The imposition of external constraints on an activity has frequently been shown to undermine intrinsic motivation. Given that limits must often be set upon peoples' activities, especially in parenting and education, the present study addressed the question of whether limits can be set without undermining intrinsic motivation for the activity being limited. Using cognitive evaluation theory, contrasting limit setting styles of either a controlling or informational nature, or no limits, were placed upon forty-four first-and second-grade children engaged in a painting activity. The intrinsic motivation, enjoyment, creativity, and quality of artistic production were expected to be decreased by controlling limits relative to informational and no-limits, which were not expected to differ from each other. The results provided substantial support for these predictions, suggesting that limits can be set without undermining intrinsic motivation if they are informational in nature. Support was also found for the consensual assessment of creativity method recently developed by Amabile (1982a). Results ofthe study are discussed along with the general relation between creativity and intrinsic motivation.Recent findings in motivational research suggest that imposing external controls or constraints on an actiyity can haye a deleterious effect on subsequent intrinsic motiyation. Beginning with Deci's (1971) demonstration that tangible rewards for doing a task can negatiyely affect intrinsic motiyation, many other factors that haye a similar impact haye been identified, including symbolic rewards
We examined a new method for studying synchrony (i.e., the coordination of movement between individuals in social interactions) in two studies. Raters viewed video clips of interactions and judged the level of synchrony occurring between a mother and a 14-month-old child. Some of the video clips were of genuine interactions, but most were pseudointeractions artificially constructed from the genuine interactions via split-screen editing techniques. For mothers interacting with their own children, genuine synchrony was significantly higher than pseudosynchrony, a difference that increased with time. When mothers interacted with an unfamiliar child, however, genuine synchrony was not higher than pseudosynchrony. In fact, mothers with unfamiliar children showed a state of dissynchrony (levels of genuine synchrony significantly lower than levels of pseudosynchrony). Our results suggest that synchrony can be reliably rated, thus allowing future investigations to include such measurements when studying social interaction processes.
and its perception within 2 contexts (i.e., adversarial and cooperative) were examined from a Brunswikian perspective. A lens model analysis determined (a) which observable cues were indicative of rapport, (b) whether observer judgments covaried with such cues, and (c) whether observers could assess accurately the rapport between opposite-sex interactants. Whereas the manifestation of rapport was context specific, judgment policies used by observers were not. Rapport judgments were driven by target expressivity regardless of social context. Results suggest an "expressivity halo" in behavioral stream judgments that is analogous to the physical attractiveness halo found in judgments made from still photos. Finally, social perception accuracy was higher in the cooperative context where rapport was more strongly associated with target expressivity.After a gap of nearly 35 years, psychologists are interested again in the accuracy of interpersonal judgments (Funder, 1995). The hiatus followed Cronbach's (1955) landmark commentary that, although intended to point out the complexity of the accuracy question, served to virtually eliminate the topic as a focus of research altogether {Jones, 1990). Accuracy concerns reemerged as a means of validating the construct of personality itself (Bern & Allen, 1974;Funder, 1980) and would now appear again to be a topic of both practical and theoretical concern
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