Conflicts and achievement goals in learning with a partner

11th Congress of the Swiss Psychological Society
Conflicts and achievement goals
in learning with a partner
Fabrizio Butera & Céline Darnon
Conflict & Learning
• At the origin of the construction of knowledge : conflict
• Conflict may have a social origin (Doise,
Mugny, & Perret-Clermont, 1975)
:
« Socio-cognitive conflict »
Two ways of regulating conflict:
Epistemic regulation
Relational regulation
Conflict favors learning
Benefits of conflict are lost
(e.g. Doise, Mugny, & Perret-Clermont,
1976; Johnson & Johnson, 1993)
(e.g. Mugny, De Paolis, & Carugati, 1984;
Johnson & Johnson, 1993)
2
Unresolved Problems…
1.
Conflict is beneficial for learning if it is
regulated in an epistemic way
How to make sure epistemic regulation takes
place ?
2. What are the exact effects of relational conflict
regulation ?
Reduction of benefits, cancellation or
detrimental effect?
3. What are the motivational determinants of the
two modes of conflict regulation?
3
Achievement Goals
Dweck (1986); Nicholls (1984)
Mastery goals
Performance goals
 Try to acquire new
knowledge, to understand
and master the task
 Try to show
competence, to be better
than others
Adaptive responses
(Efforts, persistence after
failure, interest in the task, deep
study)
Maladaptive responses
(Little effort, does not predict
interest, surface study)
(e.g. Elliot, McGregor, & Gable,
1999)
4
(e.g. Nolen, 1988 )
Unresolved problems…
1. Mastery goals should positively predict learning and
performance goal negatively. However …
• Some studies find this effect (e.g. Elliot & McGregor, 1999)
• Some studies only find it on learning strategies (e.g.
Bouffard et al., 1995)
• Some studies do not find it (e.g. Elliot & Church, 1997)
• Some studies find it only when:
• the task is difficult (Elliot & McGregor, 1999 )
• the task requires deep processing (Graham & Golan, 1991)
• Participants are low in self-competence (Butler, 1988)
5
Unresolved problems…
2. The effects of achievement goals have been mostly
studied at the individual level :
Gabriele & Montecinos (2001): “no work has been done on
the direct impact of achievement goals in peer-learning
situations or has examined the influence of learning and
performance goals on social interaction” (p. 155).
Social interaction as a moderator of
achievement goal effects in learning ?
6
Hypotheses
From the achievement goals point of view…
Conflict
Mastery goal > performance goal
No conflict
Mastery goal = performance goal
From the conflict point of view…
Mastery goal
Conflict
Performance goal
Conflict
7
Beneficial to
learning
Reduction/cancellation
of benefits?
Detrimental effect?
Study 1
• Method :
• Study on « computer-mediated cooperative
learning ».
• Instructions : Mastery/Performance/Control
• Ps read a text
• Ps answer a question on text
• Ps receive the « partner’s answer »
X4
• Conflict/No Conflict (agreement)
• Multiple Choice Test (measure of learning)
Darnon, C., Butera, F., & Harackiewicz, J. (2007). Achievement goals in social
8 interactions: Learning within a mastery vs. performance goal. Motivation and
Emotion, 31, 61-70.
• Results on learning :
A question of conflict regulation?
9
Study 2
• Method :
• Goals (mastery and performance) are measured
• Ps imagine a contradictory debate on Milgram’s
results (conflict)
• Conflict regulation questionnaire
• Epistemic
• Relational
Darnon, C., Muller, D., Schrager, S., Pannuzzo, N., & Butera, F. (2006). Mastery
10 and performance goals predict epistemic and relational conflict regulation.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 766-776.
Epistemic
regulation
Relational
regulation
Mastery goals
B = 0.41***
B = 0.24
Performance goals
B = -0.15
B = 0.57**
11
Study 3
• Method :
• Instructions : Mastery/Performance/Control
• Actual interaction : discussion of texts presenting
contradictory results
• Conflict is measured
• Conflict regulation questionnaire
• Epistemic
• Relational
Darnon, C., & Butera, F. (2007). Learning or succeeding? Conflict regulation with
12 mastery or performance goals. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 66, 145-152.
Epistemic regulation
6,
Performance
Mastery
5
Control
6
5,
5
5
Conflict (peceived disagreement)
4,
Relational regulation
6
5
Performance
Mastery
Control
5
4
3
2
1
Conflict (peceived disagreement)
13
Discussion
Conflict associated with
Mastery goal
Performance goal
Epistemic
regulation
Relational
regulation
Beneficial for
learning
Detrimental
for learning
14
Conclusions (1)
Clarifying socio-cognitive conflict theories
• How to make sure that conflict is beneficial ?
By insisting on mastery goals
• What are the effects of conflict when regulated in a
relational way ?
Detrimental effects under perfomance goals
15
Conclusions (2)
Clarifying achievement goal theories
• Do mastery and performance goals have
differential effects on learning ?
• The ambiguity is due to the fact that research has
been conducted predominantly at the individual level:
• The difference between mastery and performance
goals appears when interaction is conflictual
Conflict moderates the effects of achievement
goals on learning: mastery is more beneficial than
performance under conflict
16
Thank you !
17
When this disagreement occured, to what extent did you :
- examine the conditions under which each
proposition could help you to understand
-think again about the text in order to understand
better
-think of a solution that could integrate both points
of view
-try to show you were right
-try to show the partner was wrong
-try to resist by maintaining your initial proposition
18
Epistemic
regulation
Relational
regulation
Return
to the text
Return
to the text
Reading
Question
Send the
reply
19
Send the
answer
Reception of
the "partner’s
answer"
reply
continue
<
QCM : exemple de questions
Dans la technique de l’entretien cognitif, il est demandé aux témoins :
-d’éviter de se rappeler des éléments du contexte pour pouvoir se concentrer sur
l’évènement en lui-même
-de se rappeler le maximum d’éléments du contexte pour favoriser le rappel de
l’événement
-de se rappeler le maximum d’éléments du contexte pour pouvoir ensuite s’en détacher
-ni a, ni b, ni c
Vous jouez dans une pièce de théâtre et comme beaucoup d’acteurs, l’un de vos grand rêve
est que les gens vous reconnaissent lorsqu’ils vous croisent dans la rue… Laquelle des
scènes suivantes vous permettra le plus de satisfaire cette envie ?
-durant la scène, vous portez sur vous une épée sans l’utiliser
-la scène où vous êtes présent se déroule sans épée
-durant la scène, vous brandissez une épée
-durant la scène (où vous êtes présent), un autre acteur brandit une épée
20
<
Instructions
- mastery
- performance
« It is very important for you to
accurately understand the aims of
this experiment. You are here to
acquire new knowledge that could
be useful to you, to understand
correctly the experiments and the
ideas developed in the text, and to
discover new concepts. In other
words, you are here to learn. »
21
« It is very important for you to
accurately understand the aims of this
experiment. You are here to perform,
to be good, to get a good grade on the
Multiple Choice Test, to prove your
abilities, and to show your
competencies. Experimenters will
evaluate your performance. This
evaluation has to be as good as
possible. »
Performance goal (Elliot & McGregor, 2001)
It is important for me to do better than other students
It is important for me to do well compared to others in this class
My goal in this class is to get a better grade than most of the other
students
Mastery goal (Elliot & McGregor, 2001)
It is important for me to understand the content of this course as
thoroughly as possible
I desire to completely master the material presented in this class
I want to learn as much as possible from this class
22