Supporting students' motivation, engagement, and learning during an uninteresting activity.

The present study examined the capacity of 2 different theoretical models of motivation to explain why an externally provided rationale often supports students' motivation, engagement, and learning during relatively uninteresting learning activities. One hundred thirty-six undergraduates (108 women, 28 men) worked on an uninteresting 20-min lesson after either receiving or not receiving a rationale. Participants who received the rationale showed greater identified regulation, interest-enhancing strategies, behavioral engagement, and conceptual learning. Structural equation modeling was used to test 3 alternative explanatory models to understand why the rationale produced these benefits--an identified regulation model based on self-determination theory, an interest regulation model based on interest-enhancing strategies research, and an additive model that integrated both models. The data fit all 3 models; however, only the model that included rationale-enhanced identified regulation uniquely fostered students' engagement and hence their learning. Findings highlight the role that externally provided rationales can play in helping students generate the autonomous motivation they need to engage constructively in and learn from uninteresting, but personally important, lessons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work attitudes, motivation, and performance.

Discusses motivational variables both as determinants of performance by the individual in an organization, and as ingredients of work attitudes, such as job satisfaction. Motivation studies have included motivational traits (relatively enduring predispositions), motivating environments, expectancies, and equity theory. Research on job satisfaction and job involvement reveals few consistent relationships to job performance, but they do predict absenteeism and turnover. A few studies of motivational traits suggest possible utility in predicting role performance in managerial or sales positions. Motivating environments seem to have significant relations to job satisfaction and effectiveness. After reviewing several categories of programs aimed at improving motivation, the author expresses a cautiously optimistic view about the success of these programs in improving worker attitudes and/or worker performance. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Manipulating smoking motivation: Impact on an electrophysiological index of approach motivation.

A chief goal of this research was to determine whether stimuli and events known to enhance smoking motivation also influence a physiological variable with the potential to index approach motivation. Asymmetry of electroencephalographic (EEG) activity across the frontal regions of the 2 hemisphere (left minus right hemisphere activation) was used to index approach motivation. In theory, if EEG asymmetry sensitively indexes approach dispositions, it should be influenced by manipulations known to affect smoking motivation, that is, exposure to smoking cues and tobacco deprivation. Seventy-two smokers participated in this research and were selectively exposed to a smoking-anticipation condition (cigarettes plus expectation of imminent smoking) following either 24 hr of tobacco withdrawal or ad libitum smoking. Results indicated that EEG asymmetry was increased by smoking anticipation and that smoking itself reduced EEG asymmetry. Results also suggested that smoking anticipation increase overall (bihemispheric) EEG activation. Results were interpreted in terms of major theories of drug motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of fear-arousing components of driver education on students' safety attitudes and simulator performance.

Notes that despite the importance of driving safety, there is little evidence that traditional driver education courses are effective. A 2 * 2 * 2 factorial experiment examined the effects of (a) the noxiousness of an automobile accident, (b) one's probability of being in an accident, and (c) the efficacy of safe-driving practices on 144 high school driver education students. Results show that increments in the noxiousness variable greatly reduced error rates on driving simulators. Additionally, if Ss behaved negligently, driving performance was improved by increasing either their perception of the severity of accidents or their chances of being in one. Advantages of discovering effective variables linked to general psychological theories (i.e., expectancy-value theories) are reviewed, and implications for implementing these principles in driver education are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of behavioural difficulty on the saliency of the association between self-determined motivation and environmental behaviours.

Evaluated the impact of the perceived level of difficulty of environmental behaviours on the magnitude of the relationship between environmental self-determination and the occurrence of environmental behaviours. 444 undergraduates (aged 17–50 yrs) completed the Motivation Toward the Environment Scale (L. G. Pelletier et al, in press), along with self-report measures of environmental behaviours and perceived difficulty of environmental behaviours. Three types of environmental behaviours were examined: recycling, purchasing environmentally-friendly products, and educating oneself as to what can be done for the environment. It was hypothesized that the level of self-determination of environmental motivation significantly predicts the occurrence of environmental behaviours. Data were subjected to structural equation modeling analyzes. Results support the proposed hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of aroused motivation on attitudes.

"The present experiment is an attempt to determine whether attitudes can be changed by intensifying consequences. A number of academic situations were chosen as the attitude 'objects' and their perceived relation to making good grades was determined. Then an effort was made to arouse the goal of making good grades by the device of testing immediately after a quiz had been given (arousal condition), on the assumption that the motive of achieving grades is activated more strongly on such an occasion than on an ordinary class day (neutral condition)." The attempts were successful. From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2GD63P. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of parents' job insecurity on children's work beliefs and attitudes.

The authors hypothesized that children's perceptions of their parents' job insecurity mediate the effects of parental job insecurity and layoffs on children's work beliefs and work attitudes. Male and female undergraduate students (N?=?134; M age?=?18.9 years), as well as their mothers (M age?=?47.0 years) and fathers (M age = 49.1 years), participated voluntarily. With structural equation modeling as implemented by LISREL VIII, support for the proposed model was obtained, whereas no support was obtained for a competing model. Moreover, identification with fathers moderated the influence of perceived paternal job insecurity on children's humanistic work beliefs, but no comparable effect emerged for mothers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-regulated learning and college students' regulation of motivation.

This study extends current models of self-regulated learning by addressing 3 research questions, including what strategies do students use to regulate their motivation? is the use of these strategies dependent on contextual factors? how is motivational regulation related to other aspects of self-regulated learning and achievement? Self-report data were collected from 115 college students by using an open-ended questionnaire and Likert-style survey. Findings provide evidence that students regulate their level of effort in academic tasks by using a variety of cognitive, volitional, and motivational strategies; that students' reported use of these strategies varied across the 3 motivational problems with which they were presented; and that different aspects of students' motivational regulation were related positively to their goal orientation, use of some cognitive strategies, and course grade. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of motivational climate on students' behaviors and perceptions in a physical education setting.

Goal theory asserts that a task-involved climate is associated with adaptive behavior patterns such as persisting in practice. Conversely, individuals in an ego-oriented climate are deemed at risk for maladapdve behaviors when they experience failure or encounter difficulty performing a task. Results of previous research have relied primarily on self-report data rather than analysis of overt behavior. This study investigated differences in students' practice behaviors and perceptions of the motivational climate in physical education classes manipulated to be task or ego involved. Results based on 109 seventh- and eighth-grade students indicated that students perceived the conditions differently. Student behavior was assessed by coding practice trials from videotapes of the classes. Individuals in the task-involved condition completed a greater number of practice trials at a difficult level than those in the ego-involved condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhancing students' test coping skills: Report of a psychological health education program.

We tested the effectiveness of a teacher-implemented psychological health education program designed to improve students' test coping skills in the classroom. Four hundred ninety-seven Israeli students, drawn from 24 fifth- and sixth-grade elementary school classes, were randomly assigned to experimental and control conditions by homeroom class. Students were trained to practice rational self-analysis and exploration, relaxation and deep-breathing exercises, positive self-statements, positive self-reinforcement, and coping imagery. The training program consisted of five workshop sessions held in the classroom and implemented by homeroom teachers specifically trained for the task. Overall, the cognitive training program was shown to significantly improve students' levels of performance on three cognitive measures, although it negligibly affected test anxiety score. On the whole, these results support the feasibility and effectiveness of a teacher-based program for the improvement of students' test coping skills and subsequent test performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of occupational therapy education on students' perceived attitudes toward persons with disabilities

OBJECTIVES: The effect of occupational therapy education on students' perceived attitudes toward persons with disabilities was studied. METHOD: The perceived attitudes of 144 occupational therapy students toward persons with disabilities were measured before (retrospective pretest) and after (posttest) the students attended formal professional education at the University of Alberta. RESULTS: Posttest scores were significantly higher than the retrospective pretest scores, indicating that students' attitudes became more positive after they commenced formal professional education. The posttest scores of students at various levels of education, however, did not show any significant difference. CONCLUSION: On the basis of these observations, a positive but nonlinear relationship between occupational therapy education and attitudes toward persons with disabilities was postulated.     

The role of aptitude, attitudes, motivation, and language use on second-language acquisition and retention.

Examined retention of 2nd-language skills of 128 9th graders after a 9-mo absence of instruction in French as a 2nd language. Students were tested 3 times: at the beginning of the term, at the end of the semester, and 9 mo later. Ss perceived significant losses in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding French 9 mo after training ended. Written production skills also declined significantly, though recognition skills did not. Ss' attitudes toward the 2nd-language community and the learning situation also declined significantly, while their anxiety about using French increased. Few of the correlations of aptitude, attitude, motivation, or language anxiety with proficiency change scores were significant, although the correlations were substantial and stable from pretest to posttest. A casual model linking these measures to objective indices of French achievement explained the correlation among the variables. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nurses' conceptualizations of caring attitudes and behaviours

This paper outlines a study, which provided a pilot for part of a larger research project, to investigate nurses' conceptualizations of caring. The report gives an overview of previous work related to defining the concept of care before outlining the study undertaken. A sample of nine qualified nurses was used and Kelly's repertory grid technique employed to elicit constructs within the concepts of caring attitudes and caring behaviours. Grid data were analysed using cluster analysis and nine common themes were identified. These themes were largely supportive of previous research studies. It is proposed that in developing a theory of care, a synthesis should occur between nurses' conceptualizations of the concept and their professional practice.     

Impact of a two-generation early education program on parenting processes at age 18.

The Infant Health and Development Program is a two-generation early education model designed to improve parenting competence and child well-being. As part of an 8-site randomized clinical trial involving low birthweight premature children, assessments of children and parents were gathered at the time of program completion (age 3), with follow-up at ages 5, 8, and 18. Two key parenting processes were assessed at age 18 based on theory stipulating the centrality of parenting to long-term development in children. Analyses based on 283 control group and 178 Infant Health and Development Program treatment group participants revealed that treatment group mothers scored higher on one, the provision of enriching experiences. Evidence of sustained impacts on parenting suggests that carefully structured two-generation early education programs may prove good investments for promoting competence and adaptive functioning in high-risk children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploratory play as an index of mastery motivation: Relationships to persistence, cognitive functioning, and environmental measures.

To measure exploratory play at 1 yr of age, 41 middle-class infants were observed in a free-play setting. In a separate session, 11 structured tasks assessed the infants' persistence in mastering tasks. In a 3rd session, the Bayley Scales of Infant Development were given. As part of another study, home observations were available for 40 of the infants at 1 yr of age and for 23 of the infants at 6 mo of age. Measures of quantitative aspects of exploratory play showed no relationship to persistence or cognitive development; however, measures indexing the quality of exploratory play did. In addition, environmental measures at both 6 and 12 mo were related to exploratory play at 1 yr, particularly to the production of perceptual effects; but some of these findings were opposite to those expected. Results suggest that the quality of exploratory play, rather than the quantity, is a better index of underlying mastery motivation. In addition, the widely accepted assumption of a link between the amount of general exploration and cognitive ability needs to be reexamined. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Compensatory education in Israel: Conceptions, attitudes, and trends.

Presents various approaches and perceptions concerning the progress of disadvantaged students in Israel, and discusses activities aimed at rehabilitation and achievement. The high incidence of school failure among students whose families immigrated from Middle and Near Eastern countries is caused by, on the one hand, the social and cultural conditions in the various countries of origin and, on the other, the crisis that occurred upon arrival in Israel. Because of the centrality of this problem, the country has devoted resources to compensatory education. Activities designed to prevent failure include manipulation (or literal change) of the educational environment and compensatory activities that teach or reinforce certain abilities and skills to different age groups (from birth to adolescence). The achievements of the Israeli educational system are presented in both educational and general social terms. Based on this summary, it is concluded that there has been success concerning the disadvantaged student, although the educational differences between various groups in the population remain problems to be overcome. (1? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Computerized versus motivational interviewing alcohol interventions: Impact on discrepancy, motivation, and drinking.

The authors conducted two randomized clinical trials with ethnically diverse samples of college student drinkers in order to determine (a) the relative efficacy of two popular computerized interventions versus a more comprehensive motivational interview approach (BASICS) and (b) the mechanisms of change associated with these interventions. In Study 1, heavy drinking participants recruited from a student health center (N = 74, 59% women, 23% African American) were randomly assigned to receive BASICS or the Alcohol 101 CD-ROM program. BASICS was associated with greater post-session motivation to change and self-ideal and normative discrepancy relative to Alcohol 101, but there were no group differences in the primary drinking outcomes at 1-month follow-up. Pre to post session increases in motivation predicted lower follow-up drinking across both conditions. In Study 2, heavy drinking freshman recruited from a core university course (N = 133, 50% women, 30% African American) were randomly assigned to BASICS, a web-based feedback program (e-CHUG), or assessment-only. BASICS was associated with greater post-session self-ideal discrepancy than e-CHUG, but there were no differences in motivation or normative discrepancy. There was a significant treatment effect on typical weekly and heavy drinking, with participants in BASICS reporting significantly lower follow-up drinking relative to assessment only participants. In Study 2, change in the motivation or discrepancy did not predict drinking outcomes. Across both studies, African American students assigned to BASICS reported medium effect size reductions in drinking whereas African American students assigned to Alcohol 101, e-CHUG, or assessment did not reduce their drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Black students' counselor preference and attitudes toward counseling center use.

Surveyed 42 female and 33 male Black college students to determine factors related to Black student use of the university counseling center. Counselor preference, sex of client, sex of counselor, race of counselor, and type of problem were analyzed as to their effects on counseling center use. Results indicate that Black clients preferred Black counselors and that the likelihood of taking a problem to the counseling center increased as counselor preference increased. Also, the likelihood of taking a problem to the center was significantly greater if the counselor to be seen was Black rather than White. Client and counselor sex, and type of problem (personal or educational-vocational) had no effect on potential counseling center usage. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of individual, group, and intergroup relations on attitudes toward a management development program.

Studied the impact of a management development program in a medium-sized bank that was designed to increase the number of competent and aggressive young managers available to the organization. In this situation after a period of 10 yr., the training program had developed into a subsystem of the organization. 263 employees completed an attitude and job satisfaction questionnaire. Attitudes toward the program were a function of seniority, organizational rank, pay satisfaction, and perception of own career prospects. The kinds of attitudes also depended heavily on status as an employee, trainee, or officer, and on sex. Behavioral explanations of the attitude effects are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Persuasive communication and proenvironmental behaviours: How message tailoring and message framing can improve the integration of behaviours through self-determined motivation.

Public concern about environmental issues has grown substantially in the last two decades. As a consequence, the promotion of environmentally conscious behaviours that are integrated in people's lifestyle has become an ongoing and important challenge. Persuasive messages are often perceived as the first step in efforts to motivate people to change a specific behaviour. In this article, the authors propose that (a) tailoring messages according to proposed processes underlying behaviour change (i.e., being aware of a problem, deciding what to do, initiating, and implementing a behaviour); and (b) framing these messages in terms of whether they serve intrinsic goals (i.e., health, well-being) as opposed to extrinsic goals (i.e., make or save money, comfort) could make messages more effective by progressively increasing the level of self-determined motivation of the targeted population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)