Need for achievement and schedules of variable reinforcement.

In a simple stimulus discrimination experiment Ss were selected on the basis of their achievement need (n Ach) and assigned to 1 of 3 reinforcement conditions. Later 14 of the persons who had operated under a 5:1 schedule of reinforcement were paired on the basis of n Ach scores. The new persons were told it was a new type intelligence test and urged to do their best. Results indicated that the schedule of reinforced responses made for persons emitting more reinforced responses while n Ach was associated with a higher ratio of S responses over total response. The arousal made a difference in the ratio and seemingly had most effect on the low n Ach persons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Need for achievement in Negro and white children.

2 studies were done comparing the scores of Negro and white children on need for achievement (n Ach), defined as concern with achieving high standards of excellence. All Ss were from rural, central North Carolina. In the 1st study, 5th and 7th graders wrote stories in response to 6 line drawings of people. In the 2nd study, 3rd-, 5th-, and 7th-grade Ss and high-school Ss wrote or told stories to 12 other line drawings. In both studies, white Ss scored significantly higher than Negro Ss, and n Ach scores increased significantly with age. In the 2nd study, Negro girls scored significantly higher than Negro boys. Negro Ss had more hostile non-n-Ach themes in the 1st study, but there was no meaningful pattern of the non-n-Ach themes in the 2nd study. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Need achievement, fear of failure, and selective recall.

The relationship of need achievement, as measured by McClelland et al (1953), to recall of meaningful material, as measured by Reitman's (1954) recall coding system, was investigated in male volunteers from a class in elementary psychology. Various degrees of need achievement appeared related to quantity of recall and nature of material (fear of failure stories). "The paper discusses the relevance of the results to the theory and use of n Achivement measures and considers the relation of these experiments to research on vigilance and defense." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3HJ42R. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Scholastic achievement of extension and regular college students.

In a course on personnel management, the learning achieved in a class of 39 day students was compared with that of a class of 39 evening students. Each class was given both a pretest and an identical posttest for each of two units of the course content. The pretest means of the day students did not differ significantly from the posttest means of the evening students; and the posttest means of the evening students differed from a chance score by less than an amount significant at the 5 per cent level of confidence. "In view of the obtained results, a question was raised about the advisability of granting college credit for work performed in evening off-campus extension courses." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic achievement and socioemotional adjustment among Chinese university students.

Examined the academic performance, majors, study habits, and socioemotional adjustment of 177 Chinese and Chinese-American university students. 94 Ss were foreign born, and 83 Ss were 2nd-, 3rd-, or 4th-generation Americans. Data were collected through official university records, questionnaires, and inventories. Ss were divided into 3 groups, depending on place of birth and length of residency in the US. Results indicate that the image of the high-achieving, well-adjusted Chinese student was tempered when criteria other than grade point average were examined. Although grades received by the 3 groups of Ss exceeded the university average, recent immigrants apparently used certain strategies to compensate for limited English proficiency by taking reduced courseloads, studying more hours, and limiting career majors. There was also evidence that the recent immigrants were less socioemotionally adjusted than were other Ss. Implications for counseling and research are discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strategy training and attributional feedback with learning disabled students.

Investigated the effects of verbalization of subtraction with regrouping operations and effort-attributional feedback on the self-efficacy and skillful performance of 90 Ss (aged 11 yrs 2 mo to 16 yrs 2 mo) in Grades 6–8 who were classified as learning disabled in mathematics. Ss received training and solved problems over sessions. Ss in the 1st condition verbalized aloud while solving problems (continuous verbalization), those in the 2nd condition verbalized only during the 1st half of training (discontinued verbalization), and those in the 3rd condition did not verbalize (no verbalization). All Ss were periodically monitored and received effort feedback during the 1st half of training, effort feedback during the 2nd half of training, or no effort feedback. Findings show that continuous verbalization led to higher self-efficacy and skillful performance than did discontinued and no verbalization; providing effort feedback promoted these achievement behaviors more than not providing feedback did. Effort feedback during the 1st half of training enhanced effort attributions. The process by which verbalization promotes achievement outcomes is discussed. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal skills training for premedical students.

Premedical students participated in a 2?-hr orientation to 1 of 2 programs of communication-skills training: Interpersonal Process Recall or Human Relations Training. Ss were assessed on personality characteristics with the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale, Adjective Check List, and a scale measuring intolerance of ambiguity before the orientation session; following the session they indicated the perceived effectiveness of and satisfaction with the 2 programs. Although both programs were very positively evaluated by Ss, anxious and defensive Ss perceived the Interpersonal Process Recall program as potentially more effective and satisfying. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhancing academic achievement in college students through attributional retraining and instruction.

Attributional retraining is a therapeutic method for reinstating psychological control that may be useful for improving students' achievement in the college classroom. After attributional retraining or no training, internal- and external-locus students observed a videotaped lecture presented by either a low- or a high-expressive instructor in a simulated college classroom. One week later they wrote a test on the lecture and on a homework assignment. Attributional retraining improved external, but not internal, students' performance on both the lecture and homework tests. Expressive instruction also enhanced lecture- and homework-related achievement in external students but not in internal students. These results suggest that cognitive factors influencing students' perceived control (e.g., internal/external locus) must be taken into consideration when remedial interventions for academic achievement are developed. The results are interpreted within a social cognition framework. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Need for achievement and women's careers over 14 years: Evidence for occupational structure effects.

Achievement motivation was measured in 117 women as college seniors and again 14 years later. Senior-year achievement motivation predicted later employment in teaching (including college). Career-involved women who had been highly achievement-motivated in college valued status mobility and working with people and reported job satisfaction from competition with a standard of excellence; however, women in different career situations differed in the relations between their achievement motivation in college and their later work values, job perceptions, and sources of satisfaction. Women highly achievement-motivated in adulthood valued achievement-congenial working conditions and status mobility and described job satisfaction from competition with a standard of excellence, especially if they were supervisors. Professors and businesswomen showed larger increases in achievement motivation over 14 years than did women otherwise employed. Thus, achievement motivation predicts women's career outcomes when their values and work situations, along with sex-differentiated occupational structures, are considered. Occupational structure effects on motives over time are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two determinants of conformity: Age of independence training and n achievement.

36 undergraduates at the University of North Carolina took part in the experiment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Field independence, impulsiveness, high school training, and academic achievement.

Studied the interrelationships of field independence, impulsiveness, and type of previous high school education in 15 female and 45 male undergraduates. Relationships between these variables and several measures of academic achievement were also investigated. Ss were given 7 cognitive-perceptual tests and asked to complete a questionnaire measuring emotionality and impulsiveness. Results indicate that paper-and-pencil tests of field independence might partially measure different abilities among math- and art-trained Ss. Math-trained students were relatively field independent and low impulsive. Although field dependence and impulsiveness were unrelated measures, it appeared that highly anxious impulsive Ss were relatively field dependent. A negative correlation between impulsiveness and grades in statistics was found. Results support the view of H. A. Witkin et al that cognitive styles might have relevance in predicting academic evolution. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Need for approval and popularity: Sex differences in elementary school students.

Children's Social Desirability Scale (CSD) and a sociometric measure were group administered to 192 5th- and 6th-grade Ss. Intelligence and achievement scores were also obtained. High need for approval girls (as measured by CSD) were found to be most popular, while high need for approval boys were least popular. Partialing out the effects of intelligence did not significantly alter these sex differences. Sex role theory was used to explain the findings, hypothesizing that behaviors associated with a high need for approval are consistent with the female sex role model but contrary to the male model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing and training recognition of intoxication by university students.

Forty-five undergraduate volunteers attended either a 2-session recognition of intoxication training program or a 2-session attention-placebo control group. Stimulus videotapes portrayed male and female university students (targets) performing various tasks both before drinking and again after consumption of 3 to 5 standard drinks. Participants' accuracy in recognizing whether videotaped targets had or had not been drinking (target status) was assessed 1 week posttraining and 2 months posttraining. At the 1-week follow-up assessment, participants in the training program had a higher mean number of accurate ratings of target status compared with the attention-placebo control group. In addition, a larger proportion of training-group participants expressed an overall preference to rate a target as not having been drinking if they were unsure of target status. These effects were not maintained at the 2-month follow-up assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

HIV training and perceived competence among doctoral students in psychology.

A training-needs assessment was conducted at California School of Professional Psychology, Berkeley/Alameda, on students' beliefs about clinical competence, past training in HIV issues, and future training needs at the school. They perceived themselves to be somewhat competent in providing clinical services to HIV patients and members of groups at high risk for HIV. A modest correlation was found between the students' total HIV training and perceived competence, but none was found between the multicultural emphasis in HIV education and their perceived competence. These findings suggest an ethical dilemma surrounding inadequately trained psychologists providing services to multicultural populations. Ethical issues concerning training standards and criteria for clinical competency are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Asthma training in third-year medical students

In response to the increasing use of children's trade books in school reading programs, this article reviews the use of real text, drawing on the application and interaction of two distinct perspectives: reader response theory and comprehension instruction. The authors propose the need to combine knowledge of instruction with the new focus on the role of the reader within response theory and within comprehension research. This article suggests how comprehension instruction and response to literature activities can intersect in the classroom for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Explicit models and instructional strategies are discussed in the framework of this bimodal approach to reading. A sample list of high quality children's books, including several trade books that feature deaf or hard of hearing characters and issues, is provided as a resource for teachers.     

The impact of schooling on academic achievement: Evidence from homeschooled and traditionally schooled students.

Although homeschooling is growing in prevalence, its educational outcomes remain unclear. The present study compared the academic achievements of homeschooled children with children attending traditional public school. When the homeschooled group was divided into those who were taught from organized lesson plans (structured homeschoolers) and those who were not (unstructured homeschoolers), the data showed that structured homeschooled children achieved higher standardized scores compared with children attending public school. Exploratory analyses also suggest that the unstructured homeschoolers are achieving the lowest standardized scores across the 3 groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of team assisted individualization on the mathematics achievement of academically handicapped and nonhandicapped students.

Evaluated the achievement effects of an individualized mathematics program designed to solve problems of management, direct instruction, and incentives common to earlier attempts at individualization of instruction. Team Assisted Individualization (TAI), a mathematics program that combines individualized instruction, cooperative learning teams, and direct instruction, was compared to control methods in a 24-wk experiment involving 1,371 students in 59 3rd-, 4th-, and 5th-grade classrooms. Standardized mathematics computations and concepts and application scales served as dependent variables and covariates. Random-effects nested analyses of covariance indicated statistically significant treatment effects favoring TAI for mathematics computations but not concepts and applications. However, individual-level analyses found significant treatment effects for both variables for the full sample and for a subsample of 63 academically handicapped Ss. No Treatment by Handicap interactions were found. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of systematic physical fitness training combined with counseling on the self-concept of college students.

Three groups of 40 college students were each given different treatments in an experiment designed to investigate the effect of systematic physical fitness training combined with counseling on measured self-concept. One experimental group received a fitness program consisting of flexibility training and systematic distance running; a 2nd group received the same physical training plus 1 hr/wk of group counseling designed to reinforce progress made in the fitness program; and a 3rd group (control) received no physical fitness training or counseling. After a 10-wk program, the group receiving fitness training and running made a significant gain in self-concept as measured by the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. The Ss were divided into low and high self-concept groups for statistical analysis. It was found that the students who received fitness training and counseling and had low self-concepts on the pretest measure made significant positive changes in self-concept. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of academic achievement: The interaction of children's achievement orientations with skill area.

Proposes a motivational analysis to help account for individual (e.g., sex) differences in different academic areas (e.g., mathematical vs verbal areas). It is proposed that certain academic areas (e.g., mathematics) are more likely than others (e.g., verbal) to pose difficulties at the start of new units and that the necessity of surmounting difficulties favors certain achievement orientations. To test the hypothesis that children's academic orientations interact with the acquisition demands of academic material to determine performance, 57 male and 37 female 5th graders, who were classified as helpless or mastery oriented on the basis of their attributions, were assigned to 1 of 2 learning conditions. One condition involved programmed confusion during learning, while the other was a no-confusion condition. When the learning task contained somewhat confusing material in the initial sections (even though it was irrelevant to what was to be learned), Ss with a mastery oriented attributional style significantly outperformed those with a helpless style. However, when the identical task was presented without the confusing material, both groups learned with equal facility. Results support the notion that achievement differences can result from the fit between children's achievement orientations and the demands of particular skill areas. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)