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Portions of this research were sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and Project LAMP, under the auspices of the Air Force Human Resources Laboratory (Contract AFOSR-87-0234), with matching funds from the University of Minnesota Graduate School and College of Liberal Arts, to Ruth Kanfer and Phillip L. Ackerman. This research program is also supported in part by funds from the Office of Naval Research to Phillip L. Ackerman, Cognitive Science Contract N00014-86-K-0478.
We thank John P. Campbell, Frederick H. Kanfer, Richard E. Snow, and Antonette M. Zeiss for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article. We also wish to gratefully acknowledge Kim Pearson for his programming assistance, Debra S. Johnson for her assistance in task development and experiment pilot testing, the cooperation of the Learning Abilities Measurement Program in the collection of the data reported here, and especially the efforts of Dr. Valerie J. Shute.
Two central constructs of applied psychology, motivation and cognitive ability, were integrated within an information-processing framework. This theoretical framework simultaneously considers individual differences in cognitive abilities, self-regulatory processes of motivation, and information-processing demands. Evidence for the framework is provided in the context of skill acquisition, in which information-processing and ability demands change as a function of practice, training paradigm, and timing of goal setting. Three field-based lab experiments were conducted with 1,010 U.S. Air Force trainees. In Experiment 1 the basic ability–performance parameters of the air traffic controller task and goal-setting effects early in practice were evaluated. In Experiment 2 goal setting later in practice was examined. In Experiment 3 the simultaneous effects of training content, goal setting, and ability–performance interactions were investigated. Results support the theoretical framework and have implications for notions of ability–motivation interactions and design of training and motivation programs.
Motivation and cognitive abilities represent two basic determinants...