This pilot study used a multidisciplinary, ethnographic approach to evaluate effects of prenatal drug exposure on four cocaine/polydrug-exposed infants and their rural mothers/caregivers and to begin development of a model training program. The study involved document review of hospital and social services records, participant observation,…

The purpose of this study was to determine if students' gender was related to their own and their perceived parental motivational orientations in school achievement. Motivational orientations in school achievement were measured by a number of items focusing on the meaning of success in school, preference for school feedback, school task…

This paper presents basic principles and theories of motivation, attempts to provide a better understanding of the concept, and explores the role motivation plays in learning. Basic theories of motivation are reviewed including: Freud's belief in motivation by the id, unconscious forces, and sexual stages; Jung and Adler's belief that people are…

Positive relationships between student study behaviors and academic achievement were examined in this extension of a large-scale Far West Laboratory project. Participants were 196 college students drawn from 28 sections of an introductory psychology course over a 4-semester period, involving 12 instructors. Subjects' activities and allocation of…

The aim of this project is to increase teacher education students' understanding of the learning process by focusing on their own learning experiences. In 1990, 67 preservice teacher education students in 4 classes completed measures of academic locus of control, perceived competencies in self-directed learning, and study processes before and…

In an attempt to review and, if necessary, update the curriculum, a study investigated the prevalence of problem-solving and design approaches in the teaching of woodworking courses in secondary schools in Zimbabwe. Woodworking classes in forms one and three were studied in an urban secondary school where woodworking is taught up to form four and…

An attempt to develop a locus of control scale that would differentiate one's sense of control over events that are highly controllable from one's sense of control over events that are typically uncontrollable by the individual is described. It was hypothesized that the more remote events are from one's personal control (e.g., events in the lives…

The nature and extent of variations in student attributions about performance in their courses were studied, and the relationships between the attributions and responses on certain items of a student ratings questionnaire were determined. Causal or predictive relationships among these variables were also investigated. Data were collected using:…

During the 1985-86 academic year, 13 schools throughout the State of New Mexico were served by the Youth Leadership Program (YLP). Of these, three Albuquerque schools (A. Montoya Elementary, Washington Middle School, and Albuquerque High School) were chosen for an in-depth evaluation. One hundred fifty-two students in grades 3-12 participated in…

School achievement attributions for success and failure were examined for American and Polish preadolescents between the ages of 12 and 13 years. The American sample included 115 preadolescents (53 males and 62 females), and the Polish sample included 64 children (34 males and 30 females). The American subjects came from a suburban racially…

This study investigated the relationship between locus of control orientation and adoption of cigarette smoking among ninth grade urban black Southern students. It sought to identify this relationship and determine if school-setting (junior or senior high school) or gender-related differences exist. The following information was used to assess…

A series of studies are underway at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Audience Research Facility to examine the impact of interactivity on informational and entertainment based television viewing. In order to examine the learning of spatial skills from videogames, the first study compared the learning of spatial content from interactive…

The relationship between student personality traits and achievement with either mediated self-instruction or didactic large group instruction was investigated. Subjects were 159 female third-year nursing students at Loyola University of Chicago. Subjects received instruction on tracheostomy care and intravenous (I.V.) therapy through either a…

A prescriptive theory for learning which delivers prescriptions for designing prototypes of instructional materials with different knowledge structures, the Elaboration Theory of Instruction (ETI) is based on important principles and theories of learning and instruction. This paper reports three experiments which tested ETI. The first experiment…

This study examines the consumption of resources by retired persons by distinguishing between institutionally controlled resources (social security, medicare, prescription discounts, medicaid, heating subsidy, supplemental security income, veterans' benefits, disability income, and meals-on-wheels) and personally controlled resources (gardens,…