Questions 1 through 7 go together:
1. Miss Ramirez tells Juan that if he does well during the tryouts, he will be captain of the team for the Science Bowl. Juan likes this idea and studies hard for the tryouts. On which motivational factor has Miss Ramirez most directly focused Juan's attention?
a. Challenge - uncertain outcomesb. Challenge - self esteem
c. Curiosity - cognitive curiosity
d. Control - choice
e. Fantasy - cognitive aspects
{Check your answer.}
2. Juan is confident that he can do well on the science tryouts, but he knows that Margarita has always surpassed him. Miss Ramirez points out that Margarita will be out of town for a chess tournament that weekend, and so she will not be competing with Juan for the captain's role. On which motivational factor has Miss Ramirez now most directly focused Juan's attention?
a. Challenge - uncertain outcomesb. Challenge - self esteem
c. Curiosity - cognitive curiosity
d. Control - choice
e. Fantasy - cognitive aspects
{Check your answer.}
3. Juan studies hard for the tryouts, because he pictures himself as captain of a winning Science Bowl team. He studies a certain number of key concepts every night for a week. His mother asks him questions and keeps a record of his progress, which she posts on the refrigerator door. Juan knows that two of his friends also want to be captain, but he thinks he has a reasonable chance to beat them. Juan feels no animosity toward these friends, because he knows that even if he loses the role of captain, the extra studying will dramatically improve the chances that the team will win. Juan is being specifically motivated by all but one of the following factors. Choose the EXCEPTION.
a. Challenge - uncertain outcomesb. Challenge - performance feedback
c. Curiosity - cognitive curiosity
d. Interpersonal motivations - competition
e. Interpersonal motivations - recognition
{Check your answer.}
4. On the day before the tryouts, Juan is becoming anxious; and the anxiety is making it hard to concentrate on his studies. His mother wants to help him. Which of the following would be his mother's best strategy?
a. Promise him a Type I reinforcer if he manages to study effectively.b. Promise him a Type II or III reinforcer if he manages to study effectively.
c. Encourage him to focus on self-actualization
d. Do something to reduce his level of arousal.
e. Do something to increase his level of arousal.
{Check your answer.}
Use this information for questions 5 through 7:
Juan eventually comes in second in the race for captain, and his friend Julio becomes captain. Juan's mother is happy that Juan worked so hard, and she would like to see him continue to work hard at other academic activities. She assures Juan that he learned a great deal of interesting information while studying for the Science Bowl. Juan thinks it over, and realizes that his mother is right. She also assures him that by giving Julio a run for his money, he helped the team do better in the Science Bowl. Since the team won a silver medal, Juan accepts this statement as true and is happy about his contribution. Finally, his mother helps him analyze his study habits, and Juan realizes that there are certain things that he could do better next time in order to be even more successful.
5. When she assured Juan that he learned a great deal of interesting information while studying for the Science Bowl, on what factor of motivational theory was Juan's mother focusing?
a. curiosity - cognitive curiosityb. attribution theory - effort
c. attribution theory - ability
d. Maslow's needs theory - belonging and love needs
e. Interpersonal motivation - competition
{Check your answer.}
6. When she assured Juan that by giving Julio a run for his money, he helped the team do better in the Science Bowl, on what factor of motivational theory was Juan's mother focusing?
a. curiosity - cognitive curiosityb. attribution theory - effort
c. attribution theory - ability
d. Maslow's needs theory - belonging and love needs
e. Interpersonal motivation - competition
{Check your answer.}
7. When she helped Juan analyze his study habits and helped him realize that there are certain things that he could do better next time in order to be more successful, on what factor of motivational theory was Juan's mother focusing?
a. curiosity - cognitive curiosityb. attribution theory - effort
c. attribution theory - ability
d. Maslow's needs theory - belonging and love needs
e. Interpersonal motivation - competition
{Check your answer.}
8. Matthew received a D in mathematics. He thinks this is because the teacher asked a lot of questions that he happened to find difficult. He thinks that he'll do better next time, because the questions probably won't be so hard. Matthew's attribution for his failure is
a. internal, unstable, and controllableb. internal, unstable, and uncontrollable
c. external, unstable, and uncontrollable
d. external, unstable, and controllable
e. external, stable, and uncontrollable
{Check your answer.}
9. Rosalie received a D in mathematics. She thinks this is because mathematics is too hard for girls. She feels that she'll probably always have trouble with mathematics. Rosalie's attribution for failure is
a. internal, unstable, and controllableb. internal, unstable, and uncontrollable
c. external, unstable, and uncontrollable
d. external, unstable, and controllable
e. external, stable, and uncontrollable
{Check your answer.}
10. Anferny received a D in mathematics. He feels he has studied hard, but he knows that there must be a better way to approach the subject, so that he can do better. Anferny's attribution for failure is
a. internal, unstable, and controllableb. internal, unstable, and uncontrollable
c. external, unstable, and uncontrollable
d. external, unstable, and controllable
e. external, stable, and uncontrollable
{Check your answer.}
1. Answer to Question 1: (b) Of all the possibilities given here, challenge with a focus on self esteem seems to be the best answer. It sounds like being captain of the team is something that would make Juan feel good about himself, and she is helping him set that as a goal, which will constitute a challenge for Juan.
The answer is not (a) because Miss Ramirez is doing nothing to manipulate or modify his level of certainty. If Juan wanted to be captain but thought he couldn't and Miss Ramirez did something to increase his confidence, or if he were overconfident and she convinced him that he wouldn't be captain unless he worked harder, then the answer would be (a).
Return to Question 1.Go to Question 2.
2. Answer to Question 2: (a) Miss Ramirez is doing something to modify Juan's level of certainty. Juan wants to be captain but he thinks he has little chance, because he knows that Margarita has always surpassed him. Miss Ramirez is increasing his confidence that he can attain the outcome by telling him that he does not have to compete with Margarita this time.
The answer is not (b). Although being captain will probably be good for his self concept, this is not at all a factor in what Miss Ramirez is doing in this question. All she is doing here is maximizing the challenge by moving him to a medium level of certainty &endash; if he works, he has a chance to meet his goal.
Return to Question 2.Go to Question 3.
3. Answer to Question 3: (c) Cognitive curiosity refers to the notion that Juan would study because the information is interesting &endash; because he is simply curious to learn more about it. This may be the case, but that concept is not mentioned at all in the anecdote.
(a) is a motivating factor, because he has to work hard to beat out the other students for team captain. If he works hard he has a chance, but if he doesn't work hard he won't be captain. That's a medium level of certainty, and the anecdote says that is a factor in his motivation.
(b) is a motivating factor, because Juan's mother keeps a record of his progress, which she posts on the refrigerator door.
(d) is a motivating factor, because Juan hopes to derive satisfaction from seeing his team perform better than the other teams.
(e) is a motivating factor, because Juan takes obvious pride in the idea of being recognized as captain of a successful team. Recognition refers to the notion that learners may enjoy having their efforts and accomplishments recognized and appreciated by others.
Return to Question 3.Go to Question 4.
4. Answer to Question 4: (d) People learn best at a medium level of arousal. Since Juan is extremely anxious, it would be a good idea to do something to lower his level of arousal.
Return to Question 4.Go to Question 5.
5. Answer to Question 5: (a) Juan is also motivated by other factors, but when his mother assured Juan that he learned a great deal of interesting information while studying for the Science Bowl, she was focusing on his cognitive curiosity.
The answer is not (b). Although Juan did make serious effort that contributed to what he learned, his mother is focusing on the fact that the information was interesting.
Return to Question 5.Go to Question 6.
6. Answer to Question 6: (e) She is comparing the performance of the team (of which Juan was a part) to the performance of other teams.
The answer is not (b). Although Juan did make serious effort that contributed to the team's success, his mother is focusing on the fact that the team did well compared to the other teams.
Return to Question 6.Go to Question 7.
7. Answer to Question 7: (b) Here she is focusing on the reasons why he was successful and how he could be more successful. She is promoting the notion that he largely succeeded (and partially failed) because of factors that were inside him, that he could control, and which he could manipulate in order to change the outcome next time. That is, his attribution was internal, unstable, and controllable. That's a description of an effort attribution.
Return to Question 7.Go to Question 8.
8. Answer to Question 8: (c) This is a luck attribution. His failure occurred because of something external (outside him) - that is, the teacher is the one who wrote the hard questions. The attribution is unstable (the outcome is likely to be different next time) &endash; that is, he thinks the questions probably won't be so hard the next time. And he feels his success or failure is beyond his control. According to attribution theory, that's a definition of (c) luck. This attribution is not likely to stimulate him to study harder for the next test.
Return to Question 8.Go to Question 9.
9. Answer to Question 9: (e) This could also be an ability attribution, but internal, stable, and uncontrollable is not an option. Of the remaining choices, only (e) makes sense. The structure of mathematics is outside her, and it's complex. That structure is not going to change, and so math will always be difficult; and so it's stable. She has no control over whether she will succeed or fail, and so it's uncontrollable. That makes it an (e) task difficulty attribution. This attribution is not likely to stimulate her to study harder for the next test.
Return to Question 9.Go to Question 10.
10. Answer to Question 10: (a) This is an effort attribution. The way he studied arose from an internal decision. If he studies differently, he thinks he'll get a different result; and so the attribution is unstable. He can control how he studies, and so he believes the outcome is controllable. That makes it an (a) effort attribution. This attribution is likely to stimulate him to study harder for the next test.
Return to Question 10.