Relation of achievement motivation to academic achievement in students of superior ability.

How minimal grade goals and self-control capacity interact in predicting test grades

“…The grades students strive for -their grade goalshave been reliably shown to predict their academic achievement (Locke & Bryan, 1968;Uhlinger & Stephens, 1960;Wood & Locke, 1987;Zimmerman, Bandura, & Martinez-Pons, 1992). However, the way students are asked for their grade goals has turned out to be crucial.…”

“…Since minimal grade goals substantially predict actual grades (Locke & Bryan, 1968;Uhlinger & Stephens, 1960), asking students for their minimal grade goals appears to be a useful and easy way to prognosticate their likely future achievement. However, beyond the general predictive value of minimal grade goals for actual grades, students may differ in their individual capacity to reach their minimal grade goals.…”

Chapter VI: Meaningful Learning: Motivational, Personality, Interpersonal, and Social Variables

“…The relationship between the achievement motive and performance was exemplified by French and Thomas' (1958) finding that subjects with high need to achieve were more likely to reach a solution in a problem-solving task than were subjects with low need to achieve. Although one study (Uhlinger and Stephens, 1960) provided only partial support for the hypothesis that high achievers have a greater need to achieve than low achievers, another study (Krug, 1959) demonstrated that when over achievement and underachievement are taken as a departure from a regression line based on aptitude and achievement measures, the achievement motive scale of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule is the one scale that discriminates between the two groups. Weiss, Wertheimer, and Groesbeck (1959) reported that two measures of achievement motivation (McClelland's Picture Story Test and the need-to-achieve scale of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule) in combination with an academic aptitude test proved to be powerful predictors of college performance.…”

The Relationship of Selected Personality Variables to Academic Achievement of Average Aptitude Third Graders

“…Although the findings are not always consistent, they appear to indicate a positive relationship between factors such as student confidence, self-esteem, and academic success. Khan (9), N eidt and Merrill (11), Berk and others (3), Uhlinger and Stephens (18), and Oakland (12) have investigated the relationship between attitude and achievement. The magnitude of the coefficients found in all of these studies ranges between .20 and .40.…”