The study explores work motivation of autistic adults through the lens of Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Twelve autistic employees (ages 28-47; 3 females) participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews about their work experience. Analysis combined inductive and deductive approaches, identifying motivational themes emerging from the…

Few studies exist on the reading habits of the deaf population, and most of those that do were published more than 20 years ago. Hence, changes in reading habits due to the availability to the deaf population of online reading material and portable electronic devices have likely occurred. Additionally, in the hearing population, confinement causes…

This article had four goals. First, the authors identified a set of general challenges and questions that a life-span theory of development should address. Second, they presented a comprehensive account of their Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development. They integrated the model of optimization in primary and secondary control and the…

One attributional model of achievement proposes that individuals attribute their own and others' performance outcomes to one or more of four causes, i.e., ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck, and that such attributions have motivational significance for subsequent achievement-related behavior. The effects of gender, level of resultant…

Conducted two studies to test the notion that various factors, i.e., situation-personal, may differentially affect degrees of entrapment (amount invested) depending upon the point in time at which they are introduced. The results of both studies suggest amount invested depends upon timing in the entrapment process. (RC)

Experiments examined the effect of work requirements in combination with reinforcement schedules on the choice behavior of six adults with mental retardation and seven typical preschoolers. Results showed that participants' responding was largely controlled by the reinforcement received for responding to each level of work. (Author/CR)

A model specifying relationships between life stage, motives for using television and the perceived reality of television was tested with data from 140 telephone interviews of adults living in Southern Illinois. The adults ranged in age from 18 to 87 years. Life stage was related to five of the 11 motives for using television: learning things,…

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…

This study examined three maladaptive behaviors, self-injurious behavior (SIB), stereotypies, and aggression in 36 adults with either autism, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and mental retardation. Findings indicated that, for all three diagnostic categories, aggression was primarily maintained for attentional…

Data from 464 adults were analyzed to provide a more heuristic paradigm for mass communication uses and gratifications research in a study of the interactive nature of television viewing motivations, viewing behavior, and attitude gratifications. Factor analysis located five principal television viewing motivations: passing time, information,…

Three experiments explored the conditions under which inductive inferences about people were made by children and adults. Results indicated that children often predicted that people would behave differently in the future than they did in the past. Younger children limited predictions of consistency to non-psychological events. Older children…

A basic tenet of this paper is that, from the time of the ancient Greeks, Western thought has distinguished between rational processes unique to humans and the processes governing animal behavior. A model of motivation, emotion, and the cognitive/physiological interaction that can be applied to both animals and humans is presented. The special…

To investigate children's ability to describe and make inferences about feelings, thoughts, and intentions that occur in interpersonal relationships, 60 middle class girls were divided into three age groups: 6, 9, and 12 years. Each group viewed two sections of a movie portraying episodes of social interaction. After each section, the children…