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Telic and Paratelic Motivational Modes. Information on punishment and motivation.
Telic and Paratelic Motivational Modes
Michael Apter categorized the telic and paratelic states. The telic state is described as the activity or behavior of an individual motivated by a goal. Paratelic state is described as the motivation derived from the activity or behavior itself also known as intrinsic motivation. Punishment Punishment is defined as an unpleasant condition or consequence provided into the environment upon the manifestation of an undesirable activity or behavior. This is highly used in behavior modification in which the person will avoid engaging in a certain behavior or activity in order to prevent the unpleasant consequence. The stimulus applied to the environment can be described as positive which is the application of the punishment or negative which is the removal of the reward. Examples of positive punishment are suspending an employee and spanking a child while examples of negative punishment are removal of salary bonuses and incentives. Three Aspects of Punishment The effect of the punishment is determined by the repetition of the undesirable behavior or activity. There should be a remarkable decrease or positive change in the person’s response in order to render the punishment effective. Thus three aspects should be present in punishment. - The undesirable behavior or action. This is defined as the violation of the standard or misperception of the stimulus provided by the environment leading to failure of the goal.
- The punishment. Either positive or negative, an unpleasant condition will be provided to the individual with the objective to motivate him not to make the same mistake again.
- The punishment outcome. The person will perform to the fullest of his abilities or not perform at all in order to escape punishment. The outcome can be disastrous or beneficial to the person.
Punishment and Escape In every form of punishment, there should be a means to an escape. A person is more likely to become intensely goal-oriented, regardless of the intensity of the punishment as long as there is the presence of an escape. The escape presents the idea that the goal is attainable and only through the accomplishment of the goal will the person escape the punishment. Punishment and Motivation The disastrous outcome of punishment is that the person will develop the belief that he is not capable of accomplishing the goal. He will divert his efforts into another less-challenging activity as the result of a hurt ego. However, punishment can effectively be used to motivate a person to do better. The person will attempt to escape punishment by developing his abilities and skills in order to achieve the desired goal set by the environment. In order to avoid the consequences of feeling fear, shame and guilt, the person works harder and fulfills the goal which will meet his needs of feeling useful, successful and competent.
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