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Background. Previous literature had examined how the adoption of cooperative, competitive and individualistic goal structures in academic tasks influence students’ altruistic behaviors. However, little research has investigated the relationship between goal structures in non-academic activities and children’s affective outcomes. Moreover, the specific differentiation of friends from ordinary acquaintances was seldom considered. Aims. This study compares the immediate effect of different goal structures in a non-academic task on children’s mutual liking. Sample. The participants were 116 fourth and fifth grade students in Hong Kong. Methods. Participants were paired to form friend and non-friend dyads and the dyads were randomly assigned into one of three experimental conditions: cooperative, competitive and individualistic. In all the three conditions, dyads were asked to do a photo-hunt task twice, but the content of instructions and the basis of reward were different. Results. In the cooperative condition, participants’ liking towards their partners had significantly increased, and the average rating was significantly higher than that in the competitive condition. Specifically, the increase in liking between non-friend dyads was greater than that in friend dyads. In competitive condition, the liking between friend dyads had significantly decreased, but the change in liking between non-friend dyads was not significant. No meaningful change was observed in the individualist condition. Conclusion. The findings suggested that children’s liking towards their peers would increase when they were given chance to cooperate with each other; and the liking might decline when they participated in activities that required competition. Implications for activity-planning and group composition are discussed. / published_or_final_version / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The current study explored gender differences in groups of boys and girls in a limited resource context. Forty same-sex groups of four children from kindergarten and grade four were observed during sessions in which groups played first with two different toys and then two different games. The toy and game sessions were constructed so children had to negotiate for a scarce resource (attractive toy and game winner's certificate). In the case of one of the toys the end of a player's turn was obvious to group members (explicit turn-taking toy), in the case of the other toy the end of a turn was not obvious to group members (nonexplicit turn-taking toy). Resource use (time with toy), group variability in resource use, positive affect and self-report measures were collected. Results of the toy sessions revealed both genders were very similar on all the measures; however, girls were significantly more likely to have greater group variance in distributing the nonexplicit turn-taking toy. The two games, one competitive and one noncompetitive, involved players trying to reach a finish line. For the competitive game, only one player could win, but for the noncompetitive game all players could win. During both games, a player could potentially interfere with another player's goal to win. Resource use (interfering), group variability in resource use, positive affect and self-report measures were collected. Results of the game sessions revealed both genders were very similar on all measures, however, during the competitive game, girls were more likely to have greater group variance in interfering. The results are discussed in terms of considering aspects of the context when investigating gender differences in competition.

The present study was designed to examine whether social organization influences children's desire to compete and to achieve valued outcomes in important areas of life. One hundred and fifty-eight participants (71 males and 87 females) from three classes of grade 4 and four classes of grade 6 children participated in this study. Children completed a two-part questionnaire. The first part assessed their desire to play competitive and cooperative versions of an actual game in two types of social organizations, with their one closest friend and with their group of three closest friends. The second part measured children's beliefs about the effect of social organization on the children's achievements in four life domains. For part one, results indicated that children preferred to compete in a group versus a dyad, but the social organization had no effort on the desire to play a cooperative game. For part two, children believed their groups of friends would be happier for them if they were successful in a social situation; however, they believed their one closest friend would be happier for them if they were successful in either an academic or athletic situation. Results are discussed in terms of the educational and therapeutic implications of differing social organizations.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-51). Also available via the Internet.

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Thesis (diploma of psychology)--University of Queensland, 1973. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-51).

The effect of learning style preference on a student's performance on math problems solved both cooperatively and competitively was examined. Eighty-nine first graders were assessed for their preferences for cooperative or competitive interactive styles. Thirty-eight children were found to have clear preferences for either cooperative or competitive styles, or to have no preference for interactive style. Students were then put into pairs, consisting of students from the same or different learning preference groups. These pairs were instructed to solve math problems cooperatively and competitively. After solving the problems under both conditions, the subjects were asked which way they would like to solve the problems again. Of primary interest was the students' overall level of accuracy on the task as a function of learning preference and pair type. The differences between performance for each condition were analyzed by a 3x2x2 Mixed Analysis of Variance with repeated measures. All students performed better under cooperative conditions than the competitive condition regardless of their learning preference or type of partner, but this was not a statistically significant difference. Results also showed that students did not shift their learning preferences as a function of their group assignment. These preliminary findings support that learning preference does not appear to be associated with academic performance. Methodological limitations of the study and possible improvements are discussed. / Master of Science

The focus of this study was to determine how attribution patterns of children with an internal or external locus of control differ when playing a computer video game. Forty subjects each (twenty internally controlled and twenty externally controlled) were placed in a competitive or non-competitive treatment setting with a successful or unsuccessful outcome. Each subject played a computer video game made by a major manufacturer. At the completion of each session, each subject was asked to rate the four attributes of ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck. The results were then analyzed using analysis of variance with age as a covariate.

Thesis (M Sport Sc (Sport Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of two different approaches to presenting content during a sport module in physical education on the movement competence and self-esteem of children ages 11 - 12. One approach consisted of competitive activities and the other approach consisted of cooperative activities and cooperative learning. The following measurement criteria were selected to assess movement competence: response time, coincident timing, eye-hand coordination (throwing and catching) and eye-hand coordination (striking). Harter’s (1982) Perceived Competence Scale for Children was used to measure children’s perceptions their competence in terms of cognitive, social and physical competence and general self-esteem. Pre-tests were administered to a competitive activities group (n=14), a cooperative activities group (n=14) and a control group (n=25). Following a10-week intervention programme, the competitive group achieved significant improvements in response time and eye-hand coordination (striking). The cooperative group improved significantly in their response time. There were no significant improvements in the control group. None of the groups demonstrated significant changes in perceptions of cognitive, social or physical competence or on general self-esteem. This study concluded that participation in cooperative activities as well as competitive activities can help children develop their movement competence. Approaches to the development of positive self-perceptions and self-esteem still require further research. Neither the nature of competitive activities nor cooperative activities seemed sufficient to produce changes.