ERIC Number: ED148884
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1977-Mar
Pages: 18
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Motivational Factors in the SAT Score Decline.
Winter, David G.
The Advisory Panel on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) Score Decline contends that many factors have contributed to the drop in scores on the SAT and many other tests. The research evidence and theory about three social motives that could be expected to play some role in test performance and academic functioning are examined: the motives for achievement, for affiliation, and for power. The possibility of a motivational overload is also discussed. Broad cultural trends (i.e., post-Sputnik emphasis on academic achievement, revolt of the counterculture, crisis of values in Vietnam and Watergate) and related specific changes in the educational system (open, alternative, and humanistic education) may have direct and indirect effects on motives. Some hypotheses suggest that actual motive levels went up or down with corresponding effects on academic performance. Others suggest the ways in which social forces may have changed beliefs about the nature and value of academic work, beliefs that may interact with relatively constant motive levels to produce behavior changes. (Author/EVH)
Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Achievement Need, Affiliation Need, Attitude Change, College Bound Students, College Entrance Examinations, Educational Attitudes, Educational Problems, Educational Trends, High School Students, Individual Power, Performance Factors, Psychological Needs, Scores, Secondary Education, Social Influences, Student Attitudes, Student Motivation, Testing Problems, Values
College Board Publication Orders, Box 2815, Princeton, New Jersey 08541 (Item No. 2517280, $2.00)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ.
Authoring Institution: College Entrance Examination Board, New York, NY.
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: SAT (College Admission Test)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A