Achievement, Attributions, Self-Efficacy, and Goal Setting by Accounting Undergraduates

2010 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pi-Yueh Cheng ◽  
Wen-Bin Chiou
Keyword(s):  
Goal Setting ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Achievement Goals ◽  
Junior College ◽  
Achievement Test ◽  
Proficiency Tests ◽  
Subsequent Test ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Achievement Attributions

Correlations were examined between two measures of accounting self-efficacy, achievement goal setting, attributions, and scores on the Accounting Practice Achievement Test, obtained 1 yr. apart for 124 freshmen in junior college. Analysis indicated favorable attribution contributed to a higher mean score on accounting self-efficacy. Students with higher perceived self-efficacy performed better on the proficiency tests. Those with higher self-efficacy also set higher goals for subsequent achievement tests. Moreover, students who set higher achievement goals performed better. Goal setting mediated the relation of initial self-efficacy with subsequent test performance. However, the amount of variance accounted for by self-efficacy was small. An effective method for enhancing performance on an accounting achievement test might be to increase beneficial attributions, self-efficacy in accounting, and to encourage setting reasonable achievement goals.

Experimental evidence for a motivational origin of cognitive impairment in major depression

2007 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Scheurich ◽  
A. Fellgiebel ◽  
I. Schermuly ◽  
S. Bauer ◽  
R. Wölfges ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Goal Setting ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Word Fluency ◽  
Control Subjects ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
And Control

BackgroundDiagnostic criteria and empirical evidence support the existence of cognitive deficits in depression. However, depressed mood, loss of interest and low self-efficacy might influence cognitive performance.MethodGoal-setting instructions were used to promote motivation in depressed patients and control subjects during neuropsychological assessment. The resulting performance was compared with performance using standard instructions. Sixty in-patients with non-psychotic unipolar depression and 60 age- and education-matched healthy control subjects were assessed with standard neuropsychological tests [the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), the Digit Symbol Test (DST), the Regensburg Word Fluency Test (RWT), and the Number Combination Test (Zahlen-Verbindungs-Test, ZVT)] using either goal-setting or standard test instructions.ResultsDepressed patients showed lower baseline performance and lower generalized self-efficacy (p<0.0005) than controls. However, goal-setting instructions significantly improved patients' memory performance by 10% [AVLT:F(5, 54)=3.611,p=0.007] and psychomotor performance by 13% [ZVT:F(3, 56)=3.667,p=0.017]. Consequently, patients and control subjects demonstrated similar results when goal-setting instructions were applied. Goal-setting instructions showed a statistical trend, increasing patients' performance in the DST by 12% [F(1, 58)=2.990,p=0.089], although their verbal fluency measured by the RWT did not increase. No significant correlations of increased performance with generalized self-efficacy were found.ConclusionsCognitive deficits in depressed patients are influenced by motivational shortcomings. Because generalized self-efficacy failed to correlate to increased test performance, future research needs to disentangle the effective components of goal-setting instructions. Task-specific self-efficacy as well as enhancement of task-focused attention might underlie the significant goal-setting effect in depressed patients.

Acquisition and Use of Mental Operators: Effects of Type of Practice

2002 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burkhard Müller ◽  
Jürgen Gehrke
Keyword(s):  
Mental Models ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Test Phase ◽  
Acquisition Phase ◽  
Practice Test ◽  
Subsequent Test ◽  
Use Of Knowledge

Abstract. Planning interactions with the physical world requires knowledge about operations; in short, mental operators. Abstractness of content and directionality of access are two important properties to characterize the representational units of this kind of knowledge. Combining these properties allows four classes of knowledge units to be distinguished that can be found in the literature: (a) rules, (b) mental models or schemata, (c) instances, and (d) episodes or chunks. The influence of practicing alphabet-arithmetic operators in a prognostic, diagnostic, or retrognostic way (A + 2 = ?, A? = C, or ? + 2 = C, respectively) on the use of that knowledge in a subsequent test was used to assess the importance of these dimensions. At the beginning, the retrognostic use of knowledge was worse than the prognostic use, although identical operations were involved (A + 2 = ? vs. ? - 2 = A). This disadvantage was reduced with increased practice. Test performance was best if the task and the letter pairs were the same as in the acquisition phase. Overall, the findings support theories proposing multiple representational units of mental operators. The disadvantage for the retrognosis task was recovered in the test phase, and may be evidence for the importance of the order of events independent of the order of experience.

Predicting Academic Success: Self-Efficacy, Motivation, Expectancy, Goal-Setting, and Social Support

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Jackson ◽  
Corey E. Miller ◽  
Nicole Arbuckle ◽  
Brian Michael ◽  
Elizabeth Peyton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Goal Setting ◽  
Self Efficacy

Approach-Avoidance Motivational Profiles in Early Adolescents to the PACER Fitness Test

2009 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 400-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Garn ◽  
Haichun Sun
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Achievement Goals ◽  
Early Adolescents ◽  
Social Goals ◽  
Fitness Testing ◽  
School Students ◽  
Approach Avoidance ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Cross Fertilization

The use of fitness testing is a practical means for measuring components of health-related fitness, but there is currently substantial debate over the motivating effects of these tests. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the cross-fertilization of achievement and friendship goal profiles for early adolescents involved in the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER). Participants were 214 middle school students who reported their achievement goals, social goals, and preparation effort toward a PACER test. Performance was also examined. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the six-factor approach–avoidance model. Cluster analysis highlighted three distinct profiles. The high-goals profile group reported significantly higher amounts of effort put forth in preparation for the PACER test. Our findings suggest that the cross-fertilization of approach and avoidance achievement and social goals can provide important information about effort and performance on fitness testing in middle school physical education.

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