Markku Niemivirta

Self-Regulated Learning: Finding a Balance between Learning Goals and Ego-Protective Goals

Publisher Summary This chapter defends the view that for effective self-regulation to develop, students should be allowed to work in a learning context in which they can create their own learning episodes according to their own goals. Self-regulation is a system concept that refers to the overall management of ones behavior through interactive processes between different control systems: attention, metacognition, motivation, emotion, action, and volition control. A central message throughout the chapter is that self-regulated learning (SRL) is not a unitary construct. Rather, it is presented as a generic term used for a number of phenomena, each of which is captured by a different control system. The chapter argues that identification, interpretation, and appraisal processes are the gateways to self-regulation. In light of present conceptualizations of goal processes, the model of adaptable learning was extended to include an identification process, two interpretation processes (task-focused interpretation and self-focused interpretation), and primary and secondary appraisal processes.

Chapter 13 – Self-Regulated Learning: Finding a Balance between Learning Goals and Ego-Protective Goals

Publisher Summary This chapter defends the view that for effective self-regulation to develop, students should be allowed to work in a learning context in which they can create their own learning episodes according to their own goals. Self-regulation is a system concept that refers to the overall management of ones behavior through interactive processes between different control systems: attention, metacognition, motivation, emotion, action, and volition control. A central message throughout the chapter is that self-regulated learning (SRL) is not a unitary construct. Rather, it is presented as a generic term used for a number of phenomena, each of which is captured by a different control system. The chapter argues that identification, interpretation, and appraisal processes are the gateways to self-regulation. In light of present conceptualizations of goal processes, the model of adaptable learning was extended to include an identification process, two interpretation processes (task-focused interpretation and self-focused interpretation), and primary and secondary appraisal processes.

Impaired engagement of the ventral attentional pathway in ADHD

In the cognitive theories of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) impaired behavioral adjustment has been linked to a deficit in learning to detect regularities or irregularities in the environment. In the neural level, the P3 component of event-related potential (ERP) is modulated by stimulus probability and has been suggested to index activation of the ventral attention network, which constitutes the reorienting system of the human brain. To explore the cortical basis of late positive ERP components and the engagement of the ventral attentional pathway in ADHD, we used ERP recordings complemented by spatiotemporally sensitive magnetoencephalography (MEG) measurements. We followed the activation evoked by frequent Go and infrequent NoGo stimuli in 10 ADHD adults and 13 control subjects. In the ERP recordings, a prominent positive deflection was detected after the infrequent visual stimuli (late positive component, LPC) in both subject groups. In ADHD adults the difference between the responses evoked by infrequent NoGo and frequent Go stimuli was markedly reduced compared to the control group during the LPC. The MEG recordings revealed that the activation detected during the LPC was localized bilaterally in the posterior temporal cortex. Activation of the left and right temporal regions was enhanced after infrequent NoGo stimuli in both subject groups. In ADHD adults, however, the effect of stimulus frequency was less pronounced. We suggest that the activation in the superior temporal cortices during the LPC reflects the action of ventral attention network. The engagement of this stimulus-driven reorienting system is defective in ADHD.

The changes in learning theory and the topicality of the recent research on motivation

Abstract The aim of this paper is to consider the motivational basis of learning in a constructivist framework. It is our assumption that understanding the construction of a learners motivation requires more detailed and integrated argumentation than researchers in the field of constructivist learning theories have recently presented. We also discuss new ideas of learning research, such as learning environment and situated learning. Furthermore, we examine the relevancy of the current research on motivation from theoretical and methodological points of view.

Motivational and cognitive predictors of goal setting and task performance

Abstract The purpose of the study was to explore the influence of various motivational and cognitive factors on goal setting and task performance. A slightly unconventional approach was taken by using a neuropsychological experiment as a starting point and subsequently building on its results and implications from a motivational perspective. The results suggested that different sets of motivational and cognitive factors predict different outcomes. Goal level seemed to be a function of both task-related abilities and motivational beliefs. In contrast, no robust effects on performance level were found. However, subjects who tended to hold beliefs that action outcomes are determined by chance were also likely to display atypical goal setting (i.e., a tendency to raise goals after failure and lower goals after success).

Cortical activation patterns during subitizing and counting

The exact amount of small number of items (1-4) can be detected fast and accurately (subitizing) while the enumeration of large number of items (over 4) is slower and error-prone (counting). Several counting-related cortical areas have been identified mainly in frontal and parietal regions, but cortical events associated with subitizing have remained unclear. Similarly, little is known about the temporal sequence of cortical activation during enumeration. In this study, we examined the temporal and spatial pattern of subitizing and counting using magnetoencephalography (MEG). During the MEG-recordings, black dots (2-8) in a visual display were shown to ten adults, who then responded with a button press as soon as they knew the number of items. The behavioural results showed a regularly reported dichotomy in enumeration of small (2-4) and large (5-8) numbers. In brain responses, pronounced activation peak during subitizing was detected around 250 ms in the bilateral posterior temporo-parietal area, which presumably reflects the function of ventral visual stream. During counting, pronounced activation was first detected in bilateral parietal areas, followed by a growing activation in the frontal cortices. The activation of frontal areas indicates the involvement of task guidance and attention, while the parietal areas activated earlier may have a key role in maintaining numerical representations and spatial attention. Brain functions during counting seem to consist of several constituent processes that reflect number processing, attention and task guidance. Our results demonstrated temporally and spatially specific brain activation for fast subitizing and effortful counting.

Neural correlates of late positivities associated with infrequent visual events and response errors.

The P3 response has been one of the most extensively studied event-related potential (ERP) components. Still, the exact functional role and cortical basis of P3 has remained unsettled. To explore the cortical processes underlying the generation of late positivities, we recorded the activation evoked by frequent Go and infrequent NoGo stimuli and correct versus erroneous responses using combined magnetoencephalography (MEG) and ERP measurements during a visual Go/NoGo task. The stimulus-locked signals in the ERP channels revealed an enhanced negative N2 and a prominent late positive component (LPC) after the complex NoGo stimuli associated with successfully withheld responses. The response-locked ERP signals revealed error-related negativity (ERN) and positivity (Pe) after erroneous responses. The positive LPC and Pe components were coupled with functionally and temporally comparable MEG signals. This MEG activation detected during the positive components was localized bilaterally in the posterior temporal cortex. In the response-locked averages, the temporal activity was enhanced around 200 ms after a commission of an error. In the stimulus-locked averages, the activation was also enhanced after infrequent NoGo stimuli around 500 ms after stimulus onset and delayed about 80 ms for the initially miscategorized NoGo stimuli accompanied by erroneous response. The results suggest that the cortical correlates of Pe are not specifically related to commission of an error, but both the LPC and Pe components, and bilateral temporal cortices, are more generally involved in stimulus-driven attentional processing evoked by unexpected stimuli. The negative ERP components evoked by NoGo stimuli (N2) and erroneous responses (ERN) were found to be associated with partly non-overlapping neural sources.

The Influence of Achievement Goal Orientations and Task Concreteness on Situational Interest

This study investigated changes in elementary school students’ (n = 140) situational interest as a function of achievement goal orientation profiles and task characteristics. The authors repeatedly measured situational interest during a simulated science learning task in 2 task conditions that differed in the concreteness of the task elements. The authors identified 3 groups of students with different goal orientation profiles: success-, mastery-, and avoidance-oriented. Results of repeated-measures analysis of covariance showed that students with different profiles displayed different patterns of changes in situational interest in the 2 task conditions. The results confirmed the importance of acknowledging the interaction of student and task characteristics in the arousal and maintenance of situational interest across a learning task.

Changes in Children’s Agency Beliefs and Control Expectancy in Classes With and Without a Special Emphasis in Finland from Grade Four to Grade Six

ABSTRACT This study examined changes in pupils’ agency beliefs and control expectancy from grade four to grade six, and whether they were associated with studying in a class with a special emphasis on a subject as compared to studying in a class without emphasis. After controlling for the effects of mother’s education, prior school achievement, and gender, we found that the average pattern of change varied for different action-control beliefs, and that class membership did not moderate these changes. Mother’s education, pupils’ prior school achievement, and gender all predicted class membership, but their effects on action-control beliefs varied depending on the type of belief. Implications for educational policy will be discussed.

Early Mathematics Skill Development, Low Performance, and Parental Support in the Finnish Context

In this chapter, the four-factor model of mathematics skills development in children aged 5–8 years is introduced with the aim of describing the most essential skills for later math learning. The early signs of mathematical learning difficulties are also discussed. Additionally, initial findings from a study on the role of parents’ education and values toward mathematics in children’s mathematics skills and interest, from kindergarten to the first grade, are presented. Our results highlight the complex interrelations between parent and child factors in the development of early mathematics skills. Regarding the ways in which adults could support their children’s learning of basic mathematics skills in non-school environments, two Finnish web services for teachers and parents (LukiMat, ThinkMath) will be briefly described.