Effectance Motivation, Perceived Scholastic Competence, and Higher-Order Thinking in Two Cooperative Computer Environments

The purpose of the study was twofold. First, we examined social-contextual experiences hypothesized to contribute to the development of effectance motivation and perceived competence. We took observational measures at the initiation and termination of two educational computer interventions—Logo and curriculum-based instruction in writing (CBI-W) — as forty-eight third-grade students worked in pairs. Second, we examined the extent to which posttreatment group differences in teacher ratings of effectance motivation and self-ratings of perceived competence explained previously-documented posttreatment differences in cognitive performance [1]. Results suggested that evaluation of success was internally determined in the Logo environment, though students still sought external approval. Although students exhibited a higher frequency of difficult and failure experiences, Logo enhanced effectance motivation and higher-order thinking. Furthermore, Logo may foster cognitive growth in part by engendering effectance motivation.