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The authors argue against a purely behavioral definition of praise as verbal reinforcement in favor of the view that praise may serve to undermine, enhance, or have no effect on children’s intrinsic motivation, depending on a set of conceptual variables. Provided that praise is perceived as sincere, it is particularly beneficial to motivation when it encourages performance attributions to controllable causes, promotes autonomy, enhances competence without an overreliance on social comparisons, and conveys attainable standards and expectations. The motivational consequences of praise also can be moderated by characteristics of the recipient, such as age, gender, and culture. Methodological considerations, such as including appropriate control groups and measuring postfailure outcomes, are stressed, and directions for future research are highlighted. Praise, like penicillin, must not be administered haphazardly. There are rules and cautions that govern the handling of potent medicines— rules about timing and dosage, cautions about possible allergic reactions. There are similar regulations about the administration of emotional medicine. (H. Ginott, 1965, p. 39) On the whole, we as a society seem to believe that praise has

Our ignorance exceeds our knowledge where issues of motivation and commitment of knowledge workers are concerned in the context of knowledge management systems (KMS) implementation [1,16,17,18]. This study is motivated by the pervasive confusion about the role of knowledge workers ' motivation and commitment in KMS implementation and sparse, if any, theoretical or empirical research on these issues. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for understanding how knowledge workers' commitment and motivation affect the use of KMS and resulting organizational performance of the KMS. The theoretical and empirical validation of the framework require first and foremost the theoretical development of the knowledge workers ' commitment and motivation constructs and empirical validation of these constructs in the context of a real world organizational study of KMS implementation. The authors attempt to fulfill these specific goals within the scope of this paper. Future empirical research on the integration of motivation and commitment within diverse implementation contexts of KMS and organizational knowledge management programs is expected to further advance the theoretical and empirical development of the proposed framework.

Abstract. Television and the Internet have proven to be a popular combination for both broadcasters and viewers. Because of this popularity they are increasingly facing the consequences of central bottlenecks, which could be overcome by taking a different approach: Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology. P2P systems can only be successful with as much cooperation among as many users as possible. We explain how this cooperation is hard to enforce, and how inducing it might be more successful. This paper lists relevant psychological backgrounds that can be used to induce this cooperation, along with possible applications for our system called Peer-to-Peer Television (P2P-TV). Keywords: Peer-to-peer technology, inducing cooperation, altruism, (social) psychological theories. 1

ABSTRACT: Gratitude is an important component of positive psychology and essential to living the good life, but until recently psychologists have largely ignored it. Although the developmental trajectory of gratitude remains unclear, children seem to first experience and express gratitude around 6–8 years of age. Unfortunately, gratitude measures designed specifically for youth are currently nonexistent. Therefore, although data support using adult gratitude scales with children and adolescents, youth measures are needed. Gratitude is related to a host of positive outcomes, including subjective well-being, relational support, and prosocial behavior. Counting blessings daily for 2 weeks has been associated with greater school satisfaction at immediate posttest and at 3-week follow-up. Beyond improving social and emotional functioning, gratitude also may promote academic gains via achievement motivation. School psychologists should consider gratitude a viable path for promoting positive youth development in the context of both assessment and intervention. Practical implications for school psychologists are discussed. There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy. —Ralph Blum

The present study examined the cognitive processes by which perceived locus of causality influences participation in leisure time physical activity.

Author notes The authors would like to thank the management and staff of the Schloss Dagstuhl International Conference and Research Center for Computer Science for providing a pleasant, stimulating and well-organized environment for the writing of this article. Furthers thanks go to the community members from all over the world for participating in the learning networks. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Hans G. K. Hummel, Educational Technology

Abstract: The knowledge maturing model views learning activities as embedded into, interwoven with, and even indistinguishable from everyday work processes. Learning is understood as an inherently social and collaborative activity. The Knowledge Maturing Process Model structures this process into five phases: expressing ideas, distributing in communities, formalizing, ad-hoc learning and standardization. It is applicable not only for content but also to process knowledge and semantics. In the MATURE IP two toolsets will be develop that support the maturing process: a personal learning environment and an organisation learning environment integrating the levels of individuals, communities and organisation. The development is guided by the SER theory of seeding, evolutionary growth and reseeding and is based on generally applicable maturing services.

Inaugural Address Symposium Can we support CCSL? Educational, social and technological affordances for learning

Abstract. Many e-Learning practices don’t care about learner’s motivation. There are elements showing that this is an important factor in learner’s success and that a lack of motivation produces a negative emotional impact. This work is aimed at establishing a survey of motivation literature and proposing a Motivation-Oriented System Design for e-Learning. Psychological theories underline the importance of giving control of his activities (i.e. providing autonomy) to a learner in order to enhance learner’s self-beliefs, hence motivation. Coaching is also important to keep learners focused on an activity. ITS and Pedagogical Agents provide coaching whereas Open Environments offer autonomy to learners. The presented system is a hybrid solution taking motivational positive aspects of Open-Environments and Pedagogical Agents. It also uses role-playing practices in order to enhance constructivist learning.