Japanese Psychological Research 1981, Vol.23, No.2, 79-87 Instrumental activity in achievement motivation1 MISAKO MIYAMOTO2 Department of Child Study, Faculty of Home Economics, Japan Women's University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112 The meaning of Instrumental Activity in achievement motivation was investigated by examining the interrelations among achievement motive, Instrumental Activity, and achievement in school work (school grades). A scale for measuring Instrumental Activity was developed. After a pre-test with 213 cases, 135 elementary school fifth graders were used as subjects. The correlations between the n-ach scores (the need for achievement scores) and the Overt Instrumental Activity, the Mental Instrumental Activity, and school grades were.50,.45, and.37 respectively. When the Instrumental Activity was partialed out, the partial correlations between the n-ach scores and school grades approached zero. The result indicated that the positive effect of the achievement motive in improving school achievement is mediated by the Instrumental Activity. Key words: achievement motivation, instrumental activities (achievement motivation), school grades, measurement, children, needs (achievement), motives (achievement). In 1953, McClelland, Atkinson, Clark, and Lowell developed a method for assessing the achievement motive by the analysis of the content of thematic apperceptive stories. The standard scoring procedure consists of two steps. The first step is to see whether each of four stories contains achievement imagery. When the story contains achievement imagery, it receives one point as AI (Achievement Imagery). In the second step, the AI story is further analysed in terms of 10 sub-categories. When any of these sub-categories is found in the story, points for these subcategories are summed. Four stories are submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of Tokyo (1978). The results of this study were delivered in an address to the 19th and 20th annual meeting (1977, 1978) of the Japanese Association of Educational Psychology. 2 The author would like to thank heartily the members of the dissertation committee (Drs. H. Azuma, T. Hidano. M, Saji, T. Inagaki, and K. Furuhata) for their valuable comments and suggestions. Thanks are also extended to the teachers and the children of Narimasu Elementary School for their cooperation, and to the six teachers of other schools for their cooperation in the pre-test. analysed in this manner, the total points being called as the need for achievement score (n-ach score). Miyamoto (1979) has examined the achievement motive of the Japanese elementary and high school students and the relation between their achievement motive and various personality traits. The results showed that no correlation was found between the n-ach score and various personality traits, but a little correlations were found between sub-categories and personality traits. Specifically, the subcategory "Instrumental Activity" was noteworthy:(a) Instrumental Activity tended to appear more frequently in the stories written by the subjects with high n- Ach scores, (b) Instrumental Activity significantly correlated with Achievement Thema (Ach-Th)3 in the case of high school boys, and (c) Instrumental Activity correlated significantly with the score of achievement behavior. The results show that the function of Instrumental Activity the sub-categories and is scored when the Achievement Imagery is elaborated in such a manner that it becomes the central plot or thema of the story (McClelland et al., 1953, p.136).
M. Miyamoto in achievement motivation is worth further research. Purpose The present study aims at investigating the meaning of Instrumental Activity by examining the interrelation among the achievement motive, Instrumental Activity and the achievement in school work. As mentioned above, the standard scoring procedure consists of two steps. When the story contains AI (Achievement Imagery) in the analysis of the first step, the AI story is further analysed in the second step in terms of 10 sub-categories. When the story does not contain AI, sub-categories are not analysed. Instrumental Activity is one of those sub-categories. In order to ascertain the function of Instrumental Activity, it is necessary to count all the Instrumental Activity in detail which the subjects have. In order to measure Instrumental Activity, independent from the usual scale for achievement motive, a new instrument has to be developed. Experiment Design of the Instrumental Activity Scale Definition of the Instrumental Activity. As mentioned above, McClelland et al.(1953) have developed an achievement motive instrument in which Instrumental Activity is set as one of the sub-categories for the scoring system to be combined with the scores of other sub-categories. They de- mental activity by one or more characters in the story indicating that something is being done about attaining an achievement goal (McClelland et al., 1953, p. 124)." The definition of Instrumental Activity here follows the McClelland's and the author regarded it consists of two components, namely, (a) Overt Instrumental Activity (OIA) and (b) Mental Instrumental Activity (MIA). OIA is defined as an activity which is an effective means in achieving a goal by means of actual acts: Seven items represent the viewpoints such as collecting information, trial, reality test, self-assertion, training, setting the situation, and achieving a goal with assistance. MIA is the internalized mode of instrumental activities: Seven items represent goal-setting, planning, having imagery, self-control for long-term achievement, originality, recognition of the role and the situation, and reflective attitude. Although it is difficult to distinguish between OIA and MIA in the strict sense, they can be examined separately. Items of the Instrumental Activity Scale.(1) Items for OIA (The parenthesized words indicate the viewpoints.) 1. When he has a problem, he checks the references by himself.(collecting information) 2. He tries matters practically by observing or checking the objects.(trial) 3. He checks what he has done after taking tests and after duties for his class. (reality test) 4. He makes an effort to find the right expressions in order to be fully understood. (self-assertion) 5. He exercises until he succeeds when he cannot do well in sports or any other acts by trying various ways.(training) 6. He sets the situation effectively for his study or school activities.(setting the situation) 7. When he has something he cannot do, he seeks advice from his teacher or friends in order to learn to do it by himself.(achieving a goal with help) (2) Items for MIA [The words in the brackets are the explanation to teacher.] 8. He has clearly in mind the goal of the study or the task he is facing. [He is positively concerned with the matter knowing well what he is facing.] (goalsetting) 9. He makes a plan before he acts. [He knows the direction of his behavior.] (planning)
Instrumental activity in achievement motivation 10. He thinks of success-situations and failure-situations before making a concrete plan. [After thinking about various related things together, he has ideas and images.] (having imagery) 11. If he thinks he will achieve his goal, he makes an effort persistently even if it may not be achieved right away. (selfcontrol for the long-term achievement) 12. He tries to do things in his own original way. (originality) 13. He selects the appropriate behavior according to what should be effective behavior for the situation. (recognition of the role and the situation) 14. He acts reflectively and not impulsively in taking tests or in performing his duty. (reflective attitude) Items for other traits. The items concerning the child's need for achievement (5 items), independent and positive attitude in general life (7 items), and anxiety tendency (3 items) are presented to the teacher in order to be evaluated. Their relationship with the Instrumental Activity mentioned above is to be studied. As for the child's need for achievement, the child's attitudes in daily life (study, arts and crafts, gymnastics, social relations) are included. As for independent and positive attitudes, Winterbottom (1958) pointed out that a mother's discipline in independence and mastery affects the later achievement motive of the child. As a matter of course, the positive learning attitude is effective for school work. In this respect, the viewpoint for the independent and positive attitudes, spontaniety, estimation of one's own ability, intellectual curiosity, autonomy, concentration, independence, and self-respect are included. In the model of achievement motivation by Atkinson, achievement-oriented activities are influenced by the conflict between the tendency to seek success and the tendency to avoid failure (Atkinson & Feather, 1966, p. 333). The tendency to avoid failure is equivalent to anxiety. Therefore, the viewpoint for the anxiety tendency, tendency to avoid failure, disappointment, and test anxiety are included. The actual questions are given below. The parenthesized words indicate the viewpoint, and the words in the brackets are the explanation to teacher. (1) Items for the need for achievement 15. He shows a positive attitude in achievement of tasks in his general life. (general attitude of achievement motivation) 16. He makes an effort to get good grades in school work. [Regardless of the results.] (need for achievement in study) 17. He makes an effort to produce a good result in arts and crafts. [Regardless of the results.] (need for achievement in arts and crafts) 18. He makes an effort to win in sports and games. [Regardless of the results.] (need for achievement in sports) 19. He makes an effort to win the trust and support of his friends and to be a good leader. [Regardless of the results.] (need for achievement in social relations) (2) Items for an independent and positive attitude 20. He studies by himself. (spontaniety) 21. He estimates his own ability appropriatelyty) (estimation of one's own abili- 22. He has a strong intellectual curiosity. (intellectual curiosity) 23. He acts according to his own opinions and is not easily influenced by others. (autonomy) 24. He works with concentration. (concentration) 25. He is independent in his daily life. (independence) 26. He has more confidence in himself if his study or school activities, e.g. club or duties for his class, go well. (self-respect) (3) Items of an anxiety tendency 27. He has a fear of failure in his study or school activities. (tendency to avoid failure)
M. Miyamoto 28. He becomes discouraged when he fails in his study or school activities. (disappointment) 29. He cannot perform at his best under tension such as test taking or doing something before an audience. (test anxiety) Pre-lest The pre-test of the questionnaire was carried out with 213 elementary school children of the third and fourth grades. Teachers were asked to fill in the questionnaire, on the basis of what each teacher has observed about each individual child in his/her own class. The children themselves did not fill in the questionnaire. This method was adopted in order to see objectively the relative degrees of the Instrumental Activity among the children in the same class rather than using the child's subjective rating of his Instrumental Activity. The four point scale (4-always true, 3-usually true, 2-usually false, 1 always false) for each item is applied in order to avoid the possibility of selecting a central value for a suspended judgment. The scores of five different categories (OIA, MIA, need for achievement, independent and positive attitude, and anxiety tendency) were obtained separately, in order to check the internal consistency of the items used. The distribution of the scores of the upper group and the lower group separated by the median was checked by the point biserial coefficient of correlation. The result showed a significant relationship in every item. Thus all 29 question items were adopted in the experiment. Subjects The subjects consisted of 71 boys and 64 girls (total 135), all were fifth graders of a public elementary grade school located in Tokyo, Japan. Procedure Measurement of achievement motive. The standard TAT measure was adopted. Testing took place in February 1978 at the school. Measurement of Instrumental Activity. The questionnaire mentioned above was adopted. The teachers were asked to fill in the questionnaire, on the basis of close observation of each child in their classes for about two weeks, as in the case of the pre-test mentioned above. The questionnaires were distributed to the teachers and were collected three weeks later. In addition to the questionnaires, the relevant school grades and intelligence test scores were reported by the teachers. Results and Discussion The need for Achievement score (n-ach score). The distribution of the n-ach scores of the children measured by the standard TAT measure is shown in Table 1. The mean of the n-ach score is 2.21 (SD=5.31) which is not significantly different from the other data of Japanese 5th graders, taken in 1972 (Miyamoto, 1979). No significant difference is observed between the sexes. The scores of Instrumental Activity and other items, and the relationship with the n-ach score. Table 2 shows the means and SDs of each item and of each category (OIA, MIA, total IA, need for achievement, independent and positive attitude, anxiety tendency) by the questionnaire, school grades, and intelligence test scores. In the same table, the correlation coefficients are shown between the n-ach scores measured by the standard TAT measure and the scores of questionnaire. The correlations between the n-ach score and each item of the questionnaire and between the n-ach score and each category of the questionnaire are low in all cases, but they are still significant, except for the items in the category of anxiety tendency. The correlation between the n-ach scores by the TAT method and the need for achievement scores of the questionnaire
Instrumental activity in achievement motivation Table Distribution of n-ach scores I (consisting of 5 items) rated by the teachers is significant, though not so high, with its coefficient of.41. The correlation coefficient between the n-ach score and the Instrumental Activity is.50 for OIA,.45 for MIA, and.49 for total IA. The correlation coefficient between the n-ach scores and the school grades is.37. If we calculate the partial correlation coefficient between the n-ach score and the school grades, partialing out the Instrumental Activity score (OIA, MIA, and total IA), no correlation was found between the two (Table 3). This is a clear evidence that the Instrumental Activity functions greatly in the n-ach scores and in the school grades (Table 4). In other words, if the achievement motive is to work effectively in improving school grades, the Instrumental Activity must work with it. Relation between sub-category (I) by the TAT method and Instrumental Activity by the questionnaire. As stated previously, Instrumental Activity, or (I) for short, is included among the sub-categories of the achievement motive as measured by the TAT method (Mc- Clelland et al., 1953). In this study, a questionnaire on the Instrumental Activity was developed by focussing upon (I). Although the definition of the Instrumental Activity of the questionnaire followed closely to the definition of McClelland, items of this questionnaire were rather focussed on the school life, while the subcategory (I) was scored from the stories subjects made which were included not only the school life but also their life in general. While the sub-category (I) was extraporated from the story made by the child, the Instrumental Activity by the questionnaire was rated by the teacher. For these reasons, it was necessary to check the correlation between the sub-category (I) in the children's n-ach scores and their scores of Instrumental Activity (OIA, MIA, total IA) as rated by the teachers. As mentioned before, the sub-category analysis is only done on the stories judged as AI (Achievement Imagery), and these AI stories do not always contain the subcategory (I). Accordingly less than half of the subjects obtained (I) scores, as shown in Table 5, and the distribution was not normal. Therefore, in order to examine the relation between this (I) and the Instrumental Activity, the Phi coefficient correlation was calculated from the Chi square value between the (I) scores and the three score groups (high 25%, middle 50%, and low 25%) of the Instrumental Activity by the questionnaire. The Phi coefficient between the sub-category (I) and the Instrumental Activity by the question-
Means and SDs of each item and of each category of the questionnaire rated by the teacher, and their correlation with the n-ach scores of the children (N=135) Continued...
Instrumental activity in achievement motivation Table 2 continued Note. Items for 27, 28 and 29 were scored in reverse to the questionnaire. Table 3 Partial correlation of the n-ach scores and the school grades (N=135) Table 6 The relationship between the sub-category (I) and the Instrumental Activity by the questionnaire and other variables (df=8) Table 4 Structure of the n-ach score and the school grades Note. If IA functions strongly for both, then the partial correlation between the n-ach score and the school grades should be small. Table 5 Distribution of sub-category (I) by the TAT method N 135 naire was.44 for OIA,.33 for MIA and.45 for total IA respectively, the first and the third are significant (p<.005), while the second is not significant (p<.10) (Table 6). There are two possibilities for this result. (a) the sub-category (I) by the children coincides more with the OIA than with the MIA rated by the teachers. (b) MIA is more difficult to observe by others and / or the children's stories do not fully contain the mental instrumental activity in terms of the teachers' rating. The partial correlation coefficient of.25 between the sub-category (I) and school grades, with the achievement motive (n-
Table 7 Factor analytic solution of the scores of the questionnaire rated by the teacher (Varimax rotation, by ACOS 300) (N=135) Table 8 Relation between the n-ach score and the factor score (r) (N=135) tion (Varimax rotation) concerning the scores of the questionnaire rated by the teachers. The Factor I represents the factor of positive attitude for a study which includes intellectual curiosity, the need for achievement in study, collecting information, and trial. On the other hand, Factor IV represents the factor of reflective attitude in study which includes reflective attitude, imagery making, planning, and recognition of the role and the situation. In other words, the Factor I represents OIA, while the Factor IV represents MIA. The factor of anxiety and the factor of need for sports and practice were found as Factor II and Factor III respectively. Next, the factor scores were calculated for each Factor of the above mentioned and each individual subjects, using items with scores of factor loading over 0.5. Table 8 shows the correlations between the n- Ach scores and each of these factor scores. It was found that all the factors except Factor II significantly correlated with the n-ach scores (p<.001). As for the theories of achievement motive, McClelland introduced the affective arousal model and Atkinson introduced the expectancy-value model. The affective item. Note. Refer to Table 2 for the content of each Ach score) partialed out, was significant (p<.005). The sub-category (I) played a role in improving school grades. Factor analytic solution of the scores of the questionnaire rated by the teacher. Table 7 shows the result of the factor analytic solu- arousal model explains that the degree of discrepancy between the stimulus (perception) and the adaptation level of the organism (expectation) determines the arousal of affect which induces motivation (McClelland et al., 1953, pp.43-67). The expectancy-value model, on the other hand, explains the strength of achievement motivation as" Motive to achieve ~Subjective probability of success ~Incentive".
Instrumental activity in achievement motivation Fig. 1. Factors of expectancy in achievement motivation. Note. The achievement motive will he activated by the cognition of expectancy which is effected by the factor in the black box, and this recognition enables one to have achievement motivation toward the achievement of a goal. In this model, the strength of achievement motivation may differ depending on the subjective probability of success and on the incentive, even among those with the same strength of achievement motive. In accepting these models, it can be said that for the McClelland's model, the discrepancy between the task to be achieved (perception) and the adaptation level of the organism (expectation) can be affected by Instrumental Activity, and this discrepancy determines the arousal of affect which induces motivation. And for the Atkinson's model (1957), the subjective probability of achieving the task can also be affected by Instrumental Activity, and this subjective probability affects the strength of achievement motivation. In other words, it can be said, therefore, if one's adaptation level and / or the subjective probability for success is effectively changed by the use of some Instrumental Activity, one would be further motivated toward the achievement of a goal. Schematized au thor's view may be illustrated in Fig. 1. In conclusion, it is possible to say that by fostering the child to possess more effective Instrumental Activities, the child's achievement motive will be effectively enhanced toward the achievement of a goal. References Atkinson, J. W. 1957 Motivational determinants of risk-taking behavior. Psychological Review, 64, 359-372. Atkinson, J. W., & Feather, N. T.(Eds.) 1966 A theory of achievement motivation. New York: John Wiley. McClelland, D. C., Atkinson, J. W., Clark, R. A., & Lowell, E. L. 1953 The achievement motive. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. Miyamoto, M. 1979 Achievement motive of Japanese children and youth. Japan Women's University Journal, 26, 9-17. Winterbottom, M. R. 1958 The relation of need for achievement to learning experiences in independence and mastery. In J. W. Atkinson (Ed.), Motives in fantasy, action and society. Princeton: Van Nostrand. Pp. 453-478.