Desire for Success Awakens: Proof of Competence Restoration in a Non-competitive Environment

P300 as a neural indicator for setting levels of goal scores in educational gamification applications from the perspective of intrinsic motivation: An ERP study

The challenge level of goal achievement affects intrinsic motivation. Thus, the goal score learners are required to achieve is an important element in gamified educational applications to foster users' intrinsic motivation. However, determining optimal goal scores that enhance the intrinsic motivation of each learner is not easy because individual competence and preferences for the challenge level (e.g., preference for difficult-to-achieve challenges) vary. One approach is to determine the goal score using physiological measurements to estimate when an individual's intrinsic motivation is reinforced. Measurement of event-related potentials (ERPs) is considered useful for this purpose. ERPs time-locked to feedback onset, such as feedback-related negativity and P300, reflect intrinsic motivation. However, it remains unclear whether these ERPs can serve as indicators of optimal goal scores for gamified educational applications in terms of intrinsic motivation. The present study aimed to examine whether ERP measures vary with the challenge levels of the goal score determined by participants' competence (too-easy, moderate and too-hard levels) and/or with their preference for these levels when using a gamified mental arithmetic application. Thirty-three participants solved 64 addition problems in one session in this application and received auditory feedback immediately after each answer entry. Scores were then calculated based on their task performance. Before each session, participants were informed of the goal score and instructed to exceed it as much as possible. Sessions were repeated six times at easy, moderate, and hard levels of goal scores, with two sessions per level. Goal score preferences were quantified based on subjective ratings of the motivation to achieve each level of goal score using a 7-point Likert scale. The mean amplitudes of ERPs were obtained for each participant. Results showed that P300 was significantly related to subjective ratings but not to levels of goal scores, indicating that P300 could be an indicator of participant preference for goal score levels. This study suggests that measurement of P300 may serve as a neural indicator providing an optimal goal score for individual learners that maximizes their intrinsic motivation in gamified learning applications.

When the Counterpart Chooses the Opposite: The First Mover’s Anticipation and Evaluation of the Final Feedback in Gambles

This research examines the effect of response (in) consistency on the first mover’s anticipation and evaluation of the performance feedback in gambles. In a two-player gambling task, the participant played as the first mover while the confederate served as the second mover, who made their gambles in sequence. A more pronounced feedback-related negativity (FRN) was observed when the first mover noticed that the second mover chose a different option from him/her. An enlarged stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) was observed when the first mover was anticipating the final feedback in this condition. Interestingly, consistent responses gave rise to a more pronounced FRN difference wave (d-FRN) during the feedback stage. Taken together, these results suggest that response discrepancy would modulate the first mover’s anticipation and evaluation of the final feedback in gambles.

Determining the Learning Profile of Engineering Projects Students from Their Characteristic Motivational Profile

Engineering courses usually have a low success rate, and students that take them often consider them difficult and show little motivation towards them. In this context, it is essential to obtain information about the profile of the students so that the teaching can be adapted to their perceived needs and motivations as well to provide support to them. This descriptive-exploratory research study was carried out to determine the learning profile of engineering project students through their motivational profile based on five grouping variables (gender, type of high school of origin, access studies, specialty, repeater). The instrument used was a consolidated motivational assessment questionnaire consisting of items in a series of seven basic scales aligned and grouped together into three motivational dimensions (MAPE-3). As a result, a student profile was observed that was dominated by the dimension of motivation towards the task and characterized by a mixed reflective-practical learning profile based on analytical and predominantly practical individuals.

Work meaningfulness disclosure and persistent behavior: Level of action identification as a moderator

Previous studies have consistently confirmed the positive relationship between work meaningfulness and one's persistent behavior in the workplace. However, most existing studies have focused on examining the direct effect of work meaningfulness, paid less attention to the condition under which it works well. In this study, we adopted a 2 (work meaningfulness: disclosure vs. non-disclosure) × 2 (level of action identification: high vs. low) between-subject experimental design and investigated the moderating role of action identification level in the relationship between work meaningfulness disclosure and one's persistent behavior. The result indicated that both work characteristics (i.e., work meaningfulness) and personal factors influence work behaviors, since participants who identified their work behaviors at a lower/concrete level benefited more from work meaningfulness disclosure. Given that personal factors have long been neglected in previous work meaningfulness literature, our findings could help advance existing research on work meaningfulness.