

Izard introduced 10 fundamental emotions positive, neutral and negative emotions as outlined in Table 1.

Table 1. Izard's fundamental emotions included in his differential emotions theory

Cultural influences/ pressures also determine an individual’s understanding of emotion. For example in some Asian or Middle Eastern cultures a love marriage is seen as a negative emotion while it is considered positive in most Western countries.

References

Neill, J. (2010). [Aspects of emotion]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208&topic=6

Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. United States of America, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Tutorial:

In this tutorial a small group of students were given a hand-out with a list of emotions. Students had to develop their own model of core emotions into clusters. This was designed to understand the basic model of emotions. There were about 100 emotions to select. The photos below were taken during the tutorial time (after groups completed their tasks).





As shown above the largest cluster represents sadness, followed by anger. Finally happiness is also shown in the next cluster. It clearly indicates that negative emotions outweigh positive ones.

Dr. Neil also talked about the Wikiversity site and showed some new techniques such as how to include quizzes and upload images.

Lecture nine
This lecture indicated that the cause for happiness or unhappiness is when motivation and emotion are influenced by personality.

There are three motivational principles that are related to personality. They are happiness, arousal and control. These characteristics can explain the reason why people have different motivational and emotional states in the same or similar situations (it is the result of how a stimulus is interpreted and experienced). o	Neuroticism and extraversion can be predictors of happiness in an individual. Emotional stability of a person can be indicated by neuroticism. Individuals who are high on this construct are predisposed to negative emotionality, stress, anxiety and are upset.

o	Neurotics have a stronger behavioural inhibition system. This alerts them to greater threats and harm within the environment which increases their cautiousness.

o	Extraverts have more positive moods and have greater capacity to experience positive emotions and are more positive towards the environment. Therefore, extraversion is a predictor of happiness and neuroticism is a predictor of unhappiness.

References

Neill, J. (2010). [Personality, motivation and emotion]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208&topic=5

Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. United States of America, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lecture ten
This lecture focused on the topic of unconscious motivation (the psychodynamic perspective, the unconscious, psychodynamics, ego psychology, Object relations theory, and criticisms) and the use of an internet program called Screener for multimedia production for the textbook chapter.

Freud suggested that individuals have two general instincts:

instincts for life For example, instincts for food, water and sleep, which ensure individual survival

instincts for death For example, instincts to rest, become inactive, and conserve energy

ego psychology includes information on defence mechanisms. Sees the development of the personality as involving the formation of mental models particularly cognitive processes.

the Unconscious More of our mental life occurs outside of our awareness. Freud's unconscious processes is dreams. He proposed that dreams allow an individual to satisfy their unconscious desires and express inner conflict. Dreaming has been found to aid in the relief of emotional trauma and has been linked to more positive mood states following REM sleep. Dreaming is also linked to emotional health and plays a vital role in resolving unconscious tension.

psychodynamics Our thoughts and feelings which motivate us and guide our emotions are often in conflict. These states of conflict give rise to approach /avoidant behaviours, emotional turmoil and indecision, and overall the unpredictable nature of behaviours.

References

Neill, J. (2010). [Unconscious motivation and how to make a multimedia recording]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208&topic=4 Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. United States of America, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lecture eleven
This lecture focused on growth motivation and positive psychology.

o	human nature is inherently good.

o	individuals are born to be good, however, it is environmental factors that influence individuals to engage in evil behaviours.

o	what is the problem of evil behaviour of certain individuals such as murderers?

o	if caretakers provide individuals with the nurturance and acceptance that they require whilst establishing a genuine connectedness with those they care for, then individuals would inevitably choose good behaviours over bad.

o	no one in their right mind would commit a crime such as murder. Environmental factors can force an individual to experience impairments in their psychological functioning that will then influence them to engage in these evil behaviours.

o	individuals can be forced by environmental factors to engage in these behaviours. For example, some people are forced to choose between their life and an evil act, such as murder. Most individuals would engage in the evil act to ensure their or their loved ones’ survival.

positive psychology focuses on prevention of mental illnesses. It aims to build strength in a person and help him/her to maintain a more positive outlook on life.

o	Martin E. P. Seligman is a well known positive psychologist. He has written many books and articles relating to this area of psychology.

o	the teachings in positive therapy are not very hard for anyone to practise in their daily life. It is just a matter of changing their thinking style and inevitably living a more happy life.

nirvana Buddhists use this term when a person reaches a state of inner peace. In order to reach this goal Buddhists must overcome desire and obtain the virtues of love, joy and compassion. Once desire has disappeared from an individual’s life, this is nirvana and the individual is free.

seeing obstacles as challenges, being content what one possesses, being open to love and show compassion improves an individual’s view of the world, others and themselves.

 References

Neill, J. (2010). [Growth motivation & positive psychology]. Lecture presented at the University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4208&topic=3 Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. United States of America, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.