Intrinsic v. Extrinsic Motivation

Please read the interview with Alfie Kohn titled Punished by Rewards in additon to watching these videos. Comment about how you feel about grades, school and learning. When was the last time you felt intrinsically motivated to learn something new, or excited about something you were learning? Do you agree that the hunt for grades is not about learning but about being told how well you are doing at 'learning'? If grades do not represent real learning, what do they represent? what should they represent? Is there any way to have a school without grades? How would that work? Is there anyway to foster an interest in putting effort into actually learning things rather than just fostering putting effort into getting grades?


podcast

Stress Response

Here is a video about the body's stress response.

And one about the body's immune response:

Based on the psychsim assignment, textbook readings, and these videos, assess your stress level. Be specific.

Based on your assessment, what health concerns do you or should you have?

What coping mechanisms do you find helpful in reducing stress in your life? Which ones don’t you use or have that may be beneficial?

More on DSM

My previous post indicates that the number of disorders identified in the DSM continues to increase, and is predicted to follow this pattern in the newest revision that is being undertaken. Thank you for you opinions on this. Here are some additional hypothesis to consider. Which of these do you think have merit? Do you agree or disagree with any of these? :

Hypothesis One: The DSM reflects an increasingly sophisticated and exhuastive compendium of all possible mental disorders.

Hypothesis Two: More psychological disorders = more people diagnosed with mental disorders = more money is siphoned off to hospitals, treatment centers, drug companies, mental health professionals, social workers, school counselors, etc. (Scientists who are currently working on the next version of the DSM have agreed to restrict their income from drug makes to $10,000 a year or less.)

Hypothesis Three: We are an increasingly rationalized society and all things are becoming increasingly listed, compiled, organized, and annotated.

Hypothesis Four: What is considered a “problem” depends on the social context. (”Homosexuality” used to be in the DSM, but it isn’t any longer.) Perhaps a shift in the last 50 years has created a social context that is less tolerant of difference, more insistent upon happiness, or requires a more compliant citizen.

Hypothesis Five: Grassroots activists get together and lobby scientists to include disorders in the DSM so that they can raise awareness and money for research.