A developmental examination of children's understanding of task difficulty in the physical domain

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine children's understanding of task difficulty in the physical domain using the developmental component of Nicholls’ theory of achievement motivation as a framework. Children (N = 144; 8 boys and 8 girls at each age from 5–13 years) enrolled in public schools in a Southern city were participants. They were shown one normative and two objective arrays with structured interview questions following each array. A Piagetian structural analysis of the children's responses revealed the same three levels of understanding of task difficulty that Nicholls’ previously identified: egocentric, objective, and normative. Further, a nonparametric test of association between ordinal variables showed a significant positive relationship between children's age and their levels of understanding of task difficulty. No significant gender differences emerged for children's understanding of task difficulty. Children's personal preferences for task difficulty levels (i.e., easy, moderate, difficult) were assessed for those who were identified as possessing a mature conception of task difficulty (i.e., rated at Level 3). Qualitative analysis revealed that approximately 30% of the children indicated that if given a choice they would prefer to play an easy game that did not provide an optimal challenge. These results provide partial evidence to support Nicholls’ (1989) claim that as children develop a mature understanding of ability some will be at risk of displaying maladaptive motivational patterns.