Motivation and adjustment and story sequence analysis

This study examined the relationship between adjustment and motivation in upper elementary aged students. 18 students from grades six and seven wrote stories to a ten picture Children's Apperception Test-Human figures. From these stories the childrens' motivational levels were derived. The stories were scored utilizing the scoring method outlined in Magda B. Arnold's "Story Sequence Analysis" (1962). These scores were then correlated with adjustment scores obtained from the "Child and Adolescent Adjustment Profile" (CAAP). Aggregate descriptive results indicated a relationship of 0.50 existed between adjustment and motivation. To further explore the relationship six case studies were chosen from the larger group of 18. The imports of each student in the case studies were presented to the teacher. The imports in sequence (known as a sequence analysis) reveal the child’s beliefs, attitudes and convictions. The teacher was asked to comment on the accuracy of the sequence analysis. To further assess the level of adjustment beyond the "Child and Adolescent Adjustment Profile," the teacher was interviewed by the researcher using a questionnaire developed from the CAAP. The findings of this study indicated that: (a) the sequence analysis presented to the teacher was a fair representation of the student's level of motivation and subsequent level of achievement; (b) that several areas of researcher/teacher dialogue on adjustment were reflected in the sequence analysis; and (c) that both the sequence analysis and dialogue on adjustment supported the empirical finding of this study.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts - MA

Level thesis:degree_level

master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Counselling Psychology

Grantor dc:publisher

University of British Columbia

Year dc:date

1993

Author dc:creator

• Smitton, J. Alan

Statement dc:rights

• For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

Language dc:language

eng

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/1466

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/1466