An Integrated Model for the Study of Teacher Motivation

Des recherches récentes ont montré que les enseignants souffraient plus que d’autres groupes professionnels d’un manque de motivation au travail. Une compréhension globale de la motivation des enseignants exige un modèle adéquat. L’objectif principal de cette recherche était de proposer et de mettre à l’épreuve un modèle de la motivation des enseignants qui intégre des concepts de plusieurs théories cognitivo‐motivationelles. Le modèle intégré s’appuie sur la schéma expectation‐valence et celui de l’incapacité acquise, mais surmonte quelques‐unes de leurs imperfections. L’échantillon était composé de 272 enseignants des écoles élémentaires et secondaires du Portugal. Ils ont répondu à une série d’inventaires destinés à mesurer leurs expectations de contrôle, de succès et d’efficacité, leurs attributions, leur motivation intrinsèque, la valence de leurs buts perçus et comment tout ceci interagit pout agir sur l’engagement professionnel (la variable exogène du modèle). Les analyses des coefficients de pistes et de la variance des variables endogènes valident le modèle intégré proposé ici et suggèrent des stratégies de formation pour accroître la motivation des enseignants. Recent studies show that teachers suffer more than other professional groups from the occupational lack of motivation. A global understanding of teacher motivation requires an adequate framework for its study. The main goal of the current research was to propose and test a model of teacher motivation that integrates constructs from several cognitive‐motivational theories. This integrative model starts from the perspectives of Expectancy‐Value and Learned Helplessness but overcomes some of the limitations of each. The participants were 272 elementary and secondary teachers in Portugal. They responded to a series of inventories designed to measure their expectancies of control, success and efficacy, attributions, intrinsic motivation and perceived goal value levels, and how these interact to influence professional engagement (the model's exogenous variable). Analyses of path coefficients and the variance of endogenous variables support the proposed integrated model and suggest strategies for teacher education that may increase teacher motivation.     

Do noise masks terminate target processing?

Much recent research in visual information processing has employed a methodology resting on the assumption that a noise mask following presentation of a target stimulus terminates processing of that target. In the absence of appropriate controls, such a methodology is viable only insofar as an erasure theory of masking is valid. However, the phenomena from which the erasure position has derived its strongest support have been subject to alternative theoretical explanations, the most general of which is that of temporal integration. The experiment reported here tested these alternatives. Twelve subjects served in a tachistoscopic study designed to determine whether the same noise field of dots could either erase a degraded target digit or facilitate target identification through temporal integration, under both forward and backward masking paradigms. This was found to be the case, and the results were interpreted as consistent with an integration theory of masking and as incompatible with an erasure conception. The results suggested that efforts to control target processing time through display of a visual noise pattern subsequent to target presentation are methodologically inadequate when devoid of some basic control operations.     

Some characteristics of selective attention in visual perception determined by vocal reaction time

Previous research had found that the accuracy with which an S could report an indicated letter or target in a briefly exposed multiletter display decreased as the number of irrelevant letters increased, and accuracy increased if the position of the target letter was indicated 150 msec before the display was presented. Iii the present experiment, these variables were reinvestigated using vocal reaction time as the dependent variable. An interpretation of the accuracy measures in terms of differential processing times was supported. The results of the two experiments were discussed in terms of a model of attentional selectivity.     

“Subliminal cues” and the Müller-type illusion

Using the viewing box from a 2-field tachistoscope, feathers-arrows fr an 1 field were superimposed upon line-pairs from the other field to construct the Muller-Lyer illusion. 6 as were tested for the illusory effects under 4 conditions of feather-arrow detectability: (a) d′=O, (no luminance); (b) d′=.42; (c) d′=l.00; and (d) ′’=3.7. The length differences of lines of any given pair were 0 in., 1/64 in., 2/64 in., or 6/64 in. The illusion effect was observed when the featherarrow d’ equaled 3.7. No significant nor suggestive illusion effects were found for the other feather-arrow detectability conditions.     

Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Correlates of Internalization of Regulations for Religious Activities

The main goal of this study was to examine the relationship between different types of extrinsic motivation for religious behaviors as conceptualised within self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) and Wulff's (1991) framework of literal versus symbolic approaches of religious contents. Results from a Belgian sample of active believers (N=186) show that the internalization of one's reasons for performing religious behaviors was positively associated with an open, symbolic interpretation of religious belief contents and a stronger adherence to Christian beliefs. Moreover, internalization was also positively related to general well-being and frequency of prayer but unrelated to church attendance. It is concluded that individuals who engage in religious behaviors because of its perceived personal significance will show more cognitive flexibility and open-mindedness towards Christian belief contents, a stronger adherence to this message, higher well-being and more frequent engagement in specific religious behaviors.