Host: The Japanese Society for Cognitive Psychology
The aspects of motivation include not only direction such as expectancy and values but also intensity which is energetic and dynamic aspect. Although intensity is generally estimated from behavioral indicators, conventional methods do not sufficiently assess the dynamic change in intensity. We devised an experimental paradigm to measure this change more directly, and examined its effectiveness. We compared participants’ handgrip for 30 seconds before and after the experimental manipulation of giving rewards with the overlap of 95% confidence intervals, and estimated the dynamic change in motivational intensity. We presented 25 participants (N = 50) each with verbal or monetary rewards. Results showed that verbal reward continuously improved overall grip force for 30 seconds, and monetary reward temporarily improved grip force after confirmation of the reward. Based on the results, we discuss the contribution of this experiment paradigm to motivation research.
