The current study explored relations between non-cognitive traits (Grit, Learning Orientation, Performance Orientation), reading skill, and performance across three experiments conducted in the context of two intelligent tutoring systems, iSTART and Writing Pal. Results showed that learning outcomes (comprehension score, holistic essay score) were…

This paper describes the feedback from the configuration and deployment of a Personal Learning Environment & Network (PLE&N) tool to support peer-based social learning for university students and graduates. An extension of an earlier project in which a generic and PLE&N was deployed for all learners, the current PLE&N is a…

Accountability and performance incentive plans in education are compromised by goal distortion, gaming, and corruption. Education policy makers who design such plans have paid insufficient attention to similar experiences in other fields. This paper describes institutions in health care, job training and welfare administration, and in the private…

Neither expectancy (VIE) theory nor goal setting alone are effective determinants of individual effort and task performance. To test the combined ability of VIE and goal setting to predict effort and performance, 44 real estate agents and their managers completed questionnaires. Quarterly income goals predicted managers' ratings of agents' effort,…

Focus of evaluation using a normative social criterion was contrasted with evaluation with a more task-oriented criterion. Fifty female and 28 male high school students played a game constructing words from a letter matrix. One-third of the subjects anticipated performance evaluation with respect to a performance criterion; one-third was offered a…

The effect of externally-mediated goal setting on intrinsic motivation was examined using a laboratory assembly task. College male subjects (N=80) were randomly assigned in a factorial design including two conditions of goal setting (assigned vs. no goals) and two conditions of initial task interest (interesting vs. boring task). The results show…

To examine the effects of goal-setting on supervisors' evaluations of workers' performance, and on the causes attributed to that performance, 80 subjects were shown a simulated interaction between a worker and supervisor in one of three goal-setting conditions: self-set, participative, or assigned. The worker either succeeded or failed to meet the…

Three presentations are provided from Symposium 33, Work Motivation, of the Academy of Human Resource Development (HRD) 2000 Conference Proceedings. "An Attitudinal Examination of the Role of HRD in Voluntary Turnover in Public Service Organizations" (Kenneth R. Bartlett, William R. McKinney) compares public service managers who voluntarily left…

In studies examining the impact of performance information on motivation, both feedback and goal setting have been found to improve performance. To explore the generalizability of E. A. Locke's (1968) theory of task motivation to groups, 180 male masters of business administration (MBA) students were randomly organized into 60 three-person groups.…

Investigators assessing the effect of motivation on performance rarely report the effect of performance on motivation. College students (N=48), preselected by anxiety scores, were tested on adjective pairs lists; additionally, anxiety was measured before and after task performance. Results showed that anxiety had a marked effect on verbal learning…

The effects of assigned status were investigated in same-sex competition with male (N=40) and female (N=80) college subjects. Those randomly assigned to high status improved in reaction time performance, while subjects randomly assigned to low status suffered a decrement. Contrary to expectations, in mixed-sex competition (fear of success arousal…

Intrinsic motivation and self-reinforcement can be used identically to explain behavioral persistence in the absence of external reward. Yet the relationship between these concepts has not been adequately explored. Since intrinsic motivation appears to be dependent on an interesting task and self-reinforcement independent of task, it was…

People often perform poorly on tasks following experience with unsolvable problems. Two competing explanations for this performance deficit (learned helplessness and egotism) were tested. Subjects were given either solvable or unsolvable discrimination problems and then a series of anagrams which were alleged to be either highly or moderately…

In a one try at success condition, prisoners high in an Achievement-low in test anxiety (HL) performed significantly better than those low in n Achievement-high in test anxiety (LH) in a noncontingent but not a contingent path. These results are consistent with previous findings involving prisoners and at variance with results derived from…

Recent research has refuted the behaviorist approach by establishing a relationship between emotion and behavior. The data collection procedure, however, has often involved an inferred emotional state from a hypothetical situation. As partial fulfillment of a class requirement, 60 college students were asked to perform two problem solving tasks…