Academic Motivation Lab

We study the factors that underlie students’ motivation to learn in educational contexts. Much of our work examines the tension and synergy between intrinsic and extrinsic forms of motivation as well as the strategies that parents and teachers use (e.g., praise, reward systems) to enhance or unwittingly undermine such motivation. Throughout all our work, we take a developmental approach in order to understand how motivational processes change as students gain skills, self-understanding, and social experience.

We use a combination of experimental research to specify causal processes with surveys and interviews to conceptualize motivation in context. Our research studies take place in local classrooms, online, and here in the Department of Psychology at Reed College.