Effects of task- and ego-achievement goals on information seeking during task engagement.

Two studies tested the proposal that information seeking is affected by achievement goals and by stages of skill acquisition (D. N. Ruble and K. S. Frey [1991]). 188 college students worked on problems in a task- or an ego-goal condition and could request task (best solutions), objective, normative, or no information after each. As expected, task-goal Ss requested more task information mainly for later problems. Ego-goal Ss made more normative requests also for early problems, and information requests were modified by skill level. These indications that self-assessment is accompanied by self-improvement concerns under task goals and by self-enhancing concerns under ego goals have implications for the debate between self-assessment and self-evaluation theories of information seeking and for research on help seeking and feedback effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of task and ego achievement goals on help-seeking behaviors and attitudes.

We proposed that help-seeking perceptions and behaviors will be more adaptive under salient task goals relative to ego achievement goals. A total of 159 2nd- and 6th-grade Israeli children could request help as they worked on difficult puzzles in either a task or an ego goal condition. As predicted, children were more likely to request help and to explain help avoidance as guided by strivings for independent mastery in the task-focus condition. In contrast, more children in the ego-focus condition explained help avoidance in terms of masking incapacity. Skill level moderated help seeking only in the ego-focus condition, wherein requests for help were more frequent at intermediate than at both high and low skill levels. The results clarify the role of motivational factors in promoting or undermining academic help seeking and can help resolve theoretical controversy and inconsistent empirical findings concerning the relation between competence and help seeking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Praise, involvement, and intrinsic motivation.

In this experiment, we examined the relation between content of praise, type of involvement, and intrinsic motivation. College students were introduced to a hidden-figure task in either an ego-involving (i.e., testlike) or task-involving (i.e., gamelike) manner and then received either ability-focused, effort-focused, or no praise for their performance. As predicted, task involvement increased intrinsic motivation relative to ego involvement, and ability praise increased intrinsic motivation relative to effort praise or no praise. Furthermore, praise and involvement interacted so that subjects who received effort praise were relatively more intrinsically motivated under task-involving than ego-involving conditions, whereas those who received ability praise were relatively more motivated under ego-involving than task-involving conditions. Also, the higher levels of intrinsic motivation were accompanied by a choice of higher level of challenge and better performance at a related but more complex task. Finally, a significant Sex?×?Praise interaction was found, reflecting that women tended to display more intrinsic motivation in the no-praise condition than in the two praise conditions, whereas men showed the reverse pattern. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of help seeking: Relations between perceived reasons for classroom help-avoidance and help-seeking behaviors in an experimental context.

It was predicted that orientations to help-avoidance (HA) would predict styles of help seeking (HS). In Study 1, a total of 1,029 pupils aged 10–12 years rated reasons for HA in math class. Ratings formed 3 factors reflecting autonomous strivings for independent mastery, ability-focused concerns to mask poor ability, and expedient perceptions that help would not expedite task completion. In Study 2, a total of 272 pupils who had endorsed one or another HA orientation could request help for math problems. An autonomous orientation was associated with autonomous HS, which promoted independent mastery, and an expedient orientation with executive HS, which expedited task completion. Pupils, especially boys, with an ability-focused orientation exhibited avoidant-covert HS: they requested least help and were most likely to cheat. HS was moderated by perceived threat to competence (ability-focused orientation) but not by perceived competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivational and informational functions and consequences of children's attention to peers' work.

Two studies (331 children aged 9–11 yrs) examined the proposal that the functions served by children's attention to peers' work differ both in their informational focus (whether children seek information either to improve their products or to evaluate their ability) and in their goal focus (whether information seeking serves either mastery or performance achievement strivings). In both studies responses to a self-report measure of reasons for looking at peers' work supported this hypothesis. Study 2 also examined the effect of a mastery vs a performance goal condition on reasons for looking at peers' work, subsequent information seeking, and interest in the task. Goal condition affected goal, but not informational, functions of looking at peers' work. Both goal condition and individual differences in endorsement of mastery vs performance reasons predicted later information seeking and interest. Implications for social comparison theory and for classroom learning and motivation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What young people want to know when: Effects of mastery and ability goals on interest in different kinds of social comparisons.

Integrating developments in social comparison and achievement theories suggested that ability goals will promote ability-appraisal and self-serving functions of social comparison and that mastery goals will enhance interest in social comparisons that can promote learning. A novel design let Ss choose between different kinds of social information. 78 Israeli 6th graders performed a task in a mastery of ability goal condition and then examined tables providing social information relevant to learning about the task, to normative ability assessment, or to identifying their personal style. As predicted, mastery Ss spent longer at the task table than ability Ss, who spent longer at the normative table, especially if they had performed well. Goal conditions also affected relations between time at the normative table and perceived competence and interest in the task. Implications of this framework and methodology for social comparison theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of extrinsic and ego incentive value on persistence after failure and continuing motivation.

We examined the hypotheses that (a) extrinsic rewards avert attention from ego threat, enhancing persistence after failure; (b) performance impairment after failure is greater when tasks have high ego value; and (c) extrinsic rewards reduce ego concern and thereby enhance continuing motivation on high ego-involving tasks, but undermine continuing motivation on other tasks. 131 college students completed 15 solvable or unsolvable (failure) matching tasks followed by 15 anagrams. Students gave up more frequently after failure except when they received rewards or were told the anagram task was very difficult. The extrinsic rewards reduced continuing motivation in the low ego-value condition and enhanced it in the high ego-value condition. Findings suggest that extrinsic incentives reduced ego involvement and threat, thereby minimizing performance impairment and increasing continuing motivation after failure on ego-relevant tasks. More generally, it is argued that exogenous incentives may be used to negate maladaptive motivational states. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptions of ability and related affects in task involvement and ego involvement.

Conducted 5 studies to determine if 207 high school and college students would employ different conceptions of ability in different achievement situations. Each experiment involved a 2 (task vs ego involvement) by 2 (low vs high effort) design. In self-referenced (task-involving) situations, Ss employed a less differentiated conception of ability: Judgments of greater competence and more positive affects were associated with higher effort when performance was controlled. In interpersonally competitive (ego-involving) testing situations, Ss employed a more differentiated conception of ability. Given a fixed level of performance, Ss judged their ability lower when they worked harder than others and higher when they worked less than others. They also expected to feel more guilty when they did not try hard, but more embarrassed when they did. It is concluded that effort is a double-edged sword in ego-involving conditions, but not in task-involving conditions. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Students' help seeking during problem solving: Influences of personal and contextual achievement goals.

The author investigated how different types of achievement goals influence elementary school students' help seeking. Fourth and 5th graders were asked to solve math problems and were given the opportunity to request help from an adult. Goals were conceptualized on 2 nested dimensions: (a) locus of the goal (i.e., personal goals that students held at the beginning of the study vs. contextual goals that characterized the task situation) and (b) emphasis of the goal (i.e., the relative importance of learning vs. performance). Personal learning goals had a positive influence and personal performance goals had a negative influence on the frequency of confirmation requests and on actual problem solving. For students who had strong personal performance goals, a contextual learning goal resulted in more process-related help seeking than did a contextual performance goal. Both types of help seeking (i.e., confirmation and process-related requests) had a positive influence on problem solving. Interactions among goals are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedents and consequences of mothers' autonomy support: An experimental investigation.

This study examined the effects of contextual and individual differences on mothers' autonomy support versus control on homeworklike tasks. Sixty mothers and their third-grade children worked on map and poem tasks, with mothers in either an ego-involving (high pressure) or a non-ego-involving (low pressure) condition. Later, children worked on similar tasks themselves. Mothers in the high-pressure condition were more controlling on the poem task. For the map task, mothers who came in with controlling styles and received the high-pressure manipulation were most controlling. Children whose mothers interacted in a more controlling manner wrote less creative poems when alone. Results suggest the importance of context, children's competence levels, and mothers' styles in determining levels of autonomy support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Confronting task difficulty in ego involvement: Change in performance goals.

Both Dweck (1986) and Nicholls (1984) proposed that when ego-involved individuals encounter difficulty, they would begin to doubt their level of ability, and as a consequence, their commitment to the goal of demonstrating high ability would decline. As difficulty continued, perceived ability would decline, and eventually the goal would be abandoned. In the present study, the authors tested these predictions utilizing a longitudinal experimental design to assess changes across time in students' perceived ability, achievement goals, performance, and affective reactions as they experienced differing levels of task difficulty in an ego-involving context. College students (N = 156) participated in 3 sessions, each 1 week apart, in which they were given ego-involving instructions and worked on “intelligence test” items. While the average level of difficulty of the session increased progressively in the experimental condition, it remained similar across sessions for the control condition. Results were generally supportive of the original predictions. As the difficulty of the items increased across sessions, students' perceived ability declined and so did their commitment to performance-approach goals, while their endorsement of work-avoidance goals increased. Also consistent with predictions, students experiencing increasing difficulty expressed stronger escapist thoughts, more negative affect, and less positive affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bridging the research traditions of task/ego involvement and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation: Comment on Butler (1987).

In an experiment on the effects of different feedback conditions on motivationally relevant variables, R. Butler (see record 1988-21628-001) tested the hypothesis that the effects of feedback on intrinsic motivation would depend on whether that feedback promotes a task-involving or ego-involving orientation. She interpreted the findings as they relate to J. G. Nicholls's (see record 1984-28719-001) theory of task/ego involvement and our cognitive evaluation theory (E. L. Deci and R. M. Ryan, 1985). Although the data were very interesting, Butler failed to review a series of highly relevant studies, she misportrayed cognitive evaluation theory, and she drew conclusions that were not necessarily warranted given her experimental manipulations and data. This article provides a commentary on that research and presents a discussion of the relation between the two theories that Butler claimed to have tested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The adaptive function of sleep: The differential effects of sleep and dreaming on recall.

Tested the hypothesis that REM sleep serves an adaptive function by examining the effects of sleep and dreaming vs. dream deprivation on the recall of ego-threatening or nonthreatening material. Ss were 40 undergraduates with high ego strength, as measured by the Rorschach Concept Evaluation Technique and the Psychological Insight Test. Ss were given an interrupted task paradigm under conditions which would lead to a threat to self-esteem for failed items, and were tested for recall after REM-deprivation, NREM awakening, or 2 or 10 hr. of daytime activity. Scores on the Repression-Sensitization scale were also examined in relation to ego strength and recall on the interrupted task. Results show that Ss who slept recalled neutral material better than Ss who did not sleep, and Ss who had REM sleep recalled threatening material better than those who had no opportunity to dream. It is concluded that NREM sleep facilitates retention of nonemotional material, while REM sleep deals with material containing affective components. (39 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early prediction of reading achievement with the Sheppard School Entry Screening Test: A four-year longitudinal study.

Administered the Sheppard School Entry Screening Test (SSEST) to 320 kindergarten pupils to examine its ability to predict reading performance in Grades 1, 2, and 3. The 3 SSEST factors (i.e., Figure Drawing, Language, and Perceptual-Motor Skills) were each significantly correlated with reading achievement in all 3 grades, even after correcting for initial IQ. Prediction was much better for pupils with the lowest reading ability. Findings demonstrate the validity of the SSEST as an early indicator of later reading achievement. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Getting older, getting better? Personal strivings and psychological maturity across the life span.

Measures of psychological maturity based on personal strivings (R. A. Emmons, 1989) were administered to 108 adults aged 17–82. On the basis of organismic-theoretical assumptions regarding maturity, age was hypothesized to be positively associated with K. M. Sheldon and T. Kasser's (1995, 1998) two goal-based measures of personality integration. E. Erikson's (1963) assumptions regarding maturity were the basis for the hypothesis that older people would tend to list more strivings concerning generativity and ego integrity and fewer strivings concerning identity and intimacy. Finally, on the basis of past research findings, maturity and age were hypothesized to be positively associated with subjective well-being. Results supported these hypotheses and also showed that measured maturity mediated the relationship between age and well-being. Thus, older individuals may indeed be more psychologically mature than younger people and may be happier as a result. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Volunteering and the recall of interrupted tasks.

It was hypothesized that the proportion of interrupted tasks recalled would be greatest among volunteers serving by choice and least among draftees not willing to volunteer, with draftees who had been willing to volunteer falling between the 2. Within each of these 3 groups those given task orienting instructions were expected to recall greater proportions of interrupted tasks than those given ego orienting instructions. College students divided into 6 groups of 16 Ss each in a 3 X 2 factorial design were tested individually using the standard Zeigarnik procedure. The results conformed to expectations although the differences among the volunteering groups were small. It was argued that differences in degree of task involvement and ego involvement account for these results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accentuating the positive: Eliciting generalized compliance from children through activity-oriented requests.

Investigated the effectiveness of activity-oriented requests as a technique for enhancing children's generalized subsequent compliance with other adult requests; 54 nursery school children, 3.7–5.9 yrs old, were studied. In Session 1, experimental Ss were asked to perform a chore and encouraged to make this task more enjoyable by either (a) generating a series of subgoals against which their own performance could be measured or (b) imagining the task to be part of a larger fantasy of inherent interest. Some Ss were offered a choice of particular goal-setting or fantasy-transformation strategies; others were assigned specific strategies. Two weeks later, Ss were asked to perform another task by a 2nd experimenter who was blind to the results of Session 1. Compared to appropriate controls, Ss who had been assigned either a goal-setting or a fantasy-transformation strategy showed increased compliance to the later adult request. Ss who chose their own strategies did not show enhanced compliance. Further analyses suggested that these effects on generalized compliance during Session 2 did not depend on differences in prior behavior during Session 1. Implications for enhancing children's compliance in home and school settings are discussed. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ego depletion and the strength model of self-control: A meta-analysis.

According to the strength model, self-control is a finite resource that determines capacity for effortful control over dominant responses and, once expended, leads to impaired self-control task performance, known as ego depletion. A meta-analysis of 83 studies tested the effect of ego depletion on task performance and related outcomes, alternative explanations and moderators of the effect, and additional strength model hypotheses. Results revealed a significant effect of ego depletion on self-control task performance. Significant effect sizes were found for ego depletion on effort, perceived difficulty, negative affect, subjective fatigue, and blood glucose levels. Small, nonsignificant effects were found for positive affect and self-efficacy. Moderator analyses indicated minimal variation in the effect across sphere of depleting and dependent task, frequently used depleting and dependent tasks, presentation of tasks as single or separate experiments, type of dependent measure and control condition task, and source laboratory. The effect size was moderated by depleting task duration, task presentation by the same or different experimenters, intertask interim period, dependent task complexity, and use of dependent tasks in the choice and volition and cognitive spheres. Motivational incentives, training on self-control tasks, and glucose supplementation promoted better self-control in ego-depleted samples. Expecting further acts of self-control exacerbated the effect. Findings provide preliminary support for the ego-depletion effect and strength model hypotheses. Support for motivation and fatigue as alternative explanations for ego depletion indicate a need to integrate the strength model with other theories. Findings provide impetus for future investigation testing additional hypotheses and mechanisms of the ego-depletion effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and the search for negative evaluations: More evidence of the role of self-verification strivings.

W. B. Swann et al (see record 1992-27469-001) suggested that depressed and dysphoric persons verify their self-conceptions by seeking rather negative appraisals. J. M. Hooley and J. E. Richters (see record 1992-27439-001) and L. B. Alloy and A. J. Lipman (see record 1992-27420-001) have worried that (1) idiosyncratic features of the Swann et al participants and design may have produced their effects and (2) Swann et al presented no evidence that self-verification strivings are motivated. The authors address these issues empirically. Study 1 showed that 20 dysphoric participants preferred interacting with a person who appraised them unfavorably over participating in another study, in comparison with 30 nondysphorics. Study 2 revealed that 26 dysphoric persons responded to feedback that challenged their negative self-view by working to reaffirm their low self-esteem, in comparison with 47 nondysphorics. These findings support the notion that at some level depressed and dysphoric persons want rather negative appraisals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trace Eyeblink Conditioning in Abstinent Alcoholic Individuals: Effects of Complex Task Demands and Prior Conditioning.

Chronic misuse of alcohol affects an integrated neural circuit supporting the formation of associative memories acquired during eyeblink classical conditioning (R. McGlinchey-Berroth et al., 1995). The authors of this study investigated single-cue trace conditioning in amnesic and nonamnesic abstinent alcoholic individuals who either were or were not trained in a single-cue delay conditioning task. Overall, untrained alcoholic participants were severely impaired in acquisition, and alcoholic participants previously trained in single-cue delay conditioning performed similarly to untrained control participants. Individual performance in acquisition varied significantly within task but was relatively stable between the trace and delay tasks; there were nonamnesic and amnesic alcoholic participants who acquired responses at a normal rate in both delay and trace conditioning. The similarity of performances in delay and trace conditioning suggests a common source of impairment across both tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)