Short-term outcomes of a motivation-enhancing approach to DUI intervention

Objective

We compared a group-delivered, theory-based, motivation-enhancing program (PRIME For Life^® – PFL, n = 450) to an intervention as usual (IAU, n = 72).

Method

Individuals convicted of a substance related offense in North Carolina, typically first offense alcohol and drug-impaired driving, participated in a PFL or IAU group. We compare the interventions on program satisfaction and changes made from preintervention to postintervention, and examined the moderating effects of demographics and alcohol dependence level.

Results

When significant, findings varied in magnitude from small to medium effects. Participants in both interventions showed intentions to use statistically significantly less alcohol and drugs in the future compared to their previous use, and differences between the groups were not statistically significant. Otherwise, findings favored PFL. PFL exhibited greater benefit than IAU on understanding tolerance, perceived risk for addiction, problem recognition, and program satisfaction. Additionally, IAU perceived less risk for negative consequences postintervention than they had at preintervention. Moderation analyses showed that the between-condition findings occurred regardless of gender, age, education, and number of alcohol dependence indicators. Additionally, younger people and those with more dependence indicators – groups of particular concern – showed the greatest change.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that a motivation-enhancing approach can be effective in producing short-term change in factors that can help facilitate and sustain behavioral change. This is consistent with previous research on the use of motivational approaches, and extends such findings to suggest promise in group-based settings and with people across demographic categories and dependence levels. Future research should focus on larger studies looking at long-term behavioral change, including recidivism.     

Designing motivational agents: The role of praise, social comparison, and embodiment in computer feedback

The present study draws on theories of attribution, social comparison, and social facilitation to investigate how computers might use principles of motivation and persuasion to provide user feedback. In an online experiment, 192 participants performed a speed-reading task. The independent variables included whether or not the verbal feedback from the computer involved praise, whether the objective feedback showed that the participants were performing better or worse from their peers, and whether or not the feedback was presented by an on-screen agent. The main dependent variables included a subjective measure of participants’ intrinsic motivation and an objective measure of their task persistence. Results showed that providing participants with praise or comparative information on others’ performance improved intrinsic motivation. When praised, participants whose performances were comparatively low persisted in the task longer than those whose performances were comparatively high did. Additionally, the mere presence of an embodied agent on the screen increased participants’ motivation. Together, these results indicate that praise and social comparison can serve as effective forms of motivational feedback and that humanlike embodiment further improves user motivation.     

An exploration of empowerment in manufacturing enterprises

This paper investigates empowerment within manufacturing production. Empowerment is multidimensional. Understanding the implications of operationalising empowerment requires an appreciation of all its dimensions. These dimensions are captured in Empowerment Profiles, which are incorporated within a conceptual framework. A sample of the Empowerment Profiles is validated using case studies. The Empowerment Profiles appear to have potential as a tool to assist in preparing to implement empowered work strategies, focusing attention on issues to be considered.     

Motivation and interface design: maximising learning opportunities

Abstract Instructional multimedia is creating a revolution in universities. Academic staff are being urged to transfer instruction to a format suitable for either CD/ROM and/or the Internet, principally the World Wide Web. Many, it seems, simply take their existing course materials, add image and sound without proper consideration of the nature of the medium in which they are seeking to instruct and present the product to their students. In essence, it appears they ignore the need to motivate their students to work with their instructional multimedia materials. It is a contention of this paper that the user-interface to instructional multimedia is strategically important: if it is poorly designed students will not be intrinsically motivated to make use of the product or to learn with it. Interfaces that motivate learners are realistic, easy to use, challenging and engaging. Superior interfaces have some of the elements of a game: they provide the user with a functional model of task, content and processes; they encourage exploration and engagement; and they demonstrate cognisance of design considerations such as interactivity, functionality, learner control and cognition.     

The impact of general and specific performance and self-efficacy on learning with computer-based concept mapping

When students learn a new and challenging task, for which they have very limited corresponding personal or vicarious experiences to refer, it is important to understand how their self-efficacy beliefs evolve during the course of sequential lessons; how they differ in the way their general learning performance and self-efficacy influence their ratings of task-specific self-efficacy and performance; and, how such differences may result in different learning outcomes and motivations for learning. By examining a group of 66 students engaged in learning to construct good concept maps with computer software, this study revealed several important findings on these questions. Students generally tended to initially overestimate their ability to successfully carry out the required task. They also varied in the way their general self-efficacy and performance were associated with their task-specific self-efficacy and performance. And, these differences did appear to be associated with different learning outcomes and motivations for learning. These results indicate that investigating individual differences in students’ patterns of association between general and specific performance and their self-efficacy may lead to a better understanding of how students differ in their levels of motivation and outcomes when learning a new and challenging task.     

The roles of task difficulty and prior videogame experience on performance and motivation in instructional videogames

Videogames are an increasingly popular instructional tool. This research investigated how various strategies for modifying task difficulty in instructional videogames impact learner performance and motivation. Further, the influence of prior videogame experience on these learning outcomes was examined, as well as the role prior experience played in determining the optimal approach for adjusting task difficulty. Participants completed a game-based training task under one of four task difficulty conditions: static, increasing, adaptive-low and adaptive-high. All participants completed an identical pre-training trial, 10 practice trials varying in difficulty level according to condition, and a final performance trial. Results demonstrate that learner performance and motivation significantly improved in all difficulty conditions. Further, prior videogame experience was found to significantly influence these learning outcomes and a three-way interaction was detected between performance, task difficulty condition, and experience. The results of this research provide information useful to instructional videogame developers and instructors utilizing videogames as instructional tools.     

The economy of risk; or,what do I get for my error?

This paper starts from the assumption that the accident risk run by traffic participants is under their own voluntary control. It then considers the effects to be expected from incentives given to drivers for having fewer accidents or no accidents at all. On the basis of a simple utility model of drivers' preferred risk levels, expected safety effects are derived for incentive schemes which vary in: (1) the nature of the accident criterion to be met; (2) the extent of the criterion (i.e., the length of the period required); (3) the magnitude of the incentive; and (4) whether the criterion is an individual or a group performance. Implications of the results of cost effectiveness to the incentive provider are discussed. It appears that there is no lack of incentive schemes that are theoretically expected to yield more returns, in terms of accident costs, than needs to be invested in the incentive funds.     

Towards understanding the underlying structure of motivational factors for software engineers to guide the definition of motivational programs

Aim

In this article, factors influencing the motivation of software engineers is studied with the goal of guiding the definition of motivational programs.

Method

Using a set of 20 motivational factors compiled in a systematic literature review and a general theory of motivation, a survey questionnaire was created to evaluate the influence of these factors on individual motivation. Then, the questionnaire was applied on a semi-random sample of 176 software engineers from 20 software companies located in Recife-PE, Brazil.

Results

The survey results show the actual level of motivation for each motivator in the target population. Using principal component analysis on the values of all motivators, a five factor structure was identified and used to propose a guideline for the creation of motivational programs for software engineers.

Conclusions

The five factor structure provides an intuitive categorization for the set of variables and can be used to explain other motivational models presented in the literature. This contributes to a better understanding of motivation in software engineering.     

论激发大学生的学习动机

学习动机是内在的学习动力,在个体的学习活动上起着至关重要的作用。激发大学生的学习动机,关键是把消极的动机转化为积极的动机。具体做法是应将个人内部动机转化为社会性动机,注意激发学生学习兴趣,提高学习效率。     

不同类型化工国有企业经营者薪酬激励机制的设计探讨

针对原有经营者薪酬结构,通过市场对标,发现存在经营者薪酬总体水平缺乏市场竞争力、原有薪酬结构分布不合理、不同类型企业经营者薪酬差异大和薪酬激励作用小等问题,在此基础上,提出加快公司经营者薪酬结构改革,加大经营者薪酬激励力度,提升企业核心竞争力等一系列建议。