INTRINSIC MOTIVATION, EXTRAVERSION, IMPULSIVITY, AND REWARD IN A COMPUTER GAME SETTING (NEUROTICISM, LEARNING).
Item
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Title
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INTRINSIC MOTIVATION, EXTRAVERSION, IMPULSIVITY, AND REWARD IN A COMPUTER GAME SETTING (NEUROTICISM, LEARNING).
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Identifier
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AAI8629710
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identifier
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8629710
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Creator
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LIBERTY, HILARY JAMES.
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Contributor
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Charles P. Smith
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Date
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1986
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Personality
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Abstract
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Research on intrinsic motivation indicates that subjects previously paid to perform interesting tasks subsequently rated them as less interesting than unpaid subjects and were less willing to re-engage them. This research tests the hypothesis that individual differences in sensitivity to reward and withdrawal of reward postulated by Gray (1972) should predict the magnitude of differences in intrinsic motivation when comparing paid (reward and withdrawal of reward) groups after payment is removed with an unpaid (control) group. Gray's theory predicts greater sensitivity to reward for extraverts and to punishment or withdrawal of reward for introverts and neurotics.;In the first of two experiments, volunteers either played a computer game for monetary reward (N = 31) or no reward (N = 24). Subjects were told that following this game, they would be allowed to continue playing with no further payment, rating how interesting they found each game. Reward subjects played significantly fewer games, and controlling for initial interest rating, found the game slightly less interesting. The predicted interaction of condition with extraversion did not occur but, unexpectedly, extraverts played significantly more optional games than introverts. This effect was due to the sociability component of extraversion. Also, a negative relationship was found between level of initial perfomance and amount of optional play.;In the second study, a withdrawal of reward (N = 42) condition was added to the reward (N = 44) and control (N = 42) conditions. In this condition, subjects were informed they would be paid, but would lose a portion of this payment for each point they failed to make. There were no significant differences between payment conditions, so the payment groups were combined. A nonsignificant trend in the direction of paid subjects playing fewer games was found, however, paid subjects rated the game as slightly more interesting. No interaction between extraversion and condition was found, but again extraverts played more optional games than introverts. This effect was due to the impulsivity component of extraversion. Additionally, initial interest rating of the game, not performance, was a significant predictor of optional play. Both studies fail to confirm Gray's theory.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
