Article proposes concepts that could be the basis for fitness attitudes and practices for all people regardless of skill, age, or expertise. An intrinsic definition of fitness highlights the importance of exercise and relaxation to fitness, integration of the whole self, and acceptance of self based on inherent worth. (SM)

Examines terms used to describe the changing of an innovation by an adopter, including reinvention, fidelity, adaptation, and mutual adaptation. Three explanations for adaptation of innovation--interpretation, adopter innovativeness, and generative learning--are discussed; and the theory of generative learning is used to explain internal…

For at-risk students, opportunities to help others may provide a way to break the devastating cycle of failure--to substitute caring for anger and replace low self-esteem with feelings of worth. Educators are advised to select genuine (and optional) opportunities, choose tasks matching students' abilities, avoid praising helpers publicly, and have…

Provides advice for graduate researchers on how to get a research project started, research committee relations, design of the research project, keeping motivated, managing time, maintaining momentum, and safeguarding mental health during the research process. It is noted that the advice would be particularly useful for the completion of doctoral…

Defines the concept of autonomous learning. Presents the Strategies Program for Effective Learning/Thinking (SPELT), including its underlying assumptions, instructional model, teacher training procedures, research findings, and anticipated future development. Research results include implications for learning-disabled and gifted students. (KS)

This study examined behaviors reflecting mastery motivation in 17 young (ages 2 and 3) children with moderate and severe cognitive delays. Results supported the application of the mastery motivation model to this group of children who used mastery behaviors significantly more often than lower level exploratory behaviors. Use of mastery behaviors…

Surveyed 327 undergraduates at Boise State University (Idaho) concerning their motivational orientation and attitudes toward school. Results indicated that nontraditional students (those age 25 and older) were more intrinsically motivated, while traditional students (those under age 25) were more extrinsically motivated. Students did not differ in…

Looks at the spectrum of motivations children bring into the classroom and discusses how these motivations connect to instruction. Shows that intrinsic motivations sustain long-term literacy learning; extrinsic motivation controls behavior temporarily; intrinsic motivations are needed in integrated instruction; and extrinsic motivations are needed…

Demonstrates that two fifth-grade avid writers differentiated between flow experiences and non-flow experiences associated with writing, and describes flow experiences in terms similar to those reported in studies in adolescents and adults. Shows that flow experiences occurred when students controlled important aspects of writing, such as…

This study is a slice of an overarching research investigation of perfectionism in gifted college students. Utilizing a qualitative interview design, this study examined how gifted college students scoring high on 1 of 2 different dimensions of-perfectionism (socially prescribed or self-oriented) perceived their achievement motivation. Findings…

H. Szechtman and E. Woody proposed that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is caused by a malfunctioning brain security motivation system. In the current article, the authors' review of the model suggests that it is limited in the following ways: (a) It is built on a selective review of the empirical literature, (b) it offers no explanation for…

The author describes his program of research over the past 25 years. This research falls into 6 areas that are interdependent and that inform each other. The overall program is guided by 3 bioecological principles that posit the need for proximal processes and motivation to actualize biological potential. The author presents examples of…

This article contributes to current debates about professional doctorates from a lifelong learning perspective, focusing on those who choose to undertake a doctoral programme in mid- or late career and their responses to the challenge of demonstrating their "doctorateness" as evidenced in their previous and continuing professional work.…

Defining creativity as a process that draws upon talents, education, skills, thinking and working styles, and inherent intelligence, and pinpointing motivation as the single most important ingredient in the creativity recipe, this book provides dozens of concrete, hands-on exercises and techniques that can help a parent or teacher keep creativity…

This study examined the relative impact of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and personality variables on procrastination behavior of college students. A total of 96 undergraduates completed the Procrastination Assessment Scale-Students, the Multidimensional-Multiattributional Causality Scale, the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, the Work…