Motivation Performance & Achivement the Thesis

Additionally, those who were in the test group also scored, on average 20% higher on the test when it was graded by the researcher. Though the case study was based on an abnormal psychology case the questions are associated with content (i.e. reading comprehension) and are not expected to be interpretive. The group was also debriefed at the close of the exam and informed of the nature of the exam and the resulting scoring, which was based on participation as apposed to test scores.

Discussion

This brief research work demonstrates that extrinsic motivation (in an anomalous form) motivates students to achieve success on tests. The balance between intrinsic (results of moderate scores on MSLQ) and extrinsic, the motivation to score high on the exam as an impetus to a higher extra credit score, as apposed to a participation only score motivated those students in the test group to pay closer attention to the exam, as well as to refer back to reading material and take notes within it while answering questions. These students had a higher level of motivation to succeed and responded as expected to it. This work supports the idea that some forms of extrinsic positive reinforcement will support moderate levels of intrinsic motivation in learning. This also supports the idea that the development of motivation is a balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, rather than an entirely intrinsic goal,