Committee Chair

Clark, Amanda J.

Committee Member

Black, Kristen Jennings, 1991-; Shelton, Jill

Department

Dept. of Psychology

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

This study examined the influences of individuals’ cognitive intrinsic motivation and the presence or absence of feedback on a cognitive task that encouraged reactive cognitive control. I hypothesized that the presence of feedback would facilitate faster responses. I also hypothesized that cognitive intrinsic motivation, one’s disposition towards exerting cognitive effort, would be related to reactive cognitive control in reward situations. Sixty-six individuals completed the Need for Cognition questionnaire (Cacioppo & Petty, 1984) to measure cognitive intrinsic motivation and were randomly assigned to either a rewarded feedback or informative feedback Stroop task. My findings support my first hypothesis indicating a role of feedback in reactive cognitive control. There was partial support for my second hypothesis, that cognitive intrinsic motivation is related to rewarded reactive control performance.

Acknowledgments

I would first like to thank my advisor, Dr. Amanda Clark whose patience and insight has undoubtedly guided the evolution of this project both conceptually and pragmatically. I would also like to thank Dr. Jill Shelton, whose engaging lectures and invaluable consultation has helped me to navigate the often-murky waters of cognitive psychology and its experimental paradigms. I am deeply appreciative of Dr. Kristen Black’s coaching and expert advice in statistics which has cultivated my confidence and know-how in understanding psychological phenomena through an objective lens. Finally, I am beyond grateful for the support of my colleagues and friends, Melissa Materia, Mia Melone, Lauren Strickland, Chris Nuno, Zach Swanson, and Nate Scarbeck who have questioned, challenged, and contributed to this project in many ways.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2022

Subject

Feedback (Psychology); Intrinsic motivation; Reward (Psychology)

Keyword

Feedback; reward; intrinsic motivation; reactive cognitive control; Need for Cognition; Stroop task

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

viii, 49 leaves

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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