Blog Post 2 (Activity)
Yes, you should actually do this. It can be surprising. Remember your responses to the things in bold for the blog post.
Grab two identical pieces of paper (or some material) and crumple them into paper balls.
Stand in front of a trash can or receptacle of some kind.... Reflect on your confidence level.
(try to) Toss the ball into the trash can. ....Did you make it? WHY didn't you make it?
Move back 5 (or more) feet. Reflect on your confidence level THIS time. Try again.
Did you make it?
· Did you do all of the above? Ok, now you can write:
· Use what you have read about factors of intrinsic motivation to explain what happened.
o I did not believe that I could get the ball into the trashcan either time, and I did not get the ball into the trashcan either time. I was not intrinsically motivated to make the ball go into the trashcan, but it would have been cool if it had (gone into the trashcan).
· Do you think your original goal (distance from the trash can) was reasonable? (If you set reasonable goals and complete them, intrinsic motivation increases!)
o My original goal (distance from the trash can) was fairly reasonable. I’m not really coordinated or athletic, but I could have made it in. I didn’t really know how far to be away from the trashcan though.
· How did you confidence level change from the first try to the second? If it increased, did you make your first shot? If it decreased, did you miss your first shot? (Success completing reasonable goals increases intrinsic motivation and confidence for next time.)
o My confidence level decreased from the first try to the second. I missed my first shot.
· When you asked yourself WHY you didn't make the shot/s, what did you blame? Where these factors controllable or uncontrollable? What could you do next time to change those factors and improve your changes? (If failure/success is blamed on factors that are not controllable, such as luck, there's nothing you can do to improve, which makes a person feel helpless, and lowers intrinsic motivation. If it is attributed to factors that ARE controllable, and the person identifies those factors, they can feel empowered and will work to change those factors).
o I blamed my lack of coordination. I also blamed the longer distance the second time. I could practice throwing paper balls into the trashcan, although that would be a waste of paper and of my time. This will help my confidence. I will still not have excellent hand-eye-coordination; it’ll just be a little better. Luck does help, but you can’t control that at all.
I understand how your motivation ties into the results of your shots. It has to do with self-efficacy and whether or not you can see yourself completing the action or not. In my example I made the first and missed the second. Even though my confidence was higher I fell short of the goal. Which is another thing to look into. Is there such thing as too much self-efficacy? And yes practice would definitely help confidence levels.
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