January 2013 Archives

Familiarize yourself with the blog. You'll quickly notice that all of your assignments are listed here in chronological order. There are also many posts that go beyond these listed here for your assignments, and feel free to browse those using the links in the right side menu.

The course calendar (given to you in class, and available as a link on the Course Resources tab--look near the top of your screen) is a really important document. It shows your assignments, due dates, and in-class meetings. You'll see that for Thursday you are to register for this website (so you can log in and comment to posts), and that you are to read the blog post Using Movies (right below this one).

The Course Resources tab has links to important information that you will likely need to access throughout the course. One such link is the How To Register link. You'll need to go there next, click the link, and read and follow the directions carefuly. Make sure you have scrolled all the way to the bottom of the document so you follow all the directions.

In time for Thursday's, please read the following link: http://www.psychologicalscience.com/kim_maclin/2010/01/i-learned-it-at-the-movies.html 

as well as the 3 resource links at the bottom of that article.

This semester's movies:

Cast Away

Cinderella Man

American Beauty

Good Will Hunting

Into the Wild

Almost Famous

Billy Elliot

Read Ch1 and Ch 2 in your textbook. Don't worry so much about your answers being beautifully written (yet!); focus on reading and understanding the material and then communicating that understanding to us when answering these questions.

From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you?

If you had to describe to someone not in this class what Motivation is all about, what would you tell them based on your understanding of this chapter?

What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?

Provide a list of Motivation and Emotion terms that you used in your comment at the bottom of your post.

There are several options for you to choose from to do your book report. They are: Kite Runner, Mind at Work, Lives on the Boundary, Talent is Overrated, The Happiness Project, Intrinsic Motivation at Work, The Long Walk. You should choose a book that you are genuinely interested in, and consider this an opportunity to read something that you enjoy (even though it is also for a class). You can read reviews and summaries of these books at Amazon.

Each of these books are available at University Book and Supply next to the texts for this course. Many of these books are available at the UNI library and our local Cedar Falls and Waterloo Public Libraries. You may also purchase them at a local book seller like Barnes and Noble in Waterloo, or online at Amazon or other online merchants. Amazon also has digital options for your IPhone, Nook, or Kindle.

You should order/get your book THIS WEEK.

Guidelines for the book report are here: http://www.psychologicalscience.com/motivation_emotion/2010/02/book-report-guidelines.html and also linked under the Course Resources tab of this website.

Review your calendar and be prepared to choose a Thursday due date sometime this semester. A sign up sheet for due dates will be passed around in class on Thursday.  

On your due date, you will turn a hardcopy in to me in class. Given that you are choosing your own deadline, no late papers are accepted. You may change your deadline throughout the semester as long as you provide 2 weeks notice. You must email your request to me, and if I approve it, include a copy of the email with your final report. You will also turn in a copy electronically to Turnitin.com (information about this is linked under the Course Resources tab.

Allow sufficient time to read your book and write your report.

As you progress through this course learning about motivation, you will likely be considering your own levels of motivation for various tasks, and for the goals you want to achieve. First, I'd like you to consider the following four categories:

What are some tasks (of low importance and high importance) that you have low and high motivation for? For example, you might have low motivation for cleaning your apartment, but it also, personally, may be of low importance to you, etc. I'd like you to come up with several tasks for each category.

Next, i'd like you to take it to the next level, and consider the following grid:

For the previous grid you thought about tasks that you do and your level of motivation for them. Now, I'd like you to consider the various goals you have for yourself and reflect on your motivation for them and their level of importance to you.

Describe your experience reflecting on these tasks and goals, your motivation, and their level of importance to you. Has doing this assignment clarified any issues for you? If so, how and in what way?

Read Chapter 3 of your textbook.

Summarize the chapter, then answer these questions. What information was most surpising to you? What information was most confusing to you? What information do you want to learn more about? How is your understanding of motivation changed now that you've learned about some of the biological/physiological bases of it?

Provide a list of terms you used at the bottom of your post

Read this article on smoking and the brain: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marina-picciotto/smoking-in-movies-think-smoking-looks_b_810561.html

Summarize the article. What are your thoughts on this piece? What is most interesting to you? Choose one aspect of the article that you want to learn more about and find out some more information about that. What did you learn? How does your understanding of concepts from chapter 3 help you understand this article? What does all this information teach you about the motivation to quit smoking?

Provide a list of proper M&E terms that you used in your blog post.

Photo credit: smoking and sad girlby *hidlight (http://hidlight.deviantart.com)

Read Chapter 4

Summarize the chapter. What was the most interesting thing you learned in this chapter? Were their concepts or ideas you are unclear on right now? How does physiology and physiological reactions relate to motivation? What differentiates physiological mechanisms and brain mechanisms (from chapter 3)? 

This movie has concepts from Chapters 1-4.

Next, write your comment. Your comment does not need to provide an overview of the movie (we have all seen it). Your comment should be an in-depth analysis of one or more principles from your text. You should use scenes and characters to provide examples of textbook concepts. Your comment should reflect that you are in an upper division, university level Motivation and Emotion course and clearly link elements from the movie to the textbook.  This is a comprehensive assignment (linking course lectures, textbook, and the movie) and you cannot do that in just a few short paragraphs.

BE SPECIFIC. At the bottom of your comment, please put a list of the ME terms you used. 

Read Chapter 5.

Summarize the chapter. What was the most surprising/interesting thing you learned? Is it possible to be intrinsically motivated yet still be paid? What are some examples of how you are intrinsically and extrinsically motivated? How will information from this chapter change how you think about motivating yourself for school/career success?

This movie has concepts from Chapter 5. Though as usual, you can also remark on other concepts from other chapters.

Your comment does not need to provide an overview of the movie (we have all seen it). Your comment should be an in-depth analysis of one or more principles from your text. You should use scenes and characters to provide examples of textbook concepts. Your comment should reflect that you are in an upper division, university level Motivation and Emotion course and clearly link elements from the movie to the textbook.  This is a comprehensive assignment (linking course lectures, textbook, and the movie) and you cannot do that in just a few short paragraphs.

BE SPECIFIC. At the bottom of your comment, please put a list of the ME terms you used.

I want you to go to PostSecret http://www.postsecret.com/ or OneSentence http://www.onesentence.org/. Browse around. If you've never been here, you'll be addicted. Guaranteed. You will laugh. You will be surprised. Maybe even shocked. These are glimpses into personal worlds. Many of them are also good examples of psychological needs.

What was your experience reading these? How do they make you feel? How do they make you think? Choose a couple of examples (provide them in your comment) and describe in detail how they reflect the presence or absence of a particular psychological need. Justify your answer by providing evidence from the book about that psychological need, and you linking it to the secret or OneSentence you've chosen.

Read chapter 7. Summarize the chapter. What was the most surprising thing you learned? If you had to rate yourself as high, medium, low, on the various social needs, what would those ratings be? How do those various levels manifest themselves in your life? Choose one social need and discuss how it motivates some of your specific behaviors.

Provide a list of terms at the end of your post that you used from the chapter.

This movie has concepts from Chapters 6-7.

Next, write your comment. Your comment does not need to provide an overview of the movie (we have all seen it). Your comment should be an in-depth analysis of one or more principles from your text. You should use scenes and characters to provide examples of textbook concepts. Your comment should reflect that you are in an upper division, university level Motivation and Emotion course and clearly link elements from the movie to the textbook.  This is a comprehensive assignment (linking course lectures, textbook, and the movie) and you cannot do that in just a few short paragraphs.

BE SPECIFIC. At the bottom of your comment, please put a list of the ME terms you used.

Read chapter 8. Summarize the chapter. What was the most surprising thing you learned? How does the knowledge from this chapter help you to motivate yourself towards desired goals?

Provide a list of terms at the end of your post that you used from the chapter.

I want you to choose a real goal that you have. Make it a medium to long term goal (so something at least 1 year away or longer). Using what you know from Chapter 8, how could you go about making it more likely that you will achieve that goal? Be specific in terms of the concepts from chapter 8 and how your application of them to your goal.

Read chapter 9. Summarize the chapter. What was the most surprising thing you learned? How do personal control beliefs serve to encourage (motivate) or discourage behavior? Provide an example of each (an encouraged and discouraged behavior) and specifically discuss how personal control beliefs would influence those behaviors.

Provide a list of terms at the end of your post that you used from the chapter.

Read chapter 10. Summarize the chapter. What was the most surprising thing you learned? What does the self have to do with motivation? How does this knowledge help you to motivate yourself towards desired goals?

Provide a list of terms at the end of your post that you used from the chapter.

This movie has concepts from Chapter 10. Though as usual, you can also remark on other concepts from other chapters.

Your comment does not need to provide an overview of the movie (we have all seen it). Your comment should be an in-depth analysis of one or more principles from your text. You should use scenes and characters to provide examples of textbook concepts. Your comment should reflect that you are in an upper division, university level Motivation and Emotion course and clearly link elements from the movie to the textbook.  This is a comprehensive assignment (linking course lectures, textbook, and the movie) and you cannot do that in just a few short paragraphs.

BE SPECIFIC. At the bottom of your comment, please put a list of the ME terms you used.

Chapter 11 & 12

Read chapters 11 & 12. This does not need to be a double length blog. Summarize the main concepts. What was the most surprising thing you learned? What does this all have to do with motivation?

Provide a list of terms at the end of your post that you used from the chapter.

Go to Paul Ekman's FACE Training website http://face.paulekman.com/default.aspx and browse the content. You can also review his main website http://www.paulekman.com/

For this post, scroll down to the bottom of the FACE Training site and complete the METT Demo. What was it like for you? How can you relate it to the science of emotion from chapters 11 and 12? How does/might it relate to motivation?

This movie has concepts from Chapters 13. Though as usual, you can also remark on other concepts from other chapters.

Your comment does not need to provide an overview of the movie (we have all seen it). Your comment should be an in-depth analysis of one or more principles from your text. You should use scenes and characters to provide examples of textbook concepts. Your comment should reflect that you are in an upper division, university level Motivation and Emotion course and clearly link elements from the movie to the textbook.  This is a comprehensive assignment (linking course lectures, textbook, and the movie) and you cannot do that in just a few short paragraphs.

BE SPECIFIC. At the bottom of your comment, please put a list of the ME terms you used.

Read Chapter 14.

Summarize the chapter. What was the most surprising/interesting thing you learned? How are you unconsciously motivated? Is it possible to become aware of our unconscious motivations? 

Check out this animation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

First, how accurate is his information? Any problems compared to your textbook's information on these topics?

Second, how was the experience of watching this? Did it help you understand the material better? If so why?

If I gave you 24 hours of autonomy (for use for this course though!) what do you think you could do? What information would you pursue? What would you make? Or create? Or discover? How would you use your time to learn more about motivation or emotion, or use your knowledge to do something?

xx

This movie has concepts from Chapters 14-15. Though as usual, you can also remark on other concepts from other chapters.

Your comment does not need to provide an overview of the movie (we have all seen it). Your comment should be an in-depth analysis of one or more principles from your text. You should use scenes and characters to provide examples of textbook concepts. Your comment should reflect that you are in an upper division, university level Motivation and Emotion course and clearly link elements from the movie to the textbook.  This is a comprehensive assignment (linking course lectures, textbook, and the movie) and you cannot do that in just a few short paragraphs.

BE SPECIFIC. At the bottom of your comment, please put a list of the ME terms you used.