Outerdirectedness as a problem-solving approach in relation to developmental level and selected task variables.

This study examined variables related to problem-solving approaches of young children, using the theoretical framework provided by Zigler and his collaborators in their work on outerdirectedness. Four aspects of outerdirectedness were examined: developmental trends, effects of different types of reinforcement, effects of task difficulty, and pride in accomplishment. It was found that outerdirectedness: (1) decreased with age; (2) increased when the task was described as difficult; and (3) was associated with pride ratings of children. In regard to types of reinforcement, it was found that effectiveness of intrinsic reinforcement increased with are. OUTERDIRECTEDNESS AS A PROBLEm-SOLVING APPROACH IN RELATION TO DEVELOPMENTAL LEVEL AND SELECTED TASK VARIABLES While there arc strong argulients for utilizing individualized instruction in education, there remains the problem of determining the individual characteristics of the child which are relevant to Riven educational variables. If we assume that particular motives and behaviors are a part of each new school child, two major questions emerge: (1) how does one measure these predispositions, especially in children too young to respond to verbal scales? and (2) how do the predispositions interact with specific situational variables? One area that seems promising concerns differences in the way children approach a task or problemsolving situation. Some children are very attentive to the task, essentially unaware of other stimuli. Others are less attentive to the task per se and appear to be very much aware of or even dependent upon the tester or aspects of the external environment. A clue to understanding this phenomenon might be found in the work of Zigler and his collaborators on outerdirectedness in mentally retarded children (e.g., Turnure & Zigler, 1964, Zigler & Yando, 1972). These authors have demonstrated that in addition to obvious cognitive differences, there are motivational differences between normal and retarded children in a task situation that leads to a generally poorer performance by retardates even when mental age is equated. The poorer performance of retardates was attributed to a relatively greater reliance on external or situational cues with little attempt to determine relationships among problem elements via their own resources. This outerdirected orientation is thought to arise basically because the retarded child has a history of high frequency of failure and expectations of failure. Since he has