Considerable research suggests a link between mind wandering and diminished levels of motivation and interest. During episodes of mind wandering, individuals may engage in efforts to redirect their attention back to the task at hand (known as focus back effort). Building on the resource-control hypothesis, we hypothesized that the influence of…

We conducted a systematic review of research involving K-12 students that examined associations among individual differences factors (e.g., working memory) and intertextual integration. We identified 25 studies published in 23 peer-reviewed journal articles and two dissertations/theses. These examined a wide range of individual difference factors,…

Online and computer-assisted learning have become widespread in the rapidly evolving education landscape. However, these learning modalities uniquely challenge academic integrity, escalating the potential for academic cheating. This systematic review used thematic and narrative syntheses to examine the relationships and the effects of self-doubt…

The aim of this study is twofold: (1) to distinguish writer profiles on the basis of students' cognitive processes and motives for argumentative writing and (2) to study differences in the distribution of students' background characteristics and in students' writing outcomes across writer profiles. Participants were students who are enrolled in…

In recent years sleep rhythm or chronotype have become one of the most studied subjects especially in psychology and educational environments. Chronotype is an important variable in interpersonal differences and it is related to psychological and physiological differences among people. There are three main chronotypes or eveningness, morningness…

Extending studies on emotional design in multimedia learning beyond college samples and further considering individual differences, we examined the effects of emotional design on middle school students' learning and whether this relationship is moderated by learners' prior knowledge, using a computer-based lesson covering the topic "the…

Guided by assumptions from the cognitive-affective theory of learning with media, we conducted a teaching experiment to corroborate past correlational research that suggested instructor misbehaviors, in the form of antagonism toward students, impede students' cognitive learning. Participants were 472 undergraduate students who were randomly…

Most self-regulated learning theories are imbedded within a social-cognitive framework and comprise cognitive, metacognitive and motivational components. Nevertheless, these theories partly neglect volition, which is necessary for implementing learning intentions. Therefore, the present study is frontline as it aimed to integrate volition within a…

Recent cognitive psychological research has argued that involuntary mental time travel is an important individual difference variable that has the potential to affect an individual's motivation. However, this issue has not been empirically investigated in educational settings such as teacher education. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the…

Individual differences in need for cognition (NFC) have been found to correspond with differences in information processing. Individuals with lower NFC process information using a peripheral route compared to individuals higher in NFC. These differences may effect the formation of performance expectancies. Based on previous work demonstrating that…

Research Findings: The current study examined achievement motivation orientation in preschool-age children from low- and middle-income families. Participants were 126 children who were attending an urban Head Start site or a private preschool. Children's motivation orientation was assessed as being performance oriented or mastery oriented using a…

After more than two decades of concerted effort, less than desirable progress has been made in the integration of effective technology use in the classroom. In many cases computers have entered classrooms, but are used to do little more than support existing teaching practices (i.e. PowerPoint read as lecture). Research suggests that teachers…

This paper examines how Piaget, Werner, and Gardner differ regarding the roles of cognition, intelligence, and learning in the developmental process. Piaget believes in the predominance of genetic factors. Werner stresses the influence of biological factors, while Gardner proposes that the environment plays a greater influence in how intelligence…

The recent No Child Left Behind legislation has defined a vital role for large-scale assessment in determining whether students are learning. Given this increased role of standardized testing as a means of accountability, the purpose of this article is to consider how individual differences in motivational and psychological processes may…

This study, with 19 fifth graders having learning disabilities (LD) and 20 fifth graders without LD, examined cognitive and motivational variables. Although some differences between groups were found, differences in the motivational and cognitive variables generally cut across a priori categories of children with and without LD, forming three…