The Picture Motivation Scale 1 The PMS is not a dynamic assessment instrument. It has been designed for assessment of individual differences in motivational orientation, specifically task-intrinsic versus taskextrinsic, in children of low mental age, i.e., either quite young (3-10 years) or those who have intellectual disabilities, as well as children who cannot yet read. The scale consists of 20 items. Each item is a pair of activities or vocations. The examinees task is to choose one or the other in each pair. In this version, choice of activity has been combined with the reason for choosing that activity. In other forms of this test examinees had been asked to choose an activity and then were asked why they had chosen that activity rather than the alternate one. Research (Kunca and Haywood, 1968) revealed that very young children and those with intellectual disability had difficulty remembering which choice they had made, or at least connecting their choice with their reason(s) for choosing it. This version then is in a double forced-choice format: Each choice must be between two given items, and choice is forced into combination with reason for choice. The test is given individually with preschool children but may be group-administered with primary-school and elementary-school children and with older children who have developmental disabilities. Although the PMS has quite acceptable reliability and has been shown repeatedly to have high construct validity (see Haywood & Switzky, 1986, for a summary and review of research), it has not been used in a normative way; i.e., it is used only as a gross indicator of extreme tendencies to be either predominantly intrinsically motivated or predominantly extrinsically motivated. Extreme score has been interpreted as the top and bottom quartiles, and in several studies these have fallen around IM scores of 15 and above (top quartile in intrinsic motivation) and 7 and below (bottom quartile in intrinsic motivation), scoring all 20 items, or 9 and above (top quartile) and 4 or below (bottom quartile), scoring only the 12 discriminating items (see next ). This is a slight, usually nonsignificant, tendency for boys to score higher than girls. Of the scale s 20 items, 12 have been shown repeatedly to discriminate highly intrinsically motivated from highly extrinsically motivated children. Those discriminating items are: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18. When used in research, some investigators have used full-scale scoring whereas others have scored only the discriminating items. The latter procedure is preferred, because a predominance of choices in either the task-intrinsic or task-extrinsic direction could be misleading if the score with the largest number of items should actually be composed principally of nondiscriminating items. I have retained the non-discriminating items as filler items. 1 Copyright 2005, H. Carl Haywood. Permission is automatically granted to purchasers of the accompanying book, Dynamic Assessment in Practice (H. Carl Haywood and Carol S. Lidz, authors; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007) to print this material for their own professional use and for instructional purposes. Copying for sale is prohibited.
Whether administered individually or as a group test, the items are presented one at a time. Examiners should not hurry the children or imply that time is important (e.g., by behaving in an impatient manner). Examiners must also be careful not to betray their own preferences by looks, tone of voice, or any form of feedback to examinees. Examinees may mark their choices on disposable copies of the test (as certainly must be done in the case of group administration) or indicate them, either by words or by pointing (for individual administration only). Verbal Presentation of the Items While exposing one item at a time, examiners say the following, item by item. The items have already been arranged to randomize the sequence of intrinsic and extrinsic responses, so always read these in the order given, that is, pointing to the picture on the left first and then to the one on the right. 1. Here (points to astronaut) is a picture of an astronaut going to the moon. Here (points to the other picture, person on the ground) is somebody watching the astronaut go. Would you rather be an astronaut and doing exciting things such as go to the moon, or would you rather stay on earth and be sure not to get hurt? 2. Here (points to left) is a picture of a movie star being being admired by his fans. Here (right) is a picture of the president making a speech. Would you rather be a movie star so you could be rich and famous, or would you rather be the president so you could tell everybody what to do? 3. Here (L) is somebody playing in a tree. Here (R) is somebody playing on the ground. Would you rather swing up high in a tree because it s exciting, or would you rather play on the ground because it s safe? 4. Here is somebody making a costume. Here is somebody buying a costume. If you needed to have a costume, would you rather make it yourself because that would be more interesting, or would you rather buy one because it would be easier? 5. Here is somebody selling newpapers. Here is somebody learning to read. Would you rather sell newspapers so you could make money, or would you rather learn to read better because it would be more interesting? 6. Here is a businessman in his office. Here is a traveler. Would you rather be a business man (or woman) so you could be rich, or would you rather be a traveler so you could go to strange and exciting places? 7. Here is a teacher teaching the class. Here is a pupil in the class. Would you rather be the teacher so you could be in charge, or would you rather be one of the pupils so you would not have to worry about everybody else?
8. This person is playing an easy game. This person is playing a hard game. Would you rather play an easy game or play a hard game? 9. Here is somebody practicing ice skating. Here is somebody sitting in front of the fire. Would you rather learn to ice skate, or would you rather stay indoors where it s warm? 10. This person is getting some help fixing a broken toy. This person is trying to fix the toy by himself. If you had a broken toy, would you rather have somebody help you fix it because that way it would be easier, or would you rather try to fix it by yourself, because that would be more of a challenge? 11. Here is a salesperson collecting the money for something he/she has sold. Here is a librarian exploring the books on the shelves to see what s in them. Would you rather be a salesperson and make lots of money, or would you rather be a librarian so you could learn about all sorts of things? 12. This person is exploring a cave. This person is playing in the yard. Would you rather explore a cave because that would be exciting, or would you rather play in your yard because it would be safe? 13. This person is doing something he already knows how to do. This person is learning to do something new. Would you rather do something you already know how to do, or would you rather learn how to do something new? 14. Here is a person who has just cooked a meal. Here is a ship captain guiding the ship. Would you rather cook your own meals so you could have what you want to eat, or would you rather be the ship s captain so you would be in charge and decide what to do? 15. Here is a person climbing a high mountain. Here is somebody sitting inside and looking out. Would you rather climb high mountains because it would be exciting, or would you rather stay inside so it won t rain on you? 16. Here is somebody building a boat on the beach. Here is somebody playing an easy game on the beach. Would you rather do something hard such as build a boat, or would you rather do something easy such as play an easy game? 17. Here is an artist painting a picture. Here is an office worker at a desk. Would you rather be an artist and make beautiful pictures, or would you rather be an office worker so you would get paid every week? 18. Here is somebody repairing a broken wheel. Here is somebody working at a clean job. Would you rather fix a broken wheel because it would be interesting, or would you rather do something that won t get you dirty?
19. This person is having a rest. This person is learning about numbers. Would you rather rest, because it would be easier, or learn more about numbers, because it would be interesting? 20. This person is standing in his vegetable garden. This person is standing in his flower garden. Would you rather make a vegetable garden so you would always have good things to eat, or would you rather make a flower garden so you would always have beautiful things around?
Scoring of Choices (IM = Intrinsic motivation; EM = Extrinsic motivation) Item Left Right 1 IM EM 2 EM IM 3 IM EM 4 IM EM 5 EM IM 6 EM IM 7 IM EM 8 EM IM 9 IM EM 10 EM IM 11 EM IM 12 IM EM 13 EM IM 14 EM IM 15 IM EM 16 IM EM 17 IM EM 18 IM EM 19 EM IM 20 EM IM