MOTIVATIONAL INFLUENCES ON THE ACQUISITIO N AND APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE IN A SIMULATED SYSTEM

Forty-eight students participated in an experiment in which they had t o learn the structure of a complex, computer-simulated system. Subject s manipulated the system and they could analyze the result. By doing s o they could increase their knowledge about the system, that is, they could learn the relations underlying the system. In the subsequent app lication phase they could use this knowledge to reach specified goal v alues for the system. Performance was measured both in terms of the nu mber of correct relations (''structure score'', a measure of knowledge acquisition in the learning phase) and how close subjects got to the goal values (''solution error'', a measure of knowledge application). We examined the impact on two motivational factors (''interest in the task'' and ''confidence of success vs. fear of failure'') on both perf ormance measures and by what processes these influences may be mediate d. A path-analysis showed a path in which a more systematic strategy l eads to more knowledge in the learning phase, which in turn leads to b etter performance in the application phase. However, the motivational factor ''confidence of success vs. fear of failure'' had a direct impa ct and two indirect influences on knowledge application. The two indir ect impacts on performance were mediated by strategy systematicity, an d ''effortless concentration'' respectively.