Parents of 50 children (ages 5-12) with mental retardation reviewed hypothetical need situations associated with their child's retardation and rated the likelihood that they would help themselves or seek external help. Mothers' help-seeking behavior seemed to be affected by ego considerations whereas fathers' help-seeking behavior was…

Develops previous research by examining the roles of parent and teacher in the biographies of young music students. Confirms earlier findings that support by both parent and teacher motivates initial music learning and adds that over time motivation becomes intrinsic and self-sustaining. Examines the implications for music education. (DSK)

Investigated how students' perceptions of teachers' communicative style related to students' extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, examining links between these variables and various language-learning outcomes (effort, anxiety, and language competence). Students in a French immersion course completed questionnaires. Perceptions of teacher's…

Performance of 142 sixth graders in modular technology education using multimedia was significantly predicted by quantitative and verbal ability and prior knowledge. Cognitive style and intrinsic motivation had less significant relationships with performance. Identification of low verbal ability and lack of prior knowledge could improve students'…

The possibility of gender-related differences in student motivation throughout their schooling was investigated in this study. Subjects were 538 elementary-school students, 1,519 high-school students, and 2,434 junior-college students from the Montreal (Quebec, Canada) area. The Adolescents Academic Motivation Scale was administered to assess…

This study examined the relationship between ego-oriented or task-oriented motivation on one hand and subjective well-being and perceived ability on the other. Undergraduate (N=124) and graduate (N=212) students at Purdue University responded to a questionnaire by listing up to 10 personal projects and rating the 2 most important ones with respect…

An ongoing debate exists on the issue of volunteering and its political implications in West Germany. Critics of the social welfare system have a direct impact on volunteerism. The ruling coalition aims to limit public spending in the social services sector while the "grassroots" movement emphasizes the danger of state-provided services…

The American Field Service (AFS) has 3,500 volunteers throughout Australia. Local chapters recruit potential host families and participants. Host families are recruited actively and selectively while volunteers are recruited largely through AFS presentations at schools, through friends, and by returning volunteers. Due to a high level of demand…

A study examined the effect of adventure programs on participants' self-efficacy immediately following an adventure program experience and whether increased self-efficacy transferred to the participants' daily lives after the adventure experience. Sixty-eight participants aged 18-29 in a series of 21-day Outward Bound courses were given a pretest…

This study explored how some aspects of achievement goals theory can be integrated into the education of gifted and/or academically talented students. Specifically, the study addressed whether teachers of gifted students utilized task-focused instructional practices more often than performance-focused instructional practices, whether teachers of…

Describes a study that compares the achievement of biology students (N=48) under the conditions of self-regulation and a traditional approach. Concludes that higher measures of reported self-regulation were significantly associated with higher academic performance scores. Contains 22 references. (DDR)

This study compared the effects of intrinsic relevance with embedded, extrinsic relevance-enhancing strategies based on the ARCS (attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction) model of instruction on perceived motivation and the learning outcomes of identification, terminology, comprehension, and drawing. Both intrinsic and extrinsic…

Administration of 2 affective tests to 89 students with learning disabilities (LD) in grades 4-8 revealed that subjects perceived the school environment and academic tasks as 2 separate factors. LD students, compared to nondisabled students, exhibited more positive attitudes toward the school environment than for academic learning tasks. School…

Styles of thinking and learning are relevant for understanding and testing foreign-language aptitude. This article emphasizes one particular theory of styles, the theory of self-government, and discusses the nature of styles, gives some history of the concept of styles, describes styles in theory, describes measures of styles, and discusses the…

Summarizes a key finding from a four-year longitudinal study of intrinsic motivation for literacy learning. Finds that this motivation may diminish as students move from elementary to middle grades and may be linked to fewer opportunities for self-expression in their learning environments. (SR)