Developmental Changes of Motivation for Cooperative Learning during Childhood

Abstract

This study examined the developmental changes in motivation with regard to cooperative learning during childhood. Changes in the mean level of motivation and the stability of motivation were examined with the help of longitudinal data collected over four years (from the third to the sixth grade). Growth curve analyses revealed that intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, and introjected regulation decreased with higher grades. Autoregressive model analyses found moderate correlations among data points, showing the stability of motivation. These results suggest the general decline in motivation and stability of motivation across grades during childhood. The developmental features of motivation in childhood are discussed.