Psychology of Music Learning

Miksza

Motivation

Asmus (1994)

• Motivation provides energy for seeking out and being involved in tasks– Arouse interest– Influence choice, direction, goals– Starting, sustaining, and/or stopping behavior

• 11% to 17% of variance in achievement explained by motivation– Important because it can be manipulated by the

teacher

Asmus (1994)

• Extrinsic sources (tends to be behavioral)– Reinforcement– Environment– Social sources

• Approval, disapproval, tokens, rewards, etc.

– Disadvantages• Unlikely to choose similar activities without extrinsic

rewards• Don’t pursue activities outside of class• Inhibit the development of intrinsic orientation• May lead to negative performance outcomes in the long-

term

Asmus (1994)

• Intrinsic Sources (tends to be cognitive)– Internal decisions and energy– Engaged in ‘for their own sake’– Advantageous

• Persist even when external sources aren’t available• Higher self-concept• See Weiner (1986) quote - anti-behaviorist approach• Contrast Weiner with Deci & Ryan (1985) - using

extrinsic to ‘stoke’ intrinsic

Asmus (1994)

• Maximizing extrinsic motivation– Only use rewards when necessary– Don’t reward a learner for an inherently interesting

task– Limit use of rewards for behavioral control and

participation– Avoid rewards with divergent tasks– Use rewards for acknowledging competence– Use rewards for memorization and convergent

tasks

Contemporary intrinsic/extrinsic approaches

• Elliot - Achievement goal orientations– Performance goals (aka - ego)

• Norm-referenced achievement orientations

– Mastery goals (aka - task)• Self-referential achievement orientations

– Approach and Avoid ‘valence’– Highest achievers tend to have strong mastery- AND

performance-approach orientations– Learner traits…

• Approach - help-seeking, organized• Avoid - disorganized, anxiety, avoidance, avoid help-seeking

Asmus (1994)

• Self-concept/self-esteem– Achievement and success enhance self-concept– Failure may also have constructive effects on self-

concept if:• The goals, conditions, assessment, and attributions are

appropriate• Especially if the learner is intrinsically motivated to

pursue the task in the first place

– More control over the task the learner has the stronger effect on self-concept

– See Vispoel (1994)

Vispoel (1994)

• Self-concept has been poorly defined over time - especially in music

• Self-concept is:– Organized, multi-faceted, hierarchical, stable, complexity

changes with age, descriptive and evaluative, distinct from other constructs like achievement and intelligence

• Music self-concept correlated with general artistic self-concept and verbal-academic self-concept

• Music self-concept is also hierarchically structured• Music self-concept may differentiate by instrumental

vs. non-instrumental

Self-concept in music…

• Positive self-concept related to achievement in music• Music participation related to positive general self-

concept– Results mixed for minority and disadvantaged students

• Pre-service practice teaching experiences lead to enhanced teacher self-concept

• Self-concept increased as result of participation in contest

• Consistent correlation between music self-concept and magnitude of motivation

Asmus (1994)

• Maslow - Drive Theory– Meet needs… see hierarchy from last week…

• Atkinson - Achievement Theory– Approach success

• Interaction of previous successes, motive to achieve, expectancy of success, and perceived value of success

• Optimal level: perceived difficulty and expectancy of success is intermediate

– Avoid failure• Ring toss experiment…• Protect self-perception - choose task that’s too easy or too

difficult to explain away failures…

Asmus (1994)

• Rotter - Locus of Control– Internal and external reasons for future successes

and failures• Internal: ability, effort• External: luck, powerful others

• Weiner - Attribution Theory– Perceived causes of past successes and failures

• Internal/External, Stable/Unstable, Controllable/Uncontrollable

Attribution theory in music…

• Effort and ability most commonly cited by younger students• Attributions tend to become more stable with age• Task difficulty more commonly cited by older students• Attributions somewhat distinct from magnitude of motivation• Those with high magnitude tend to cite effort more often• Asmus motivational factors

– Effort

– Background

– Classroom environment

– Musical ability

– Affect for music

Asmus (1994)

• Bandura - Self-efficacy– ‘a person’s beliefs in ability to produce intended

outcomes on a specific task’• Effect: choice of activity, effort, persistence

• Deci & Ryan - Self-determination– Sense of control enhances intrinsic motivation– Satisfying an inherent need to be competent and

self-determining

Asmus (1994)

• Common motivational topics in music education literature– Nature of musical materials– Music as a reinforcer– Classroom environment– Competition– Teaching strategies– Teacher characteristics

McPherson & Zimmerman (2002)

• Self-regulation– From a social-cognitive perspective…

• Interaction of individual, environment, and behavior (reciprocal casuation/determinism)

– Dimensions• Motive - why• Strategies - how• Time management - when• Performance behavior - what• Social elements, help - with whom

McPherson & Zimmerman (2002)

• Motivation– Parental support, self-motivation

• Strategies– Task-oriented, alone vs. with help of a teacher, mental

strategies

• Time management– Efficiency, avoidance, use of time

• Behavior– Metacognition, problem solving, self-evaluation, adaptive

mastery-oriented or maladaptive performance-oriented, physical environment

• Social elements– Parents, teachers, siblings and peers

McPherson & Zimmerman (2002)

• Stages of self-regulation– Observation

• Learning from a model

– Emulation• Imitation of a model, imitation with social assistance

– Self-control• Independent display of model’s skills under structured

conditions

– Self-regulation• Adaptive use of skill across changing personal and

environmental conditions