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Mastery goal orientation and cognitive ability effects on performance in learner‐guided training
Author(s) -
Guarino Sarah N.,
Whitaker Victoria L.,
Jundt Dustin K.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/jasp.12414
Subject(s) - psychology , goal orientation , affect (linguistics) , task (project management) , cognition , orientation (vector space) , context (archaeology) , cognitive psychology , control (management) , training (meteorology) , cognitive strategy , process (computing) , social psychology , computer science , communication , paleontology , physics , geometry , mathematics , management , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , meteorology , economics , biology , operating system
To conserve resources, organizations are increasingly turning to learner‐guided training methods in which workers are given control over when, how, and what they cover in the learning process. However, the impact of individual differences such as goal orientation and cognitive ability has not been adequately addressed in learner‐guided training. This study seeks to advance our knowledge of how these differences affect performance through previously unexplored pathways. Specifically, we examined the indirect effects of mastery goal orientation and cognitive ability on post‐training performance in a learner‐directed training context. Findings indicate that off‐task thoughts mediate the positive effect of mastery goal orientation on post‐training performance, while declarative knowledge mediates the positive effect of cognitive ability on post‐training performance.