Perspectives Continued: The Perspectives Continued: The Cognitive Perspective: Goal Cognitive Perspective: Goal Setting and Self regulationSetting and Self regulation

MODULE ONE: PERSPECTIVES

• Over the next four weeks, we will investigate the following motivational themes/perspectives:

• 1. Week one: evolutionary perspectives:

• 2. Week two temperament- Elliott and Thrash, 2002

• 3. Week Three: self regulation-

• Research: Carver, 2004• 4. Week Four

– A. learning: habits (summarize) – B. cognitive dissonance (summarize) week three

The Cognitive Perspective on Motivation

• Cognitions-mental events• The cognitive perspective on motivation• How does a person’s way of thinking and

believing influence (motivate) behavior?• Includes mental constructs like beliefs,

expectations, goals, plans, judgments, values, and the self-concept

• Our Focus: Goal Setting, Implementing, Threat Assessment, Avoidance and Self regulation

Schematic of the TOTE ModelSchematic of the TOTE Model

TEST

ComparePresent State

With Ideal State

OPERATE

Act onEnvironmentTo RealizeIdeal State

TEST

ComparePresent State

With Ideal State

EXIT

Present State inCongruity with

Ideal State

If Incongruous

If congruous

If Incongruous

The cognitive mechanism by which plans were believed to energize and direct behavior.

Historical Model--PLANS: The TOTE Model

= motivational energy = motivational

direction

Historical Model--PLANS: Criticism

• In summary: – We detect and inconsistency– We formulate and enact a plan– We detect and inconsistency– We formulate and enact a plan

• Plans are viewed as fixed and static• Contemporary cognitive models allow a more dynamic

and flexible depiction of plan-directed behavior• Rather than activating an action sequence, incongruity

gives rise to corrective motivation which can take many forms:

• Change the plan, change the behavior’s intensity, or drop the plan altogether

The Motivating properties of DiscrepancyThe Motivating properties of Discrepancy

Present State

Ideal State

Present state represents the personscurrent status of how life is going.

Ideal state represents how the persons

wishes life was going.

• When the present state falls short of the hoped-for ideal state, a discrepancy is exposed.

• It is the discrepancy-rather than the ideal state per se– that has motivational properties.

• Discrepancy creates the sense of wanting to change the present state so that it will move closer and closer toward the ideal state.

Two Types of DiscrepancyTwo Types of Discrepancy

Discrepancy Reduction Discrepancy Creation

Based on the discrepancy-detecting

feedback that underlies plans and

corrective motivation.

Based on a “feed-forward” system

in which the person looks forward

and proactively sets a future,higher goal.

Discrepancy reduction corresponds to plan-based corrective motivation.

Discrepancy reduction is reactive,deficiency overcoming, and revolvesaround a feedback system.

Discrepancy creation corresponds to goal-setting motivation.

Discrepancy creating is proactive, growth pursuing, and revolves around a “feed-forward” system.

Updating the TOTE ModelUpdating the TOTE Model

• New areas of research followed the TOTE model

• Modifications:

• Goal setting

• The importance of Feedback

• Self regulation of goal attainment and threat avoidance

Goal Setting Goal Setting

A goal is whatever an individual is trying to accomplish.

* A goal is whatever an individual is trying to accomplish.

Why do goals work to increase performance?

Adaptive Value of Goal SettingAdaptive Value of Goal Setting

• Setting goals yields higher quality performance

• Examples:• Sit-ups, weightlifting, learn textbook

information, sell products, shoot archery, conserve natural resources, lose weight, logging, word process, truck driving trips

• A few qualifiers though: goal effectiveness depends upon two factors: goal difficulty and goal specificity

Adaptive Value of Goal SettingAdaptive Value of Goal Setting

• Linear relationship between difficulty and performance

Goal Difficulty

Adaptive Value of Goals SettingAdaptive Value of Goals Setting

• Specificity

• How clearly a goal conveys expectations

• “Do your best” vs. “Get out your spelling list, rehearse the word list 4 times and write each word 4 times”

• Specific=including something numerical

• Specificity produces consistency in performance across individuals

Adaptive ValueAdaptive Value

• Summary: Goals will enhance performance under specific circumstances:

• Difficult goals • Energize the performer• Increase effort and persistence• Specific goals• Direct the performer toward a specific course of

actions, increase mental and behavioral focus• They tell the person where to concentrate attention

and what specifically to do• So…specific, difficult goals raise performance, yielding

a net decrease in the ideal performance-actual performance discrepancy

Caution:Caution:

• It is not automatic that proper goal setting will yield performance gains:

• Performance depends on other factors, besides motivation:

• Ability, training, coaching, resources

The Fundamental Importance of FeedbackFeedbackor, Knowledge of Results

Feedback documents the performer’s progress towards goal attainment.

(1) Feedback defines performance

Above-standard

At-standard

Below-standard

(2) Feedback acts as a reinforcer (or punisher)

Therefore, instructive to future goal setting efforts

The Adaptive Value of Feedback

Figure 8.3

Application: Goal Striving, Application: Goal Striving, Threat Avoidance and the Role Threat Avoidance and the Role

of Affectof Affect• The current research article• Carver, 2004: Self Regulation of Action and Affect • Self-regulation involves the person’s metacognitive (self)

monitoring of how his or her goal-setting progress is going.

• It is our ability to transform mental abilities into task related skills

• In other words, it involves self monitoring of your behavior AND evaluation of the productivity of that behavior in achieving a goal or avoiding a threat

Application: Goal Striving, Threat Application: Goal Striving, Threat Avoidance and the Role of AffectAvoidance and the Role of Affect

• Some background info on this cognitive model• “Cybernetic Model”• Interdisciplinary study of the structure of complex

systems• A cybernetic model works ONLY in a closed loop fashion. • Purpose: to define the functions and workings of

systems that have goals and participate in a circular causal chain that moves from– action (behavior), – to sensing (one’s current situation), – to comparison (of situation with an ideal) that will prompt further

action

• Why cybernetic models do a better job of describing human behavior than the TOTE model

– Shows how we can handle multiple tasks– Depicts our ability to focus on multiple goals at once

Application: Goal Striving, Threat Application: Goal Striving, Threat Avoidance and the Role of AffectAvoidance and the Role of Affect

• Some background info on this cognitive model• Definitions:• “Discrepancy Reducing” Behavior Feedback Loop

– Behavior is produced to REDUCE any discrepancy between a goal (ideal state) and one’s perception of a current behavior (current state)

– Follows all of the properties of “Discrepancy-Reduction” planning and goal seen in previous slides

– Kinds of discrepancy that is produced: behavior is not close enough; behavior has exceeded ideal

– Behaviors that are produced from perceived discrepancies are vastly different, depending upon whether the discrepancy indicates failure to meet the goal or exceeding the goal

Application: Goal Striving, Threat Application: Goal Striving, Threat Avoidance and the Role of AffectAvoidance and the Role of Affect

• Some background info on this cognitive model• Definitions:• “Discrepancy Enhancing” Behavior Feedback Loop

– Behavior is produced to push you away from, or to move away from, a threat (ideal state), also called an “anti-goal”

– This loop acts to ENLARGE the discrepancy between the anti-goal and the current perception

– Kinds of discrepancy that is produced: behavior takes the person too close to the threat; behavior has kept the person further from away from the threat

– Behaviors that are produced from perceived discrepancies are vastly different, depending upon whether the discrepancy indicates failure to avoid the threat or exceeding the threat

Application: Goal Striving, Threat Application: Goal Striving, Threat Avoidance and the Role of AffectAvoidance and the Role of Affect

• Some background info on this cognitive model• Definitions:• “Affect” Loop

– Affect indicates our desires and whether those desires are being met– Loop works simultaneously with a behavior feedback loop– Here, a comparison is made between one’s current RATE of progress

toward a goal (or away from a threat) and one’s ideal RATE of progress.– Types of discrepancy: – you are not going fast enough– You are going too fast– The kinds of affects that are produced will vary depending upon the

following:• Whether the reference concerns a goal or a threat• Whether the rate is too slow or faster than intended

Application: Goal Striving, Threat Application: Goal Striving, Threat Avoidance and the Role of AffectAvoidance and the Role of Affect

Hints to Guide Your ReadingHints to Guide Your Reading• Note: the following are suggestions that will IMMENSELY assist you in

taking the quiz and especially in preparing you for your exam…please be sure to do this as you are reading, or as soon as you finish

• Reading: pgs 13-top of pg 27• First, re-draw Carver’s model of self regulation (figure 2.1)• Secondly, define each of the terms in the model• Thirdly, please execute one iteration (that means use the model in a step by

step fashion) of the model with respect to a goal that you have in this class. Here’s how:

– First…imagine a good “Reference Value” (goal)…one with some sort of numerical value in it (recall, a difficult and a specific goal yields best performance)

– You also determine “The Current Input”, execute “The Comparator” and determine an “Output”

– Imagine this “Disturbance”: you experience car trouble and are certain your school work will have to be put off for an entire day while it gets fixed.

– Determine this disturbance’s “Effect on the Environment”, and re-run the rest of the model to see how your output could likely be affected.

• Next, instead of using a Goal as a “Reference Value”, now substitute this “Threat: you have determined that to avoid any contact with a car, it is best to cross a street when vehicles are at least 100 feet away from you. “ What would be the result of the comparator function? What would be a possible output?

• Questions for Reflection:• What kind of affect occurs when a goal is going well? What type of behavior

is likely produced?• What kind of emotion occurs when a goal is going poorly? What type of

behavior is likely produced?• What kind of affect occurs when a threat is going well (is being avoided)?

What type of behavior is likely produced?• What kind of affect occurs when a threat is going poorly (you are getting

closer to the threat value)? What type of behavior is likely produced?• In which type of behavior feedback loop are you trying to produce an output

that moves you closer to the ideal? • In which behavior feedback loop are you trying to produce an output that

moves you away from the ideal?• How do these cybernetic models indicate when you could or should shift

from one reference situation to another. For example, how do you know, according to these models, when to shift from the reference of “spending time with my significant other” to the reference of “earning a 90% on my chemistry exam”?

Hints to Guide Your ReadingHints to Guide Your Reading

Discussion Group Case StudyDiscussion Group Case Study• The goal of this case study is to get you to consider why or how failures in self

regulation could occur.• Janie, a person with an avoidant temperament approaches you, a clinical

psychologist, and indicates that she is having an anxiety problem. Specifically, she suffers from “generalized anxiety” which means that she is chronically anxious and really doesn’t know why. In other words, nothing in her environment triggers anxiety, per se, she just feels anxious all the time.

• Why should this make sense to you, knowing that she has an avoidant, rather than an approach temperament?

• You decide to use a cognitive therapy strategy to assist her in alleviating her anxiety. In preparation for your first counseling session, you create a cybernetic behavioral and affective feedback loop that would indicate how an anxiety disorder would occur (NOTE: the KIND of behavior feedback loop you use is critical to understanding this task)

• So, pick you behavior loop. Next indicate how a malfunction in the components would likely create chronic anxiety that would lead to her anxiety disorder. Look at each component, consider how it should function for a person to have a normal affective life, and then consider how that specific component could work improperly, thereby causing an erroneous affective output.

• After identifying all of the possible malfunctions, focus in on one and formulate a strategy to help her regain adaptive self regulation that would decrease her anxiety disorder.

• Discuss your thoughts with your group, then post your collective feedback loop and explanation of the malfunction within the class discussion.