Psych 314 Exam 3

Definition and function of goals

Definition: "Future-focused cognitive representation of a desired end state" Function: Provide a discrepancy to motivate you. Focus attention on the goal (and increase effort). Guide behavior.

Difference between efficacy and outcome expectations

Efficacy expectations: -Do you have the ability to produce an outcome? -"Can I do it?" Outcome expectations: -Will that outcome produce a desired result? -"Will it work?"

How goals influence performance

Having a goal improves task performance compared to a group without a goal.

Affective forecasting, and its relation to goal setting. Why you shouldn't be afraid to fail at your goals

-Affective forecasting: Involves predicting the subjective reward that goal achievement will provide. -Goals that produce positive affect are followed. -Goals that produce negative affect are given up on. -Shouldn't be afraid to fail because failure won't be as bad as we think -Good or bad events will not play an important role in your overall, long-term happiness. -You'll be able to cope with almost any bad event.

(Book) Ways of coping:

-Approach versus Avoidance: Taking action by moving toward and interacting with the problem versus walking away from the problem. -Social versus Solitary: Taking action with a team of others versus acting alone. -Proactive versus Reactive: Taking action to prevent a problem before versus after it occurs. -Direct versus Indirect: Taking action oneself versus enlisting the help of an intermediary who takes direct action. -Control versus Escape: Take-charge approach versus staying clear of the situation. -Alloplastic versus Autoplastic: Taking action to change the problem versus taking action to change oneself. -Problem Focused versus Emotion-Focused: Taking action to manage the problem causing the stress versus regulating one's emotional response to the problem.

Definition of learned helplessness

-Belief that you have no control over the outcomes of your actions (outcome expectancies). -The outcomes are controlled by external forces over which you have no control. -Can develop when a person experiences a lack of control.

How do you develop a growth mindset?

-Believe that you can change. -Don't pass up a challenge. -Focus on learning, not outcomes. -Persist in the face of setbacks. -Don't be afraid of feedback. (positive or negative)

Rosenbaum et al (2014): What they did and what they found

-College students were asked to pick up a bucket of pennies and take it to the end of an alley. -Picking up the farther bucket made sense. But, students were more likely to pick up the nearest bucket. When asked why they said things like "I wanted to get the task done as soon as I could."

Sirois (2015): What did she do? What did she find?

-Compared 182 adults with cardiovascular disease to 564 healthy controls. -Controlled for age, race, education, and personality. -The group with heart problems scored significantly higher on measures of procrastination.

How your mastery orientation will affect: dealing with failure, dealing with challenges, dealing with negative feedback, and the meaning of failure.

-Dealing with failure: Doesn't give up. Focused on the task. -Dealing with challenges: Seek out challenges, and don't give up when you fail. -Dealing with negative feedback: Work harder and figure out what went wrong. -Meaning of failure: It's useful information for finding new ways to achieve.

Definition of explanatory style. The difference between optimistic and pessimistic explanatory styles.

-Definition: The idea that people have a characteristic way of making attributions for events. -Optimistic explanatory style: bad events are unstable and controllable. -Pessimistic explanatory style: bad events are stable and uncontrollable. Viewed as a personality trait!

Other causes of Procrastination

-Emotion-Focused Coping: When dealing with a stressful task, procrastinators may cope by focusing on the emotions caused by a problem and not the problem itself. Procrastination allows a person to escape the stress of a task but eventually makes the problem worse. -Self-Handicapping: It provides an excuse for poor performance. It makes you look even better if you succeed. -Low Self-control: Some people have problems delaying gratification, or they are easily distractible with a short attention span. Working on a challenging project may be especially difficult for them.

Definition of hope in terms of personal control beliefs. Consequences of being hopeful.

-Hope is being motivated to achieve a goal (high efficacy expectation) and believing that achieving that goal will produce a desired outcome (high outcome expectation). -You believe that there are multiple paths available to achieve your goal. -Hopeful people: Create good, congruent goals. Focus on mastery not performance. Are intrinsically motivated. Work hard and deal well with obstacles.

Why and how is culture related to the fixed vs. growth mindset?

-Individualistic (Western) cultures often hold entity or fixed views. College admission tests are often based on talent or intelligence. Individualistic cultures define the self in terms of traits and value stability and consistency in them. -Collectivistic (Eastern) cultures often hold incremental views. College admission tests are often based on breadth of knowledge. Collectivistic cultures define the self in terms of relationships and are comfortable with a shifting identity.

(Book) Reactance theory and helplessness:

-Initial reactance, a feeling of control, will give way to helplessness once one realizes they don't have control. -Both reactance and helplessness arise from outcome expectancies; (2) reactance is rooted in perceived control, whereas helplessness is rooted in its absence; (3) a reactance response precedes a helplessness response; and (4) reactance enhances performance, whereas helplessness undermines it.

Qualities of learned helplessness: lack of contingency, biased cognitions, passive behavior.

-Lack of contingency: my behavior has no effect on the outcomes that I want. -Biased cognitions: Bias: Do you have an objective or biased view of the control you possess? Attributions: Have you accurately or inaccurately explained the causes of control Expectancies: Do you have prior experience with lack of control that influences you now? -Passive behavior: Giving up; passive and listless.

Where goals come from: level of aspiration, needs, testing self-efficacy, other people, environment

-Level of aspiration: is a person's desire to excel. To do better the next time. To do better than others. -Needs: Goals that satisfy physiological needs have a positive reward, which, in turn, determines the psychological demand for those goals. -Testing self-efficacy: belief in one's capability of successfully performing a specific task or achieving a specific goal. -Other people: Belonging in a group requires that a person accepts the goals of the group. -Environment: Stimuli associated with goal-achievement behavior can reinforce a goal.

Types of cognitive dissonance: post-decisional regret

-Making a difficult choice can produce dissonance. I may have rejected a potentially good choice for me. I have chosen something that could be bad -You can resolve post-decisional regret by changing your attitude toward the choices. Rejected choice is viewed more negatively Positive choice is viewed more positively This is called the spreading of alternatives because post-choice ratings spread apart.

Consequences of learned helplessness: motivational deficits, learning deficits, emotional deficits.

-Motivational deficits: Helpless people don't want to try. They feel there's no point in making an effort. -Learning deficits: Their pessimism makes them less capable of learning when they have control. They may start to experience control again, but will fail to recognize it. -Emotional deficits: They're less likely to feel energizing emotions (fear, anger, frustration) when faced with a challenge. They're more likely to feel energy draining emotions (listless, apathetic, depressed).

O'Keefe, Dweck, and Walton (2018): What they did. What they found. Why it matters.

-Participants rated how interested they were to read about a topic that did or didn't match their interests (science vs. the arts). -Found: Participants with a fixed mindset were less interested in learning about mismatched topics. If you have a growth mindset, you're more interested in learning about new things. -Matters: If you have a growth mindset you're more open to try new things and are more interested in new things.

Types of cognitive dissonance: insufficient justification

-People can be induced to do something they normally wouldn't without a meaningful justification for the behavior. They reduce their dissonance by changing their attitude toward the behavior.

What is an Implementation Intention?

-Plan for when, where and how you'll achieve a goal and deal with the difficulties unique to your goal striving. Typically expressed as "if... then" statements. "If a certain situation exists..." "Then I will take this action."

Why are each of the suggestions effective in preventing procrastination?

-Procrastination is bad. -If a task is difficult, you'll almost never be motivated to complete it. -"I'll feel like doing it tomorrow" is a lie. You'll feel exactly the same. -Sometimes you need to make your motivation by just getting started. -Plan for problems like distractions, temptations, and low self-control.

Sources of self-efficacy: vicarious experience

-Seeing someone else perform the behavior enhances your own SE. -Works best if the person performing the behavior is similar to you. -A strong influence on SE for inexperienced people.

Why self-efficacy is different than the need for competence

-Self-efficacy is a belief that is limited to a specific behavior. -The need for competence is a broad, general need that is a present in all people. -High beliefs in self-efficacy will make a person more likely to satisfy their need for competence.

Why giving up on goals can be important

-Some goals simply can't be achieved. If you want to be successful, you have to know when to give up on a goal and work on a different goal. Yes, winners sometimes do quit! -If you keep striving toward an unattainable goal, it could be a problem for your self-esteem. -Give up and change goal = increased well-being.

Sources of self-efficacy: verbal persuasion

-Someone tries to persuade you that you can perform the behavior if you try. -The persuader needs to know what they are talking about. -Not as effective if you have a history of failing at the task. -Can provide enough of a boost to SE for another attempt.

How attributions affect motivation.

-Stability Stable: this will keep happening. Unstable: this may not happen again. -Controllability Controllable: you can change it. Uncontrollable: you can't do anything about it. Examples: -"I failed the test because I'm not smart." Stable & uncontrollable. More likely to give up. -"I failed the test because I didn't study enough." Unstable & controllable. Likely to keep trying.

Gilbert et al (1998) study on affective forecasting.

-Study: Researchers examined the actual and expected impact of breaking up with a romantic partner. -Participants who broke up were just as happy as those who hadn't. -Breaking up wasn't as bad for happiness as predicted.

Festinger & Carlsmith (1957): What they did and what they found

-Subjects asked to do an extremely boring task for about an hour. Afterward, asked to tell the next subject that the task was really fun. Later, they rated how enjoyable the task was. -Control condition participants did not enjoy the task. High justification group ($20): similar ratings to control ("money made me do it"). -Low justification group ($1): enjoyed task the most ("I meant to do this").

Characteristics of an effective implementation intention

-The "if... then" statement should come to mind quickly and automatically. -Also, consider implementation intentions for the problems that could crop up: -If you're dieting, how do you deal with food temptation? -If you're studying, how do you deal with interruptions?

How perceptions of control are related to depression.

-The symptoms of depression and learned helplessness are similar. -Expect bad things to happen. -Feel helpless to do anything. (no control) -There's evidence that therapy focused on helplessness can help depressed people.

How do you make implementation intentions?

-Think about the process of achieving your goal, and identify required behaviors. -Figure out where and when these behaviors should occur. -Remember the behavior when you're in these situations.

Examples of positive illusions: unrealistic optimism, unrealistically positive views of the self, illusion of control.

-Unrealistic optimism: Believe the present is better than the past, future even better. -Unrealistically positive views of the self: See self as better than others see you. -The illusion of control: Perceive more control than is justified.

Mastery beliefs, and the difference between a mastery orientation and a helplessness orientation.

-We're now focusing on outcome expectations, not efficacy expectations. These are your beliefs regarding whether you have control over either the good or bad outcomes of your life. -Mastery Orientation: You believe that you have control over the outcomes of your behavior. "What I do matters." -Helpless Orientation: You don't believe that you have control over the outcomes of your behavior. "What I do doesn't matter."

Alloy & Abramsom (1979): What they did and what they found. Who was biased in the experiment?

-What they did: Participants were given trials in which they could press or not press a button. Sometimes when they pressed the button, a light would come on. Asked to estimate how often they could get the light to come on. -Conditions: High control- Complete control over light. Medium & low control- Occasional control over light. No control- No control over the light. -What they found: Depressed people showed no bias and understood exactly how much control they had. -Non-depressed people had a positive bias. Thought they had control when they didn't!

Diener & Dweck (1978): What they did and what they found. How they created learned helplessness.

-What they did: Participants were shown 10 cards that varied in features. Experimenter selected a feature. Participant asked to guess which of two cards had the selected feature. Told correct or not. Two conditions: Give true feedback (controllable). Given false feedback (no control). -What they found: All participants were given some moderately difficult problems to solve. Participants given false feedback solved significantly FEWER problems compared to the true feedback condition. -Created helplessness by having some people always be wrong so they had no control over their performance.

Seligman & Maier (1967): What they did and what they found. How they created learned helplessness.

-What they did: Studied helplessness behavior in dogs by shocking them. Conditions: -Inescapable shock: placed in a sling and shocked for 5 seconds daily for 64 days. Couldn't stop them. -Escapable shock: placed in a sling and shocked for 5 seconds for 64 days, but could learn to press a button to stop it. -No shock: placed in a sling like others, but not shocked. Results: -No shock: discovered that they could jump the wall and would escape the shock. -Escapable shock: also discovered that they could escape the shock and did so. -Inescapable shock: gave up quickly and passively accepted the shock. -Created helplessness by having 'not being able to stop the shock' condition

Why limiting your choices can have a significant effect on your well-being.

-You doubt your ability to succeed at a potentially important task. -You won't try to succeed at that task, denying you evidence that could boost your SE. -Depending on the area, this can profoundly limit your range of activities and development.

Sources of self-efficacy: physiological state

-You may have physical symptoms of tension and anxiety when attempting a task. -These signals of stress can lower your SE. -Bi-directional effect. -Anxiety lowers SE. -Lower SE causes anxiety.

Overall, why could it be a problem to have a fixed view of your life's passions?

-You may limit your interests and not try new things. -You may give up when your passions challenge you.

Why explanatory style is relevant to well-being.

-Your explanatory style will significantly affect your overall well-being. -Try to cultivate an optimistic explanatory style. -But be careful - too much optimism can also be a problem. (if things are constantly going poorly you need to reassess)

Definition of a mindset

A cognitive framework that influences your thoughts about yourself and your environment

Mastery vs. performance goals: What are they? Why do they matter? How can you encourage mastery goals?

Achievement goals. Mastery goals: -Develop your skills. Take on challenges. Strive toward progress. -Willing to take on a challenge knowing that they'll learn something. -More willing to think carefully about the material they study instead of memorizing. -More intrinsically motivated. -Work hard and perform better. Performance goals: -Show your competence. -Perform better than others. -Succeed without effort. How can you encourage mastery? -Focus on effort NOT performance. -What's success? Improvement. -What's valued? Effort. -What's rewarding? Hard work. -Let people know that it's OK to fail as long as you learn something from it.

Discrepancy

An incongruity that, if large enough, makes us want to change.

The sources of self-efficacy: behavior history

Behavior history: Have you successfully performed the behavior in the past? If so, SE goes up. -One failure doesn't affect someone with a history of success. -One success has a big effect on someone with a history of failure. **The strongest influence on SE**

Why positive illusions can benefit well-being. When can they be harmful?

Benefits: -Enhance close relationships. -Happy people are more attractive. This boosts self-esteem. -Facilitate productive work. -Better mood = better work. -Expect success and work hard. -Deal with difficulty better. Problems: -Can be harmful if you don't ever accurately reflect and understand who you are and how you are performing.

Why Specific Goals Are Effective

Can help you guide your planning. You'll know exactly what to do. If you fail, you'll have a better sense of how to change your plans.

Effect of self-efficacy on behavior: choice of activities, effort and persistence, thinking and decision making, and emotionality. Why limiting your choices can have a significant effect on your well-being.

Choices: As previously discussed, we seek out activities and environments that we have a good chance of being successful in. -High SE = actively seeking an experience. -Low SE = fearfully avoiding an experience. Effort and persistence: You will always face difficulties. -People with high SE are more likely to keep striving toward a goal if they have a setback. They bounce back quickly in the face of problems. -People with low SE are more likely to give up. They have difficulty recovering from failures and may settle for poorer outcomes. Thinking and decision making: Performing a task may require focus and the ability to recall important information. -High SE people can stay focused on the task even when they have difficulties. -Low SE people can be preoccupied with thoughts of inadequacy, which can lower cognitive resources. Emotionality: SE influences emotional response to difficulties. -High SE: manage anxiety and can banish fear and anxiety quickly. -Low SE: quickly threatened and likely to experience distress; become emotionally aroused and anxious.

The classic vs. the modern view of biased perception in mental health.

Classic: An unbiased, honest view of the world is healthy. Modern: People need positive illusions, a general pattern of favorable bias in perceptions. Positive illusions are essential to mental health.

Cognitive consequences of each mindset. Achievement consequences of each mindset.

Cognitive consequences: Deliberative- People are more attentive to specific pros and cons of goals. Thinking about possible goals. Implemental- People are more attentive to specific goal attainment information. Avoid thinking about possible goals. Achievement consequences: -People in the implemental mindset are more likely to achieve their goals. -People in the implemental mindset are more likely to persist when facing difficulties achieving goals.

Procrastination: What is it? How many people do it?

Definition: "Voluntary delay of an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay" Voluntary: choice, not forced. Intended: you have a goal for yourself. Worse off: aware this will cause problems. 20-25% of the general population does it. 70% of college students.

Definition of attribution, and the dimensions of attribution: locus, stability, controllability.

Definition: An explanation for why something has happened. Dimensions of attribution: -Locus: internal vs. external. -Stability: stable or variable. -Controllability: controllable vs. uncontrollable.

Cognitive dissonance: What is it and what are its basic tenets? How do we typically reduce it?

Definition: Discomfort that people feel when two cognitions (beliefs, attitudes) conflict, or when they behave in ways that are inconsistent with their conception of themselves. Basic tenets: Any two cognitions are either relevant (have something to do with each other) or not. If relevant, they can be dissonant or consonant. Dissonance causes negative arousal. People will be motivated to reduce this arousal. How to reduce: Changing our behavior, justifying our behavior, add a new consonant cognition, or reduce the importance of the conflict.

Cognitive psychology, and why it's relevant to motivation

Definition: The study of how people think, focusing on the mind and mental events. Relevance: How you perceive yourself and your environment will strongly influence your motivation. -Mindsets: Are your abilities able to be changed? -Self-efficacy: How much control do you have? -Expectations: What do you think will happen?

Definition of self-efficacy and its characteristics. Why self-efficacy matters.

Definition: Your perception of how you will deal with a situation, given your level of ability and the circumstances of that situation. Self-efficacy is not a general trait that a person can have, it is much more specific. Why it matters: Hundreds of research studies have found that this belief will play a significant role in predicting how well you perform a behavior. -High SE people are focused and deal well with setbacks. -Low SE people get anxious and fearful when experiencing difficulty.

Deliberative-implemental mindset. How it affects thinking. Specific characteristics of each mindset.

Deliberative mindset: -Considering all your options for goals. -Picking a direction to work toward. -This person is open-minded, objective, carefully thinking, and open to information. Implemental mindset: -Stopping the process of deliberation. -Taking action to work toward a goal. -This person is closed-minded and focused on attaining the goal Cognitive consequences

What makes a goal effective?

Difficulty. Specificity. Congruence.

Congruence

Does the goal reflect what you want in life or is it a goal someone else chose for you? People perform better when goals are congruent or reflect what they truly want.

Pre-crastination and reasons for pre-crastinating

Doing things quickly just to get them done (precrastination) can also be a problem. It may be easier or more effective to wait before completing a task. Reasons: Completing a sub-goal makes the longer term goal feel closer to completion. Completing a sub-goal is rewarding, and we may choose this reward over using a better strategy.

What can you do to stop procrastinating?

Don't wait to be in the mood; don't say that you'll do it tomorrow; just get started; plan for problems; minimize distractions; boost self-control; don't push yourself too hard.

What are the consequences of procrastinating for your physical and emotional health?

Emotional: -Procrastination can lead to stress and lower well-being. -Procrastinators often don't have enough time to do quality work. Physical: -Procrastinators may put off seeing the doctor or getting medical tests. -The chronic stress of procrastination can harm a person's health.

(Book) Empowerment:

Empowerment involves possessing the knowledge, skills, and beliefs that allow people to exert control over their lives. When threatened, people typically feel anxious, stressed, vulnerable, at risk, and in danger. To empower oneself, people need more than just skills and the knowledge of what to do. People also need self-efficacy beliefs so they can (1) translate their knowledge and skills into effective performance when threatened and (2) exert control over intrusive negative thoughts.

Where does the fixed vs. growth mindset come from?

Experiences with your parents and teachers: -Did they focus on your abilities? Praise your talent or intelligence when you were successful? More likely to be fixed. -Did they focus on your effort? Praise how hard you were working when successful? More likely to be growth.

Fixed vs. Growth Mindset: What are they? How do they influence effort, motivation, response to feedback, and explaining behavior.

Fixed mindset: -Personal qualities are unchanging and set in stone. Often called an "entity theory" (traits are unchanging entities). -Effort: You either can do it or you can't. Effort means that you don't have talent. -Motivation: Effort is bad. Success should be easy. Task is difficult? Not worth the effort. -Feedback: Feedback can be terrifying. Poor feedback = perpetual poor ability. -Explaining Failure: Failure = low ability. More likely to give up. Growth mindset: -Personal qualities can be changed through personal effort. Often called an "incremental theory" (traits can be changed in increments). -Effort: Effort helps you learn and grow. Effort means that you'll develop talent. -Motivation: Effort is good. Success should take effort. The task is difficult? Keep trying and learning -Feedback: Feedback is useful and desired. Poor feedback = work harder. -Explaining Failure: Failure = opportunity to learn. More likely to work harder.

Tice and Baumeister (1997): What did they do? What did they find?

Measured at the beginning and end of the semester: -A self-report measure of procrastination. -Measures of stress and physical symptoms. -Grades on a term paper and tests for the class. Found: Procrastinators turned their papers in later (r = .45). Procrastinators had lower grades on the term paper (r = -.29) and two exams (r = -.64).

How changes in discrepancy affect emotions

Make satisfactory progress toward a change? Feel happy, enthusiastic, hopeful. Make unsatisfactory progress toward change? Feel discouraged, depressed.

Goal striving and why achieving goals can be difficult

Making goals is easy, but achieving goals is hard. They require: -Time and energy. -Not giving up. -Undivided attention. You have to think about goal striving.

Gollwitzer & Kinney (1990): What they did and what they found

Mindsets were experimentally manipulated in the laboratory: -Deliberative: think about a goal you're considering; make a pro/con list; make a list of costs/benefits. -Implemental: think about a goal you're planning to achieve; list specific steps to achieve that goal. Then, they were told to complete the rest of a story. Number of words associated with each kind of action was measured. Participants would complete the story in a way that was consistent with their mindset.

Taylor et al (1998) study on mental simulation

Participants were given a task and then asked to do one of the following: -Nothing (control). -Think about achieving the goal. -Think about how to attain the goal. *Thinking about the process enhanced performance!

Corrective Motivation

People are active decision makers who can change their plans. Incongruity leads to corrective motivation, which can be addressed by: -Changing your plan. -Increasing your effort. -Giving up on your plan.

Incongruity

People want things in life, and we can recognize when what we have today doesn't match what we really want

Types of cognitive dissonance: effort justification

Person engages in an undesirable behavior to gain a desirable outcome. This behavior is negative. I am doing it anyway. The outcome seems even more desirable because of the undesirable behavior. You may persist working toward goals that you've put excessive effort into.

Promotion-prevention mindset. Characteristics of each mindset. Emotions associated with each mindset. How success is defined in each mindset. What causes the trait version of each mindset. Achievement consequences of each mindset.

Promotion mindset: -You want to acquire success and gains. You focus on rewarding experiences. Your strategy is to approach goals, "eager locomotion." -Success: Gaining something and getting better. A good thing has happened. Motivating. -Failure: Not an event for promotion focused. Nothing has changed. Not motivating. -Traits: Socialization experiences that encourage people to be focused on making good things happen. Parents encouraged their child to accomplish goals and ideals. Prevention mindset: -You want to avoid failures and loss. You focus on responsibility and duty. Your strategy is to avoid failure, "vigilant caution." -Success: Everything is the same and there's been no loss. Nothing has changed. Not motivating. -Failure: Something has been lost. A bad thing has happened. Motivating. -Traits: Some personality traits are associated with prevention, such as neuroticism. Again, socialization experiences that focus on avoiding bad experiences. Parents that are critical and punishing and focus on duty and obligation. -Achievement consequences: Different approaches. Promotion: eager locomotion, accomplishment focus. Prevention: vigilant caution, playing it safe. Both approaches can be effective at getting things done, depending on the situation.

Why Congruent Goals Are Effective

Reflect your values and beliefs. Intrinsic motivation can be more motivational than extrinsic motivation. "I want to do this" is effective. "My parents want me to do this" can be weak.

Mental simulations and how they influence goals

Research has shown that thinking about the CHALLENGES of achieving a goal produces more successful progress than just thinking about the outcome of the goal.

Temporal Motivation Theory

Reward/Time = Expectancy X value / (1+Impulsiveness) X Delay -Value: Is the task rewarding? -Expectancy: Whats your chance of success? -Delay: How far in the future is it? Most things we procrastinate are not rewarding and we don't think we'll be good at them.

Discrepancy Reduction

Something in your environment makes you aware of the discrepancy. (boss, teacher, etc.) You take action to reduce the discrepancy, just like a negative feedback loop. Overcoming a deficiency.

TOTE model and its components

Test-Operate, Test-Exit. Test = compare to ideal. Operate = change things. Exit = stop when the ideal is reached. Change may require many T's and O's before E.

Sub-goals, and why they are helpful

They are like rungs on a ladder to reach the top. Subgoals increase motivation because they are closer than a person's final goal is. Achieving a subgoal provides feedback toward achieving the final goal. Achieving subgoals also increases self-efficacy.

Why goals aren't the only requirements for achievement

To achieve your goals, you may also need: Ability or talent. Training in new skills. A mentor or coach. Resources (money, equipment).

The difference between state and trait

Trait mindsets: -Long lasting, like personality. -You use this mindset regularly, across times and situations. State mindsets: -Short-lived, like moods. -Environment can induce these sorts of mindsets for a limited period of time.

Types of cognitive dissonance: Ben Franklin effect

What happens when you're nice to someone? -If you like them, your behavior is consistent with your attitudes. -If you don't like them, you experience cognitive dissonance. -Cog 1: I don't like you. -Cog 2: I was nice to you. -How can you resolve the dissonance? Change cognition 1 and like the person more. -Being nice to someone you don't like makes you like them more and if they don't like you if they do something nice for you they'll like you more.

Why feedback is important for reaching goals

With feedback, achieving goals is much easier. -Boost sense of self-efficacy. -Let you know if you need to change plans. -Provide an emotional reward or punishment.

Discrepancy Creation

You decide that you want to change your life in some way. You set a goal to improve your life, a positive feedback loop. Growing and developing.

Why Difficult Goals Are Effective

You'll expend greater effort. Increases your persistence toward goal. Provides a stronger emotional pay-off.

Plan of Action

a strategy to reduce the discrepancy between a current state and a hoped-for future state.