Educational Psychology: Learning & Cognition

Prompt: In this week's blog posting, you should explain how your character's motivation aligns with the expectancy component, particularly focusing on self-efficacy. June Osborne’s motivation aligns with the expectancy component in that she is willing to endure anything to preserve the chance that she will see her daughter again. Throughout the series, as the likelihood of this declines, her motivation shifts from expectancy towards reunification to a desire for revenge. Self efficacy played into this shift in that June believed in her ability to find her daughter. The loss of motivation only happens when she sees that her daughter doesn’t recognize her anymore and has been indoctrinated to see those like her as the enemy. Throughout the series, June’s friends tend to display a growth mindset about their circumstances, while June is more rigid. Her fixed mindset and dedication to revenge at any cost set her back many times within the later seasons.

Post Prompt: This week, you should post about your Character's appraisal(s) that brought about important, specific emotions. Explain how your character's appraisal/emotions align with Appraisal Theories of emotion. What was the appraisal process? Throughout the Handmaid’s Tale series, June Osborne’s emotions are the fuel that drives her decisions. With choosing to focus on a character who develops over five seasons, I will choose to pull most of my observations from season five. This gives room to reflect on who the character was in contrast to who she became. Throughout her struggles, June demonstrates some emotions more than others, including rage, guilt, and sadness.  Looking at these emotions through an appraisal lens, June’s cognition to emotion/action channel is understandable. For example, her rage is fueled by seeing her daughter (previously taken away from her by the corrupt government and given to a new “moral” family) living apart from her, being indoctrinated by evi

Assignment prompt: To set the stage for your motivational analysis, describe your character and context, including your character's goals. For my motivational analysis, I would like to evaluate Offred (also known as June Osborne) from the dystopian series “The Handmaid’s Tale”. The setting is an alternate reality where the United States has been overtaken by a violent government centered around strict morality and control. Offred, a woman who was separated from her family and forced to become a handmaid for a corrupt family, has many dire and complex goals throughout the 5 season series. The primary goals are to 1. escape the physically and emotionally home she has been forced to serve, 2. escape the United States into Canada, and 3. find her husband and young daughter.  I am looking forward to further analyzing this character’s motivation and driving factors.