Understanding shifts in students’ academic motivation across a school year: the role of teachers’ motivating styles and need-based experiences

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Students’ adaptive motivation to study tends to decrease over time. However, the reasons for this decline are not fully understood. Drawing on...     

R U with Some1? Using Text Message Experience Sampling to Examine Television Coviewing as a Moderator of Emotional Contagion Effects on Enjoyment

Viewers regularly watch television with others, but the role of coviewing is often overlooked in entertainment effects models. Further, the models are rarely investigated in natural settings, limiting their ecological validity. The current study used experience sampling via text message to examine college students’ daily coviewing behaviors. Momentary assessments were taken 3 times a day for 1 week. Respondents reported their happiness during viewing and the enjoyableness of their experiences. Consistent with emotional contagion theory, data suggest that increases in emotional intensity mediated the effect of emotional contagion on program enjoyment, but only among respondents who reported coviewing with someone else. These results provide preliminary evidence that social context is partially responsible for contagious transfer of affect during entertainment experiences.     

The influence of game location and outcome on behaviour and mood states among professional rugby league players

Abstract

In this study, we examined the relationship between home and away matches on mood. In addition, the relationships between game location, game outcome, behavioural factors, and mood were investigated among 12 professional English rugby league players competing in the Super League. Participants completed daily diaries for 27 days. The diary consisted of six analogue scales measuring mood (relaxed – tense, energetic – weary, depressed – elated, tired – alert, anxious – calm, cheerful – miserable) as well as behavioural factors and self-rated performance. There were no significant differences in self-reported mood states leading up to home or away matches except for players feeling more tired when playing away. Significant relationships between mood and behaviours (e.g. sleep and eating) and subjective performance were observed. The outcome of the match was found to influence mood, with a defeat resulting in decreased mood. Our results show that game location did not influence mood and therefore does not provide an explanation for the home advantage.     

A query-based approach in Web search instruction: An assessment of current practice

An instruction program that covers search tools on the Web should incorporate a user's information need as the basis for teaching these tools. This article lays the theoretical groundwork for such a query-based approach, deriving its argument from the literature published in the early days of databases in libraries. A review of recent literature as well as tutorials on the Web reveals that librarians do not routinely consider a user's query in their training in the use of Web-based search tools. Other training elements are more prevalent, in particular the nature of search tools, search strategies and the evaluation of results found in a search. When training recommends a context for searching the Web, the advice tends to be of a general nature. These results suggest that librarians may not routinely be teaching queries as a strategy for selecting and using search tools on the Web. Suggestions for further research are presented to explore these findings.     

The effects of frequency of encouragement on performance during maximal exercise testing

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of frequency of verbal encouragement during maximal exercise testing. Twenty-eight participants (12 males, 16 females) aged 20.9 +/- 1.5 years (mean +/- s) performed a maximal exercise test (VO2max) on a treadmill without any verbal encouragement. The participants were matched according to their pre-test VO2max and placed into either a control group or one of three experimental groups. They performed a second exercise test (post-test) 1 week later. During the second test, the control group received no verbal encouragement; the 20 s (20E), 60 s (60E) and 180 s (180E) encouragement groups received verbal encouragement every 20, 60 and 180 s, respectively, beginning with stage 3 of the exercise test. Relative VO2max, exercise time, blood lactate concentration, respiratory exchange ratio (RER) and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were not significantly different from the first test to the second test for the control group without verbal encouragement and the 180E group that received infrequent encouragement. Post-test values were significantly higher than pre-test values for the 20E and 60E groups. The post-test values of the 20E group were significantly higher than their pre-test values for relative VO2max (P < 0.001), exercise time (P < 0.0001), blood lactate concentration (P < 0.05), RER (P < 0.01) and RPE (P < 0.0001); this was also the case for the 60E group for relative VO2max (P < 0.01), blood lactate concentration (P < 0.05), RER (P < 0.05) and RPE (P < 0.05). The results suggest that frequent verbal encouragement (every 20 s and 60 s in the present study) leads to significantly greater maximum effort in a treadmill test than when no encouragement is given or when the encouragement is infrequent (i.e. every 180 s).     

School-based interventions for obesity: Current approaches and future prospects

Obesity is a serious, prevalent, and recurring disorder that affects many school children. There are numerous physical, and perhaps psychosocial, difficulties associated with being overweight. This article examines three major types of intervention strategies that have been utilized in school-based weight-reduction programs. Behavior modification, dietary control/nutrition education, and physical activities have been successfully combined in multificeted obesity interventions to produce modest weight loss. Improved research designs, long-term follow-up, further examination of social supports, and prevention strategies are needed.     

Why adolescents conform to high-status peers: Associations among conformity,identity alignment,and self-esteem

This study examined whether conformity to high- but not low-status e-confederates was associated with increases in identification with popular peers and subsequent increases in self-esteem. A sample of 250 adolescents (55.1% male; M_age = 12.70 years; 40.3% White, 28.2% Black, 23.4% Hispanic/Latino, and 7.7% multiracial/other) participated in a well-established experimental chat room paradigm where they were exposed to norms communicated by high- and low-status e-confederates. Results revealed that for boys in the high-status condition only, but not girls, the positive relation between conformity and self-esteem was mediated by greater response alignment with popular peers. These findings bolster prior research by suggesting that conformity to popular peers may be partly motivated by drives for self-esteem and alignment with a valued reference group.     

Entrepreneurial Academics: Developing Scientific Careers in Changing University Settings

This paper examines the impact of entrepreneurial initiatives within universities on scientific careers. Based on the career accounts of university‐based bioscientists involved in a government‐sponsored entrepreneurship training initiative, the paper explores the concept of academic entrepreneurialism. Three groups were identified in the data. First, academic entrepreneurs, who tended to be more experienced scientists and were now able to capitalise on their science. Second, those interested in technology transfer, who saw their career path taking them away from science, and finally a group of younger scientists who were trying to develop their career capital but were unsure what direction their career would take. The implications of these different groups for the management of universities and the development of knowledge are considered.