Psychology Commons^™

Proactive Personality And The Big Five As Predictors Of Motivation To Learn, Jonathan E. Turner

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

In an environment of changing psychological contracts, corporate downsizing, and increases in alternative self-paced training delivery channels, motivation to learn is believed to represent a key variable in employee self-development that distinguishes employees who will thrive from those who will not. Predicting this variable, then, becomes an important step in managing workforce development and helping employees help themselves. Therefore, the efficacy of relevant personality characteristics as predictors of motivation to learn was investigated. Proactive personality and the Big Five factors of personality were hypothesized to be predictive of motivation to learn. These personality variables are relevant because they have been …

An Empirical Analysis Of The Effect Of The Need For Closure On Materiality Thresholds Of Auditors, Cynthia M. Daily

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to identify the strengths of a specific motivator for judgment and decision-making, referred to as “need for closure” and determine how the strength of that motivator affects materiality judgments of auditors.

The extent to which auditors seek and process information prior to forming a judgment can have important consequences in the conduct of an audit. In this regard, psychology researchers have identified a personality characteristic—a motive for judgment and decision making—that influences the decision making process. This motive, referred to as the need for closure, pertains to the desire of individuals to clear …

Trends. The Latest On Terrorist Motivation, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article examines the motivations of terrorists for becoming terrorists.

Motivational Processes And Performance: The Role Of Global And Facet Personality Traits, James Haven Martin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The conscientiousness and neuroticism dimensions of the Five Factor Model (FFM) have been shown to be predictive of performance (Barrick & Mount, 1991; Paunonen & Ashton, 2001). This research examined three relatively unexplored issues, including (a) the impact of conscientiousness and neuroticism on motivational processes and performance; (b) the criterion-related validity of facet measures of conscientiousness and neuroticism as predictors of motivation and performance; and (c) whether conscientiousness, neuroticism, and their facets impact changes in motivational processes between performance episodes. Undergraduate psychology students (N = 220) completed measures of self-set goals and self-efficacy beliefs on two occasions, prior to the …

Who's Not Dieting In America And Who Should Be? Results From The 1994-1996 Diet And Health Knowledge Survey (Dhks 1994-1996), Emily York-Crowe

LSU Master's Theses

The rising rates of obesity and overweight are contributing to higher costs for the individual and the nation, both medically and financially. There is a greater need for education and other preventive measures, but in order to tailor such programs effectively to the individuals most in need, it is important to examine the current trends, knowledge, and practices of adults in the United States. Previous research has examined the prevalence rates and practices of specific populations and individuals in limited geographical locations but, due to obvious constraints, few nationally representative samples have been examined. This study analyzed the results of …

Time As Motivation: Selected Theories As Compared To Modern Revelation, Jill Judkins

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis proposes that human beings by virtue of living in each new present moment are motivated to develop strategies to secure the best possible outcome in their lived experience. A personal account of the phenomenological experience of time is presented and a brief history is given. The implications associated with being thrown into the present moment make apparent the weaknesses of the current assumptions that the slices of the present moment form a continuity of past and future and create a coherent synthesis of life. The assumption that human beings are intentional, goal-directed, and prone to seek meaning in …

The Psychology Of Espionage: Contemporary Commentary, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article provides commentary on some of the common personnel security and counterintelligence criteria employed to minimize espionage within a political organization. The article takes as a point of departure "Security and Motivational Factors in Espionage" by Mr. Terry Thompson in the July 2000 The Intelligencer.

The Cognitive-Initiative Account Of Depression-Related Impairments In Memory, Paula T. Hertel

Psychology Faculty Research

The many and diverse interpretations of the word control make it clear that control constitutes a fundamental concern in most areas of psychology. In an illustration of this diversity, I described my interest in controlled uses of memory at a social gathering; my new acquaintances, without realizing the non sequitur, subsequently raised issues about self control and loss of control-issues much more relevant to their own interests in psychological phenomena than are my narrow musings. Yet a second thought devoted to the semantics of control reveals underlying commonalities. For example, when older people begin to have problems with controlled …

The Demographic And Behavioral Patterns Of Visitors To The Usaf Museum, Charlene V. Purtee

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force Museum, located at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, provides an overview of the Air Force's aviation history, free to the public. In 1996, the Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides financial support for the display of the aviation memorabilia, attempted to determine the demographic representation of the Foundation membership. In their analysis the Foundation found that the membership represented only a small portion of the actual population that visited the Museum annually. In 1997, a second survey was accomplished to establish a cursory demographic breakout and answer a variety of questions from the visitors at the …

‘Pleasures’, ‘Pains’ And Animal Welfare: Toward A Natural History Of Affect, D. Fraser, I. J.H. Duncan

Animal Welfare Collection

In hedonic theories of motivation, 'motivational affective states' (MASs) are typically seen as adaptations which motivate certain types of behaviour, especially in situations where a flexible or learned response is more adaptive than a rigid or reflexive one. MASs can be negative (eg unpleasant feelings of hunger or pain) or positive (eg pleasant feelings associated with eating and playing). Hedonic theories often portray negative and positive MASs as opposite ends of a one-dimensional scale.

We suggest that natural selection has favoured negative and positive affect as separate processes to solve two different types of motivational problems. We propose that negative …

The Politics Of Evolutionary Psychology, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes some political implications of the field of evolutionary psychology.

Strange Bedfellows: Abraham Maslow As Defender Of Human Rights Violations, Jiang Zemin As Humanist, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes an instance in which humanistic psychological theory supports the rationale for behavior frequently linked with human rights violations.

Triple Dissociation Of Anterior Cingulate, Posterior Cingulate, And Medial Frontal Cortices On Visual Discrimination Tasks Using A Touchscreen Testing Procedure For The Rat., T J Bussey, J L Muir, B J Everitt, T W Robbins

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Four experiments examined effects of quinolinic acid-induced lesions of the anterior cingulate, posterior cingulate, and medial frontal cortices on tests of visual discrimination learning, using a new "touchscreen" testing method for rats. Anterior cingulate cortex lesions impaired acquisition of an 8-pair concurrent discrimination task, whereas posterior cingulate cortex lesions facilitated learning but selectively impaired the late stages of acquisition of a visuospatial conditional discrimination. Medial frontal cortex lesions selectively impaired reversal learning when stimuli were difficult to discriminate; lesions of anterior and posterior cingulate cortex had no effect. These results suggest roles for the anterior cingulate, posterior cingulate, and medial …

Anorexia Nervosa And Bulimia Nervosa: The Patients' Perspective, Benita J. Quakenbush

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Eating-disorder clients show low motivation, poor follow-through, and inordinate premature dropout rates in treatment. To date, little research has been conducted that might provide clinicians with an understanding of the critical factors that may aid clients' recovery. Such factors may be used by clinicians to better motivate clients to collaborate in treatment. The purpose of this study was to identify some of the critical factors that women with eating disorders believed were crucial in prompting or facilitating their recovery. Identification of these factors was accomplished through a systematic content analysis of semistructured interviews with recovered or recovering bulimics and anorexics. …

[Introduction To] Metaphors In The History Of Psychology, David E. Leary

Bookshelf

Metaphors in the History of Psychology describes and analyzes the ways in which psychological accounts of brain functioning, consciousness, cognition, emotion, motivation, learning, and behavior have been shaped--and are still being shaped--by the central metaphors used by contemporary psychologists and their predecessors. The contributors to this volume argue that psychologists and their predecessors have invariably turned to metaphor in order to articulate their descriptions, theories, and practical interventions with regard to psychological functioning. By specifying the major metaphors in the history of psychology, these contributors have offered a new "key" to understanding this critically important area of human knowledge. This …

A Preliminary Study Of A Job Analytic Inventory Derived From A Behavioral Consistency Method For Assessing Intrinsic Motivation, William John Banis

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

The research question for this study asked if the Job Specifications Inventory (JSI) had acceptable internal reliability and an ability to differentiate among occupational groups. The JSI was designed to have subject matter experts rate the importance of skill, content, context, relationship and work focus requirements of jobs or occupations. The JSI used a taxonomy of 268 behavioral elements derived from the content analyses of satisfying achievements reported by a large, diverse clientele. A clinical-type behavioral consistency method was used to extract performance dimensions from clients' achievements to build the taxonomy. The achievement-based taxonomy was seen as potentially enhancing productivity …

[Introduction To] A Century Of Psychology As Science, Sigmund Koch, David E. Leary

Bookshelf

This reissued edition (originally published by McGraw-Hill in 1985) of A Century of Psychology as Science comprehensively assesses the accomplishments, status, and prospects of psychology at the end of its first century as a science, while offering a new postscript. The forty-three contributors are among psychology's foremost authorities. Among the fields addressed are sensory processes and perception, learning, motivation, emotion, cognition, development, personality, and social psychology.

The Effects Of Locus Of Control And Method Of Goal Setting On Task Motivation, Paula Coburn

Student Work

Motivation is a central issue in academics. Previous research has shown that goal setting is one method of increasing motivation, with specific goals being more motivating than nonspecific, do your best goals. Research has also shown that self-selected goals increase motivation more than externally imposed goals. The present study examined the effects of self-selected, externally imposed, and do your best goals on task motivation when the personality factor locus of control was controlled by blocking subject groups. It was shown that an interaction exists between method of goal setting and locus of control. It was also found that method of …

Remembering With And Without Awareness In A Depressed Mood: Evidence Of Deficits In Initiative, Paula T. Hertel, T. S. Hardin

Psychology Faculty Research

We propose that depressive deficits in remembering are revealed in tasks that allow the spontaneous use of strategies; tasks that bypass or direct the use of strategies should not produce depressive deficits. College students received depressive- or neutral-mood inductions after answering questions worded to reflect homophones' less common meaning. After the inductions, subjects spelled old and new homophones and showed no effect of the depressive inductions on unaware memory for the old homophones. Subsequent tests of recognition did, however, reveal differences according to the induced moodor the presence of naturally occurring depression (in Experiment 3). The differences, evidence of nondepressed …

Sensory Modulation Of Juvenile Play In Rats, Stephen M. Siviy, Jaak Panksepp

Psychology Faculty Publications

A series of experiments was conducted to determine the extent to which somatosensory stimulation is necessary for the elaboration of juvenile play in rats. Anesthetization of the dorsal body surface of juvenile rats with xylocaine reduced the frequency of pinning, an indicator variable for play, by 35% to 70%, while motivation to play, measured by dorsal contacts, an index of play solicitation, remained largely intact. These data suggest that dorsal body surface anesthetization impairs the ability of juvenile rats to perceive and/or respond to playful gestures. When untreated animals were paired with xylocaine-treated animals, the xylocaine-treated animals consistently pinned the …

A Perception Based Integrative Theory Of Individual Behavior In Organizations, John Edward Mathieu

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop an integrative theoretical approach to the study of individuals' behavior in organizations, and to present an application of the approach to understanding the performance of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets. Individuals' perceptions of the environment were proposed to exist at three levels of analysis: (1) psychological climate (i.e., individual); (2) group climate; and organizational climate. Further, climate perceptions were proposed to result from the simultaneous influence of objective (i.e., actual) situational characteristics, and individuals' needs and characteristics. The underlying dimensions that linked climate perceptions operationalized at the three levels of analysis …

The Effects Of Extrinsic Rewards On Intrinsic Motivation: Reinforcement Theory Or Cognitive Evaluation Theory, Jack S. Leon

Student Work

Intrinsically motivated behaviors are those for which there is no apparent reward except the activity itself. Such rewards are mediated within the individual. Rather than bringing about external rewards, intrinsically motivated behaviors bring about internal states that the individual finds rewarding (Deci, 1975a).

A Life Satisfaction Test As A Measure Of Motivation, Gladys F. Barker

Theses

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Needs And Intrinsic Motivation Of College Seniors And Employed Engineers With From 0-9 Years Of Career Seniority, James A. Rerich

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Experimenter Bias Effect At Varying Levels Of Motivation, Leslie Marie Slade Gray

All Master's Theses

This study examined the effects of experimenter motivation upon the experimenter bias effect on a person perception task. It was hypothesized that the experimenter bias effect would decrease as reward and threat of punishment increased.

Thirty-five experimenters were randomly assigned to five treatment groups including a control group, two reward groups, and two punishment conditions. Each experimenter administered the photo task to two subjects. The results failed to support the experimental hypotheses.

The Effects Of Motivation Level And Task Difficulty On Performance On A Vigilance Task, Donald C. Johnston

All Master's Theses

Although many variables affecting vigilance behavior have been identified, there has not been substantial agreement on the importance of these variables as contributors either to performance decrements often found in laboratory research or to performance levels in industrial inspection tasks. Two variables of presumed importance are level of motivation and task difficulty. The purpose of the present experiment was to assess the main and interactive effects of these variables on performance on a task which approximated more closely an industrial inspection task than have the bulk of traditional vigilance studies.

The Relationship Of Delinquent Types In An Industrial School Setting To Personality-Motivation Profiles, Lester A. Carlson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The author serves as Director of Education of the Utah State Industrial School, a school charged with the responsibility for the custody and treatment of delinquents committed to its care from the juvenile courts of the state. For many years he has been concerned about the personality structure of the children committed to the care of the Industrial School. He became particularly interested in the possibility that there is a definable relationship between types of delinquent acts and personality-motivation profiles. Further motivation was given to this interest when he received an answer to some correspondence from a colleague of Dr. …