Titel
The Effect of Achievement Motivation on Post-Error-Slowing
AutorInnen
von Tirpitz, S., Nessel, M., Arat, A., Krause, M.
Abstract
Everybody makes mistakes. In simple response time tasks, these mistakes often lead to increased response times after an error, known as the post-error slow- ing (PES) effect. In this study, we investigated the impact of approach and avoidance motivation on the magnitude of PES. We expected that avoidance motivated participants show an increased focus on mistakes that would in- crease the magnitude of PES. 126 participants completed five blocks of 100 tri- als of a simple response time task. We instructed half of the participants to per- form well in the following task, so that they would be approach motivated. The other half of the participants were given the instruction to avoid mistakes, so that they would be avoidance motivated. We found a significant PES effect in both groups. However, there were no significant differences in PES between the group instructed to avoid mistakes and the group instructed to perform well. We suspect that the manipulation of the motivation of the participants wasn ́t strong enough, which contributed to the lack of evidence for an effect that approach/avoidance motivation has on PES. The strength of the manipula- tion could have been decreased by the environment of the participants, while attending the task online without supervision or by the general motivation the participants have when not manipulated. We suggest using a correlative de- sign, as that would eliminate the need for a manipulation and allow us to study the relationship between approach / avoidance motivation and PES.
Schlagworte
Acievement goals, Post-Error-Slowing-Effect, Response Time Task