Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Interpretation of physiological indicators of motivation
T2 - Caveats and recommendations
AU - Richter, M.
AU - Slade, K.
PY - 2017/9/30
Y1 - 2017/9/30
N2 - Motivation scientists employing physiological measures to gather information about motivation-related states are at risk of committing two fundamental errors: overstating the inferences that can be drawn from their physiological measures and circular reasoning. We critically discuss two complementary approaches, Cacioppo and colleagues' model of psychophysiological relations and construct validation theory, to highlight the conditions under which these errors are committed and provide guidance on how to avoid them. In particular, we demonstrate that the direct inference from changes in a physiological measure to changes in a motivation-related state requires the demonstration that the measure is not related to other relevant psychological states. We also point out that circular reasoning can be avoided by separating the definition of the motivation-related state from the hypotheses that are empirically tested.
AB - Motivation scientists employing physiological measures to gather information about motivation-related states are at risk of committing two fundamental errors: overstating the inferences that can be drawn from their physiological measures and circular reasoning. We critically discuss two complementary approaches, Cacioppo and colleagues' model of psychophysiological relations and construct validation theory, to highlight the conditions under which these errors are committed and provide guidance on how to avoid them. In particular, we demonstrate that the direct inference from changes in a physiological measure to changes in a motivation-related state requires the demonstration that the measure is not related to other relevant psychological states. We also point out that circular reasoning can be avoided by separating the definition of the motivation-related state from the hypotheses that are empirically tested.
KW - Motivation
KW - Psychophysiology
KW - Psychophysiological measures
KW - Indicator
KW - Marker
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.04.007
DO - 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.04.007
M3 - Journal article
VL - 119
SP - 4
EP - 10
JO - International Journal of Psychophysiology
JF - International Journal of Psychophysiology
SN - 0167-8760
ER -