Emotions influence motivation, but emotions, such as disgust, have attracted less attention in learning research. We assessed the influence of disgust measured as trait and specific state component, state anxiety and self-efficacy on intrinsic motivation during the dissection of a fish using a pre-/post-design in science teacher students. Anxiety…

Schedules of reinforcement typically produce reliable patterns of behaviour, and one factor that can cause deviations from these normally reliable patterns is schizotypy. Low scorers on the unusual experiences subscale of the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences performed as expected on a yoked random-ratio (RR), random-interval…

This study used a person-centered approach to identify naturally occurring combinations of intrinsic motivation and controlled forms of extrinsic motivation (i.e., introjected and external regulation) and their correlates in an academic context. 1061 high school students completed measures of academic motivation, performance, and school-related…

In this study we investigate the influence of ethnic differences on student motivation when learning from formative feedback. Interpersonal teacher behavior and student motivational needs are used to explain the effects of assessment for learning on intrinsic motivation by comparing students from different ethnic backgrounds. The final study's…

To bring order in concepts related to individual learner differences, Curry (1983) designed the three-layered onion model. As this model provides an interesting way to distinguish related concepts--such as cognitive styles and approaches to studying--on the basis of their stability in learning situations, ample studies build further on this model.…

This retrospective study examined L1 achievement, intelligence, L2 aptitude, and L2 proficiency profiles of 208 students completing two years of high school L2 courses. A cluster analysis was performed to determine whether distinct cognitive and achievement profiles of more and less successful L2 learners would emerge. The results of…

This study modified and validated a measure of motivational orientations--grounded in self-determination theory and originally developed for postsecondary students--for use with younger (pre-college) English language learners (ELLs). Exploratory factor analysis results in Sample A (n = 528) indicated that the data were best explained by a…

The current study examines associations between self- and teacher-rated temperament traits (activity, inhibition, negative emotionality, persistence, distractibility, and mood) and mathematics grades. The sample includes 310 ninth grade students (mean age 15.0) from several schools in Finland. Analyses were conducted with multilevel modeling.…

In a sample of 39 children with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) and 106 typically developing controls belonging to three control groups of three different ages, we found that visual perception, motor skills and visual-motor integration explained a substantial proportion of the variance in either number fact retrieval or procedural…

The present study examined the facilitating function of animations for spatial perspective taking. The task demanded to estimate directions to memorized objects in a spatial scene from an imagined position and orientation within the scene. Static pictures which required imagined reorientation of the self were compared to animations showing the…

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships amongst students' test emotions of hope and hopelessness, their antecedents of cognitive control and value appraisals and volitional strategies during learning, as well as their effects on academic achievement in the domain of mathematics, using the control-value theoretical framework. Sample…

The issue of race differences in standardized test scores and academic achievement continues to be a vexing one for behavioral scientists and society at large. Ellis and Ryan (2003) suggested that a portion of the cognitive-ability test performance differences between White/Caucasian-American and Black/African-American college students could be…

To study the role of students' competence beliefs and their perceived teachers' ability evaluations for intrinsic motivation and achievement in math, 459 second graders from 27 German classrooms were examined. Students provided self-reports on their intrinsic motivation, competence beliefs and perceived teachers' ability evaluations in math.…

In this experiment we studied the effect of goal setting on the strategies used to perform a block design task called SAMUEL. SAMUEL can measure many indicators, which are then combined to determine the strategies used by participants when solving SAMUEL problems. Two experimental groups were created: one group was given an explicit, difficult…

A university student sample was used to compare school-specific (i.e., personality at school) and general personality (i.e., personality across all life domains) over eight weeks. School-specific and general personality incrementally predicted change in school-specific criteria (i.e., school satisfaction and school citizenship behaviors). Less…