This study examined the effects of increased autonomy on (a) self-determination and (b) physical activity levels. Seventh- and eighth-grade girls (N = 122) in four classes participated in two fitness units (one allowing choice of activities, the other no-choice). The order of the units was counterbalanced, so that two classes participated in the choice unit first, and the other two participated in the no-choice unit first. The abridged Situational Intrinsic Motivation Scale (SIMS) was administered after each unit. Pedometers were used to measure step counts during both units. Overall, self-determination was higher in the choice unit. The repeated measures analysis also indicated that girls who experienced the choice unit first, and then were denied the opportunity to make choices had the lowest levels of self-determination. The results provide empirical support for the theoretical prediction that increased autonomy yields higher levels of self-determination.

We investigated memory qualities that affect judgements of whether a recollection is a personal memory or self‐knowledge. In Experiment 1, college students described three types of childhood experiences: remembered, known but not remembered, and unsure whether remembered or known. After describing the experiences, they rated their memories on several characteristics (e.g. visual detail, emotion). Remembered events were rated as containing more information on almost all the dimensions than the known events (unsure events were rated between the other two types of events). Based on the observed differences, in Experiments 2 and 3 we manipulated remember versus know ratings. Participants described a remember, know, or unsure event. Some then formed a mental image of the event while others did not. Creation and description of a mental image led participants to rate known events closer to remember. The remember/know rating is a source‐monitoring decision based on the quality of the memory. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In two experiments we investigated individual differences related to memory errors. In Experiment 1, we conducted an exploratory study of several factors possibly related to the tendency to change source monitoring decisions for an autobiographical memory. We found that only the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) was related to this autobiographical memory error. In Experiment 2, we used both the autobiographical memory task and a word list task as measures of memory. Aspects of the DES were related to errors in both measures and imagery vividness was related to errors in the word list study. The tendency to change a source judgement for an autobiographical memory was not related to the number of errors in a word list task. Performance on word lists may not be a good predictor of an individual's performance in everyday memory tasks because the two may be based on different underlying processes. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of (a) skill test type, (b) choices, and (c) gender on the situational motivation profiles of adolescents during skill testing in physical education. Participants were 507 students (53% male) aged 12-16 years (M = 13.87; SD = 0.94) attending a suburban junior high school in a western state in the U.S. All participants experienced either a norm-referenced, summative or a criterion-referenced, formative skill test with or without choices. The Situational Intrinsic Motivation Scale (SIMS) was administered to assess situational motivation. A 2 (test type) × 2 (choice) × 2 (gender) MANOVA was used to test for significant differences on each of the four SIMS indices. Significant test type and gender and a significant test type by gender interaction were found. These findings suggest practitioners should use criterion-referenced, formative skill tests especially when teaching girls in physical education.

This study examined volleyball achievement and task-specific self-efficacy for 182 students in 6 beginning college volleyball classes taught using either the Mastery Learning or Skill Teaching models. Three instructors each taught one Mastery Learning and one Skill Teaching class. Assessments included the AAHPERD pass, set. and serve tests, the Stanley spike test, successful and unsuccessful game trials. Bandura-type self-efficacy scales, and a knowledge test. A random coefficients growth curve model analyzed the intercepts and slopes of the learning curves and revealed significant pre- to posttest improvement on skills tests, self-efficacy, and the percentage of correct passes and serves in game play for all students. No significant difference existed between the two models on average number of trials per day; rate of improvement for the pass, serve, or spike skills tests; self-efficacy; percentage of correct passes, sets, or serves in game play; contacts per serve in game play; or knowledge scores. The Mastery students’ rate of learning was significantly better on the set skills test (1.3 points higher) and the percentage of successful spikes in game play, in which they started significantly lower. The low-skilled students improved at a faster rate on the serve and on self-efficacy for the pass, set, and serve. Males had higher self-efficacy than females, while females increased more rapidly in self-efficacy for the pass, set, and serve. All results were analyzed at the .05 level of significance. Students learned to play volleyball and improved significantly in skill performances with either model.