What Is Motivation?

1. Which of the following is the best definition of motivation?

a.The process involved when people seek to meet their personal needs

b.The process involved when goal-directed activity is instigated and sustained

c.The process involved when people increase their behavior to receive reinforcers and avoid punishers

d.The process involved in which people seek to be all they can be and become self-actualized

2.Which of the following is not true of motivated students?

a.They tend to have higher grades.

b.They learn content almost effortlessly.

c.They have more positive attitudes toward school.

d.They persist on difficult tasks.

3.Of the following, extrinsic motivation is best described as:

a.motivation to complete a activity that meets a need for safety.

b.motivation to complete a task as the means to an end.

c.motivation to complete a task because it enhances self-efficacy.

d.motivation to complete an activity because it results in a feeling of competence.

4.Which of the following is the best description of intrinsic motivation?

a.Motivation to complete a task as a means to an end

b.Motivation to complete a task to meet a need for intellectual achievement

c.Motivation to engage in an activity for its own sake

d.Motivation to complete a task to meet the need for relatedness

5.Which of the following is considered to be an activity that is intrinsically motivating?

a.An activity that illustrates performance compared to others

b.An activity that displays high performance

c.An activity that will result in reinforcement

d.An activity that is inherently interesting

6.Students engrossed in the unusual results of a lab experiment best illustrate the intrinsically motivating effects of:

a.curiosity.

b.autonomy.

c.utility value.

d.expectation for success.

7.Which of the following task characteristics is not associated with intrinsic motivation?

a.Task challenge

b.Task ease

c.Task novelty

d.Task autonomy

8.Which of the following statements is most likely to increase learners’ intrinsic motivation?

a.“Well done. You’ve finished all your problems, so you can go back to the reading corner and read any book you want.”

b.“Well done. I like it when people are willing to participate in a new activity.”

c.“Well done. Everyone has done so well on their seat work, so we won’t have homework tonight.”

d.“Well done. You are getting very good at solving two-step problems.”

9.Which of the following statements most accurately describes the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?

a.People high in intrinsic motivation are generally low in extrinsic motivation.

b.People who are low in intrinsic motivation are generally high in extrinsic motivation.

c.People who are high in intrinsic motivation are also generally high in extrinsic motivation.

d.People can be high in one and low in the other, high in both, or low in both.

10.David Moore tries to start each of his lessons with a demonstration, such as dropping two objects of unequal weight and seeing them fall with the same rate of acceleration. Which of the following best describes Mr. Moore’s attempts?

a.He is trying to capitalize on learners’ extrinsic needs to feel competent.

b.He is trying to capitalize on learners’ intrinsic needs for intellectual achievement.

c.He is trying to capitalize on the intrinsically motivating effects of curiosity.

d.He is trying to capitalize on learners’ intrinsic needs for control and self-determination.