Brianna
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Motivation and learning - 2006/11/11 16:45
From a newsletter - www.sports-coach.net
One of the major difficulties for coaches working with groups of athletes with diverse motives and goals is to create a motivational climate that facilitates the development of all these motives – or at least as many as possible. It’s worth noting that the motivational climate created by the coach will impact on the motivation of the athletes under his or her guidance.
For example, when I was a teenager I harbored dreams of being a professional football player. However, the main reasons I played football was because I enjoyed it and because I wanted to master my chosen position of goalkeeper. I remember playing for two clubs during this period, under coaches whose approach to training and motivation could not have been more different. The first coach acted like a drill sergeant in training, continually shouting instructions and berating players for the smallest of mistakes. His motivational climate was one of fear and intimidation, in which players became afraid to make mistakes. Feedback would usually focus on what had gone wrong and praise was rarely offered. As a group we quickly came to understand that when the coach stopped shouting he was satisfied. Although he was reasonably successful, most players disliked him and I soon felt it was time to move on. This example demonstrates the approach which relies on negative reinforcement to shape behavior, so that players do exactly what the coach requires in order to avoid punishment and/or humiliation.
I enjoyed my training and played much better football when I went on to work with a coach whose approach was primarily positive. Rather than using negative reinforcement, the positive approach focuses on using praise to reinforce the behavior desired by the coach.
**Contrasting Styles
The work of the psychologist BF Skinner has led to a more complete understanding of what is termed operant conditioning, whereby behavior becomes either more or less likely depending on its consequences. The theory is that if you reward or reinforce behaviors they are more likely to occur again, while punishment is more likely to reduce the chances of that behaviour occurring in future. Both rewards and punishments can be used as motivators. So, to avoid confusion, you must think of positive and negative in this case in terms of either adding something or taking something away, not in terms of good or bad.
**How operant conditioning works
Operant conditioning forms an association between a behavior and a consequence. There are four possible consequences to any behaviour, as follows:
*Something good can start or be presented;
*Something good can end or be taken away;
*Something bad can start or be presented;
*Something bad can end or be taken away.
Anything that increases a behaviour – makes it occur more frequently, makes it stronger or makes it more likely to occur – is termed a reinforcer. Normally a person will perceive ‘starting something good’ (positive reinforcement) or ‘ending something bad’ (negative reinforcement) as worth pursuing and will repeat the behaviours that seem to cause these consequences. Anything that decreases a behavior – makes it occur less frequently, makes it weaker, or makes it less likely to occur – is termed a punisher. Normally a person will perceive ‘ending something good’ (negative punishment) or ‘starting something
bad’ (positive punishment) as worth avoiding and will not repeat the behaviours that seem to cause these consequences. Note that these definitions are based on their actual effect on the behavior in question – ie they must reduce or strengthen the behaviour to be defined as punishment or reinforcement.
Table 1: Types of reinforcement and punishment
Behaviour Increases: Positive reinforcement
Stimulus added: Giving praise to a football striker for a quick turn and shot at goal makes this behaviour more likely to occur again.
Behaviour Increases: Negative reinforcement
Stimulus Added: A coach who continually shouts criticism at his players becomes quiet and thus conveys his satisfaction. More likely to occur again.
Behaviour decreases: Positive punishment
Stimulus removed: A coach who generally praises her players, criticises some sloppy marking. Players become aware that the coach is unhappy and will strive to avoid a repeat.
Behaviour decreases: Negative punishment
Stimulus removed: A coach who usually gives lots of praise and encouragement withdraws this type of feedback. Players perceive that the coach is not happy and this acts as a type of punishment.
From these examples it is evident that there are positive and negative ways to coach. Whereas the negative approach focuses primarily on punishing unwanted behaviours, often by creating a climate of fear, the positive approach centres on looking for things that are done well and rewarding them with positive reinforcement
. Depending on the approach used, players are motivated either to avoid making mistakes or to repeat desired responses. Many coaches use both punishments and reinforcements to achieve the desired effect.
It is important to point out that a positive approach doesn’t mean being ‘laid-back’, having few rules and even fewer expectations of your athletes: far from it. A positive approach is as demanding as a negative one, except that rewards tend to predominate over punishments as the route to better performance. I have met a few athletes who feel motivated by punishment. However, I have yet to meet an athlete who doesn’t enjoy being on the receiving end of praise, a positive gesture – like a pat on the back.
The predominant use of punishment normally works by creating a fear of failure, and this can often lead to performance decrements as athletes focus on the consequences of losing or making mistakes rather than on what needs to be done to be successful.
Fear of failure can promote indecision, with consequent tentative responses and a tendency to choke in high-pressure situations.
**Knowing your athletes
There are some players for whom a negative approach to coaching might be effective, but you really need to know your athlete before employing such tactics.
Creating the most productive motivational climate depends on many inter-related factors, including the characteristics of the group and individuals, their preferred style of coaching, the qualities of the coach (knowledge, expertise etc), the dangers involved in a given activity and, of course, the coaching style favoured by the coach. There are many coaches I have seen and talked to who have adopted a coaching style based on their own experiences of being coached. My advice is to think about what
you are trying to achieve and whether your adopted style best suits the individuals or group you are working with. In my experience, the best coaches are flexible and able to adapt to the requirements of different situations. This will nearly always involve criticism or punishment as well as praise, but will rely primarily on a positive approach in
order to motivate players to perform at their best.
-- Lee Crust, PhD, BSc, PGCE is a lecturer and researcher in Sport and Exercise Psychology at
York St John College of Higher Education
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