ABSTRACT
Our goal in this chapter is to examine the relationship between intrinsic motivation and instructional effectiveness, in the context of the study of computer-based educational activities for children. In so doing, our hope is to illustrate the value of using computer-based learning as a laboratory for reviving classic issues in educational and social psychology and for examining those issues in a manner that highlights both their considerable theoretical significance and their immediate social importance. In the process, we wish to build upon the motivational analysis presented in the preceding chapter and raise, at this point, a set of conceptually related issues concerning the application of this analysis to the question of when computer-based techniques for enhancing intrinsic motivation will also increase, and when they may decrease, the effectiveness of the computer as an instructional medium.
