Evidence for a developmental shift in the basis for memory organization

Using a false recognition procedure, either with or without instructions to facilitate Synonym or Antonym encoding, 128 second- and sixth-grade boys and girls were tested. The results indicated that there were no grade or sex differences in generalization errors to synonyms or antonyms under neurtral learning instructions, but that facilitative instructions interacted with grade level. Under instructions to facilitate synonym encoding, second graders showed a marked increase in synonym errors. On the other hand, under instructions to facilitate antonym encoding, sixth graders showed an increase in antonym errors. In addition, association strength was directly related to the magnitude of the generalization errors in both grades. The results are discussed in terms of age-related shifts in the basis underlying the organization of verbal memories.     

Need for affiliation and sex as moderators of the relationship between need for achievement and academic performance

Sex and need for affiliation (n Aff) were investigated as potential moderators of the association between need for achievement (n Ach) and academic performance. Measures of n Ach and n Aff, based on the Personality Research form, were obtained or 78 male and 114 female grade 11 students. On the assumption of a conflict between n Ach and n Aff, it was hypothesized that high n Ach, low n Aff students earn higher grades than high n Afh, high n Aff students. The results for both males and females supported the hypothesis. Evidence was available which suggested that the poorer academic performance of the high n Ach, high n Aff students was due to an inability to maintain effectively their attention while studying. The results also indicated that, relative to other students, high n Ach females displayed a markedly superior academic orientation. Attention was drawn to the fact that the formance of the high n Ach girls appears incconsistent with some current theorizing regarding the achievement orientation of females.     

Affect as a motivational state

Using Brehm's (1999) intensity of emotion paradigm, we investigated whether basic positive or negative affect operates like a motivational state. We focused on one of the most basic affects, the sensory affect experienced when eating food. Participants tasted a delicious chocolate truffle (Study 1) or some bitter chocolate (Study 2) and were exposed to either a weak, moderately strong, or a very strong reason for feeling an opposing-valence affect or to no reason. In line with the predictions, the affect that participants reported in response to chocolate functioned like a motivational state as its intensity was a cubic function of the importance of the reason for feeling an opposing affect. We discussed the implications of these findings for the conceptualisation of affect and consider several applications for food advertising and consumer rating research.     

Extending hierarchical achievement motivation models: The role of motivational needs for achievement goals and academic performance

In the current study, we investigated the role of three basic motivational needs (need for power, affiliation, achievement) as antecedents of goals within the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework, and examined their combined predictive validity with regard to academic performance in a sample of 120 university students. Structural equation modeling analysis largely supported our postulated model, linking motivational needs indirectly to course grades through goals. Achievement goals were formed by a combination of different motives: need for achievement was a positive predictor of all four achievement goals, and need for affiliation was negatively related to performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals. Additionally, need for power was a positive predictor of performance-avoidance goals. Performance-approach goals had a direct (positive) effect on performance outcomes. In sum, our results integrate basic motivational needs with the achievement goals literature and extend therefore hierarchical achievement motivation models, by showing how basic human motives of achievement, affiliation, and power are related to goal striving motivation and performance outcomes in an academic setting.     

Need for achievement,career mobility,and the Mexican-American college graduate

Need for achievement and career mobility were measured for 111 Mexican-American college graduates. Those with a moderate need for achievement were found to have the highest upward mobility. Those with either a high or low need for achievement had lower mobility. The implications of this finding are discussed.     

Group discussion and prediscussion assessment of preferences in the risky shift

For this experiment the Choice Dilemma Questionnaire risk norm items were divided into two equivalent sets (Set A and Set B). The effect of the measurement sequence found in the typical risky shift study on the risky shift was assessed by comparing the postdiscussion risk preferences of subjects in three conditions on the Set A items: subjects in the standard pretest-group discussion-posttest paradigm (A-A condition); subjects who did not express prediscussion preferences, going directly into group discussions followed by a posttest (O-A condition); and a group of subjects who expressed pretest preferences on the Set B items and then had group discussions and a posttest over both Sets A and B items (B-AB condition). The postdiscussion risk preferences of subjects in the A-A condition were significantly riskier than those of subjects in the O-A and B-AB conditions. Also, the post-discussion preferences of subjects in the O-A and B-AB conditions did not differ from the prediscussion preferences in the A-A condition. The results indicated that the pretest-discussion-posttest paradigm used in risky shift studies is, in and of itself, instrumental in producing the typically reported findings.     

Need for achievement and performance on measures of behavioral fluency.

This investigation was designed to assess the relationship between a validated personality characteristic, need for achievement (nAch), and performance on measures of behavioral fluency. To infer this relationship, 50 neurologically intact college undergraduates were administered a questionnaire assessing nAch and a battery of tests including a short form of the WAIS and measures of behavioral fluency (i.e., verbal fluency). Statistical analysis indicated that subjects high on nAch obtained higher scores than subjects low on nAch on the measures of figural fluency and the WAIS Verbal Scale. No significant difference on verbal fluency was seen between the two groups. Secondly, the group high on nAch also had a higher mean Verbal IQ but not a higher mean Performance IQ as measured by a short form of the WAIS than did subjects scoring low on nAch.     

A motivational perspective on risky behaviors: the role of personality and affect regulatory processes

The present study tested a motivational model in which personality influences on risky behaviors were hypothesized to be primarily indirectly mediated, by shaping the nature and quality of emotional experience as well as characteristic styles of coping with these emotions. This model was tested in a representative community sample of 1,666 young adults, aged 18 to 25 years old. Results revealed strong support for the model, indicating that broad traits related to neuroticism and extraversion promote involvement in alcohol use and risky sex via distinct pathways. Neurotic individuals were prone to engage in risky behaviors as a way to cope with aversive mood states, whereas extraverted individuals were more likely to engage in risky behaviors as a way to enhance positive affective experience. In contrast, impulsivity directly predicted some forms of risk taking, and interacted with extraversion and neuroticism to predict motives for risky behaviors. The model provides a highly general though not complete account of risky behaviors.     

Ambition as a motivational basis of organizational and professional commitment: preliminary analysis of a proposed career advancement ambition scale

This study proposes that the ambition to advance in one's career may serve as a motivational basis of organizational and professional commitment. In support of this notion, preliminary evidence of the reliability and construct validity of a proposed Career Advancement Ambition Scale is presented, and exploratory analyses of a secondary data set show that the scale and original scales of organizational and professional commitment can predict turnover intentions. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.     

Comparing dichotomous and trichotomous approaches to achievement goal theory: An example using motivational regulations as outcome variables

Background. It is commonly assumed that there is conceptual equivalence between the task and ego achievement goals proposed by Nicholl's (1989) dichotomous achievement goal theory ( Nicholls, 1989 ), and the mastery and performance approach goals advanced by Elliot's (1997) trichotomous hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. Aims. Our study examined whether this conceptual equivalence is reflected in measurement equivalence by examining the factorial structure and predictive validity of two established questionnaires that assess achievement goals based on Nicholl's and Elliot's approaches to achievement motivation. Sample. Greek adolescents (N=336, M age=13.45 years, SD=1.04). Measures. The participants completed the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire ( Duda & Nicholls, 1992 ), the Approach – Avoidance Achievement Goals Questionnaire ( Elliot & Church, 1997 ) and a Physical Education (PE) version of the Self‐Regulation Questionnaire ( Goudas, Biddle, & Fox, 1994 ). Results. Confirmatory factor analyses of a number of competing models showed that a model with five correlated independent factors had the best fit. This finding suggests that the goals measured by the two achievement goal questionnaires are related, although independent constructs. However, hierarchical regression analyses predicting regulatory styles in PE showed quite a substantial overlap between the mastery and performance approach goals proposed by Elliot (1997) , and the task and ego goals, respectively, advanced by Nicholls (1989) . Conclusions. Taken together, our results indicate that the self‐referenced and comparative 1 goals of the TEOSQ and AAGQ are substantially related, to the extent that they have minimal unique predictive validity; however, they are not identical constructs.     

Reminding as a basis for temporal judgments

In the normal course of events, some events bring to mind earlier events. This reminding or, in the context of list learning experiments, study-phase retrieval can serve as a basis for the accurate judgment of the relative recencies of the two events in question. In this article, evidence for this position is presented in three experiments. By manipulations of encoding using visual imagery instructions and word associations, appropriate conditions were arranged for reminding to occur. The results of all three studies support the position that reminding provides a direct basis for later judgments of the relative recency of events.