Expectancies of success and study values in the situated expectancy-value theory of motivation can explain why individuals enroll in certain study programs. When these motivational expectancies and assumptions are not fully met in the specific study program, they can become salient as the perception of differences in former motivational expectancies of success or former assumptions on study values compared to their recent motivational experiences. These changes in motivational expectancies are defined as “unmet motivational expectancies,” which can be (more or less) unfulfilled, met, or (more or less) exceeded. We investigated the intra-individual change of ummet motivational expectancies of success and unmet study values during the first year of a study program (H1) and examined whether there is a reciprocal effect in these changes (H2, Q1). Furthermore, we assumed that these changes are associated with university lecturer support and counseling services related to the study program (H3). Data were collected from 203 prospective teachers at six Universities of Education in Germany at two measurement points in the first academic year. We used latent change score analysis to test our hypotheses. We could confirm that (1) perceptions of unfulfilled expectancies of success increase, (2) that unmet expectancies of success were positively associated with changes of unmet study values, and (3) that a high investment in support from the lecturer is positively associated with changes of unmet study values, but not unmet expectancies of success.
It has been widely recognized in educational research that, if addressed appropriately, errors can promote learning. Adaptive reactions to errors-including affective-motivational and action-related reactions-have been proposed to capture such adequate adjustments of affect and behavior to regulate learning processes. However, prior research addressing reactions to errors has left primary school students underrepresented. At the same time, findings from assessments beyond self-reported data are still sparse. Therefore, we multimodally assessed adaptive reactions to errors in an authentic learning situation within a digital mathematics learning environment. In a sample of 284 third-grade students, we found a positive relation between self-reported adaptive affective-motivational reactions to errors, as well as the corresponding behavioral indicator, and knowledge acquisition. For action-related reactions to errors, only the behavioral indicator was related to knowledge acquisition. These results highlight the relevance of adaptive reactions to error for primary school students while emphasizing the necessity of multimodal assessment. Educational relevance statement: The results show that adaptive reactions to errors, including adaptive affectivemotivational and action-related reactions to errors, positively relate to knowledge acquisition in primary school students. To fully understand their impact, multimodal assessment appears to be necessary. Therefore, teachers should take students' reports and behaviors into account while adopting a constructive approach to addressing errors in their classrooms.
In this study, we investigated the impact of congruent and incongruent gestures on the mental calculation of arithmetic operations. Three groups of students (aged 10–12) solved a set of verbal addition and subtraction problems under three different conditions: congruent-gesture, incongruent-gesture, and no-gesture. Each group of participants completed the problems in only one of these conditions. We conducted a mixed ANOVA to compare the number of correct answers and the mean response times for correct answers across the three conditions. The results showed that participants in the congruent-gesture condition achieved the highest accuracy and the fastest response times, whereas those in the incongruent-gesture condition showed the lowest accuracy and the slowest response times. Although the gestures in our study appeared to serve primarily a communicative function, we propose that their role in supporting communication can also facilitate the cognitive processes involved in mental arithmetic. We propose two possible explanations for the results. The first explanation concerns the role of congruent gestures in enhancing the mental simulation of arithmetic operations. The second explanation relates to the role of congruent gestures in strengthening embodied memories associated with arithmetic operations. Finally, we conclude that congruent gestures support not only memory processes but also the higher-order cognitive mechanisms involved in mental calculation.
This paper develops a theoretical account of humor processing in terms of two interacting routes of cognitive processing. Building on the distinction between propositional and imagistic modes of language comprehension, it argues that humorous incongruity may arise through conceptual, perceptual, or cross-representational discrepancies. The propositional route involves relatively abstract and amodal representations, in which humor emerges from a mismatch between conceptual expectations and asserted or implied meanings. The imagistic route involves mental imagery, perceptual simulation, and sensorimotor representation, in which humor emerges from discrepancies between expected and activated perceptual or multimodal representations. In addition, the paper proposes that humorous effects may arise through between-route incongruity, where propositional and imagistic representations conflict, as in cases where verbal content and gesture, visual imagery, or embodied cues convey incompatible meanings. This dual-route account is not intended to replace existing theories of humor, but to specify a processing-level distinction that clarifies how incongruity is represented and resolved across verbal, visual, and multimodal forms of humor. By linking humor processing to conceptual processing, mental imagery, and embodied cognition, the account provides a framework for explaining why formally similar humorous expressions may differ in cognitive demands, perceptual salience, and affective impact. The paper concludes by outlining implications for future behavioral, cognitive, and multimodal research on humor processing.
