Dynamic factors in twelve year old children as revealed in measures of integrated motivation

Abstract

Students were also found to differ significantly both in the ratings they received and in their rating tendencies as judges. It was concluded that, with the use of this scale and provided that a sufficient number of judges are used, individuals cfin with reasonable confidence be separated into groups of the more and less healthy for purposes of further research. The relationships between self-rating, rating received, and rating given to others were also investigated. REFERENCES 1. MARKS, E. S. Skin color judgments of negro college students. Readings i n Social Psychology. PROBLEMThe measurement of strength of interest in a potential behavior response, by objective tests, was first reported by Cattell, Maxwell, et al.,(lo) in 1949. Since then replications of the same procedure but varying content and different drives have been made by Cattell and Cross(*), with Heist (9), with Miller (11) and by Cattell and Baggaley@, 7 , culminated this line of research with a comprehensive study on airmen in which they found five motivation components or drive manifestation factors and thirteen dynamic or drive orientation factors. Factorization of the relationships between the five component factors yields two second order factors suggesting an integrated and an unintegrated dimension to the motivation thus measured. This study is directed toward the exploration of dynamic drive factors in children by utilizing objective devices found to be in the integrated second order component factor by Cattell, Sweney and Radcliffe(12).It is hypothesized that (a) a factor analysis of the resulting motivation scores would yield factors interpretable as ergs or sentiments, (b) such factors will be comparable to the ergs and sentiments found previously in adults, and (c) there will be a predominance of sentiments (factors related to culturally determined channels for expression of needs) since the integrated devices presumably measure cognitive or learned materials. PROCEDURESSubjects. Three hundred and thirty sixth-grade public-school children of both sexes from one large and one small midwestern city served as subjects. The large city sample consisted of five classrooms of approximately 30 pupils each from two elementary schools in diverse socio-economic areas. Three of the classrooms were comprised of white children from middle class, home owning, suburban families, and the other two were from lower-middle and lower class white and negro families who predominately rent houses or flats in this transitional area. The small city sample included one sixth grade room from each of the six major elementary schools in the city.Attitudes Studied. Sixty attitudes, or motivational units, were chosen consistent with Cattell's paradigm. Each fitted into a logical and balanced pattern which combined 18 hypothesized ergs and 32 complementary sentiments based on dynamic ARTHUR B . SWENEY AND RAYMOND B. CATTELL each of the ergs would most 4 ikely seek expression in twehe year old children.