Individual Differences in Conation: Selected Constructs and Measures

Introduction In recent years, a plethora of psychological constructs and their associated measures have been proposed for attention in instructional research and evaluation. These constructs are attempts to capture, in one way or another, aspects of human learning and performance relevant to instruction that go beyond conventional constructs of cognitive ability. Some are old concepts in psychology that have not received much attention in contemporary work. Some are quite new, with relatively little foundation in prior research. Some represent the inventions of educational practitioners. Many are designed to identify potentially important individual differences among students that influence learning in instructional situations. Many also can be used to assess outcomes from such learning. Among the most interesting and potentially useful of these constructs are those reflecting motivational and volitional aspects of human behavior; we call these ÒconativeÓ constructs. There are of course also important ÒcognitiveÓ constructs and ÒaffectiveÓ constructs, both old and new. The distinction between cognition, conation, and affection is convenient and historically well-founded in psychology, though it should be regarded as a matter of emphasis rather than a true partition; all human behavior, especially including instructional learning and achievement, involves some mixture of all three aspects (Hilgard, 1980). But the conative side of school learning has been largely ignored in instructional By way of formal definition, ÒconationÓ represents that aspect of mental process or behavior by which it tends to develop into something else; an intrinsic ÒunrestÓ of the organism. .. almost the opposite of homeostasis. A conscious tendency to act; a conscious striving.. .. Impulse, desire, volition, purposive striving all emphasize the conative aspect. 2 Among the constructs we place in this category today are several kinds of achievement motivational distinctions, including need for achievement and fear of failure, but also various beliefs about oneÕs own abilities and their use, feelings of self-esteem and self-efficacy, and attitudes and interests concerning particular subject matter learning; volitional aspects pertaining to persistence, academic work ethic, will to learn, mental effort investment, and mindfulness in learning; intentional constructs reflecting control or regulation of actions leading toward chosen goals, attitudes toward the future, and self-awareness about proximal and distal goals and consequences; and many kinds of learning styles and strategies hypothesized to influence cognitive processes and outcomes of instruction. Many other, more traditional personality or style constructs, such as intellectual flexibility, conscientiousness, extraversion, or reflection-impulsivity, could also be added to the list. And …