... depends on understanding their origins and roles in the cogni- THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING Copyright © by Academic Press, Inc. AND MOTIVATION, VOL. ...

Online education has become an essential component of education. Thus, several factors, such as the student’s learning strategy and motivation, generally contribute to their academic success. This study investigates the relationship between learning strategies, motivation, and online learning environment among 150 first-year college students. Employing correlational design, the statistical findings of the study reveal that the r coefficient of 0.59 indicates a moderate positive correlation between the variables. The p-value of 0.00, which is less than (...) 0.05, leads to the decision to reject the null hypothesis. Hence, a significant relationship exists between learning strategies, motivation, and the online learning environment. (shrink)

The article summarizes the theoretical and methodological knowledge about ecotourism as one of the viable types of tourism in the postmodern era, clarifies the patterns of its formation and development, a variety of approaches to its interpretation, interaction with other types of tourism, features of motivation and management in ecotourism. On the basis of the generalized data a number of perspective educational conditions is modeled: the orientation of the maintenance of pedagogical education on formation of steady positive motivation; (...) updating the content of professional training; availability of educational and methodical support; interrelation of competence, system and personal-activity approaches. Diagnostic methods relevant for postmodern education are selected: methods of diagnosing students' learning motivation; methods of diagnosis of value orientations in career; tests to determine the levels of formation of the components of professional competence. It is proved that the professional training of teachers who are able to use ecological tourism in their professional activities at a high level is one of the important conditions for increasing the interest of children and young people in physical education, tourism and sports, ensuring the necessary physical activity, developing, maintaining and strengthening their health, adaptation to the flexible postmodern society. (shrink)

Summary This study was conducted in Slovenia, and explored the views of a sample of 226 pupils (aged 14?15 years) regarding their motivation to learn English and the views of a sample of 95 student teachers regarding their motivation to become a teacher of English. The data consisted of two questionnaires. The first questionnaire asked the pupils to rate the importance of each of 15 reasons for wanting to learn English. The most frequent reasons given by pupils were (...) ?Because English is an international language?, ?Because English helps me with advanced study? and ?Because English will help me with my future career?. The second questionnaire asked the student teachers to rate the importance of each of 20 reasons in influencing their decision to become a teacher of English. The most frequent reasons given by the student teachers were ?I enjoy the subject I will teach?, ?English is important to me? and ?I want to help children succeed?. The findings are further explored in terms of the relative importance of the different types of motivation involved. (shrink)

This study was conducted in Slovenia, and explored the views of a sample of 226 pupils regarding their motivation to learn English and the views of a sample of 95 student teachers regarding their motivation to become a teacher of English. The data consisted of two questionnaires. The first questionnaire asked the pupils to rate the importance of each of 15 reasons for wanting to learn English. The most frequent reasons given by pupils were ‘Because English is an (...) international language’, ‘Because English helps me with advanced study’ and ‘Because English will help me with my future career’. The second questionnaire asked the student teachers to rate the importance of each of 20 reasons in influencing their decision to become a teacher of English. The most frequent reasons given by the student teachers were ‘I enjoy the subject I will teach’, ‘English is important to me’ and ‘I want to help children succeed’. The findings are further explored in terms of the relative importance of the different types of motivation involved. (shrink)

Species, endowed with an open-ended capacity for learning, which is one of the highest evolutionary achievements,will profit most from this ability, if they are urged one way or other to invest any surplus of energy in expanding and refining their behavioural repertoire and in adapting it to prevailing circumstances, while incurring as little risk and stress as possible.It is therefore argued that an open-ended capacity for learning is maximally adding to survival if paired to two distinct tendencies:1) a (...) tendency to seek high-arousal evoking situations whenever surplus energy is available, and 2) a tendency to seek arousal reducing situations as soon as the surplus energy is exhausted. (shrink)

A central point of contention in the ongoing debate between Humean and anti-Humean accounts of moral motivation concerns the theoretical credentials of the idea of mental states that are cognitive and motivational at the same time. Humeans claim that this idea is incoherent and thereby unintelligible (M. Smith, The Moral Problem, Blackwell 1994). I start by developing a linguistic argument against this claim. The semantics of certain ‘learning to’ and ‘knowing to’ ascriptions points to a dispositional state that (...) has both motivational and cognitive properties: habitual knowledge, as we may call it. But there is nothing unintelligible or incoherent about such ascriptions as they figure in the explanation and assessment of action. This suggests that the idea of a state that has both cognitive and motivational properties is not an artefact of philosophical speculation. Moreover, I suggest that action explanations that appeal to habitual knowledge, which are a variety of habit explanation, present distinctive problems for Humean accounts. The discussion bears on the relationship between habitual knowledge and knowing-how, and its possible significance for anti-Humean accounts of moral motivation. (shrink)

Online informal learning spreads quickly in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Studies have predicted that both online and workplace IL have potential value to individual and organization development, whereas the study on its link with innovation remains scarce. IL is an individualized learning pattern different from formal learning, and its functioning mechanism on innovation will deepen our understanding of the relationship between learning and innovation. Self-efficacy and autonomous motivation are considered as two streams of motivational mediating mechanisms (...) to innovation. However, previous studies have proceeded largely in separation from each other. Researchers highlight the need to develop a more fine-grained theory of motivation and innovation. In addressing these literature gaps, this paper takes college teachers as the sample and focuses on the motivational mediating mechanism between online IL and innovation. The results showed that teachers IL could positively predict innovative teaching performance. Personal teaching efficacy and autonomous motivation played as sequential mediators on the link between IL and innovative teaching performance. This study extends the literature of IL–innovation relationship and enriches understanding of cognition-oriented motivation theory, highlighting one's internal autonomous construction is the key to innovation. Theoretical and practical implications for psychological empowerment are discussed. (shrink)

Differences between the sexes in education is something of particular interest in much research. This study sought to investigate the possible differences between the sexes in math performance, and to deeply examine the causal factors for those differences. Beginning from the administration of the BECOMA-On (Online Evaluation Battery of Mathematics Skills) to 3,795 5th year primary students aged 10-11, in 16 Spanish autonomous communities and the 2 autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. The results for each sex were compared to (...) their perceptions of self-efficacy about completing the test items, and with their interest in and motivation for mathematics. Statistically significant differences were seen in the variables examined. The boys were generally more engaged with science and technical subjects. Generalizing from studies such as this aims to more thoroughly explore, and improve this situation. (shrink)

The aim of this study was to compare the learning effectiveness of peer tutored problem-based learning and conventional teaching of nursing ethics in Taiwan. The study adopted an experimental design. The peer tutored problem-based learning method was applied to an experimental group and the conventional teaching method to a control group. The study sample consisted of 142 senior nursing students who were randomly assigned to the two groups. All the students were tested for their nursing ethical discrimination (...) ability both before and after the educational intervention. A learning satisfaction survey was also administered to both groups at the end of each course. After the intervention, both groups showed a significant increase in ethical discrimination ability. There was a statistically significant difference between the ethical discrimination scores of the two groups (P < 0.05), with the experimental group on average scoring higher than the control group. There were significant differences in satisfaction with self-motivated learning and critical thinking between the groups. Peer tutored problem-based learning and lecture-type conventional teaching were both effective for nursing ethics education, but problem-based learning was shown to be more effective. Peer tutored problem-based learning has the potential to enhance the efficacy of teaching nursing ethics in situations in which there are personnel and resource constraints. (shrink)

ObjectiveFew research efforts have substantially introduced relevant studies on Chinese students’ adaptability in relation to the ineffectiveness of blended learning mode in College English. This study is guided by social cognitive theory, and related literature has been reviewed concerning adaptability. In this study, we aim to examine the involved relationships among contextual factors, self-efficacy, motivation, and adaptability to blended learning mode among non-English majored Chinese learners in the College English course.MethodsThe quantitative research method was employed in this (...) study, and 595 respondents were eventually collected to enable the data analysis. The structural equation modeling approach was used to analyze the data.Results The non-English majored learners’ adaptability to blended learning mode in College English was at a low level with a mean value of 2.26, indicating that students still suffer difficulties from class conducted in blended learning; the fit indices were at the level of good fit, and it suggested the structural model had an overall good fit to the data as shown: x2/df = 2.496, RMESA = 0.050, GFI = 0.956, AGFI = 0.936, NFI = 0.968, RFI = 0.959, IFI = 0.980, TLI = 0.975, CFI = 0.980; adaptability was positively related to contextual factors, self-efficacy, and motivation ; contextual factors exerted an indirect effect on the adaptability not only through the separate mediating role of self-efficacy and motivation, but through the chain mediating role of self-efficacy and motivation.ImplicationsThis study theoretically extends previous studies on adaptability by investigating the affecting factors in the framework of social cognitive theory. More practically important is that this study sheds light on the impact mechanism of positive and enjoyable environment, self-efficacy and motivation on non-English majored learners’ adaptability to blended learning mode in English course, which would provide a vital insight for administrators and College English instructors to reconsider the role of learners’ responses in the mixed mode to improve their English achievement more effectively, as well as to enhance and promote their user experience of the offered blended learning service. (shrink)

The COVID-19 summer semester 2020 posed many challenges and uncertainties, quite unexpectedly and suddenly. In a sample of 314 psychology students, it was investigated how they experienced learning and preparing for an end-of-semester exam, which emotions and strain they experienced, how academic performance was affected, and how personal antecedents of learning as important facets of a learner’s identity could support or prevent overcoming adverse circumstances of learning. The participants of the study filled in a questionnaire about their (...) achievement emotions and strain they experienced during learning and exam preparation as well as academic self-concept, motivation, gender, proneness to anxiety. Points achieved in the exam were also recorded. The interaction between the variables was investigated by a structural equation model. It showed that the investigated variables can be distinguished into two groups, variables that contribute mainly negatively to performance and variables with a positive contribution. Strain experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and unpleasant emotions “belong together” in the sense that they inhibit academic performance directly or indirectly. Proneness to anxiety in academic situations was related with higher levels of mental, emotional, and physical disturbances due to the COVID-19 situation. In contrast, motivation and a high academic self-concept acted as support for learning and performance. Both contribute to pleasant achievement emotions in the learning situation; moreover, motivation had a direct relationship to academic performance. The results from the present study do not only provide insight into important students’ personal dispositions and their role for learning in adverse circumstances but also give advice how to strengthen students for successful learning. (shrink)

A new theory about the origins of consciousness that finds learning to be the driving force in the evolutionary transition to basic consciousness. What marked the evolutionary transition from organisms that lacked consciousness to those with consciousness—to minimal subjective experiencing, or, as Aristotle described it, “the sensitive soul”? In this book, Simona Ginsburg and Eva Jablonka propose a new theory about the origin of consciousness that finds learning to be the driving force in the transition to basic consciousness. (...) Using a methodology similar to that used by scientists when they identified the transition from non-life to life, Ginsburg and Jablonka suggest a set of criteria, identify a marker for the transition to minimal consciousness, and explore the far-reaching biological, psychological, and philosophical implications. After presenting the historical, neurobiological, and philosophical foundations of their analysis, Ginsburg and Jablonka propose that the evolutionary marker of basic or minimal consciousness is a complex form of associative learning, which they term unlimited associative learning (UAL). UAL enables an organism to ascribe motivational value to a novel, compound, non-reflex-inducing stimulus or action, and use it as the basis for future learning. Associative learning, Ginsburg and Jablonka argue, drove the Cambrian explosion and its massive diversification of organisms. Finally, Ginsburg and Jablonka propose symbolic language as a similar type of marker for the evolutionary transition to human rationality—to Aristotle's “rational soul.”. (shrink)

Graduate students’ failure to graduate is of great concern, with the failure to graduate due to the dissertation being the most influential factor. However, there are many factors that influence the writing of a dissertation, and research on these factors that influence graduate students’ learning through emotion and cognition is still quite rare. A review of past research revealed that the main factor causing graduate students to drop out midway is not completing their thesis, followed by factors including insufficient (...) achievement motivation, lack of learning strategy, and low confidence. The graduation rate of graduate students has been emphasized by the academic community; therefore, this study investigated the correlation between graduate students’ achievement motivation, active learning, and academic confidence in writing research. The study invited graduated students from two universities of science and technology situated in the northern region of Taiwan to complete the questionnaire. In this study, valid data for validation analysis were collected from 173 respondents, and the results showed that achievement motivation positively influenced active learning and that active learning positively influenced academic confidence. From the above findings, it can be seen that to help graduate students from University of Science and Technology to effectively complete their graduate studies, students should develop good motivation to adopt active learning strategies to enhance their academic self-confidence. (shrink)

Given the current popularization of computer programming and the trends of informatization and digitization, colleges have actively responded by making programming lessons compulsory for students of all disciplines. However, students from different ethnic groups often have different learning responses to such lessons due to their respective cultural backgrounds, the environment in which they grew up, and their consideration for future employment. In this study, an AI-assisted programming module was developed and used to compare the differences between multi-ethnic college students (...) in terms of their theoretical and actual learning expectancy, motivation, and effectiveness. The module conducted analysis through the deep learning network and examined the relevant processes that the students underwent during programming lessons, as well as the types of errors they had committed. Their learning motivation for and actual learning performance in programming were then examined based on the cognitive learning theory. The results of the experiment, which involved 96 multi-ethnic college students, indicated that the two groups had dissimilar theoretical performance in terms of their expectancy and motivation for learning programming. The indigenous students’ main concern was whether programming would affect their families or tribes, and this concern affected and was reflected in their learning outcomes. In contrast, the learning motivation and goals of Han Chinese students were driven by the cognition of the value of programming to themselves. The research findings can contribute toward the cognition and understanding of multi-ethnic students when learning computer programming and development of the appropriate teaching methods, and serve as a reference for subsequent research on integrating multiculturalism into computer programming lessons. (shrink)

Learning is a central component of human life and essential for personal development. Therefore, utilizing new technologies in the learning context and exploring their combined potential are considered essential to support self-directed learning in a digital age. A learning environment can be expanded by various technical and content-related aspects. Gamification in the form of elements from video games offers a potential concept to support the learning process. This can be supplemented by technology-supported learning. While (...) the use of tablets is already widespread in the learning context, the integration of a social robot can provide new perspectives on the learning process. However, simply adding new technologies such as social robots or gamification to existing systems may not automatically result in a better learning environment. In the present study, game elements as well as a social robot were integrated separately and conjointly into a learning environment for basic Spanish skills, with a follow-up on retained knowledge. This allowed us to investigate the respective and combined effects of both expansions on motivation, engagement and learning effect. This approach should provide insights into the integration of both additions in an adult learning context. We found that the additions of game elements and the robot did not significantly improve learning, engagement or motivation. Based on these results and a literature review, we outline relevant factors for meaningful integration of gamification and social robots in learning environments in adult learning. (shrink)

There is increasing evidence that some behavioural differences between groups of chimpanzees can be attributed neither to genetic nor to ecological variation. Such differences are likely to be maintained by social learning. While humans teach their offspring, and acquire cultural traits through imitative learning, there is little evidence of such behaviours in chimpanzees. However, by appealing only to incremental changes in motivation, attention and attention-soliciting behaviour, and without expensive changes in cognition, we can hypothesise the possible emergence (...) of imitation and pedagogy in evolutionary history. (shrink)

Fifty years after the death of Edmund Husserl, the main founder of the phenomenological current of thought, we present to the public a four book collection showing in an unprecedented way how Husserl's aspiration to inspire the entire universe of knowledge and scholarship has now been realized. These volumes display for the first time the astounding expansion of phenomenological philosophy throughout the world and the enormous wealth and variety of ideas, insights, and approaches it has inspired. The basic commitment to (...) phenomenological concerns found in all this variety makes this collection a most signifi cant historical document. This second volume of the collection bears witness to a deliberate shift of attention from the earlier to the later phase of Husserl's reflections. We see how his issues - intersubjectivity, ethics, human encounter, the societal world, empathy, the sphere of the self, and the surpassing of dichotomies (bodylpsyche, etc.) - are now at the center of attention in the human sciences. Among the authors are H. Tellenbach, A. Rigobello, C. Balzer, C. Bjurvill, V. Molchanov, E. Syristova, O. Balaban, R. Boehm, M. Sancipriano, O. M. Anwar, Y. Okamoto, B. Holyst, T. Sodeika, and M. De Negri. The studies were gathered at the programs held by The World Institute for Advanced Phenomenological Research and Learning in the commemorative year 1988/1989, chiefly at the First World Congress of Phenomenology at Santiago de Compos tela, Spain, with the aim of assessing the current state of phenomenology. A-T. T. (shrink)

This study aims to describe the learning motivation of students using virtual media when they are learning mathematics in grade 5. The research design applied in this research is classroom action research. The research is conducted in two phases which involve planning, action and observation and reflection. The results of the study revealed that intrinsic motivation to learn is most prevalent in the form of fun to learn mathematics with virtual media. Other forms of intrinsic (...) class='Hi'>motivation include curiosity, need and interests, and satisfaction. Extrinsic motivation in the form of awarded and clarity of learning objectives. The most enjoyable learning experience for students was when they feel like they're learning more than they actually are. This level of enthusiasm increases with the level of learning complexity. The students are more active and motivated to learn. This can be evidenced by the increase in motivation to learn after the first phase. Unfortunately, the lack of bandwidth and time allocated for conducting experiments are some of the obstacles in the way of learning through virtual media. This study revealed that the use of virtual media could improve student's motivation for learning. (shrink)

This research examines the concept of entrepreneurial learning and relates it to Deepak Chopra's seven spiritual laws of success. The article first examines generic processes in motivating entrepreneurs to engage in self-directed learning projects on behalf of their businesses. Then it examines three modes of learning as they apply to practising entrepreneurs. Triple-loop learning is proposed as the deepest level of entrepreneurial learning. Triple-loop learners are considered the most likely entrepreneurs to practise the seven spiritual (...) laws of success. Finally, each of the seven laws is related back to the motives that inspire entrepreneurs to learn. (shrink)

This paper explores the role of learning in organizational responses to sustainability. Finding meaningful solutions to sustainability challenges requires companies and other actors to broaden their thinking, go beyond organizational boundaries and engage more with their stakeholders. However, broadening organizational perspective and collaborating with diverse stakeholders involves inherent political and process-related tensions. Learning has been identified as a key organizing process for overcoming the challenges that arise through collaborative action for sustainability. In order to understand the role of (...) learning in organizational responses to sustainability, we conduct a cross-disciplinary systematic review of the literature on learning for sustainability and incorporate perspectives from diverse disciplines including business, management, environmental science, sociology, policy, urban planning, and development. The review explores how different disciplines conceptualize and operationalize learning for sustainability and identifies the common themes and challenges. Our findings highlight the different ways that power relations influence learning and decision-making processes, and how entrenched traditional value structures and ‘reflexive complicity’ limit practitioners and researchers alike in finding meaningful sustainability solutions. We conclude that shifting how we motivate business and management research on learning for sustainability, in a way that prioritizes sustainability outcomes over firm performance, could bring us a step closer to more meaningful responses to sustainability. Similarly, breaking patterns of ‘reflexive complicity’ by key actors in business could assist in shifting toward more radical and long-term responses to sustainability in practice. (shrink)

SUMMARYThis Study reviews the prevalent concepts of maturation and motivation, and develops the following points :1. Developmental and clinical child Psychology are held apart less because of à differing focus of interests than because of differing concepts of maturation and motivation.2. Maturation is à term applied in biology and Psychology to, the development of the individual by growth processes, as distinguished from development by exercise and learning. It is defined in terms of à sequence or order of (...) phases.3. Sequences can be affected by conditioning. It is suggested that only the groundplan of life, the order of phases from birth through maturity and reproduction to death, is unalterable. Maturation is but one contributing factor, or principle, which co‐determines the more complex process of development.4. The goal‐determining factor in the individuals striving is called motivation. There are two major categories of motivation changes : the basic tendency of life is to establish the individuals equilibrium. From this point of view, all changes of direction are due to environmental influences which call for adaptation to reestablish equilibrium . The second category, the thesis of this Study, is that life is expansion , à process involving the homeostatic mechanism. In the course of the expansive as well as of the adaptive process, the individual changes its direction. Direction changes may be experienced in the act of reproduction when the individual transmits energies to new life; again, in the act of self‐limitation when the productive energies have been exhausted; another change of direction is that from flight movements to experimentation with and mastery of stimuli.5. Three developmental theories have been forwarded. The first, based on the concept of evolution, is à structuralization theory of development. The second, à biogenic theory of development, is related to the growth process and hypothecates à parallel of physical and Psychological development. The third developmental theory describes development as à change of motivation– an adaptation process resulting from the individuals dynamic relationship to his environment.The three theories emphasize three indispensable aspects of the developmental process: organization, content and form, Dynamics and objectives.6. Only the last of these three theories explained the fact of personality immaturity in relationship to the physical maturation, since the adaptive and the physical growth process could be conceived of as relatively independent from each other.7. Objections are raised against this theory of adaptation, to the extent that it claims adaptation to be identical with development.8. Objections are raised against the definition of the discharge principle as the basic tendency of the organism and against the identification of the discharge with the homeostasis principle.9. Since homeostasis is defined as an optimal tension level, and not as its lowest possible level, there must be states of tension which are overly‐low as well as overly‐high. In states of too‐low tension, charging must be à basic tendency of the organism.10. The main properties of life are growth and reproduction– that is, expansion, in which the environment is being exploited, adapted to life, mastered by the living being. Adaptation to the environment is only à partial aspect of life, and may be used as à detour to the opposite goal.11. All living beings have à course of life during which they develop structures that anticipate future needs. Theľ work with reserves. Anľ given need of à living being must be considered as related to the present, past and future of its life. As à consequence, it is impossible to assume that à tendency related only to the moment plays à basic role in the life of the individual. The acute release tendency relates only to acute phases or features of the needs of the immediate present.12. Consequently, deferral occurs not onlt in the course of adaptation, and as an imposed phenomenon; deferral may also occur as unimposed, unlearned behavior whenever the individual is not quite prepared for à desired experience.13. Motivation during growth and during decline is described and analyzed.14. Creativity is defined as constructive activity, à process which has its biological substratum in growth and reproduction. It consists of forming new products which develop, first, from experimentation with materials, and second, from the masterful handling of those materials.15. The probability of the processes of unlearned cooperation is presented.16. Neurosis is found to originate in connection with feelings of guilt and remorse over failing oneself as well as over failing others.17. The aim of life is seen in the contribution of biologically and/or culturally constructive products which can be utilized in the building process of life and of culture. (shrink)

Philosophy in the Classroom helps teachers tap in to childrena??s natural wonder and curiosity.

This study aims to improve the effectiveness of English grammar teaching in high school. Firstly, the Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics educational model is comprehensively discussed. Then, the current situation and difficulties of English grammar teaching in high school are analyzed. Finally, based on the traditional and the STEAM teaching mode, a comprehensive study on the psychological motivation of students is carried out in high school English grammar teaching. The traditional teaching model had little effect on students’ psychological (...) motivation in the process of English grammar teaching. Therefore, students’ satisfaction with English grammar teaching under the traditional teaching model is very low, especially in innovation and practice. The STEAM teaching model has greatly improved the psychological motivation of high school students in the English grammar teaching process. The overall satisfaction rate of the students with the English grammar teaching in the STEAM teaching model is 70%. This teaching model can greatly improve students’ requirements for innovation and practice. This study not only provides a reference for the improvement of English teaching in high schools but also contributes to the reform and development of education. (shrink)

This paper uses the Process Dissociation Procedure to explore whether people can acquire unconscious knowledge in the serial reaction time task [Destrebecqz, A., & Cleeremans, A. . Can sequence learning be implicit? New evidence with the Process Dissociation Procedure. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 8, 343–350; Wilkinson, L., & Shanks, D. R. . Intentional control and implicit sequence learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 30, 354–369]. Experiment 1 showed that people generated legal sequences above baseline (...) levels under exclusion instructions. Reward moved exclusion performance towards baseline, indicating that the extent of motivation in the test phase influenced the expression of unconscious knowledge. Experiments 2 and 3 revealed that even with reward, adding noise to the sequences or shortening training led to above-baseline exclusion performance, suggesting that task difficulty and the amount of training also affected the expression of unconscious knowledge. The results help resolve some current debates about the role of conscious awareness in sequence learning. (shrink)

In this chapter we consider unsupervised learning from two perspectives. First, we briefly look at its advantages and disadvantages as an engineering technique applied to large corpora in natural language processing. While supervised learning generally achieves greater accuracy with less data, unsupervised learning offers significant savings in the intensive labour required for annotating text. Second, we discuss the possible relevance of unsupervised learning to debates on the cognitive basis of human language acquisition. In this context we (...) explore the implications of recent work on grammar induction for poverty of stimulus arguments that purport to motivate a strong bias model of language learning, commonly formulated as a theory of Universal Grammar (UG). We examine the second issue both as a problem in computational learning theory, and with reference to empirical work on unsupervised Machine Learning (ML) of syntactic structure. We compare two models of learning theory and the place of unsupervised learning within each of them. Looking at recent work on part of speech tagging and the recognition of syntactic structure, we see how far unsupervised ML methods have come in acquiring different kinds of grammatical knowledge from raw text. (shrink)

Norman's identification of a ventral system embodying a constructivist theory of perception is rejected in favor of an ecological theory of perception and perceptual learning. We summarize research showing that a key motivation for the ventral-constructivist connection, percept-percept coupling, confuses perceptual and post-perceptual processes.

Motivations and decision-making styles that influence participation in biomedical research vary across study types, cultures, and countries. While there is a small amount of literature on informed consent in non-western cultures, few studies have examined how participants make the decision to join research. This study was designed to identify the factors motivating people to participate in biomedical research in a traditional Nigerian community, assess the degree to which participants involve others in the decision-making process, and examine issues of autonomy in (...) decision-making for research. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 100 adults (50 men, 50 women) in an urban Nigerian community who had participated in a biomedical research study. Subjects were interviewed using a survey instrument.Two-thirds of the respondents reported participating in the biomedical study to learn more about their illness, while 30% hoped to get some medical care. Over three-quarters (78%) of participants discussed the enrolment decision with someone else and 39% reported obtaining permission from a spouse or family member to participate in the study. Women were more than twice as likely as men to report obtaining permission from someone else before participating. More specifically, half of the female participants reported seeking permission from a spouse before enrolling. The findings suggest that informed consent in this community is understood and practised as a relational activity that involves others in the decision making process. Further studies are needed in non-Western countries concerning autonomy, decision-making, and motivation to participate in research studies. (shrink)

The Joy of Not Knowing takes every aspect of the curriculum and of school life and transforms it into a personalised, meaningful and enjoyable experience for all. It offers readers an innovative, theoretical and practical guide to establish a values-based, enquiry-led and challenge-rich learning to learn approach to teaching and learning and to school leadership. This thought-provoking guide provides the reader with a wealth of whole-class, easy-to-implement, malleable, practical ideas and case studies that can be personalised to the (...) vision of each setting, age-group and curriculum. It brings together, as a whole-school framework, the strategies that have been shown to have the greatest impact on practitioner's professional fulfilment and on children's life chances, love of learning, intrinsic motivation and enthusiasm for wanting to know. The Joy of Not Knowing: enables schools to launch the academic year with a bespoke JONK Learning to Learn Week that enables every student to succeed; develops philosophical, creative and critical problem-solving and multi-lingual thinking skills; establishes collaborative cultures of thinking, learning and leadership; Informs practice through active action research; incorporates a values-led democratic approach to school life; nurtures school-pupil-family-community partnerships. Designed for school leaders and practitioners at all levels and across all ages, this practical guide shows how all students can thrive and develop the dispositions of successful lifelong learners and global citizens. (shrink)

In this paper, we bring together research on complex problem solving with that on motivational psychology about goal setting. Complex problems require motivational effort because of their inherent difficulties. Goal Setting Theory has shown with simple tasks that high, specific performance goals lead to better performance outcome than do-your-best goals. However, in complex tasks, learning goals have proven more effective than performance goals. Based on the Zurich Resource Model, so-called motto-goals should activate a person’s resources through positive affect. It (...) was found that motto-goals are effective with unpleasant duties. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that motto-goals outperform learning and performance goals in the case of complex problems. A total of N = 123 subject participated in the experiment. In dependence of their goal condition, subjects developed a personal motto, learning, or performance goal. This goal was adapted for the computer-simulated complex scenario Tailorshop, where subjects worked as managers in a small fictional company. Other than expected, there was no main effect of goal condition for the management performance. An unexpected gender effect revealed better performance for men than women, pointing to a potential stereotype threat. As hypothesized, motto goals led to higher positive and lower negative affect than the other two goal types. Even though positive affect decreased and negative affect increased in all three groups during Tailorshop completion, participants with motto goals reported the lowest rates of negative affect. Exploratory analyses investigated the role of affect in complex problem solving via mediational analyses and the influence of goal type on perceived goal attainment. (shrink)

In philosophy, the textbook case for the discussion of human motivation is the examination (and almost always, the refutation) of psychological egoism. The arguments have become part of the folklore of our tribe, from their inclusion in countless introductory texts. [...] One of my central aims has been to define the issues empirically, so we do not just settle them by definition. Although I am inclined at present to put my bets on the reward-event theory, with its internalism, monism, (...) and causal primacy of satisfaction, I think we are very far from knowing enough to settle these questions concerning motivation, human or otherwise. The winds of science will blow where they may. In the meantime, we can be a bit more circumspect about what we put in our tribal folklore. (shrink)

The way students perceive a learning climate (e.g. controlling or stimulating) is significantly influenced by feedback and assessment. However, at present much is unclear about the relation between feedback and motivational state. More specifically, the interplay with student characteristics is unclear. Since there is a strong increase of group work, the central research question is what are the effects of positive, neutral or negative feedback presented to collaborating teams of students, on students? intrinsic motivation, performance and on group (...) processes? One hundred thirty?eight higher education students participated in this study. There were no significant differences in performance across conditions. Multi?level analysis enabled a detailed comparison between groups and individual members of groups. Amongst others, it was found that feelings of competence facilitate the effect of positive feedback at the group level, which suggests that positive feedback boosts interest especially in groups of highly competent students. (shrink)

Motivations and decision‐making styles that influence participation in biomedical research vary across study types, cultures, and countries. While there is a small amount of literature on informed consent in non‐western cultures, few studies have examined how participants make the decision to join research. This study was designed to identify the factors motivating people to participate in biomedical research in a traditional Nigerian community, assess the degree to which participants involve others in the decision‐making process, and examine issues of autonomy in (...) decision‐making for research. A descriptive cross‐sectional study was conducted with 100 adults (50 men, 50 women) in an urban Nigerian community who had participated in a biomedical research study. Subjects were interviewed using a survey instrument.Two‐thirds of the respondents reported participating in the biomedical study to learn more about their illness, while 30% hoped to get some medical care. Over three‐quarters (78%) of participants discussed the enrolment decision with someone else and 39% reported obtaining permission from a spouse or family member to participate in the study. Women were more than twice as likely as men to report obtaining permission from someone else before participating. More specifically, half of the female participants reported seeking permission from a spouse before enrolling. The findings suggest that informed consent in this community is understood and practised as a relational activity that involves others in the decision making process. Further studies are needed in non‐Western countries concerning autonomy, decision‐making, and motivation to participate in research studies. (shrink)