Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2013 The Effects of Student Behavior Alteration Techniques on Student Motives to Communicate, Student Talk, and Student Learning Christopher J. Claus West Virginia University Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Claus, Christopher J., "The Effects of Student Behavior Alteration Techniques on Student Motives to Communicate, Student Talk, and Student Learning" (2013). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 4956. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/4956 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Effects of Student Behavior Alteration Techniques on Student Motives to Communicate, Student Talk, and Student Learning Christopher J. Claus Dissertation submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Studies Scott A. Myers, Ph.D., Chair Matthew M. Martin, Ph.D. Melanie Booth-Butterfield, Ph.D. Megan R. Dillow, Ph.D. Danette Ifert-Johnson, Ph.D. Department of Communication Studies Morgantown, West Virginia 2013 Keywords: student behavior alteration techniques, student motives to communicate, student talk, student learning Copyright 2013 Christopher J. Claus ABSTRACT The Effects of Student Behavior Alteration Techniques on Student Motives to Communicate, Student Talk, and Student Learning Christopher J. Claus This dissertation addressed the effects of students' perceived effectiveness of and likelihood to use student behavior alteration techniques (BATs) on students' motives to communicate with their instructors, student talk (i.e., willingness to talk, out-of-class communication), and student learning (i.e., cognitive learning, affective learning, state motivation, and student communication satisfaction). Results revealed t.hat student perceived effectiveness of, and likelihood to use, student BATs did not influence, student talk or student learning, but indicated some significant relationships with the students' motives to communicate with their instructors. Specifically, the relational, functional, participatory, and sycophancy motives were generally related to the perceived likelihood to use some prosocial BATs. The relational, functional, and participatory motives were not significantly related to the perceived effectiveness of, or likelihood to use, any of the antisocial BATs; however, the sycophancy motive was related positively to the perceived likelihood to use one antisocial BAT. The excuse-making motive was generally related to the perceived effectiveness of, and likelihood to use, antisocial BATs, but was not related negatively, as hypothesized, to the perceived effectiveness of, and likelihood to use, prosocial BATs. Collectively, the results of this dissertation revealed three prominent issues in regard to the examination of student prosocial and antisocial BATs. First, the situational demands of the classroom (e.g., instructor communicative behaviors, outcomes of the classroom assigmnent), more than students' motives to communicate or willingness to engage in student talk, may affect their students' perceived effectiveness of, and likelihood to use, student BATs. Second, students' perceived effectiveness of, and the likelihood to use prosocial and antisocial student BATs are not related to gains in their learning. Third, it appears that students use BATs infrequently. Overall, the lack of significant relationships may be due to the fact that students' perceived effectiveness of, and likelihood to use the BATs, are not closely associated with other student communicative behaviors, but perhaps related directly to the students' own personality traits or the immediate situational factors of the classroom and instructor. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................vi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ ! Power in the Classroom .............................................................................................. 2 Power in t..l-te Classroom Series I-VII .............................................................. 3 Student Behavior Alteration Techniques .................................................................... 8 Evolution of Student BATs ............................................................................. 8 Student BATs Typology ................................................................................. 9 Student Motives to Communicate with their Instructor. ............................................ II Student Talk ............................................................................................................... l6 Willingness to Talk (WTT) ............................................................................ 17 Out-of-Class Communication (OCC) ............................................................ 18 Student Learning ........................................................................................................ 20 Rationale .................................................................................................................... 24 Hypotheses 1-2 .............................................................................................. .27 Hypotheses 3-4 ............................................................................................... 28 Research Questions I ..................................................................................... 30 Research Questions 2 ..................................................................................... 31 Hypotheses 5-6 .............................................................................................. .32 Summary ................................................................................................................... .32 CHAPTER II: METHOD ..................................................................................................... .34 Participants ................................................................................................................ .34 Procedures and Instrumentation ................................................................................. 34 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ .42 Summary .................................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER III: RESULTS .................................................................................................... .44 Hypotheses 1-4 ........................................................................................................... 44 Research Questions 1-2 .......................... : ................................................................... 54 Hypotheses 5-6 ........................................................................................................... 54 Summary .................................................................................................................... 56 CHAPTER IV: DISCUSSION .............................................................................................. 51 Limitations and Directions for Future Research ........................................................ 66 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 68 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 70 APPENDICES ....................................................................................................................... 87 IV A. Recruit.ment Script ................................................................................................. 87 B. Cover Letter ........................................................................................................... 88 C. Dissertation Questionnaire ..................................................................................... 89 D. Students Behavioral Alteration Techniques and Messages Typology ................. lOO E. Student Conununication Motives Scale ............................................................... ! 04 F. Student Willingness to Talk in Class Scale ......................................................... ! 05 G. Out-of-Class Conununication