Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Graham, Steven
Area of Concentration
Psychology
Abstract
Research has found self-efficacy serves as an important role in determining performance ability in specific tasks. Psychological research has invested much into understanding the effects of challenge and difficulty. This thesis explores the dynamics of self-efficacy in conjunction with the orientation of the task difficulty. This study seeks to find how changes in difficulty context and order affect self-efficacy beliefs. In the current study, 24 participants played two levels, easy and hard, of Super Mario. I measured self-efficacy and experience in video game tasks. I predicted that participants beginning with the easy level and moving to the hard level would have a higher self-efficacy than participants doing the opposite would. The order of conditions used did not significantly affect self-efficacy scores. Self-efficacy was significantly associated with the difficulty of the levels. Results were not significant in any direction, data did point to self-efficacy being generally higher when exposed to a difficult level before the easy level.
Recommended Citation
Yoho, Michael, "Pipes, Platforms, and Perceptions: The Impact of Task Difficulty Orientation on Perceived Self-Efficacy" (2016). Theses & ETDs. 6488.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/6488