Learning the hard way: Need for Cognition influences attitudes toward and self-reported use of desirable difficulties
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In: Educational Psychology, Vol. 38, No. 2, 07.02.2018, p. 176-202.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Learning the hard way
T2 - Need for Cognition influences attitudes toward and self-reported use of desirable difficulties
AU - Weissgerber, Sophia C.
AU - Reinhard, Marc André
AU - Schindler, Simon
PY - 2018/2/7
Y1 - 2018/2/7
N2 - We investigate the relationship between Need for Cognition (NFC), attitude towards and self-reported application of different desirable difficulties in self-regulated learning. Students with a higher NFC should be more appreciative and prone to use desirable difficulties because of a match between the learner’s attributes and the learning task requirements: cognitively effortful learning conditions will be preferred by students with a higher propensity for cognitive challenges. Supporting our hypotheses, we show that indeed a higher NFC positively relates to attitudes and use of different desirable difficulties (Study 1–2), especially to self-generating of materials and predictions, but weaker and inconsistently to interleaving/spacing and self-testing/practicing. While self-generating of contents and predictions loaded on one factor, and interleaving/spacing together with self-testing/practicing loaded on another factor, this two-factor structure was reliably obtained for self-reported use, yet for attitudes a one-factor structure did fit. Most importantly though, the observed relationship between NFC and different desirable difficulties could neither be explained by high school graduation grade, indicating academic competence (Study 1), nor by academic self-concept as one’s perception of one’s academic abilities (Study 2). Results are discussed within an information-processing framework related to implications for desirable difficulties as learning strategies.
AB - We investigate the relationship between Need for Cognition (NFC), attitude towards and self-reported application of different desirable difficulties in self-regulated learning. Students with a higher NFC should be more appreciative and prone to use desirable difficulties because of a match between the learner’s attributes and the learning task requirements: cognitively effortful learning conditions will be preferred by students with a higher propensity for cognitive challenges. Supporting our hypotheses, we show that indeed a higher NFC positively relates to attitudes and use of different desirable difficulties (Study 1–2), especially to self-generating of materials and predictions, but weaker and inconsistently to interleaving/spacing and self-testing/practicing. While self-generating of contents and predictions loaded on one factor, and interleaving/spacing together with self-testing/practicing loaded on another factor, this two-factor structure was reliably obtained for self-reported use, yet for attitudes a one-factor structure did fit. Most importantly though, the observed relationship between NFC and different desirable difficulties could neither be explained by high school graduation grade, indicating academic competence (Study 1), nor by academic self-concept as one’s perception of one’s academic abilities (Study 2). Results are discussed within an information-processing framework related to implications for desirable difficulties as learning strategies.
KW - academic self-concept
KW - Desirable difficulties
KW - Need for Cognition
KW - self-regulated learning strategies
KW - Psychology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85031927372&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01443410.2017.1387644
DO - 10.1080/01443410.2017.1387644
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:85031927372
VL - 38
SP - 176
EP - 202
JO - Educational Psychology
JF - Educational Psychology
SN - 0144-3410
IS - 2
ER -