Factors influencing engagement in a messy craft occupation in young children : choice, gender, and sensory processing

Participating in messy crafts is a common childhood occupation, performed in numerous settings including school, child care, clubs, and home. We explored factors which affect engagement in a messy craft. The primary hypothesis we tested was that giving participants craft materials in the color of their choice would motivate them toward higher engagement in the occupation, compared to participants not given their choice of color. We also examined the effects of gender and of sensory processing patterns, as measured by caregiver report on the Sensory Profile (Dunn, 1997). We further tested for interactions between these personal characteristics and the experimental condition (Choice, No Choice). Twenty-five typically developing children aged five to six years old were recruited and given the opportunity to participate in a messy craft. Participants were randomly assigned to the Choice or No-Choice condition. The Child Behavior Rating Scale (CBRS, Mahoney, 1998) was used to rate engagement in the occupation. Results indicated that providing choice did not enhance engagement as predicted. However, important findings did surface: (1) girls showed a higher level of engagement in the occupation compared to boys, regardless of condition; (2) children with lower thresholds for sensory processing demonstrated lower engagement in the occupation, regardless of condition; and (3) there was an interaction between sensory seeking behaviors and the experimental condition that enhanced engagement when choice was provided. Findings suggest that with a better understanding of sensory processing patterns and play preferences, child care providers, child educators, families, and therapists can plan activities to enhance engagement in occupations of childhood. Engagement in messy crafts 3 Since the turn of the 20 century, the topic of motivation has drawn much attention from researchers. Occupational therapists must take into account the factors that influence motivation when assessing occupational performance and planning therapeutic occupations. Engagement, the degree to which an individual becomes meaningfully involved in an occupation, is one observable measure of motivation. This study explored factors which influenced engagement in a messy craft occupation in young, school-aged children. The desire to engage in a behavior is defined by two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Deci and Ryan defined intrinsic motivation as the desire to engage in a behavior for which the rewards are internal to the person. For example, a child might kick a ball into the air just to see what will happen next. In contrast, extrinsic motivation is defined as a desire to perform a certain behavior to receive some external reward. For example, a person might dislike preparing for a football game but seek the praise that will come later from his teammates. While many studies have focused on observable behavior, the study of motivation is thought to be the investigation into the underlying mechanisms leading to engagement in behavior (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Reward In the cognitive evaluation theory, Deci and Ryan (1985) suggested that the effects of contingent performance rewards are detrimental on intrinsically motivated behavior. The theory suggests that a shift from intrinsic to extrinsic motivation is facilitated by underlying external factors which cause a change in perceived locus of causality (Heider, 1958; deCharms, 1968; Deci & Ryan, 1985). An individual is said to have an external locus of causality when he or she feels that his or her behavior is controlled by some event. In contrast, an internal locus of causality is evident when an individual feels that he or she is engaging in a behavior freely with Engagement in messy crafts 4 no sense of coercion. As such, during the shift from intrinsically motivated behavior to behavior undertaken to receive an external reward there is a simultaneous shift in the perceived locus of causality from internal to external. In the early 1970’s, Deci (1971) examined the effect of extrinsic incentives on participants intrinsic interest in activities for which extrinsic incentives had been previously available, but no longer were. Undergraduate students were offered a one-dollar incentive for every threedimensional manipulative puzzle they could correctly complete. Later, the researcher secretly observed the amount of time these students chose to spend continuing to work on the activity after the experimenter had left the laboratory and there was no longer any incentive for further engagement. When compared with the control group of students who had not received any payment for the same work, students in the extrinsic incentive condition chose to spend less time with the puzzles once the reward had been removed. The results of this study suggest that the effect of external rewards is to decrease intrinsic motivation. Choice In addition to the presence of rewards or constraints on motivation, choice is another factor that may affect an individual’s perceived locus of control and his or her motivation to engage. Zuckerman et al. (1978) hypothesized that the presence of choice should cause the locus of causality to shift internally rather than externally. In this study, investigators first matched pairs of subjects to work on puzzle activities together. One person from each matched pair selected three of six puzzles that he or she wanted to work with, while the other subject was assigned to work on the same three puzzles chosen by his or her partner. Each subject completed the puzzles independently so that he or she did not know about his or her partner’s condition. The results of this study indicated that individuals who had a choice of which puzzles to complete spent more Engagement in messy crafts 5 time involved with the puzzles than those subjects who had worked on the same puzzles without having choice. The findings of this study indicate that choice may cause the perceived locus of causality to become more internal and lead to more intrinsic motivation. A study conducted by Rice and Nelson (1988) examined the effects of offering choice in occupational therapy with adult males diagnosed with mental disabilities. Each subject was given a choice of five wrinkled T-shirts with logos on them and was told to choose one to iron before they took it home. Subjects also participated in control sessions in which they were not given a choice between the five wrinkled T-shirts. Motivation was determined by measuring the amount of water that had evaporated out of the iron during the occupation (a proxy measurement for engagement). In the choice condition, significantly more water was evaporated from the iron indicating that having a choice in an occupation can be a significant motivator of increased participation. Lamore and Nelson (1993) also examined the performance of adults with mental disabilities in an art occupation. The adolescents were paired, and one adolescent from each pair was allowed to choose a plaster object to paint, while the second member of the pair was instructed to paint the same object that his or her partner had chosen. Both participants were unaware of what their partner was painting. Following a three day to one week rest, the roles were reversed. Participation was measured based on the number of times participants dipped the paintbrush into the paint and the time spent painting. The researchers found a significant increase in repetitions in 22 adult subjects indicating that when choice is provided, engagement increases. In a similar study, Schroeder Oxer and Kopp Miller (2001) examined the effects of choice on occupational engagement with adolescents diagnosed with psychiatric conditions. The adolescents were paired as in the study of Lamore and Nelson (1993). One randomly selected Engagement in messy crafts 6 adolescent from each pair was given a choice of which object to paint while the second adolescent was not. Following a one week rest period, the roles were reversed. The researchers found that adolescents applied more paint when given a choice. This study provides further support that when given the opportunity for choice, occupational performance can improve. McNairy (1985) examined the potential benefits of choice-making in children in field observations in a preschool classroom. Her findings suggested that children are more cooperative and more engaged when given choice-making opportunities. Moreover, providing choice decreased acting out behavior, aggression, and disruptions while increasing engagement. The results of this study indicate that providing choice enhances opportunities for learning and assists in the development of positive behaviors. Sensory Processing Disorder and Behavioral Patterns Another factor that may influence intrinsic motivation to engage in a task is sensory processing. Sensory processing is the method by which the brain registers, organizes, and responds to stimuli (Ayers, 1972). The senses function to provide the information we need for surviving, maintaining safety, planning and carrying out actions, learning (adaptive learning, motor learning, and academic learning), and deriving satisfaction from events. Sensory processing varies between individuals; therefore, perceptual experiences of sensory stimuli would be expected to influence intrinsic motivation according to an individual’s sensory processing pattern. Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) refers to a collection of disorders in which it appears that the brain has diminished abilities to organize and regulate responses to sensory information in order to function in daily life (Ayers, 1972; Royeen & Lane, 1991; Parham & Mailloux, 1996; Miller, Anzalone, Lane, Cermak, & Osten 2007). Disruptions in the central nervous system in Engagement in messy crafts 7 how an individual processes sensory input can affect the way he or she plays, makes friends, feels about him/her