Achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: Coherence, concordance, and achievement orientation

Two studies examined the effects on intrinsic motivation of pursuing lower-order target goals in an achievement context emphasizing a performance purpose goal. The purpose goal was theorized to be concordant with intrinsic needs for individuals high in achievement motivation (HAMs), but not for individuals low in achievement motivation (LAMs). Target goals that were coherent with the overall purpose goal were hypothesized to help LAMs enjoy the task even though the purpose goal was not concordant. HAMs evidenced high enjoyment in all conditions. LAMs enjoyed the tasks most when pursuing coherent target goals. Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 and tested process variables theorized to mediate goal effects on intrinsic motivation.     

Do performance avoidance goals moderate the effect of different types of stereotype threat on women’s math performance?

Stereotype threat is considered to be a robust effect that explains persistent gender gaps in math performance and scientific career trajectories. Some evidence suggests stereotype threat effects are buffered by adoption of performance avoidance goals (Chalabaev, Major, Sarrazin, & Cury, 2012). With 590 American female participants, we closely replicated Chalabaev et al. (2012). Results showed no significant main or interaction effects for stereotype threat or performance avoidance goals, despite multiple controls. We conclude that effects of stereotype threat might be smaller than typically reported and find limited evidence for moderation by avoidance achievement goals. Accordingly, stereotype threat might not be a major part of the explanation for the gender gap in math performance, consistent with recent meta-analyses (Flore & Wicherts, 2015).     

Predicting physical activity intention and behaviour using achievement goal theory: A person-centred analysis

The purpose of the current study was to identify the 2 × 2 achievement goals profiles at the intraindividual level using a latent profile analyses (LPA) approach while controlling for the nesting of students within classroom. Additional analyses involving the direct inclusion of predictors and outcomes to the final latent profile solution were also used to examine the relationships between the latent profiles and perceived motivational climate, intention to be physically active and physical activity participation. A sample of 1810 school children aged 14–19 years drawn from 79 classes in 13 Singaporean schools took part in the study. Using the latent profile analysis, four distinct motivational profiles could be identified. The results from multinomial logistic regressions showed that profile membership was significantly predicted by perceptions of mastery and performance climate. Finally, the results showed that the four profiles differed significantly in terms of intention to be physically active and physical activity participation.     

不同学习目标条件下学习时间分配的习惯性反应

采用眼动记录技术,探讨不同学习目标条件下词对位置对学习时间分配的影响。实验结果发现：在高学习目标条件下,词对位置对项目选择存在显著影响,对自定步调学习时间不存在显著影响;在低学习目标下,词对位置对项目选择和自定步调学习时间均不存在显著影响。表明议程驱动和习惯性反应是影响学习时间分配的两种认知机制,学习者会根据学习情境采用议程驱动或习惯性反应来有效地进行学习时间分配,以最小的努力实现学习目标。     

Salivary progesterone is associated with reduced coherence of attentional, cognitive, and motivational systems

The present study tested whether the hypothesis that high levels of progesterone (P) have a decoupling effect on the function of the brain hemispheres (Hausmann & Gunturkun, 2000) also extends to attentional functions, referential connections between verbal and nonverbal representations and the degree to which implicit motivational needs match a person's explicit goal commitments. Participants (28 women on oral contraceptives, 14 naturally cycling women, 50 men) completed the Lateralized Attention Network Task (Greene et al., 2008), a measure of the alerting, orienting, and conflict-resolution functions of attention for each hemisphere; a measure of referential competence (i.e., the ability to quickly name nonverbal information); a measure of the implicit motives power, achievement, and affiliation; and a content-matched personal goal inventory. In addition, they provided a saliva sample that was assayed for P and cortisol (C). Higher levels of P were associated with lower interhemispheric correlations for alerting and orienting, but with a higher correlation of conflict-resolution performance. Higher P was also associated with longer interhemispheric transfer time, lower congruence between implicit motives and explicit goal commitments and, after controlling for C, with lower referential competence. These results suggest that (a) P is associated with the degree to which attentional functions are correlated between hemispheres, although in a different direction for more posterior (alerting and orienting: decoupling) than for more anterior functions (conflict resolution: coupling), (b) that high P is associated with other indicators of reduced functional coherence between cognitive systems (longer interhemispheric transfer time, lower referential competence), and (c) that high P is also associated with low coherence between implicit and explicit motivational systems.     

高中生价值观对学校投入的影响:未来目标和动机内化程度的中介作用

为了考察价值观是否可以通过未来目标和动机内化程度影响高中生的学校投入，对六个城市七所学校的1022名高一学生的价值观、未来目标、学习动机内化程度及学校投入进行了调查。结果表明：（1）自我超越型价值观和自我完善型价值观能够使青少年发展出内在未来目标以及较为内化的学习动机，进而更加努力学习，而物质主义价值观则会使青少年形成外在未来目标以及较为外化的学习动机，进而更少投入学习；（2）当考虑价值观对未来目标的作用时，内外在未来目标不影响青少年的学习动机，但影响学校投入；（3）当不考虑价值观对未来目标的作用时，内在未来目标能够促进青少年学习动机的内化，进而更多地投入到学习中，而外在未来目标则会阻碍青少年学习动机的内化，进而更少投入学习。研究结果表明青少年的价值观比未来目标对学习有更重要的影响，说明学生发展指导工作中更应该注重价值观教育。     

Access to Assistive Technology,Systems Thinking,and Market Shaping: A Response to Durocher et al.

Fairness of access to assistive technology is important for its allocation on an equitable basis and for broader social justice and rights issues. Although the use of Daniels’s notion of “justice as fair opportunity” is helpful to the context of assistive technology, other aspects of Daniels’s broader conceptualisation of “just health” are not appropriate in this context. It is argued that fairness of access to assistive technology is crucial for the equitable attainment of the sustainable development goals; however, such access will be achieved only by the sector developing a much stronger systems thinking and market shaping perspective.     

The role of goals and goal barriers in predicting the outcomes of intentional actions in the contexts of narrative text

ABSTRACT

Predictions about human behaviour can be influenced by the presence and status of goals. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of an active goal and barriers to that goal on predictions about outcomes experienced by agents. Participants read stories describing characters with goals. The extent that there were barriers to those goals was varied. Participants predicted what happens next in the story, both prior to and after barrier removal. There was support for a goal barrier hypothesis, where the conditions for predicting goal completion involved removing conditions that prevent a goal being achieved (Experiments 1 and 2). At the same time, unachieved goals were more accessible to working memory than completed goals, regardless of a barrier (Experiment 3). These results suggest that participants deliberately decided when it was appropriate to use goal information to predict outcomes of intentional actions conducted by the agents in the stories.