Maureen R. Weiss

Predictors of Intrinsic Motivation among Adolescent Students in Physical Education

Abstract This study examined the relationships among social factors, individual differences, intrinsic motivation, and effort and persistence in the physical education context using cognitive evaluation theory as a framework. Female (n = 201) and male (n = 206) high school students completed measures of motivational climate, teaching style, perceived competence, self-determination, goal orientations, and intrinsic motivation. Teachers rated the students on effort and persistence in the class activities. Hypothesized relationships among the variables were tested using structural equation modeling. Results revealed that perceived competence and goal orientations directly predicted intrinsic motivation and mediated the effects of motivational climate and teaching style on intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation directly predicted effort and persistence. Task goal orientation mediated the effects of learning climate on perceived competence and self-determination. The strongest predictors of intrinsic motivation and effort and persistence were task goal orientation, perceived competence, and learning climate.

Fair Play for Kids: Effects on the Moral Development of Children in Physical Education

Commitment to the principles of sportspersonship is an acknowledged goal for school physical education. However, few programs have been implemented to investigate moral development changes in physical activity settings. A field experiment was designed to examine the effect of participation in educational activities selected from Fair Play for Kids (1990) on the moral judgment, reason, intention, and prosocial behavior of children (N = 452) in the 4th through 6th grades. Six intact classrooms at each grade level (N = 18) were randomly assigned to the following groups: (a) control, (b) Fair Play for Kids curriculum during physical education only, or (c) Fair Play for Kids curriculum during all school subjects. Experimental protocol extended for 7 months of an academic year, and moral development indicators were assessed prior to and following the intervention. Using class as the unit of analysis, 3 x 2 (Group x Time) repeated measures analyses of variance revealed that both treatment groups were significantly higher than the control group at posttest for moral judgment, reason, and intention scores. For students within classes, repeated measures analyses showed that treatment group participants had significantly higher posttest scores on all 4 measures as compared to students in the control group. Results provide initial validation of the Fair Play For Kids curriculum for effecting change in the moral development of elementary school students.

What Goes around Comes around: Re-Emerging Themes in Sport and Exercise Psychology.

Sport and exercise psychology research appearing in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (RQES) over the past 75 years can be characterized by re-emerging themes—hot topics in the 1930s remain hot topics now. Re-emerging themes include sportsmanship/moral development, social development/significant others, self-perceptions, attitudes/motivation, modeling/observational learning, emotion/arousal/anxiety, competition/achievement orientations, and gender roles. Although research paradigms and methodologies have changed, these topics have endured. We also identified dominant emergent themes appearing in RQES over the last 25 years: measurement development and validation; physical activity adoption and adherence; and multidisciplinary approaches to psychological issues. Given the many specialty journals and trends toward integrating models and methods from multiple disciplines, we suggest that RQES adopt a multidisciplinary focus for research in the field of kinesiology.

Promoting Moral Growth in a Summer Sport Camp: The Implementation of Theoretically Grounded Instructional Strategies

Abstract The present field experiment was designed to explore the effectiveness of social learning and structural developmental prescriptions for moral pedagogy in a summer sports camp. Eighty‐four children, aged five to seven years, were matched on relevant variables and randomly assigned to one of three classes: (a) social learning, (b) structural developmental, or (c) control. Each of the classes shared similar curricula and was taught by two trained instructors for a six‐week period. Educators is the experimental conditions implemented theoretically grounded instructional strategies in their weekly emphasis on specific moral themes. Analyses indicated significant pre‐to‐post gains on a Piagetian intentionality task and a measure of distributive justice within both experimental groups, but MANCOVA results indicated differences between the experimental and control conditions only approached significance.

Observational Learning and the Fearful Child: Influence of Peer Models on Swimming Skill Performance and Psychological Responses

This study examined the role of peer mastery and coping models on childrens swimming skills, fear, and self-efficacy. Children (N = 24; M age = 6.2 years), who were identified as fearful of the water, were matched to control, peer-mastery, or peer-coping model conditions. Day 1 included a preintervention assessment. Days 2-4 included exposure to model conditions followed by a 20-min swimming lesson, Day 5 consisted of postintervention assessments, and a follow-up test was conducted 4 days later. Data were analyzed in a series of 3 x 3 (Model Type x Assessment Period) repeated measures analyses of variance on the dependent variables. Results revealed differences between modeling and control groups at postintervention and follow-up, but the small sample size and large within-group variability compromised many statistically significant findings. Calculation of effect sizes indicated moderate-to-large pre- to posintervention differences between control and modeling groups on skill, self-efficacy, and fear of swimming. These findings suggest that a modeling intervention combined with swimming lessons is a more effective behavior change agent for fearful children than swimming lessons alone.

Show and tell in the gymnasium: An investigation of developmental differences in modeling and verbal rehearsal of motor skills

Abstract Although a great deal of research has been conducted on the relationship between modeling and motor skill acquisition, the role that developmental factors play in the observational learning of motor skills has been virtually unexplored. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine developmental differences of modeling and verbal rehearsal on performance of a sequential motor task. The sample consisted of 128 children representing two age groups: 5–0 to 6–11 years and 8–0 to 9–11 years. These children were randomly assigned to conditions in a 2 × 2 × 4 (Sex by Age by Instructional Type) factorial design, and were asked to perform a 6-part motor skill course. The instructional conditions included: verbal model only, verbal model plus verbal rehearsal, verbal rehearsal only, and no model/no rehearsal. Analyses of variance revealed that, regardless of age, the verbal model plus rehearsal and verbal rehearsal only groups performed significantly better than the model only and control groups. Qualitat...

Influence of social goal orientations and peers on unsportsmanlike play

Abstract The present study was designed to examine the influence of personal (i.e., social goal orientations or definitions of success that include interpersonal relationships) and situational (i.e., peer influence) factors on decisions surrounding unsportsmanlike play. Middle school students (ages 11–15 years) completed a measure to assess task, ego, and social goal orientations. Participants also read scenarios about unsportsmanlike actions and responded to questions tapping the intention to perform those actions. A series of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that in certain peer contexts, social goal orientations influenced unsportsmanlike play responses above and beyond the contribution of task and ego goal orientations. Results varied for boys and girls and provide support for including social goal orientations in achievement motivation research in the physical domain.

Modeling and Motor Performance: A Developmental Perspective

Abstract The present study was designed to examine the effects of age, modeling and verbal self-instruction on childrens performance of a sequential motor task. Eighty-four children between the ages of 4–0 and 5–11 years and 84 children between the ages of 7–0 and 8–11 years were randomly assigned to one of six instructional conditions in a 2 × 3 × 2 (age × model type × verbal self-instruction) factorial design. Results revealed that older children performed better than younger children on motor, verbal-cognitive, and attentional measures. More importantly, an age by model type interaction revealed that model effectiveness depended on the age of the observer as well as the type of model observed. Specifically, 7- and 8-year-old children performed equally well after observing either a silent or verbal model, while the 4- and 5-year-olds performed best under a verbal model only. The absence of verbal self-instructional effects was attributed to task difficulty, information processing capabilities and metho...

‘More Than a Game’: Impact of The First Tee Life Skills Programme on Positive Youth Development: Project Introduction and Year 1 Findings

This manuscript introduces our long-term project and provides Year 1 data on evaluating the effectiveness of The First Tee life skills programme in promoting positive youth development. To set up subsequent articles on this multi-phase project, we provide: (a) a review of the positive youth development theoretical framework and studies in the physical domain, (b) an in-depth description of The First Tee, a sport-based youth development programme, (c) overall project purposes and research design, (d) Year 1 samples, methodology, procedures and evaluation methods and (e) Year 1 findings for learning and transferring interpersonal and self-management skills that were taught in the programme. Findings provide initial data-based evidence that The First Tee is having a positive impact on promoting youth development in the golf context and in the transfer of life skills to other domains.

Cross-validation of a model of intrinsic motivation with students enrolled in high school elective courses

Abstract The purpose of this study was to cross-validate a model of relationships among social-contextual factors, individual differences, and intrinsic motivation in adolescent students enrolled in required courses (E. Ferrer-Caja & M. R. Weiss, 2000) with an independent sample of students taking elective courses. Female and male high school students (N = 219) completed measures of motivational climate, teaching style, perceived competence, self-determination, goal orientation, and intrinsic motivation. Motivated behavior was assessed by teachers who rated the students on effort and persistence in class activities. First, the authors used structural equation modeling to examine model invariance between the original and the new samples, which yielded a lack of equivalence. Next, the authors examined several alternative theory-based models using the elective sample. The results indicated that the data were best represented by a model that separated social-contextual factors, individual factors, intrinsic motivation, and motivated behaviors. The strongest predictors of intrinsic motivation were task-goal orientation and perceived competence. These results are discussed from both theoretical and methodological perspectives.