Affective underpinnings of surface approaches to learning and their relationship with sensation seeking

Peter M. Robinson
Central Queensland University, Australia

Surface approaches to learning materials and tasks are a commonplace challenge to teachers, and they prove difficult to shift, even among students who are otherwise talented or motivated to learn. The present study investigates a theory that surface approaches are triggered by a suboptimal, aversive response to learning stimuli, which overrides external motivations and provokes avoidance responses akin to the drive for intensity and novelty of experience found among sensation seekers. The study finds a significant correlation between surface tendencies measured on a new scale and sensation seeking tendencies measured on the Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking (AISS).
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Author: Dr Peter Robinson is a former barrister who now teaches law to accounting and law students at the School of Business and Law, Central Queensland University, based in Brisbane. Since retiring from practice in 2005 he has obtained qualifications in science and psychology, including a cross disciplinary doctorate specialising in the application of science and psychology to law, which is his ongoing field of research. Email: p.robinson1@cqu.edu.au Web: https://handbook.cqu.edu.au/profiles/view/1784 Please cite as: (2018). Affective underpinnings of surface approaches to learning and their relationship with sensation seeking. Issues in Educational Research, 28(2), 453-469. http://www.iier.org.au/iier28/robinson.pdf