vealed that while expectations of success were the strongest predictors of per-
formance on a standardized test of piano skill, intrinsic value accounted for
additional variability among those piano students classified as beginners or
intermediate-level performers (McPherson & McCormick, 2000).
Though the effects of intrinsic value on practice in the above studies were
fairly small, the expectancy-value perspective may provide a potentially use-
ful framework for describing the discrepancy between low levels of enjoy-
ment and high levels of engagement in serious practice among full-time music
students. That is, while they may view the daily grind of the practice room as
unpleasant or boring, they are willing to stick with it because they have first-
hand knowledge regarding its relevance to performance. The data from con-
servatory violin students in Ericsson et al. (1993) was consistent with this ex-
planation, but further investigation is warranted in order to clarify the
strength and nature of these relationships.
Another contemporary perspective on achievement motivation is con-
cerned with the manner in which individuals orient themselves to learning sit-
uations and the reasons that they cite for their success or failure in achieving a
particular goal. The empirical foundation for this perspective is based on ob-
servations of students who are exposed to experimentally induced failure (i.e.,
attempting extremely difficult tasks or being told that their responses are in-
correct regardless of their actual performance; Diener & Dweck, 1978). Un-
der these conditions, many children give up and are resigned to the attitude
that they simply lack the ability to succeed at the task. This attitude is labeled
as a performance or ego orientation, with the implication that the child is
forming a theory of competence based on the lack of a stable ability that ap-
pears to be present among their relatively successful peers. Some children,
however, take a more adaptive approach to failure, focusing on self-develop-
ment and learning relative to internal standards and goals. This category of
responses is labeled as the task or mastery goal orientation.
Dweck and colleagues (e.g., see chap. 2) argued that through time and re-
peated experiences of success or failure, these beliefs begin to crystallize into
trait-like tendencies or orientations, and that such orientations may predict
responses to challenging tasks in the future. The implication of this theory for
expert skill acquisition is that mastery-oriented children are more likely to
persist at activities such as deliberate practice that are inherently challenging
and require extended durations of effort before real progress becomes evi-
dent. Conversely, performance or ego-oriented children are more likely give
up or simply to avoid such challenges.
In the case of music, there is some preliminary evidence to suggest that
goal orientations may influence the quantity and possibly the quality of in-
strumental practice. Yoon (1997) asked grade-school music students to rank
eight different reasons for practicing or playing a musical instrument and to
indicate their frequency of musical practice. The author reported a positive
- MOTIVATION, EMOTION, AND EXPERT SKILL ACQUISITION 311