Drive through learning

This is number 16 in my series on learning theories. I'm working through the alphabet of psychologists and theorists, providing a brief overview of each theory, and how it can be applied in education. In my most recent post I featured the theory of Heutagogy by Stewart Hase and Chris Kenyon and its applications to education. In this post, we will explore Clark Hull's drive reduction theory of motivation. As usual, this is a simplified interpretation of the theory, so if you wish to learn more, please read the associated literature.

The theory

American psychologist Clark Hull is credited with developing the first theory of human motivation. Known as drive reduction theory, his approach sits in the behavioural school of thinking. Drive is the tension caused by the desire to satisfy basic biological needs such as thirst, hunger and the need for warmth. Hull believed that as we seek to maintain an internal balance (homeostasis) where these needs are fulfilled, so we then repeat these behaviours (reinforcement) to maintain pleasant feelings, whilst avoiding the tension or unpleasant feelings created by the imbalance. In a nutshell, people are motivated by the need to reduce unpleasant feelings by reinstating internal biological balances.

How it can apply in education

Clearly, although this was considered a useful theory many years ago, our thinking has moved on, and many behaviouristic theories such as drive theory have been largely rejected. Hull's theory fails to explain complex human behaviours with simple stimulus-response chains that characterise behaviourism. There is no room in Hull's theory for example, to explain how humans can continue to explore their environment, solve problems and generate creative work even though they may be cold, hungry or thirsty.

And yet, there are areas of learning within which Hull's theory could possibly apply. Elements of his theory are present in Maslow's more humanistic and learner-centred Hierarchy of Human Needs model. Although this is in itself a flawed and contentious model, Maslow's hierarchy has been used to explain more compex motivational processes. Furthermore, although drive reduction describes simple biological needs such as hunger and thirst, more complex human phenomena such as uncertainty and doubt could be considered drives which need to be reduced. Students who experience a dissonance that brings uncertainty may become anxious or stressed. If this happens students may seek to reduce this drive by putting more effort into mastering their subject.

Or they may simply run away.

Reference

Hull, C. L. (1935). The Conflicting Psychologies of Learning: A Way Out. Psychological Review, 42, 491-516.

Previous posts in this series:

Anderson ACT-R Cognitive Architecture
Argyris Double Loop Learning
Bandura Social Learning Theory
Bruner Scaffolding Theory
Craik and Lockhart Levels of Processing
Csíkszentmihályi Flow Theory
Dewey Experiential Learning
Engeström Activity Theory
Ebbinghaus Learning and Forgetting Curves
Festinger Social Comparison Theory
Festinger Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Gardner Multiple Intelligences Theory
Gibson Affordances Theory
Gregory Visual Perception Hypothesis
Hase and Kenyon Heutagogy

Photo from Roberto Fermino blog



Drive through learning by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.