Goal Motivation Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Goal Motivation Reinforcers, Incentives, Goals Reinforcers  Have increased the rate or probability of behavior in the past. Incentives  Maintains current behavior. Goals  Lager more important than incentives  More complex with both positive and negative features.  Cognitive realm of motivation  Typically one-time events  More than one goal.

Chapter 11 Goal Motivation I. Origins of Goals A. Incentives versus Goals  1. Differentiating Characteristics Goals are incentives to be achieved and are also more important, complex, cognitive, and are single occurrences.  2. From Incentives to Goals Value, probability of attaining, and amount of effort are factors that determine which incentives become goals.  3. Future Orientation of Goals When future goals are visualized in the present its negative goal features are discounted more steeply than are its positive goal features.

Chapter 11 Goal Motivation I. Origins of Goals B. Sources of Goals  1. Association of Goals with Affect Goals that produce positive affect are approached. Goals that produce negative affect are avoided.  How does this help us?  2. Goals That Satisfy Physiological Needs Goals that satisfy physiological needs have a positive valence, which, in turn, determines the psychological demand of those goals.  What does this add?  3. Goals That Satisfy Psychological Needs Psychological needs increase the valence of incentives that satisfy those needs. These incentives become goals.  Is this circular?

Chapter 11 Goal Motivation I. Origins of Goals  4. Goal Setting for Evaluating Self-Efficacy Self-efficacy: belief in one's capability of performing a task or achieving a goal.  Is this different than probability of reinforcement?  Importance of instructions?  5. Environmentally Activated Goals Stimuli associated with goal-achievement behavior can activate a goal.  Subliminal stimuli?  Cue effects of environmental stimuli?  Discriminative stimuli?  6. Other People as Sources for Goals Social comparison with others or membership in a group determine goals.  Competition and cooperation

Chapter 11 Goal Motivation II. Goal Characteristics and Expectations A. Characteristics of Goals  1. Goal Level and Goal Difficulty Goal level: goal value, rank of a goal in a hierarchy of potential goals. Goal difficulty: how hard it is to achieve, which depends on goal level.  1400 GRE / Getting into graduate program  Being accepted into specific group / joining the group you desire to join  2. Goal Specificity The clearness or precision with which a goal is specified increases likelihood of meeting goal.  3. Joint Effect of Goal Level and Goal Specificity Level determines a goal's energizing function. Specificity determines a goal's directing function.  What does this mean?

Chapter 11 Goal Motivation II. Goal Characteristics and Expectations What determines commitment to a goal? B. Expected Utility Theory Goal's expected utility = Utility x subjective probability.  1. Meaning of Probability Subjective probability is the belief that a particular event will occur.  2. Choice Based on Utility, Probability, and Expected Utility A person selects a goal that has the highest expected utility.  3. Expected Utility with Social Incentives Who to ask for a date depends on his/her expected utility as a date.

Chapter 11 Goal Motivation II. Goal Characteristics and Expectations C. Framing  Framing: perspective from which to view a goal. The goal is to gain or is to avoid a loss. Potential to Win  90% chance of winning $3,000  45% chance of winning $6,000 Potential to Lose  90% chance of losing $3,000  45% chance of losing $6,000 Unlikely to Win  0.2% chance of winning $3,000  0.1% chance of winning $6,000 Unlikely to Lose  0.2% chance of losing $3,000  0.1% chance of losing $6,000

Chapter 11 Goal Motivation II. Goal Characteristics and Expectations D. Prospect Theory  In this theory prospects resemble expected utilities based on decision weights (probabilities).  Very high or low probabilities become certainties.  Small certain gains are preferred over large uncertain ones.  High uncertain losses are preferred over small certain losses.

Chapter 11 Goal Motivation III. Goal Commitment and Goal Achievement A. Committing to a Goal  1. Commitment as a Factor in Goal Achievement Goal commitment: process whereby a person is set to achieve a goal. As goal commitment increases goal achievement increases.  2. Negative Feedback Loop The discrepancy in the loop is the distance between the current state andgoal-state. Goal-achievement strategies reduce the discrepancy.  3. Feedback Feedback provides information about whether the strategies increase or decrease the discrepancy between the current state and goal-state.

Chapter 11 Goal Motivation III. Goal Commitment and Goal Achievement  4. Motivational Features of Goal Setting Level of aspiration: person's desire to excel or do better. This aids goal setting. Goal achievement-behavior is motivated to reduce the discrepancy between current-state and goal-state.  5. Goal Thoughts Respondent thoughts: fantasies about a goal intrude into awareness. Operant thoughts: mental plans about how to achieve one's goal.  6. Subgoals as Achievements toward Final Goals Subgoals or proximal goals are like rungs in a ladder to reach to top (final goal). They increase goal motivation, provide feedback, and increase self efficacy.

Chapter 11 Goal Motivation III. Goal Commitment and Goal Achievement B. Achievement Behaviors  1. Cognitive Maps A mental image of one's current location in relation to a goal location.  2. Scripts A highly scripted stereotyped behavior sequence that achieves a goal.  3. Plans More general series of behavioral acts necessary to achieve a goal. C. Goal Achievement and Goal Failure  1. Achievement Valence Achievement valence: satisfaction derived from achieving a goal.  2. Consequences of Success and Failure Following success, the next goal is scaled up while following failure the