A factor analytic study of selected personality dimensions and their relations to intelligence and reading achievement in children

Abstract

'Somewhere between apathy and wild excitement, there is an optimum level of aroused attention that is ideal for classroom activity. What is that level?' J.S. Bruner, The Process of Education Cambridge; Harvard University Press, 1961, p.72. Also, it should be asked, how do we achieve and maintain this level? The answer will be made in terms of the nature of the teaching the child meets and of the nature of the child who is taught. If the possible relevant characteristics of the child are ranged under the headings of 'ability' and 'motivation', the conditions making for success in the classroom then fall under the three broad headings of ability, motivation, and teaching. The success of teaching will depend on its manner and the extent to which it takes into account the motivation and ability of the child, and the development of both ability and motivation will be influenced by the teaching the child receives. The development of a child's ability too, may be affected by his motivation and this, in turn, may affect motivational development.