Speed of Processing and Personality: The Influence of Personality and Extrinsic Feedback on the Performance of Cognitive Tasks

Association between the Effects of Positive Social-Comparative Feedback and Learners' Competitiveness

This study examined the effects of positive social-comparative feedback on learners' intrinsic motivation on a motor learning task, as well as its association with learners' competitiveness. The participants, who performed a balance task in a positive social-comparative feedback and a control group, were assessed for performance outcome, perceived competence, and competitiveness. The positive social-comparative feedback group demonstrated more effective balance performance than the control group on the retention test. In addition, the participants in the positive social-comparative feedback group reported significantly higher perceived competence than the participants in the control group after practice. Further, a subscale of learners' competitiveness-instrumental competitiveness-predicted the performance on a retention test in the positive social-comparative feedback group, but not in the control group. Our results suggest that positive social-comparative feedback is not beneficial to all learners, and may even be less effective for learners with lower competitiveness.

Promoting Emotional and Social Well-Being and a Sense of Belonging in Adolescents through Participation in Volunteering

The aim of this study was to analyze the differences within education-related degrees with respect to participation in volunteering. Volunteering motivation promotes and encourages emotional and social well-being and a sense of belonging in university students. This study was based on a total sample of 985 students undertaking Degrees in Early Childhood Education, Primary Education, and Social Education who attended higher education institutions in Northern Africa (Spain) and Eastern Spain. Once the quality parameters of the instrument were determined, the reliability was confirmed, and data collection was initiated. In order to analyze the results, a multilevel study (ANOVA) was conducted by interacting the variables for degrees with three levels (PE = Primary Education; EC = Early Childhood Education; SE = Social Education) and the variable “volunteering is my motivation to feel better”, with five levels (strongly disagree, disagree, unsure, agree, and strongly agree). From the data obtained, it was concluded that there were significant differences between the different degree paths, the assessment covering sociodemographic variables and areas of interest showing that volunteering benefits university students both socially and in their decision-making processes.