An experiment was performed to test the hypothesis that the performance of B.C. Indian children for non-material incentives would be inferior to their performance on the same task for material incentives. The reverse was expected to be true of middleclass white Canadian children. Working-class white children were expected to be intermediate. Sixty-six male Ss from 6 to 13 years were given fifty trials on a discrimination task. They were reinforced either by candy or by a light flash. Middle-class Ss were significantly superior to Indian and working-class Ss under non-material but not under material conditions. There was, however, no significant difference between Indians and working-class whites. Other measures included TAT stories scored, for n Achievement and an immediate-delayed reward choice. Each of these discriminated middle-class white Ss from the other two groups, but did not discriminate between Indian and working-class children. Middleclass Ss were much more likely to show achievement imagery and to choose a larger, delayed reward. Reservations about making generalizations from the results Of this sample were discussed; refinements in the procedures were proposed; and behavioral contrasts between the three subcultural groups were described with the view of presenting suggestions for further research in this area. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The study set out to investigate the question: "What type of people, driven by what motive(s) seek physically risky activities "for fun"? Professionals who obtain normal rewards (fame, money) for such activities were excluded. A number of hypotheses formulated in the context of personality and motivation theory were studied. Hypothesis I stated that risk has motive-like qualities. Hypothesis II, consisting of 5 sub-hypotheses, tested predictions derived from psychoanalytical theory which regards serious interest in risky pursuits as counterphobic efforts to allay one or more of the following anxieties: (l) general feelings of inadequacy; (2) feelings of masculine inadequacy; (3) morbid fear of death; (4) death-wishes; (5) repressed anxieties of parental abandonment. Hypothesis III postulated presence of belief in magic and superstitions and/or concern with power fantasies; and Hypothesis IV predicted a general tendency to over-use the defense mechanisms of repression and denial by risk-seekers. Hypothesis V, derived from social learning theory, predicted that risk-seekers would tend to come from homes where early risk-taking was either positively reinforced by "loved" parents, or negatively reinforced by "unloved" parents. Instruments included Boyar's (1963) fear-of-death scale, abridged; several items from Cattell's (1958) High School Personality Questionnaire (H5PQ) which measure source trait D; several new attitude scales which had been devised for this study; 3 cards from Murray's (1943) Thematic Apperception Test; Blum's (1950) Blacky card No. 6.; and Gough's (1965) Adjective Check List (ACL), administered once under ego-concept and a second time under ego-ideal instructions. All instruments were assembled into an anonymous questionnaire format. Mean perceived danger levels (mpdr's) of 40 sports, rated on a 7-point scale, were established in a pilot study with 167 university students serving as raters. Three of the sports with above-average mpdr's were chosen to represent "risky sports": mountaineering, skydiving and scubadiving. Three below-average mpdr sports, similar to the risky sports but minus the danger-element, were selected as control sports; hiking, piloting a small plane and sailing. Data are generally presented for the combined risk groups vs. combined controls. Subjects were selected randomly from membership lists of clubs which promote the particular sport, subject to the following restrictions: S must be male; born on or moved to this continent before age of 10; must be skilled and have shown "devotion" to "his" sport; if he is a control S, he must be disinterested in the risk-sport for which he serves as a control. Ten 5s represented each sub-group giving a total of N = 60. Age levels across groups were homogeneous, and only 5 "eligible" 5s were lost and randomly replaced. Only Hypotheses I and V received positive support. Risk has motivational qualities; and risk 5s tend to come from homes with the predicted interaction pattern, and a positive attitude to risk-taking. Personality profiles derived from the bough Adjective Check List showed all groups significantly high in need for achievement, dominance and endurance, and low in succorance, when compared to population norms. Risk 5s showed significantly low heterosexual interests. Findings are interpreted as demonstrating that for the average risk-seeker these sports do not act in a counterphobic capacity. All indicators identify him as a mentally very healthy specimen. Low heterosexual interest is seen as "genuine", probably due to hormonal and/or early training conditions and not due to anxieties. Evidence is adduced that risk-seeking is actually a universal human trait although its investigation has been largely neglected by psychology. Some early and recent trends are seen as consistent with the above interpretation. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

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No description available.

No description available.

Accumulating evidence suggests a potential relationship between approach motivation and perceptual enhancement. The current investigation was undertaken with the goal of exploring the causes of the phenomenon as well as implications for personality. Below, a model is introduced to help explain the causes and consequences of relations between approach motivation and perceptual size. Two studies are then presented testing a number of assumptions made by the model. In Study 1 (n = 78), state-related variations in approach motivation were manipulated with the intent of sensitizing the perceptual system to appetitive stimuli. It was predicted that such sensitization would result in greater size estimations. In Study 2 (n = 123), size overestimates were used to assess relations between daily events and outcomes. It was hypothesized that individual differences in size estimations for appetitive words (relative to neutral words) would predict daily motivations, emotion, and behaviors, as well as reactivity to daily events. In addition, several individual difference variables ostensibly related to dopamine activity were assessed in both studies and entered as moderators of the degree to which size overestimations varied by stimulus type. Many of the hypotheses were not supported, but size overestimations did, as hypothesized, moderate relations between positive events and goal-related motivation.

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Flow is a positive emotional experience that occurs when one is concentrating on an activity, feeling motivated, satisfied with one's performance and abilities, and loses track of time. While this area of intrinsic motivation has been previously studied with individuals in various activities, this study examined 36 musicians in both a group and individual setting to determine if group flow experiences differ from individual flow experiences. The results of this study show that group flow is a common experience. People in group flow experiences reported a significantly higher degree of sociability than people in individual flow experiences; t (28) = 2.82 g < .05. Participants in individual settings experienced significantly more involvement than participants in groups; t (28) = 2.37 g < .05. The Activation total, which consisted of five questions added together, also showed a stronger significant difference of individual flow over group flow; t (23) = 2.13 g < .05. More research examining the differences between individual and group settings is needed to further understand the complex emotional and cognitive components that comprise the flow experience.

"April, 2002." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-109). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.