Search

This study quantified the possible learning losses in reading and math skills among a sample of Finnish Grade 3 children (n = 198) who spent 8 weeks in distance learning during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. We compared their reading and math skill development trajectories across Grades 1, 2, and 4 to a pre-COVID sample (N = 378). We also examined if gender, parental education, maternal homework involvement, and child’s task-avoidant behavior predict children’s academic skills at Grade 4 differently in the pre-COVID sample compared with the COVID sample. Children’s reading and math skills were tested, mothers reported their education and homework involvement, and teachers rated children’s task-avoidant behavior. The results showed, on average, lower reading skills in the COVID sample than in the pre-COVID sample but there were no differences in math skills. Although the COVID sample had lower levels in reading, their developmental trajectories in reading and math skills were not different from the pre-COVID sample before the pandemic in Grades 1 and 2. From Grade 2 to 4, however, the development was slower in reading fluency and comprehension in the COVID sample, but not in math. The predictors of change from Grade 2 to 4 in reading and math skills were not different in the samples. The results showed that the development of reading skills in particular may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Theoretical models suggest that the emotion disgust or threat overestimates are important in the aetiology and maintenance of contamination-based obsessive–compulsive disorder. In the current study, both threat and disgust were manipulated and 115 non-clinical participants (mean age 20.46 years, 94 females) were randomly allocated to one of four conditions: high-disgust/low-threat (n = 29), high-disgust/high-threat (n = 29), low-disgust/low-threat (n = 27), and low-disgust/high-threat (n = 30). Participants completed a hierarchical Behavioural Avoidance Task (BAT). Those in the high-threat and high-disgust conditions completed less BAT steps and showed more latency to begin each step than those in the low-threat and low-disgust conditions. A significant interaction effect was observed for the high-disgust/high-threat condition as significantly more task avoidance was found. However, handwashing duration was not significantly different between the high and low-disgust conditions or the high and low-threat conditions. The overall low mean washing duration of 30 s possibly due to the testing conditions and/or the ethnic heterogeneity of the sample may account for these results. There were also no significant differences in the level of anxiety for participants in the high-threat compared with the low-threat conditions. It is possible that anxiety remained relatively low across conditions as a result of the graduated BAT. Future research and theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

In this invited review, we argue for the need to determine whether appetitive and aversive behaviors, be they goal-directed or habitual, share overlapping neural circuitry. To motivate our argument, we first summarize what is currently known about the neural circuits governing aversive and appetitive behaviors by focusing first on the three hypothesized phases of avoidance learning, and then on goal-directed and habitual reward seeking. We then provide several reasons to believe that the neural circuits of appetitive and aversive instrumental behaviors are not completely overlapping. We next discuss an experimental strategy to determine the extent of overlap based on a new computational framework that improves the identification of goal-directed and habitual actions regardless of valence. Finally, we discuss recent work in obsessive-compulsive disorder that uses this computational framework to determine whether patients perform appetitive and aversive versions of the same task using the same behavioral strategies and neural circuits.

Self-efficacious children are expected to be more task-focused in challenging achievement situations and consequently have better chances of overcoming learning difficulties than children who have lower self-efficacy. The present study investigates this presumption with Finnish-speaking first graders struggling with reading acquisition ( N = 285). The development of the children’s reading fluency, self-efficacy, and task avoidance was followed from the middle of Grade 1 to the end of Grade 2, and a 6-week mobile game-based intervention was administered to those who exhibited the greatest risk for reading disabilities (≤ 5th percentile). Exploratory structural equation modeling was used to test the theoretical model. The results suggest that higher self-efficacy in the middle of Grade 1 predicted lower task avoidance and higher reading fluency at the end of Grade 1, but no support for the mediating role of task avoidance was found. The intervention benefited both self-efficacy and reading fluency.

The present study examined the academic antecedents of declining peer social status. Participants included 545 (311 boys, 234 girls) Finnish students followed from the 1st through the 4th grade (ages 6–8 at outset). Each year, teachers completed assessments of academic task avoidance and students completed standardized measures of reading and math achievement. Acceptance was assayed through peer nominations. Supporting the hypothesized model, the results indicated that a lack of interest and motivation at the outset of primary school leads to a downward spiral of academic difficulties and diminished peer acceptance. Specifically, academic task avoidance in 1st and 2nd grade anticipated declining math and reading achievement one year later, which in turn, anticipated decreases in peer acceptance the following year. The findings held after controlling for factors known to contribute to school and peer difficulties, such as friendlessness, school readiness, and emotional and behavioural problems. peerReviewed

This study examined patterns of mothers' homework involvement (n = 680 in Grade 6 and 665 in Grade 7) and changes in them during 12-year-old Finnish adolescents' (n = 848; 391 boys) transition to lower secondary school. Moreover, the extent to which adolescents' motivational behavior and prior academic achievement predicted these patterns was examined. The latent transition analyses identified four relatively stable latent patterns of maternal homework involvement in Grades 6 and 7: averagely involved, psychologically controlling and intrusive, noninvolved, and intrusive monitoring and helping. The higher task avoidance and the poorer achievement adolescents showed, the more likely their mothers were to utilize a psychologically controlling and intrusive pattern, or an intrusive monitoring and helping pattern. Overall, these results suggest that some mothers may benefit from understanding of how to best support struggling and task-avoidant adolescents during the transition from primary to lower secondary school. peerReviewed

This study examined three aspects of maternal homework involvement (i.e., the quantity, quality, and source of initiative) and their direct and indirect associations with adolescents’ task-avoidant behavior in homework situations and academic achievement. The sample consisted of Finnish mothers and their adolescents who were transitioning from primary to lower secondary school. Mothers rated the quantity of their homework involvement (i.e., monitoring and help), quality of their homework involvement (i.e., autonomy support and psychological control), and source of initiative (i.e., mother- vs. adolescent-initiated monitoring and help) at the beginning of Grade 6. They also reported on adolescents’ task avoidance in homework situations at the beginning of Grade 7. Information on adolescents’ academic achievement in the spring terms of Grades 5 and 7 was obtained from school registers. The results showed that high maternal psychological control and mother-initiated monitoring were associated with poorer subsequent academic achievement directly and indirectly through higher levels of adolescent task avoidance. Moreover, poor prior academic achievement was associated with higher levels of subsequent task avoidance directly and indirectly through high maternal psychological control and mother-initiated monitoring. Overall, the results highlight the importance of bringing mothers’ knowledge and awareness to their self-initiated and controlling involvement practices and helping them to support adolescents’ learning and motivation in more optimal ways. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) peerReviewed

PurposeThis study focuses on how young adults face the COVID-19 pandemic by investigating their personal concerns about mental well-being, career/studies and economic situation. The authors investigated how young adults' (aged 18–29) personal concerns differ from older people's concerns (aged 30–65) and which person- and context-related antecedents relate to personal concerns.Design/methodology/approachData of Finnish young adults aged 18–29 (n = 222), who participated in the “Corona Consumers” survey (N = 1,000) in April 2020, were analyzed by path analysis and compared to participants aged 30–65 by independent samples t-test.FindingsYoung adults were significantly more concerned about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their mental well-being, career/studies and economic situation than older people. Females were more concerned about their mental well-being than males. Among youth, lower life satisfaction was related to concerns about mental well-being, and lower satisfaction with financial situation was related to concerns about career/studies and economic situation. Young adults' predisposition to avoid difficult situations was related to more frequent concerns in all domains, whereas generalized trust and education were not.Research limitations/implicationsDue to cross-sectional data, causal COVID-19 interpretations should be made cautiously.Practical implicationsStrong youth policies are needed for youth empowerment, mental health and career advancement in the pandemic aftermath.Originality/valueThe study highlights the inequality of the effects of COVID-19: The pandemic has radically influenced young adults as they exhibit significant personal concerns in age-related life domains.

The purpose of the research was to analyze procrastination - a problem of time management that negatively affects the autonomy of people - in relation to leisure as a domain of everyday life. Specifically, the dynamics between leisure (activities and time invested - weekly frequency and duration of activity) and procrastination factors were studied. A sample of 185 university students (118 men and 67 women: M age = 20.77 years, SD age = 2.53) answered a procrastination scale - validated for the Spanish population - which refers to four factors of procrastination (dilatory behaviors, indecision, lack of punctuality, and lack of planning) and an adaptation of the Time Budget (TB) (a table where the participants were asked to specify "the three activities that you prefer to do when you are not studying or doing a paid job"). Results show that leisure activities are associated with factors of procrastination. As a matter of fact, the different factors of procrastination were related to specific types of leisure activities, depending on the weekly frequency of the activity or its duration. In this sense, there are cases in which the greater frequency of leisure activities (hobbies and computing, social life and entertainment) seems to contain - control, inhibit - procrastination (specifically, affecting its component of indecision) variations in the weekly frequency and duration of certain type of activities result in higher or lower scores on certain factors of procrastination. In sum, the time invested in leisure can protect from or inhibit delaying tasks - which implies enhancing the autonomy of people - a deduction that opens up new lines of research to identify optimal time investments for coping with procrastination.

In this 3-year longitudinal study, we examined the interplay of children’s motivational orientations, spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) and number sequence and arithmetical skills from kindergarten (at age 6) to grade 1 (at age 7). We also examined the direct and indirect contributions of motivation and SFON to the acquisition of arithmetical skills from grades 1 to 2 (at age 8). The study involved 136 Finnish-speaking, typically developing children. Teacher ratings were used to assess the children’s motivational orientations (i.e., task orientation, task avoidance orientation and social dependence orientation) in kindergarten and grade 1. Number sequence skills and SFON were evaluated in kindergarten, and arithmetical skills were assessed in kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 2. A theoretical model of the relationships among the variables was proposed, and the associations were analysed using path analysis. The results showed that task orientation, social dependence orientation and task avoidance orientation were each unique predictors of later arithmetical achievement. Furthermore, together with arithmetical skills in grade 1 and counting abilities in kindergarten, they helped to predict arithmetical achievement in grade 2. Motivational orientations did not explain the significant contributions of SFON to later arithmetical skills. The study suggests that both motivational orientations and SFON require attention and scaffolding in educational contexts, such as assessment and teacher-child interaction from early on.

This international study compared motivational tendencies among pre-school children from Israel, Finland and the Netherlands. Teachers were asked to rate students’ behaviours during semi-structured...

International audience; Mentally demanding tasks feel effortful and are usually avoided. Furthermore, prolonged cognitive engagement leads to mental fatigue, consisting of subjective feeling of exhaustion and decline in performance. Despite the intuitive characterization of fatigue as an increase in subjective effort perception, the effect of fatigue on effort cost has never been tested experimentally. To this end, sixty participants in 2 separate experiments underwent a forced-choice working memory task following either a fatigue-inducing (i.e. cognitive task involving working memory, conflict and switch costs) or a control manipulation. We measured fatigue in terms of subjective feeling and performance decrement and assessed effort in terms of subjective perception and task avoidance. Subjects exhibited only weak avoidance of the working memory task, with stronger influence of reward than task difficulty on their decisions. In addition, we found that task avoidance did not systematically change following the fatigue manipulation but that variations in task avoidance correlated with fatigue-induced performance decline. The other measures of fatigue and effort were unrelated to each other. Our findings suggest that subjective fatigue may develop independently of task avoidance and suggest an "anticipatory regulation" model in which fatigue urges subjects to stop in anticipation of possible, future adverse consequences.

This study examined the role of temperament, prereading skills, and age at school entry in the development of Finnish children's task avoidance. Teachers rated the task-avoidant behavior of 198 participants in kindergarten and twice in Grades 2 and 3. Parents rated the children's temperament at age 3 and children's prereading skills were measured at age 5. The results showed that, on average, the level of children's task avoidance remained the same from kindergarten to Grade 2 fall, but decreased from Grade 2 fall to Grade 3 spring. A low task avoidance level was predicted by good prereading skills, high effortful control, and high negative affectivity. Low surgency predicted a decrease in task avoidance from kindergarten to Grade 2 fall, whereas high negative affectivity predicted a decrease from Grade 2 fall to Grade 3 spring. Finally, task avoidance of the oldest children in the classrooms decreased more from kindergarten to Grade 2 fall, whereas younger children's task avoidance decreased particularly from Grade 2 fall onward. peerReviewed

This longitudinal study investigated the associations among children’s externalizing problems, task-avoidant behavior, and academic performance in early school years. The participants were 586 children (43% girls, 57% boys). Data pertaining to externalizing problems (teacher ratings) and task-avoidant behaviors (mother and teacher ratings) were gathered, and the children were tested yearly on their academic performance in Grades 1–4. The results were similar for both genders. The analyses supported a mediation model: high externalizing problems in Grades 1 and 2 were linked with low academic performance in Grades 3 and 4 through increases in task-avoidant behavior in Grades 2 and 3. The results also provided evidence for a reversed mediator model: low academic performance in Grades 1 and 2 was associated with high externalizing problems in Grades 3 and 4 via high task avoidance in Grades 2 and 3. These findings emphasize the need to examine externalizing problems, task-avoidant behavior, and academic performance conjointly to understand their developmental dynamics in early school years.

This study is designed to investigate friend influence over mathematical reasoning in a sample of 374 children in 187 same-sex friend dyads (184 girls in 92 friendships; 190 boys in 95 friendships). Participants completed surveys that measured mathematical reasoning in the 3rd grade (approximately 9 years old) and one year later in the 4th grade (approximately 10 years old). Analyses designed for dyadic data (i.e., longitudinal Actor-Partner Interdependence Models) indicated that higher achieving friends influenced the mathematical reasoning of lower achieving friends, but not the reverse. Specifically, greater initial levels of mathematical reasoning among higher achieving partners in the 3rd grade predicted greater increases in mathematical reasoning from 3rd grade to 4th grade among lower achieving partners. These effects held after controlling for peer acceptance and rejection, task avoidance, interest in mathematics, maternal support for homework, parental education, length of the friendship, and friendship group norms on mathematical reasoning.

Mentally demanding tasks feel effortful and are usually avoided. Furthermore, prolonged cognitive engagement leads to mental fatigue, consisting of subjective feeling of exhaustion and decline in performance. Despite the intuitive characterization of fatigue as an increase in subjective effort perception, the effect of fatigue on effort cost has never been tested experimentally. To this end, sixty participants in 2 separate experiments underwent a forced-choice working memory task following either a fatigue-inducing (i.e. Stroop task) or a control manipulation. We measured subjective fatigue and effort as well as their objective behavioral signatures: performance decline and task avoidance, respectively. We found that fatigue-induced performance decline was correlated with task avoidance, while the feelings of fatigue and effort were unrelated to each other. Our findings highlight the discrepancy between subjective and objective manifestations of fatigue and effort, and provide valuable evidence feeding the ongoing theoretical debate on the nature of these constructs.

In my roles of educational consultant and teacher educator, I am often asked if a student is doing something like rocking because he has autism. Others ask if a student’s task avoidance is due to autism and share that they have been told by other professionals that children with autism are not intrinsically motivated. If we are going to change education for students with autism spectrum disorder, we must question teachers’ beliefs and the meanings they place on differences they see in these students. Likewise, we must be concerned with how these interpretations impact how students are educated (Baglieri et al. 2011; Cochran-Smith and Dudley-Marling 2012).

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is involved in modification of synaptic transmission and affects spatial discrimination learning, i.e., affects the formation of memory in long-term aspect. Therefore, we have focused on CRH effect on short-term memory. We have used stress task avoidance (maze containing three zones: entrance, aversive, and neutral) and compared the behavior and short-term memory in wild-type mice and mice lacking CRH (CRH KO) experiencing one 120-min session of restraint stress. As control, non-stressed animals were used. As expected, the animals that experienced the stress situation tend to spend less time in the zone in which the restraint chamber was present. The animals spent more time in the neutral zone. There were significant differences in number of freezing bouts in the aversive and entrance zones in CRH KO animals. CRH KO control animals entered the neutral zone much more faster than WT control and spent more time immobile in the neutral zone than WT control. These data give evidence that lacking of CRH itself improves the ability of mice to escape away from potentially dangerous area (i.e., those in which the scent of stressed animal is present).

Past research suggests that indecisiveness and trait anxiety may both decrease the likelihood of performing risk-mitigating preparatory behaviors (e.g., preparing for natural hazards) and suggests two cognitive processes (perceived control and worrying) as potential mediators. However, no single study to date has examined the influence of these traits and processes together. Examining them simultaneously is necessary to gain an integrated understanding of their relationship with risk-mitigating behaviors. We therefore examined these traits and mediators in relation to wildfire preparedness in a two-wave field study among residents of wildfire-prone areas in Western Australia (total N = 223). Structural equation modeling results showed that indecisiveness uniquely predicted preparedness, with higher indecisiveness predicting lower preparedness. This relationship was fully mediated by perceived control over wildfire-related outcomes. Trait anxiety did not uniquely predict preparedness or perceived control, but it did uniquely predict worry, with higher trait anxiety predicting more worrying. Also, worry trended toward uniquely predicting preparedness, albeit in an unpredicted positive direction. This shows how the lack of performing risk-mitigating behaviors can result from distinct cognitive processes that are linked to distinct personality traits. It also highlights how simultaneous examination of multiple pathways to behavior creates a fuller understanding of its antecedents.

This study examined the cross-lagged associations between the quality of classroom interactions and children’s behaviors in achievement situations. The achievement behaviors in challenging test situations of 166 Finnish children from 70 classrooms were rated by trained testers in grades 1 and 2. The quality of classroom interactions in terms of emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support were observed in 25 classrooms (out of 70) in grades 1 and 2. The results of multilevel modeling showed that classroom teachers’ low emotional support predicted children’s subsequent high passive avoidance, whereas high classroom organization and instructional support predicted children’s high social dependence. Furthermore, the more children showed active task avoidance, the more emotional and instructional support and classroom organization teachers showed later on in the classroom. The findings emphasize the importance of warm and supportive classroom interactions for children’s adaptive achievement behaviors. The results also suggest that teachers adapt their classroom interactions with respect to children’s active task avoidance.

This study investigated the effects of video self-modelling (VSM) on reducing task avoidance behaviours of four elementary-aged students with autism spectrum disorders. A multiple-probe design across participants showed that the performance of two of the four participants was positively changed immediately after the VSM interventions were implemented. The performance of one participant did not change positively until the original VSM was modified. The performance of another participant was not improved even after the modified VSM was implemented. In addition, improved attentiveness to the video did not necessarily lead to positive effects of the VSM interventions.

It is a challenge for an early education teacher to enhance the development of self-regulation of young children to become and stay motivated for tasks that elicit school-related skills that do not immediately make sense for them. Being aware of motivational orientations in young students is therefore a must. In the study, a cross-cultural evaluation was undertaken of a model for these orientations which were task orientation, task avoidance and social dependence. The study validated a Finnish questionnaire on motivation among Dutch students and addressed the underlying structure of the questionnaire. The Dutch sample included 266 students from kindergarten with an average age of 63 months, and the Finnish sample had 139 students from 16 day care centres with an average age of 62 months. The factor analysis showed that the model for three motivational orientations can be accepted for the Dutch population without restrictions. The findings also suggest age-relatedness with regard to task orientation, which...

Multitier prevention systems consist of a continuum of interventions to address the needs of all students. Within such systems, Tier I supports are in place for all students and are designed to enhance prosocial (social behavior interventions) and academic (instructional interventions) skills. Tier II interventions supplement the Tier I intervention for students who have not responded to Tier I supports and are designed to prevent the development of serious behavioral challenges or academic failure. This study evaluated a Tier II intervention for students whose problem behavior was maintained by avoidance of instructional activities. We evaluated effects of academic behavior check-in/check-out (ABC) on disruptive behavior, work completion, and homework completion using an ABAB reversal design. Across three typically developing middle school students, ABC resulted in reductions in problem behavior and increases in work completion and homework accuracy.

We examined the developmental dynamics between task-avoidant behavior and different literacy outcomes, and possible precursors of task-avoidant behavior. Seventy Greek children were followed from Grade 4 until Grade 6 and were assessed every year on reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension. The teachers assessed the children’s achievement strategies at all testing times. In addition, in Grade 4, the children responded to a task value questionnaire and the parents reported their beliefs and expectations about their children’s academic performance. The results revealed that task avoidance was reciprocally related only to reading comprehension. In addition, only parental beliefs predicted task avoidance. These findings complement those of previous studies in transparent orthographies and suggest that the role of task avoidance on literacy development depends on the time when the literacy skills are assessed and the type of literacy outcome.

A comprehensive function-based intervention was developed to address the chronic, high levels of off-task behavior by a 15-year-old ninth grade Caucasian male with learning disabilities and ADHD. A descriptive FBA identified that the student’s off-task behavior was reinforced by peer attention and task avoidance. Intervention involved the collaborative development of a single, comprehensive intervention that was implemented sequentially across three classes. When implemented, the intervention produced consistently high levels of on-task behavior in each class. Social validity data supported the acceptability of the comprehensive intervention. High levels of treatment integrity showed staff could collaborate and implement a comprehensive intervention. Implications and directions for further research are included.

Although students' affects and behaviors in achievement situations have been shown to be influenced by their previous learning experiences, less is known about how they relate to students' dispositional characteristics, such as temperament. This study examined to what extent children's temperament is related to their affective and behavioral responses in achievement situations. Teachers rated first-graders' ( n = 153) temperamental characteristics in the Fall semester. Children's active task avoidance, anxiety, and helplessness were rated in test situations in the Fall and Spring semesters. The results showed that the more easily distracted the children were, the more task avoidance they showed, and the more their task avoidance increased during the first grade. Moreover, children's high level of inhibition was related to high levels of anxiety and helplessness. The findings suggest that characteristics that are related to students' behavioral regulation and inhibition are particularly important for their affective and behavioral responses in achievement situations.

The study investigated how students’ motivational strategies and epistemologies are related to study engagement. Participants were engineering students (n = 246) who attended a student-activating philosophy course in spring 2011. Regression analysis, cluster analysis and ANOVAs were used as statistical methods. The results in both variable-oriented and person-oriented analyses showed that study engagement was higher in those students who appreciated reflective learning, were optimistic, and did not avoid tasks. Three student groups were defined based on students’ motivational strategies and epistemologies. Groups were called cook-book students, theorists and reflective professionals. Theorists and reflective professionals experienced stronger study engagement than cook-book students. Students in these groups scored high on reflective learning and optimism and low on task avoidance.

Background Task avoidance is a significant predictor of literacy skills. However, it remains unclear whether the relation between the two is reciprocal and whether it is affected by the type of literacy outcome, who is rating children's task avoidance, and the children's gender. Aim The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the cross-lagged relations between teacher and parent ratings of children's task avoidance and different literacy skills. Sample One hundred and seventy-two Greek children (91 girls, 81 boys) were followed from Grade 1 to Grade 3. Methods Children were assessed on reading accuracy, reading fluency, and spelling to dictation. Parents and teachers rated the children's task-avoidant behaviour. Results Results of structural equation modelling showed that the cross-lagged relations varied as a function of the literacy outcome, who rated the children's task avoidance, and children's gender. Earlier reading and spelling performance predicted subsequent parent-rated task avoidance, but parent-rated task avoidance did not predict subsequent reading and spelling performance (with the exception of spelling in Grade 3). Teacher-rated task avoidance and reading fluency/spelling had a reciprocal relationship over time. In addition, the effects of teacher-rated task avoidance on future spelling were significantly stronger in boys than in girls. Conclusions This suggests that poor reading and spelling performance can lead to subsequent task avoidance in both classroom and home situations. The fact that task avoidance permeates across different learning environments is alarming and calls for joint action from both parents and teachers to mitigate its negative impact on learning.

Research and clinical practitioners have mixed views whether reading and spelling difficulties should be combined or seen as separate. This study examined the following: (a) if double dissociation between reading and spelling can be identified in a transparent orthography (Finnish) and (b) the cognitive and noncognitive precursors of this phenomenon. Finnish-speaking children (n = 1963) were assessed on reading fluency and spelling in grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. Dissociation groups in reading and spelling were formed based on stable difficulties in grades 1–4. The groups were compared in kindergarten phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, letter knowledge, home literacy environment, and task-avoidant behavior. The results indicated that the double dissociation groups could be identified even in the context of a highly transparent orthography: 41 children were unexpected poor spellers (SD), 36 were unexpected poor readers (RD), and 59 were poor in both reading and spelling (RSD). The RSD group performed poorest on all cognitive skills and showed the most task-avoidant behavior, the RD group performed poorly particularly on rapid automatized naming and letter knowledge, and the SD group had difficulties on phonological awareness and letter knowledge. Fathers’ shared book reading was less frequent in the RD and RSD groups than in the other groups. The findings suggest that there are discernible double dissociation groups with distinct cognitive profiles. This further suggests that the identification of difficulties in Finnish and the planning of teaching and remediation practices should include both reading and spelling assessments. peerReviewed

This study examined the role of observed classroom quality in children's task-avoidant behavior and math skills in kindergarten. To investigate this, 1268 children were tested twice on their math skills during their kindergarten year. Kindergarten teachers ( N = 137) filled in questionnaires measuring their professional experience and also rated the children on their task-avoidant versus task-focused behaviors. Trained observers used the CLASS instrument ( Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008 ) to observe 49 kindergarten teachers (out of 137) on their emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. The results of multilevel modeling showed that kindergarten classrooms differed in terms of children's task-avoidant behavior and math skills. Moreover, the more instructional support was evidenced in the classroom, the less children were rated as showing task-avoidant behavior. Task-avoidant behavior then predicted children's low levels of math skills. The findings of the present study emphasize the importance of quality of instructional support for children's adaptive classroom behaviors.

This longitudinal study investigated the cross-lagged associations between children’s academic skill development, task-avoidant behaviour in the context of homework, and parental beliefs about their child’s success from kindergarten to Grade 2. The participants were 1267 children. The children’s pre-skills were assessed at the end of the kindergarten year, and math and reading skills at the end of Grade 1 and Grade 2. Parents provided ratings of their beliefs about their children’s school success and task-avoidant behaviour with regard to homework at the end of Grades 1 and 2. The results showed that children’s math and reading skills predicted children’s task-avoidant behaviour regarding homework as rated by mothers, but not by fathers, when autoregressive effects were taken into account. In addition, task-avoidant behaviour predicted the mothers’ subsequent beliefs about their children’s school success but not vice versa. A reciprocal effect was found between fathers’ beliefs about success and children’s task-avoidance.

An inaction inertia analysis of procrastination was used to generate the prediction that using bonuses to encourage early task completion will have two opposing effects, encouraging early task completion by some but also inducing procrastination for those who miss the bonus. Study 1 showed that the addition of bonuses for early completion produced both of these effects and also led to overall task completion rates that were either equal to (large bonus) or actually less than (medium and small bonuses) those obtained by simply establishing a completion deadline with no bonus. In Study 2, a lottery methodology was used to manipulate the size of a missed bonus for all participants. Even under these conditions of reduced personal responsibility the larger missed bonus led to increased procrastination as predicted by the inaction inertia analysis. Possible mediating processes based on anticipated regret and perceived fairness were discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The present study examined the ability of 52 special teachers in determining the underlying function of challenging behaviors in children with developmental disabilities and in linking the identified function with relevant intervention. Participants were presented with three questionnaire vignettes describing behavior maintained by attention, task avoidance and sensory consequences. They were then asked to identify the likely causes of the behaviors from a table of three possible functions and to link them with relevant intervention from a pool of 11 forms of intervention. The results indicated that teachers can reliably identify the cause of the behavior but they are not yet able to link function with relevant intervention without the provision of adequate support. The implications for teachers' in-service training in the implementation of behavior analytic interventions are briefly discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the regulation of goal orientations and strong “oughts” in students with learning disabilities (LD). Participants were 132 Greek students with state-identified LD using the achievement-discrepancy criterion, and 538 typical students. The first hypothesis tested was that feeling obliged to engage in an activity is grounded on fear and is associated with a network of avoidance-related behaviors. Results confirmed this hypothesis, as the ought-self explained significant amounts of variability in task avoidance, performance avoidance, and fear of failure. The second hypothesis was that the ought-self was associated with failure to regulate. Student groups were formed based on their adoption of mastery, performance approach, task avoidance, multiple-approach goals, and strong “oughts.” Results indicated that students with strong “oughts” persisted significantly less than students with approach forms of motivation. Regardless of their lack of persistence, however, students with strong “oughts” were not inferior in achievement, nor did they display heightened negative affect. By modeling the relationship between goals, achievement and psychopathology, results showed that the ought- self was negatively associated with achievement and positively associated with indices of anxiety and depression. Mean group analyses pointed to salient differences between students with and without LD on motivation, achievement and psychopathology.

To investigate the prospective relationships between individuals’ success expectation and task-avoidance, and their academic achievement and satisfaction, 231 students were examined yearly throughout their university careers in Study 1. It was found that students’ success expectation predicted academic achievement and satisfaction; which, in turn, increased their subsequent success expectation. Moreover, task-avoidance predicted low academic achievement and dissatisfaction, which again was predictive of subsequent task-avoidance. In Study 2, the task-avoidant behavior, and pre-examination anxiety, of 198 students who had participated in Study 1 were examined, and compared with their subsequent grades. Students’ dispositional task-avoidance predicted their grades only to the extent to which it was reflected in their task-avoidant behavior. In Study 3, 249 students were investigated to determine their achievement beliefs and strategies, causal attributions, and academic achievement. Students who reported a high level of task-avoidance frequently also referred to a lack of effort after failure, whereas students who reported success expectation often mentioned their abilities as a reason for their success.

Procrastination (the lack of time spent practicing before an upcoming target task) may be conceptualized as a behavioral self-handicap. In two studies, participants (Study 1, 40 women and 19 men; Study 2, 48 women and 40 men) rated themselves on a measure of chronic procrastination in a general testing session. When participants reported individually to a laboratory, they were told that their performance on a math task would be measured. However, participants were allowed to practice the task or engage in other, fun activities (e.g., playing with a video game or working on a puzzle) for 15 min; hence, “procrastinate” at practicing. Participants in the first study spent an average of 9 of 15 min (60% of the time) procrastinating by working on all activities except practicing math problems. In the second study, where the exact same math task was identified as a fun game, chronic procrastinators did not practice less than nonprocrastinators, suggesting that procrastination (lack of practice) occurs as a behavioral self-handicap. In both studies, when the task was identified as an important evaluation of cognitive skills, chronic procrastinators compared to nonprocrastinators spent more time on the fun, alternative tasks and less time preparing for the evaluation. Procrastination by lack of practicing on a task occurred only when the task was identified as evaluative, not when the identical task was labeled as a fun or pleasurable activity.

Educational transitions and the transition from school to working life present substantial challenges for youth in modern societies. This chapter presents results from two longitudinal studies, the FinEdu study and Helsinki Longitudinal Student Study (HELS), in which young people were followed for several years during critical educational transitions. These longitudinal studies focus on how engagement and burnout change and what role these two factors play during transitions, as well as investigating the effect of motivation and the strategies young people apply during their studies. The FinEdu study presents findings on how young people navigate their educational transitions from comprehensive school to upper-secondary education and further education, whereas the HELS study shows how young people navigate their university studies and the related transition to working life.

We designed an investigation to differentiate two types of challenging behaviors occurring in teaching situations: those evoked by task stimuli (i.e., task avoidance), and those evoked by social stimuli present in teaching situations (i.e., social avoidance). Four students with developmental disabilities who exhibited challenging behaviors in teaching situations were exposed to social interaction in a play situation and task demands in a teaching situation. Results indicated that the students exhibited two distinct behavior patterns. Two of the students exhibited a behavior pattern consistent with task avoidance and the other two students exhibited a behavior pattern consistent with social avoidance. Implications concerning task versus social avoidance and the need for more fine-grained analyses of the stimuli associated with escape behavior are discussed.

Altogether 1,285 Finnish children were followed up from the end of kindergarten through Grade 1. All were nonreaders at school entrance. The aim was to delineate predictors of resistance to treatment that are evidenced as little or no reading progress during Grade 1. On the basis of reading achievement in Grade 1 spring, four subgroups were formed. These were fast, average, and slow reading acquisition and slow progress in both reading and math. Kindergarten spring scores in phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid naming, and number skills differentiated well among the groups, the latter two being more robust predictors. Task avoidance added to the prediction over and above cognitive skills. Its effect disappeared when parental history of reading and math difficulties was included in the equation. The present results depict poor response to instruction as a general learning problem rather than a specific reading difficulty. Poor response to instruction differs from dyslexia also in that treatment resisters start school with cognitive prerequisites that do not indicate severe reading and math problems.

Chronic procrastination and task-avoidant behavior are extraordinarily common problems. As we will suggest later in this chapter and throughout this book, procrastination is often related to a variety of psychiatric syndromes. Moreover, as it will be hypothesized in Chapter 7, procrastinatory behavior may constitute a causal stress that contributes to psychological dysfunctions and maladaptive behavior patterns.

This study qualitatively examined the interaction patterns associated with group decision-making. Specifically, a category system identified the functions which verbal behavior performs upon tentatively introduced decision proposals and yielded a theory of decision modification within group discussions. Groups do not apparently make decisions gradually by direct amendments but in sudden jumps to different formulations of the same root proposal. That is, proposals were introduced, discussed, dropped, and reintroduced in modified form. Two discernible patterns of decision modification emerged. One pattern involved systematically reformulating the proposal in language at successively lower levels of abstraction until the proposal achieved consensus. The second pattern involved substitute decision proposals at essentially equivalent levels of abstraction until the revised proposal achieved consensus. Unlike previous theories of flight behavior resulting from interpersonal conflict, the present study indicates that periods of task avoidance are inherent within the group process of cumulative decision modification. “I don't think they play at all fairly,” Alice began, in a rather complaining tone, “and they all quarrel so dreadfully one can't hear oneself speak–and they don't seem to have any rules in particular; at least, if there are, nobody attends to them–and you've no idea how confusing it is all the things being alive….”

This study investigated what kinds of studying profiles could be identified in terms of achievement strategies (optimism, task avoidance) and experienced challenge-competence balance, and whether such profiles are related to students’ academic engagement or disengagement. The participants (n=785) were Finnish undergraduate students from University of Helsinki (teacher education, chemistry, theology, law) and Aalto university (engineering). Three profiles were identified by K-means cluster analysis: pessimistic, bored and optimistic . Pessimistic expressed the highest task avoidance and lowest optimism and competence. Optimistic reported the lowest task avoidance and highest optimism and competence. Bored experienced the lowest challenge as compared to both pessimistic and optimistic . ANOVAs revealed that optimistic expressed the highest engagement, whereas pessimistic were the most disengaged. Bored students’ problem appeared to be lack of interest rather than any other study problems.

Previous studies have shown that self-regulation plays a major role in learning in academic contexts. The ability to regulate one’s behaviors guides us towards goals that we are trying to achieve. The theoretical background includes perspectives to self-regulation. The aim of the study was to investigate university students’ self-regulation in relation to their academic achievement in a Flipped Classroom learning context. A total of 230 university students of a multidisciplinary research university participated in this study. The students were asked to complete an on-line questionnaire. The questionnaire included various items on self-regulation of learning, time-management, lack of regulation, and task-avoidance. The various perspectives related to students’ self-regulation of learning seemed to form reliable dimensions and a functional structure in accordance with the composite variable from earlier studies. The students were divided into three statistically significant profile groups: Students with high self-regulation skills, Students with low self-regulation skills and Students with low self-regulation skills and high task-avoidance. The results showed that the students’ self-regulation profile was related to academic achievement in Flipped Classroom courses. Especially students with low self-regulation skills and high task-avoidance were struggling. Self-regulation plays a major role in academic achievement and the choices that students make at universities. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.18.13.5