In the article, "Rethinking the Value of Choice: A Cultural Perspective on Intrinsic Motivation" it talks heavily about the differences of motivation in the Anglo American and Asian American cultures. The researchers set up different studies which evaluated the ways these children in these cultures learned. They found that Anglo Americans were motivated extrinsically, while Asian Americans seemed to be motivated intrinsically. This article focused most on intrinsic motivation though, so it showed that Anglo Americans were intrinsically motivated when there was freedom of choice in what they were doing. Asian Americans were more intrinsically motivated when choice was not an option, but when an authoritative figure, especially a parent, decided those things for them. This is very different to what I would perceive intrinsic motivation to be, but this just shows the difference between the two cultures. The value of parental influence and choice is greater in the Asian American culture, and freedom of personal choice is highly valued in Anglo American culture. This whole article, with all of its graphs was very interesting to read and I really learned a lot from it.

This article researches how personal choice can affect a student's motivation. The article begins by describing the role of choice, and referring to personal choice as being synonymous with intrinsic motivation. If a student can choose what he is doing, he will be intrinsically motivated in that task.

The study also explored differences between Anglo American and Asian American students. Students of both groups were exposed to settings where they were allowed to make personal choices, and settings where they were not.

In the personal choice experiment, performance and intrinsic motivation was much higher for both groups. Comparatively speaking, the Asian American students displayed less intrinsic motivation with the personal choice tasks than the Anglo American, suggesting that choice may not be the most important factor for these students to be motivated.

This article can be helpful to explaining how intrinsic motivation works, and ways to test intrinsic motivation. It is also helpful to illustrate the connection between students being allowed personal choice and how that can motivate them to perform well.