Toward a tripartite model of intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation (IM) refers to engaging in an activity for the pleasure inherent in the activity. The present article presents a tripartite model of IM consisting of IM to know (i.e., engaging in an activity to experience pleasure while learning and trying to understand something new), IM toward accomplishment (i.e., engaging in an activity for the pleasure experienced when attempting task mastery), and IM to experience stimulation (i.e., engaging in an activity for feelings of sensory pleasure). The tripartite model of IM posits that each type of IM can result from task, situational, and personality determinants and can lead to specific types of cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes. The purpose of this research was to test some predictions derived from this model. Across 4 studies (Study 1: N = 331; Study 2: N = 113; Study 3: N = 58; Study 4: N = 135), the 3 types of IM as well as potential determinants and consequences were assessed. Results revealed that experiencing one type of IM over the others depends in part on people's personality styles. Also, each type of IM was found to predict specific outcomes (i.e., affective states and behavioral choices). The implications of the tripartite model of IM for motivation research are discussed.     

Observational learning in mice can be prevented by medial prefrontal cortex stimulation and enhanced by nucleus accumbens stimulation

The neural structures involved in ongoing appetitive and/or observational learning behaviors remain largely unknown. Operant conditioning and observational learning were evoked and recorded in a modified Skinner box provided with an on-line video recording system. Mice improved their acquisition of a simple operant conditioning task by observational learning. Electrical stimulation of the observer's medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) at a key moment of the demonstration (when the demonstrator presses a lever in order to obtain a reward) cancels out the benefits of observation. In contrast, electrical stimulation of the observer's nucleus accumbens (NAc) enhances observational learning. Ongoing cognitive processes in the demonstrator could also be driven by electrical stimulation of these two structures, preventing the proper execution of the ongoing instrumental task (mPFC) or stopping pellet intake (NAc). Long-term potentiation (LTP) evoked in these two cortical structures did not prevent the acquisition or retrieval process--namely, mPFC and/or NAc stimulation only prevented, or modified, the ongoing behavioral process. The dorsal hippocampus was not involved in either of these two behavioral processes. Thus, both ongoing observational learning and performance of an instrumental task require the active contribution of the mPFC and/or the NAc.     

Self-determination: a buffer against suicide ideation

Self-determination was examined as a protective factor against the detrimental impact of negative life events on suicide ideation in adolescents. It is postulated that for highly self-determined adolescents, negative life events have a weaker impact on both hopelessness and suicide ideation than for non-self-determined adolescents. In turn, hopelessness is hypothesized to generate less suicide ideation for highly self-determined individuals. Results from multigroup analyses confirm that both the direct and indirect links between negative life events and suicide ideation were significantly weaker among participants high in self-determination. The protective role of self-determination against negative life events is discussed.     

Symmetry brings an impression of familiarity but does not improve recognition memory

Studies have shown that symmetric stimuli are recognized better than asymmetric stimuli but evidence suggests that this advantage may result from a familiarity bias induced by symmetry. We used a classic episodic memory paradigm to test this bias and see if it truly accounts for the symmetry advantage. Subjects first encoded symmetric and asymmetric figures. During a subsequent recognition phase, they discriminated the encoded (old) figures from new intermixed figures. The recognition rate of old figures was higher with symmetric figures than asymmetric figures. However, the tendency to falsely recognize new figures was also higher when they were symmetric, meaning that the higher recognition rate for symmetric figures was artificially inflated by a response bias. Three other experiments further tested this finding and examined the influence of some variables (rotation in virtual 3D space, stimulus meaningfulness, and redundancy of information) on the bias. A fifth experiment with photo stimuli confirmed that the response bias also applies to objects that we regularly encounter in everyday life. In conclusion, our results show that symmetry does not enhance mnemonic processes but instead induces a response bias leading individuals to judge such stimuli as having been seen.     

The discriminative validity of a phallometric test for pedophilic interests among adolescent sex offenders against children

The authors examined the responses of adolescent sex offenders against children on a phallometric test of pedophilic interests. Participants were 40 adolescent sex offenders against children, 75 young adult sex offenders against children, and 39 young adult comparison participants. The responses of adolescents with female victims resembled those of comparison participants; adolescents with any male victims had larger relative responses to child stimuli than comparison participants. Young adult offenders, regardless of victim sex, had larger relative responses to child stimuli than comparison participants. Using a cut score of 0 (indicating equal or greater arousal to children than to adults), sensitivity was 42% for adolescents with any male victims, and specificity was 92% for the comparison participants. Results suggest phallometric testing can identify pedophilic interests among these adolescent sex offenders.     

Psychometric qualities of the German version of the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PTDS)

In the present study, the psychometric properties of the German version of the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PTDS; A. Ehlers, R. Steil, H. Winter, & E. B. Foa, 1996) were evaluated in a sample of 143 trauma survivors. To investigate convergent and discriminant validity of this questionnaire, the authors assessed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression symptoms, and social phobia. Internal consistencies of the PTDS and its subscales as well as their association with related measures show that the German PTDS is a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of posttraumatic stress symptoms. A 3-factor structure was found that is, however, not exactly in concordance with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) formulation (Reexperiencing, Avoidance, and Hyperarousal) but rather comprises a Reexperiencing/Avoidance factor; an Emotional Numbing/Hyperarousal factor; and a 3rd factor, consisting of Hypervigilance and an Exaggerated Startle Response. The findings are discussed with respect to their equivalency to the original PTDS, core symptoms of PTSD, and desirable future research.     

Retrospective assessment of childhood sexual and physical abuse: a comparison of scaled and behaviorally specific approaches

This study compared retrospective reports of childhood sexual and physical abuse as assessed by two measures: the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), which uses a Likert-type scaling approach, and the Computer Assisted Maltreatment Inventory (CAMI), which employs a behaviorally specific means of assessment. Participants included 1,195 undergraduate students recruited from three geographically diverse universities. Agreement was high across the two measures in the classification of victim status (92% and 80% for sexual and physical abuse, respectively). However, the CTQ classified more participants as sexually abused than did the CAMI, whereas the opposite trend was found for physical abuse. For child physical abuse, many participants reporting abusive acts on the CAMI scored below the cut-point for physical abuse on the CTQ. Classification differences for both types of abuse were largely unrelated to demographic factors, socially desirable responding, or self-reported withholding of information. The implications of these results are discussed in light of future research using retrospective methods of assessing childhood abuse.     

A computational model for simulating text comprehension

In the present article, we outline the architecture of a computer program for simulating the process by which humans comprehend texts. The program is based on psycholinguistic theories about human memory and text comprehension processes, such as the construction-integration model (Kintsch, 1998), the latent semantic analysis theory of knowledge representation (Landauer & Dumais, 1997), and the predication algorithms (Kintsch, 2001; Lemaire & Bianco, 2003), and it is intended to help psycholinguists investigate the way humans comprehend texts.