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This study adopted a social cognitive approach to examine the association between academic delay of gratification and students' rating of teachers and course effectiveness. Also investigated were the motivational tendencies of students and teacher and classroom characteristics that served to clarify the association. Participants were 113 college students in introductory psychology, statistics, and political science courses. Some analyses were conducted with a subgroup for whom final course grades were available. Findings suggest that academic delay of gratification, which was conceptualized as a self-regulatory learning strategy, was positively and significantly correlated to students' rating of the course and teaching effectiveness. It was also found that academic delay of gratification was a significant predictor of students' rating of the instructors. Delay of gratification was a significant and positive predictor of students' final course grades also which proved to be true even when researchers controlled for the effect of rating of the instructor and rating of the course. These findings are discussed in the context of B. Zimmerman's cyclical model of self-regulation. Implications for education and future research are discussed. Two appendixes contain some sample items from the academic delay of gratification measure. (Contains 3 tables and 27 references.) (SLD)

The ability to delay gratification among learners could serve as an effective learning strategy useful to diminish the detrimental effect of test anxiety. Academic delay of gratification refers to students' postponement of immediately available opportunities to satisfy impulses in favor of pursuing chosen important academic rewards or goals that are temporally remote but ostensibly more valuable. Using hierarchical regression analysis, this association was explored for 364 students. An association was found between academic delay of gratification and test anxiety once motivational, cognitive, and self-regulated factors are controlled. These findings suggest that academic delay of gratification may serve to enhance students' goal enhancement, which in turn results in high academic achievement. These results also suggest that delay of gratification may function as a learning strategy that buffers the detrimental effect of test anxiety by helping learners protect academic goals from nonacademic alternative strategies. These results also indicate that self-efficacy, regulation of time, and study environment are negative predictors of test anxiety, while delay of gratification, extrinsic goal orientation, and rehearsal are positive predictors of test anxiety. An appendix contains the Academic Delay of Gratification Scale (H. Bembenutty, 1997). (Contains 1 figure, 7 tables, and 59 references.) (SLD)

This paper investigates the joint effects of intrinsic and extrinsic goals on college students' learning in an introductory psychology course, a biology course, and several social science courses. The study questioned whether higher levels of motivation lead to better student performance. College students were surveyed using the Intrinsic Goal Orientation and Extrinsic Goal Orientation scales of the Motivation Strategies for Learning Questions (MSLQ). Results indicate that students with a medium level of extrinsic motivation are more likely to perform well (in terms of their course grades) than students with either lower or higher levels of extrinsic motivation. Students who combined high intrinsic motivation with medium extrinsic motivation achieve particularly well. The paper suggests that teachers need not eliminate all motivation for good grades in order to achieve both cognitive and lifelong learning goals. (Contains 10 references and one table.) (JDM)

The detrimental effects of test anxiety on knowledge acquisition as well as performance can occur by interfering with students' motivational tendencies and the use of effective cognitive and learning strategies. A promising conceptual approach to the constellation of student characteristics that may moderate the effects of test anxiety is self-regulation, the processes that maintain the cognition, affect, and behavior necessary to achieve intended goals. Self-regulation involves study environment management and the effort to regulate the learning process, securing academic success. This study examined the ways in which test anxiety and students' use of self-regulation relate to students' motivational tendencies, use of learning strategies, and academic performance. These relationships were examined by focusing on 429 college students who were low-, medium-, or high-test anxiety subjects and either low or high self-regulated learners. While definite relationships between test anxiety and self-regulation on students' motivation and use of learning strategies were found, moderating effects were not seen, at least as far as self-regulation was operationalized in this study. These findings suggest the need for additional studies of whether alternative ways to operationalize self-regulation may reveal moderating effects. (Contains 2 tables and 31 references.) (Author/SLD)

This study examined the relationship between academic delay of gratification (ADOG) and college students' use of action control. College students (n=113) at a large midwestern university completed the academic delay of gratification scale developed by the authors and the motivated strategies for learning questionnaire, which included an adaptation of the behavioral component of Kuhl's action control scale which assesses an individual's tendencies to control his/her actions in order to meet goals. The study found a significant correlation between the ADOG scale and the action control scale, supporting the view that delay of gratification can be considered a volitional strategy, which along with other self-regulating strategies is important for successful academic performance. Both ADOG and action control were significantly correlated to students' motivational tendencies and use of cognitive, metacognitive, and other self-regulatory strategies. The ADOG scale is appended. (Contains 16 references.) (DB)