Object Mastery Motivation in Pre-school Children with and without Disabilities

Abstract

In this study the level of object mastery motivation between children with Down's syndrome and children without disabilities of matched mental age was investigated. Data were collected through structured observations of all the children playing with four different educational toys of increasing complexity. Four variables were examined: task pleasure, task persistence, success and off-task behaviour. A one-way ANOVA revealed both statistically significant and nonsignificant differences between groups. Participants from both groups displayed age-appropriate behaviour when playing with the toys. Those with disabilities interacted less than the comparison group with the effect-production and sensori-motor tasks (the easier tasks), whereas, with the more difficult problem-solving tasks, both groups persisted equally. It is suggested that successful attempts elicit persistence on less complex tasks, whereas on the more sophisticated ones this effect is obtained by the challenging nature of the task.