Reading Blog due Monday 2/27 @ midnight

Goal setting is a cognitive motivational strategy. Cognitive sources of motivation deal with a person’s way of thinking. This includes beliefs, expectations, goals, plans, judgments, values, and the self-concept. Plans play a large role in cognitive motivation. Everyone has an ideal representation of an event, environmental object, and behavior. We are also aware of our current state of the event, environmental object, and behavior. Incongruity occurs when the ideal event and the present state do not match up. The incongruity makes people act in a way to alleviate the incongruity and have the present state and ideal state coincide. Corrective motivation views plans are more fluid and adjustable. It activates a decision-making process where the individual ponders different options for removing the incongruity. The options typically include change the plan, change the behavior, or abort the plan. Emotions also play a role in corrective motivation. When we move towards the ideal state faster than we expected, we feel positive emotions. When we move towards the ideal state slower than we expected, we experience negative emotions. Discrepancy is another word for incongruity. There are two types of discrepancies: discrepancy reduction and discrepancy creation. In discrepancy reduction, the environment provides an ideal state. It serves as a check for notifying an individual if they are up to par or not. Discrepancy reduction is a corrective motivation form. Discrepancy creation is when a person looks forward and creates a future higher goal. This type of discrepancy does not require feedback in the sense that discrepancy reduction does. Discrepancy creation is a goal-setting motivation form.

A goal is what a person is working to achieve. Goal-performance discrepancy is the incongruity between the present level of accomplishment and the ideal level of accomplishment. People generally perform better when they have goals. As goals become more difficult, performance increases as well. Goal specificity deals with how clearly the goal tells the performer what they need to do. It is important because goals that are specific draws attention to what the person needs to do. Only difficult and specific goals enhance performance because it energizes and directs the behavior of the performer. Another key component to the success of goal-setting is feedback. The performer needs to know their progress in relation to the goal. A third condition of the success of goal-setting is whether or not the performer accepts the goal for themselves. To be accepted, a goal needs to have a reasonable amount of difficulty. The performer needs to help set the goal with a credible authority. There should also be extrinsic incentives. Goal-setting theory is more about increased performance than increased motivation. It is most effective with boring and mundane tasks. Goal-setting is associated with stress, opportunities for failure, and putting intrinsic motivation at risk. Long term goals increase intrinsic motivation.

When striving to achieve goals, one should not focus on the goal because it hinders performance. A person should focus on how the goal would be accomplished. Implementation intention describes a plan to carry out a goal directed behavior. Specific action plans increase the odds of an individual actually accomplishing their goals. Frequent and consistent pairs of situations and goal behaviors creates a strong link between the two.

I was surprised to learn that simply visualizing the goal did not increase the likelihood that the goal would be attained. Visualizing the process of achieving the goal is actually what leads to success. I have been considering exercising more lately. Reading this chapter will help me make a more successful exercise goal.

Terms: Goal setting, Cognitive motivational strategy, plan, incongruity, Corrective motivation, Discrepancy, Discrepancy reduction, Discrepancy creation, Goal, Goal-performance discrepancy, Feedback, Implementation intention

Chapter 8 focuses around goal setting and goal striving and those differences motivate individuals to set and reach different types of goals throughout their lives.

First, a plan is created with awareness as to what needs to be done and how when reaching a goal. Incongruity helps motivate an individual to act on the plan by providing energy and the actual plan helps us organize ourselves into a state of reaching that plan by providing us direction. This mechanism for directing our planned behavior for different goals is the TOTE model which means to test one’s present state to an ideal state (present being a current state and ideal is the wish-to-be current state), then operate that mismatch of states by taking action and then re-testing the perceived state. If that state reaches the ideal state, then the person will exit this cognitive mechanism, almost acting like homeostasis.

Incongruity leads one to have a ‘corrective’ motivation because an individual, when setting goals, has taken time to figure out how to reduce this present incongruity by either changing the plan, changing the behavior, or withdrawing from a certain plan altogether. It is a dynamic process that helps an individual achieve a plan but to also be prepared to change and revise an ineffective plan to reach that ideal state.

Discrepancy (incongruity) presents two different distinctions: discrepancy reduction and discrepancy creation. Discrepancy reduction is based on receiving feedback about different plans and corrective motivation. It is reactive and helps to overcome deficiency needs. Discrepancy creation is more of a “feed-forward” goal in which the individual sees more positively because they look forward to setting a future plan. This discrepancy is proactive, growth pursuing, and moves forward towards success rather than backwards from feedback. Instead of reading how to get hired for a certain job (discrepancy reduction) one should plan to obtain good quality manners and staying alert with kindness and professionalism before applying (discrepancy creation). When one is in between the present level of reaching the goal and knowing the ideal level needed, it is called goal-performance discrepancy.
Goals should be set to a certain difficulty that the individual is most likely able to reach. Directions on how to reach such goals should be specific, not vague, so the individual can focus specifically at what needs to be done instead of “given a clue” of what needs to be done, such as knowing to “work hard” compared to “use correct vocab and grammar” when writing an assignment. When an individual sets a difficult goal, persistence increases because of continued effort.

Feedback allows information about how different goals should be met and can keep an individual’s interest at key by producing emotional satisfaction through goal attainment and emotional dissatisfaction through goal failure. When feedback is positive and allows the individual to know they are doing well, felt satisfaction occurs. Felt dissatisfaction occurs when feedback is negative and lets the individual know they need to improve certain aspects to reach their plan/goal.

Goal acceptance is another goal need because a goal can be difficult, but if it is too difficult then there is a change the individual will eliminate that goal all together. It is how the performer has a say in the goal needed and if others try to force a goal on them, they are more likely to reject it then if it their opinion and view of the goal was reviewed positively first.

Long-term goals facilitate intrinsic motivation if the task is interesting, such as choosing a major and knowing what job could arise from that career choice. Short-term goals allow more positive feedback to motivate the individual towards a long-term goal that might otherwise seem too difficult to attain through long-term goals. Short-term goals also create the experience of making progress and a means of competence which enhances intrinsic motivation. Another way to enhance intrinsic motivation with goals is to focus on planning and problem solving rather than outcomes. By having an implementation intention (having a plan to carry out one’s goal-directed behavior) will help ease the transition of reaching that goal. In doing so, one can eliminate volitional problems (distractions, setbacks, interruptions, etc) and start creating healthier goal habits.

The most surprising thing I learned from chapter 8 is that when you visualize the outcome of the goal, it does not actually help an individual reach that goal, rather they should visualize on how reaching the goal instead before thinking about outcomes. I now have learned my lesson on dreaming about good grades and should dream about studying instead.

Terms: plan, corrective motivation, discrepancy, felt satisfaction, felt dissatisfaction, goal-performance discrepancy, feedback, goal acceptance, long-term goal setting, short-term goal setting, implementation, goal striving, goal setting

Chapter 8 is titled Goal Setting and Goal Striving. The first concept this chapter mentions is the cognitive perspective on motivation. Cognition can be difficult to define because it an umbrella construct that unites mental constructs such as beliefs, expectations, goals, plans, judgments, values, and the concept of self that function as causal determinants to action. Since cognition is difficult to define, it is often divided into an action sequence. The first part of this sequence is “Plans”. Plans motivate behaviors through mental representations that people have. Mental representations are demonstrated by the ideal state of behavior, environmental objects and events. “Goal setting” is the second part of this sequence. A goal is whatever an individual is striving to accomplish. Goals also generate motivation by focusing people’s attention on the discrepancy and their ideal level of accomplishment. This is identified as a “goal-performance discrepancy”. Within goal-performance discrepancy there are certain concepts to understand and follow if trying to create a legitimate goal. Goal difficulty is how hard a goal is to accomplish. As goals increase in difficulty so does performance. Goal specificity refers to how clearly a goal informs the performer precisely what he is to do. If the performer is unaware of what is expected of them, they are unable to perform as necessary. Difficult, specific goals enhance performance. When a goal is difficult, it energizes the performer. When a goal is direct, the performer can move towards a particular course of action. Feedback is also important with goal setting. It allows people to keep track of progress. Without feedback a person may feel they are working for nothing. Not only does a goal need to be difficult, specific, and receive feedback, but it also needs to be accepted. Four factors that determine whether an externally goal set will be accepted or rejects are 1.) perceived difficulty of the imposed goal 2.) participation in the goal-setting process 3.) credibility of the person assigning the goal 4.) extrinsic incentives. Goal striving is another important step in setting an effective goal. If an individual had no desire to accomplish a goal, they simply would not succeed. Goal striving starts with mental simulations and focusing on a certain action in order to succeed at accomplishing a particular goal. A few problems that can occur with goal-directed behavior are getting started, persisting, and resuming if an interruption occurs. An example of this would be exercising regularly then getting busy with homework and taking a few days off. Once you stop working out it becomes more difficult to start back up and continue working out.

The most surprising thing that I read about in Chapter 8 was in the Criticisms section. It is stated that the first caution associated with goal setting is that its purpose is to enhance performance, not necessarily motivation. This was surprising to me because most people would consider achieving a goal and being motivated to go hand in hand. However, it has more to do with enhancing an individual’s current performance. The second caution was that goal setting works best when tasks are relatively uninteresting and require only a straightforward procedure. This is because the task is generally so uninteresting that it, itself cannot move forward. This was also interesting to me because most goals are typically associated with something that is desirable and needing an enhancement. Both of these were interesting to me because they go against what people would typically assume with goal setting.

This chapter can help me in many ways to achieve future goals. I have learned about this technique of goal setting in Behavior Modification, but in this class it is looked at in a slightly different perspective. I will know to create a goal that is possible to achieve. Make small goals in order to eventually achieve the big goal. I will not get discouraged if I slip up or don’t perform exactly as intended. Instead, I will pull myself together and get back on track. Also, not focusing on the goal, but rather the performance at hand will help me perform my tasks more effectively.

Terms: goal setting, goal striving, cognitive perspective, motivation, construct, mental, beliefs, expectations, goals, plans, judgments, values, self, causal determinants, plans, mental representation, goal setting, accomplishment, goal-performance discrepancy, goal difficulty, goal specificity, feedback, extrinsic incentives, persisting, goal striving, criticisms, enhance performance,

The text has now switched its focus from needs to the cognitive aspects of motivation. Cognitions are mental events. Therefore, cognitive sources of motivation are a person’s ways of thinking and believing that help to determine their behavior. This perspective views mental processes as causal determinants to action. In other words, the cognition causes the action. Chapter 8 covers the following cognitions behind motivation: plans, goals, implementation intentions, and mental simulations.

Plans are the means of organizing our behavior toward the pursuit of our ideal state. Everyone has an ideal state, or how they wish to see themselves, and a present state. When there is a mismatch between one’s present and ideal state, there is an incongruity. Incongruity has motivational prosperities that provide energy for behavior. One way that incongruity works is in the TOTE model. This is the test-operate-test-exit mode, or the cognitive mechanism by which plans energize and direct behavior. The idea is that we will continue to evaluate how our present state relates to our ideal state (test) until the correct changes are made to our behavior (operate). Once the incongruity is gone, the motivation to compare our present state with an ideal state disappears (exit). Since change can be difficult, this can be a very long process (ex: TOTOTOTOTOTOTE). While this model is helpful for understanding how plans motivate behavior, it is static in nature. Current researchers are proposing more flexible models such as corrective motivation. Corrective motivation activates a decision-making process in which the individual considers many different possible ways for reducing the present-ideal incongruity: change the plan, change behavior (increase effort), or withdraw from the plan altogether. The difference in this model is that corrective motivation energizes the individual to pursue the most adaptive course. In other words, the individual has a choice in how to go about addressing the incongruity.

The other point worth mentioning pertaining to plans is discrepancy, which is synonymous with incongruity. There are two types of discrepancies: 1) Discrepancy reduction and 2) discrepancy creation. Discrepancy reduction is based on the discrepancy-detecting feedback that underlies plans and corrective motivation. The environment provides feedback about how the person’s present state relates to the ideal state. This type of discrepancy is reactive and deficiency oriented. On the other hand, there is discrepancy creation, which is based on the “feed-forward” system in which the person looks forward and proactively sets a future, higher goal. This type of discrepancy is proactive and growth pursuing in nature.
The next motivational cognition is goal setting. In simplistic terms, goals are objectives people strive to accomplish. Like plans, goals generate motivation by focusing people’s attention the discrepancy between their present and ideal states. This is called goal-performance discrepancy. In general, goal-performance discrepancies enhance performance. There are two factors that determine performance gains: 1) goal difficulty and 2) goal specificity. Goal difficulty refers to how are a goal is to accomplish. The more difficult a goal is, the more it energizes the performer. In general, there is a linear relationship between goal difficulty and effort. Goal specificity, on the other hand, refers to how clearly a goal informs the performer precisely what s/he is to do. Ultimately, difficult goals energize the person while specific goals direct them toward a particular course of action. It is interesting to note how close this relationship comes to defining motivation itself.

Another component of goal setting that determines success vs. failure is feedback, or the knowledge of the results that allows people to keep track of any progress towards their goal. Feedback provides the emotional component of goal motivation within the experiences of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Another point worth mentioning that determines performance is goal acceptance. This involves the person’s decision to either accept or reject the goal given to them by an outside source such as a coach or parent. To see enhanced performance, the person must accept the goal.

The last motivational cognition mentioned in the chapter that I will briefly summarize is goal striving. In most cases, there is a large gap between goal-directed thinking and goal-directed behavior. Goal striving looks at the mental simulations that focus on planning and problem solving to attain one’s goal rather than the goal outcome. One such method is implementation intentions, or a plan to carry out one’s goal-directed behavior by deciding in advance how to overcome volitional problems such as getting started or resuming the behavior once interrupted. Implementation intentions facilitate persistence and reengagement during goal pursuit by allowing people to anticipate difficulties.

The most surprising thing I learned about from this chapter related to goal striving and implementation intentions. In general, I am great at setting goals for myself. But what typically happens is that I tend to mess up and then I have a hard time “getting back on the horse”. This is often seen in exercise programs and diets. This part of the goal setting process is often overlooked, which could possibly be why there is such a large discrepancy between goal-directed thoughts and behaviors. It is so easy to come up with an ideal state but when you begin to strive for that state, reality quickly gives you her two cents and lets you know that you are likely to face some obstacles along the way.

I think this chapter will help me a lot in my own goal-setting behaviors because it has helped me highlight some of the areas where I went wrong in the past. One of the issues I run in to is goal specificity. I often make ambiguous goals or unrealistic goals that do not allow for positive feedback or reinforcement. This makes it much harder to continue on with that behavior. The other thing that I have already mentioned is the implementation intentions. I need to start setting concrete start dates for my goals and come up with concrete solutions to the some difficulties that might arise. For instance, if I am craving chocolate the first thing I should do is grab a piece of fruit. By having a concrete plan laid out, I will not have to rely on my depleted cognitive resources later on when I am not as likely to stick with my goal. I feel like this chapter has given me a much clearer idea of what goals I should be setting and how to be persistent in attaining those goals. I will definitely be implementing some of these strategies in my own life.

Terms: cognitions, plans, ideal state, incongruity, TOTE model, corrective motivation, discrepancy, discrepancy reduction, discrepancy creation, goals, goal-performance discrepancy, goal difficulty, goal specificity, feedback, goal acceptance, goal striving, implementation intentions.

Chapter 8 focused on goal setting and goal striving. It first explained that cognition is an umbrella construct that unites mental constructs and self concept as mental events that function as causal determinates to action. This is called the cognition -> action sequence. The 4 elements that make up this sequence are plans, goals, implementation intentions and mental stimlations.

Plans are made when a person imagines an ideal behavior, ideal environmental object or ideal event. When these ideals do not match a present behavior, present environmental object or present event inconguity is instigated. When incongruity is present, it makes a person uncomfortable and motivates them to make a plan to acheive the ideal state. Incongruity provides energy, and a plan becomes the means to the pursuit of the ideal state. A model used to describe this behavior is the TOTE model, or the test-operate-test-exit model. In this model, a performer compares, or tests, their present state with their ideal state. Then the person will acto on their environment to achieve their ideal stae, or operate. They then retest, or compare again, their present state with their ideal state. If incongruity persists, the person goes back to the operate phase. If congruity is present, then the person exits the model. If it takes many tries to achieve congruity, then the model may look more like T-O-T-O-T-O-T-O and so on.

Plan -> action sequence involves four steps. The first is to detece present-deal inconsistencies, then generate a plan to eliminate congruity. The thirsd stip is to instigate plan related behavior and lastly, to monitor feedback. In order to make plans more achievable, they often need to be modifiable. This way, if too many obstacles interfere with the plan it can be revised. Often times, the decision to operate or revise involves emotion. Little emotion is experienced if progress occurs as planned, however negative emotion occurs for slower progress and positive emotions for faster progress.

Descrepency, which is synonymous for incongruity, can be categorized into two types. There is discrepency reduction, which occurs when feedback indicates descrepency. Corrective motivation occurs to reduce descrepency in feedback. Descrepency creation is the second type, which is proactive and a result of goal setting motivation.

People with goals outperform those without, but there are a couple factors that make this true. Goal performance increases directly with goal difficulty. This is because the magnitude of goal-performance descrepency is larger, exciting more energy. Goal specificity, or clarity of goal, also increases performance. In order tom ake a vague goal more specific, generally a numeric value needs to be attached to behavior. Increasing goal specificit reduces ambiguity in thought and performance. Difficult goals enrgize while specific goals direct which enhances performance.

Another crucial factor in goal setting effectiveness is feedback. Feedback dovuments the performer's progress in relation to the goal. This knowledge of progress informs the performer as to whether they are attaining or failing at their goal attempt. Attainment breeds emotional satisfaction, which contributes to discrepency-creating process. Failure breeds dissatisfaction nd contributes to descrepency reducing progress.

Another factor affecting goal performance is goal acceptance. This involves one person attempting to set a goal for another person. Whether this goal is accepted or rejected defines goal acceptance. An externally set goal will be accepted ro rejected due to 4 factors: percieved difficulty of the goal, participation in the goal setting process, credibility of the person assigning the goal and extrinsic incentives. Goal acceptence is inversely related to goal difficulty which is evaluate first. Input in goal is also crucial to goal acceptence. Credibility of goal assigner is defined through trustworthiness, supportiveness, knowledgeability and likeablilty.

There are a couple pitfalls with goal setting. First, short term goals are only effecting in uninteresting and straightforward procedures. Also, stress, oppurtunities for failure, and putting creativity and intrinsic motivation at risk are downfalls of goal setting.

Long term goal setting is most effective when several requisite short term goals are set. Goal proximity affects persistance and intrisic motivation because long term goals often provide insufficient oppurtunities for performance feedback Short term goals that can together add up to the long term goal are more effective. On interesting tasks, only long term goals facilitate intrinsic motivation.

So what causes a person to carry out a goal once it has been set? Implementation is a plan to carry out a goal. It is a plan for goal direction acting to follow goal direction thinking. Goals present several vocational problems; getting started despite destractions, persisting inspite of setbacks and difficulties, and resuming once interruption occurs. Implementation intentions are plans for how a goal will be acted upon. The more difficult the goal, the more important implementation. That way, goal directed behavior is linked to specific situational cues, so behavior is carried out automatically. Overtime, implementation intentions create habits. Goal pursuit is the last component. It involves persisting and finishi, preparing for difficulties, distractions and demands.

I was suprised by how important goal difficulty and specificity are in goal performance. This was especially interesting to me in relation to exercise. I generally have a 'do my best' attitude when it comes to working out. I generally don't set goals either, I just run, walk, bike and lift as comfortable. I think starting now I will set a well defined goals for my workouts.

Terms: feedback, goal attainment, goal specificity, goal difficulty, descrepency, descrepency reduction, descrepency creation, TOTE model, incongruity, cognition, implementation intentions, goal acceptance

In chapter eight, the text explains the process we go though to obtain goals. This includes the planning, the setting of the goals, and actually setting out to achieve the goal. The first section was an overview of planning. We have ideal behaviors and our actual behaviors and when those don’t match- we have incongruity. To fix this we make up new plan of action to be pleased with where we are. This takes form in the Tote model (Test, Operate, Test, Exit) The test phase is when the comparison is made, operation is when an action is made to the ideal self, and exit is when the person is satisfied. More modern researchers now believe in corrective motivation in planning one’s behavior. This concept involves one’s act of attempting to reach their ideal self and the changes that may need to take place in the tentative plan. Emotions also play a large role in corrective motivation. When positive emotions are involved, they can progress more rapidly towards their ideal self, but the opposite happens when negative emotions are in place. It has been found that the discrepancy is what causes the motivation between the ideal self and the actual self. There are two types of discrepancy (discrepancy reduction and discrepancy creation). Discrepancy reduction is a direct comparison from feedback received from the environment and how one’s performance level matches with the ideal level. This is more of a “plan-based corrective motivation” whereas the creation is goal-setting motivation. The second, discrepancy creation, focuses on the future and setting goals for that time frame and as a higher goal.

Another important topic in this chapter is goals. Goals make people motivated by making them focus on their discrepancies. Individuals with goals outperform people without goals and outperform themselves when they do not set goals. It has also been found that the difficulty of the goal matters. The more difficult the goal—the more effort one will put into achieving it. Specificity also is very important in goal setting. The more specific it is, the easier it will be to focus on it and not on other non-important or non-related things. Only difficult and specific goals will better someone’s performance. The performance has also showed to be affected by the ability, coaches, training, and resources as well as ones motivation.

Feedback is also very important when it comes to goals and performance. Feedback is what an individual receives back after a performance to see how they are doing in terms of their goal. Individuals need feedback in a timely manner to feel involved and care about their goal and how they are doing. They need feedback to be able to compare to their goal to see comparatively where they are in terms of their goal. The feedback can serve the individual with emotions that can drive their motivation even more. If they are not where they would like to be at, they will feel negative emotion, which will create a bigger effort into the goal.

For a goal to be obtained, the person needs to accept it. Individuals have evaluate the following before an external goal can be accepted: the believed difficulty, the participation they had in setting the goal, the credibility of the person setting the goal and the extrinsic incentives that come along with the goal.

Another important step in this process is obtaining the goal. It has been found that outcome simulation (focusing on the goal) is not as productive in achieving the goal as process simulation (focusing on implementing). When a person only focuses on the end all goal and not the process to get there is gives them a sense of false hope. The main tool one needs is implementation. Individuals need to have a plan when the set a goal; they need to know the specifics. Getting started, persisting, and resuming the goal are all important in obtaining goals.

The most surprising thing that I learned in this chapter was that the more difficult the tasks were the better the performance would be. I thought I remembered learning in a previous class of mine that if the task or goal were too difficult that it would diminish effort in the individual.

This chapter helps me in general because I don’t set myself a lot of goals. Growing up there were just the general goals: pass each grade level, eat all the vegetables at meals, go out and complete a new sport. Other than those, I was never told to make myself goals. This chapter shows me that setting goals will help me be more successful and have better performance overall.

Terms: Tote Model, Corrective motivation, discrepancy, discrepancy reduction, discrepancy creation, goals, specific goals, difficult goals, feedback, goal setting, outcome simulation, process simulation, implementation

I found chapter 8 to be very interesting because it was easy to think about my own goals and apply the concepts. The chapter begins by describing the cognitive perspective on motivation. Since cognitions are mental events, motivation revolves around the way a person thinks or believes. This is where plans and goals come into play. An incongruity in plans (the way you see something and the way it actually is) causes a person to employ the test-operate-test-exit model (TOTE). This model refers to the tendency to look at a situation and compare it to the ideal. If the two are mismatched, a person will then operate, or perform an action to get the situation to the ideal form. This process can go on for long periods of time until an ideal is reached. The two types of discrepancy highlighted are discrepancy reduction; when feedback is provided in terms of the goal and discrepancy creation; when a person proactively sets a higher, future goal.
The main focus of the chapter was on goals, whatever the individual is striving to accomplish. I found it very interesting that in order for goals to be effective they must be 1) difficult 2) specific and 3) provide feedback. Another thing I found interesting was that a downside of goals is that they can inhibit intrinsic motivation. We learned in a previous chapter that extrinsic motivators, such as money, can also inhibit ones desire to engage in a certain activity. In terms of what we learned before, it would stand to reason that goals that are administered in a controlling way could have the same affect.
This chapter was very helpful in understand why some goals succeed while others fail. What I will take away from it is that focusing on the steps to attain a goal, not focusing on the goal itself, will be more productive in the long run. I have always been a person that believed that if you focused on something you wanted and made the steps to get there, you would eventually accomplish what you set out for. What I will do differently now is set out implementation intentions to better help me achieve each small step to accomplish my final goal. The chapter stated that those who do have implementation intentions are far more likely to act on them and achieve their goals.
Terms: cognitions, plans, TOTE, discrepancies (reduction & creation), goals, difficulty, specific, feedback, implementation intentions

Chapter 8 teaches us about goal setting and goal striving. The main subtopics are plans, goal setting, goal striving, and making them all work together. The chapter begins by explaining plans. Plans motivate behaviors. People have mental representations of the ideal states of their behavior, environmental objects, and events. In simpler terms, people know what they want their outcome to look like and they know where they are in their current state of reaching their goal. If these things don’t match up it causes incongruity. A good way to help understand plans is the TOTE model. Test compares present state with ideal state. Operate means to act on environment to realize ideal state. Test means to compare present state with ideal state. And Exit means the present state in congruity with ideal state. Plans can be long term or short term, but if you follow the tote model it can help you reach your ultimate goal.

A goal is something an individual is striving to accomplish. Goal setting is important to have to reach a goal. Right now I have a goal set to graduate in May of 2013. Lots of goals are made each day by different people. There can be long-term goal setting or short-term goal setting. It is said that people who set goals outperform those without goals. Some goals are harder than others, but it is always good to have some goal in mind for yourself in your every day life.

The next topic is goal striving. People have to want to reach their goals and work towards them to make anything happen or accomplish something. People need to reach their goals by taking things step-by-step. Some people overwhelm themselves with a large goal and don’t know how to go about accomplishing it so they give up because it seems to be too much for them to handle. Goals need to be specific and have feedback. A good way to do this is by using implementation intentions, which is focusing/visualizing your goals.

The most surprising thing I learned in this chapter was that I control my outcome more than I know. Taking baby steps is key if I want to reach my goals. I need to tackle smaller portions of my goals at a time so I don’t become stressed and give up. I was also surprised that goal-setting can have pitfalls. In my mind goals are always good. A person can set a goal that is not capable for them to make and that can be largely discouraging. I like to live in the dream-world where everything is possible!

By reading this chapter it has helped me to slim down my own personal goals and focus on smaller parts so I am not so stressed. I need to take one class at a time and focus on assignments individually instead of thinking ahead so much. It may also be a good idea for me to right down my goals week by week or day by day so I can see the accomplishments I am making to reach my end goals. I also have also made new goals for myself because I know I can manage and reach them.

Terms: goal setting, goals striving, test-operate-test-exit (TOTE), implementation intentions, short term goals, long terms goals, plans

Chapter eight discusses goal setting (creating a desired point to strive for) and goal striving (persistence to continue pursuit). A goal is something an individual tries to accomplish and is more successful if a plan is used. Plans are based on desired changes to one’s actual behavior, events, or environment to match their ideal behavior by reducing discrepancy (a mismatch between one’s ideal and actual behavior, environment, or events). This process can be described with the test-operate-test-exit (TOTE) model, in which someone tests their current status, operates or changes it, retests it to match their ideals, and exits the changing behavior (if their ideals are match with their actual situations). However, a more contemporary model adds that one’s operations may be possibly changed, creating many possible solutions. For instance, I want more money. At first, I try to save my money by spending less, but my ideal situation is not met. So, I change by operation to working a job to make more money, but that doesn’t meet my ideal situation either. Finally, I ask my parents for more money, and I find that my ideal situation is met with that course of action.

Discrepancy can be categorized as discrepancy reduction (evaluate with environmental standards to satisfy deficit need) or discrepancy creation (use a feed-forward system to reach for higher goals to satisfy growth needs). When setting goals to overcome either, one must clearly define the difficulty and specificity to perform better. The difficulty will energize behavior to increase effort and persistence, and the specificity will direct behavior to increase attention and strategy. However, one must also account for their own abilities and resources when considering goals. Aside from defining the levels of specificity and difficulty, one must also be provided feedback to reinsure progress toward their goal. For instance, I may get better at basketball by playing people slightly better than me and trying to score a set amount of points, but I will never have the ability or resources to make the NBA. Furthermore, goals depend as much on feedback as feedback does on goals, because feedback needs a standard of performance to let us know the extent of what levels are considered positive feedback and which negative.

People often receive help to create the goals to pursue. However, they must have goal acceptance, so the pursuit is even worth trying. Goal acceptance comes from the perceived difficulty of the task, the participation the person has in making it (helps create an autonomy-supportive environment), the credibility of the goal assigner, and the extrinsic incentives that come with the goal. However, goal-setting has its criticisms. It tends to increase performance but not necessarily motivation, it tends to only work for tedious tasks (however, long-term goal setting has been shown to be successful with interesting tasks), and it may undermine intrinsic motivation if put into an autonomy-controlling context. In spite of these disadvantages, goal-setting can be a successful way to get through unwanted tasks (exercising, homework, etc.), and may help with long-term goals.

Goal striving describes the persistence necessary to overcome difficulties while pursuing goals. A major practice that helps with goal striving is focusing on the strategy to complete the goal, and not the outcome of the goal. For instance, I should focus on walking a certain amount every day and eating so many calories to lose weight, and not focus on being ripped. Implementation intentions also help goal striving by increasing persistence from anticipating future problems.

I was surprised by the difference made by specificity and difficulty. After reading, it made sense that using an objective standard could increase one’s effort, plus it also gives the pursuer feedback and something to strive for. Difficultly continues to surprise me, because I wouldn’t think that one would constantly be pursuing difficult tasks on account of getting discouraged or burned out. However, it makes sense to challenge one’s self to improve. This chapter is applicable to toward real life, because we all have goals. For instance, I now know I should set specific workout plans and gradually increase their intensity when I want to work out again. I can also use this for applying to graduate school (goals for grades, observation hours, extra social activities, and visits). Furthermore, I got some tips for keeping my head in the game when the pursuit is getting tough (goal striving), such as anticipating future obstacles and focusing on the strategy not the outcome.

Terms: goal setting, goal striving, goal, plans, discrepancy, TOTE model, discrepancy reduction, discrepancy creation, deficiency need, growth need, difficulty, specificity, feedback, effort, persistence, goal-acceptance, incentives, intrinsic motivation, autonomy-controlling environment, implementation intentions

Chapter 8 focus' on cognition. Cognition is the mental events happening in our head. Cognition motivation comes from our thinking and believing. Plan, is one of the first stages in motivation. Plans motivate behavior. There are two different "states" that are part of the plan motivation. There is an ideal state (where you would like to be)and a present state (where you currently are). These states play a big part in motivation. If you are someone who becomes motivated using your ideal state than you have something to work for. Corrective motivation comes after plan. Corrective motivation detects present-ideal inconsistencies and then generates a plan to get rid of the inconsistencies. It then starts a decision making process in which you can decide what plan of action to take to reduce the present-ideal inconsistencies. There are two types of discrepancies. The first one is discrepancy reduction; which is detecting feedback that underlies plans and motivation. The second type is discrepancy creation; which is when a person looks forward to to setting higher goals. Goal setting comes into play whenever an individual wants to accomplish something. Feedback can be helpful when you are trying to accomplish a goal. That way you can watch your progress. Some say that feedback is just information but I think it's important to have feedback when you are trying to achieve your goals. Goal striving becomes handy when you are focusing on an action plan. You want to focus on the goal you are trying to achieve and find out how you are going to attain that goal. Once you have set a goal it's not going to achieve itself. You have to find the motivation to accomplish your goal.

The most surprising part of this chapter to me was that most people have trouble getting started because people have trouble translating their plan into action. To me, that's surprising because when I have a goal I am motivated right away to get it started. I thought most people had trouble finishing their goal because they had too high of standards or something along those lines.

I learned a lot from this chapter. I found out that to start and achieve a goal it's best to make a plan of action. I usually just go with the flow and see what happens. Also, I learned that their was a eight step program to effective goal- setting. I might have to test that out the next time I make a goal for myself. I think it's important for everyone to have some sort of goal in life. That way you can feel accomplished about yourself and what you have done in life. This chapter has been very helpful and I think it will become very useful in life.

Terms: Cognition motivation, Plan, Ideal state/Present state, Corrective Motivation, Discrepancy reduction, Discrepancy creation, Goal setting, Feedback, Goal striving

Chapter 8 focuses on the goal setting and goal striving cognitive perspective on motivation. Cognitive events are mental events that take place within the individuals mind. The sources of these cognitive motivations are based in the person’s way of thinking and believing. Some of those mental constructs come from a combination of plans, goal settings, and goal strivings.

Plans arise from a person’s need to remove an incongruity. People have mental representation of the ideal states (how one wishes life was going) of their behavior, environmental objects, and events. People are also aware of present states (current status of how life is going) of behavior, environment, and events. When these two (ideal and present) states have conflicting properties an incongruity arises that carries with it motivational properties. It is this incongruity that provide energy to organize our behavior from our present state toward our ideal state providing direction. A model to explain this process of cognitive mechanisms is the test-operate-test-exit (TOTE). Test: referring to the comparing of the two states, operate: the motivational act on the environment through a planned sequence, as long as the incongruity the action of operate continues. When the present matches the ideal the person can exit. Plans have a corrective motivation; that is an individual considers many different possible ways for reducing an incongruity. Plans are not fixed, static, and mechanical, they are subject to adjustment and revision allowing the individual to pursue the most adaptive course. One must also carry out the plan and have the ability to change and revise an ineffective plan that encounters problems giving corrective motivation a dynamic process.
Discrepancy (synonym for incongruity) is the motivational property that arises rather than the ideal state. When a person envisions all the possible situations that are different from the present situation he/she becomes aware of the mismatch that is discrepancy, that produces motivational behavior. Now that we know what discrepancy is and its function there are two types to take into consideration. The first is discrepancy reduction is reactive, in that it revolves around the feedback from some stimuli. Were the environment brings a standard of excellence to the individuals attention “Are you currently performing at this level.” The second type is referred to as discrepancy creation a goal-setting motivation. Which is a higher level of excellent that is already set in the performers mind to look forward to that doesn’t need feedback from extrinsic forces. An example of this would be if a sales person decide to sell 15 cars one day instead of the usual 10.
Goals are along the lines the same as plans, they generate motivation by focusing people’s attention on a discrepancy. They are also what an individual is striving to accomplish. When there is a discrepancy between the present and ideal accomplishment it is called a goal-performance. In order for a goal to enhance performance and translate into any performance gains a goals setting must vary in its difficulty and how specific it is. Goal difficulty (how hard a goal is to accomplish) has a linear effect with performance; that is the harder the goal, the more it energizes the performer to exert the right amount of effort needed to acquire the goal. Goal specificity (how clearly a goal informs a performer) is typically restating the goal in numerical terms, this reduces ambiguity in thought and variability in the performance. Difficult goals energize the performer, and specific goals direct them toward a particular course of action. The feedback from a performance allows a person to keep forward with their goals, and without can be emotionally unimportant and uninvolving. A goal can be either a long-term or short-term goal or both, however the arrangement the performance emerges the same. Short-term goals create positive feedback and long-term goals facilitate intrinsic motivation.
The last one is goal striving, and the implementation intentions of the plan. That is an advance goal-directed behavior to carry out and strive for the goal-directed action. The most surprising thing I think I learned was the two types of discrepancy and that I have always taken part in the both reduction and creation. This chapter has motivated me in my goals to strive for more short-term goals and look for the feedback so I can continue forward with my goals.
Terms: plans, ideal and present states, behavior, environmental objects, events, incongruity, TOTE, test, operate, exit, corrective motivation, discrepancy, discrepancy reduction, discrepancy creation, goal setting, goal-performance discrepancy, goal difficulty, goal specificity, performance, effort, energizes, direct, feedback, long-term, short-term, goal striving, implementation intentions

Goals and plans are both cognitive events. Our actions begin as cognitions and then move to be actions. In chapter 8 we learn that you have your present state but we have an ideal state also. However, these two do not always match up. When they do not match up, we experience incongruity. When we experience incongruity, we create a plan to get rid of that incongruity. A plan helps provide direction for us to alter our present state to match our ideal. The TOTE model helps us energize and direct plans and behavior. TOTE stands for Test-Operate-Test Exit. First we test to see if our present state matches the ideal. If it doesn’t, then we operate on it to try to change that incongruity. We then test again. If it still doesn’t match up, we operate again. But if it does match up, we exit the sequence. What is it, however, that creates the motivation to change? The space between the present state and the ideal state is the discrepancy and this is the part that creates the motivation.

There are two types of discrepancy. The first type is discrepancy reduction. This is based on feedback that detects discrepancy. Discrepancy reduction goes with plan-based corrective motivation. Also, discrepancy reduction is reactive rather than proactive. The other type is discrepancy creation. This is where a person is looking to the future and sets a higher goal in the future. The ideal state is only in the person’s head and they are working towards achieving it. Discrepancy Creation is goal-setting motivation and is proactive rather than reactive.

To have goal-setting motivation, you first need to have a goal. A goal is whatever someone is trying to accomplish. If you set a goal, you are far more likely to reach or exceed it than someone that just intends to do the best they can. For a goal to be effective, however, it must be difficult and specific. Difficulty just discusses how hard a goal is to achieve. Specificity just means how clear a goal is. Difficult goals energize you in trying to achieve them while specific goals direct you down a certain course.

One important factor in goal setting is feedback. According to our text, you will only experience increased performance in goals if you have regular feedback that shows the progress related to our final goal. If we don’t have feedback, we don’t see what we are doing as important or involving. From gaining feedback that shows we are at the right level or above, we feel more satisfied and will keep striving towards that goal or make our current goal more difficult.

Another important factor in goals is goal acceptance. Goal acceptance means that we agree with and are willing to work towards the goal we received. The four factors that our textbook discussed regarding whether or not a goal will be accepted or rejected are (1) perceived difficulty of the imposed goal, (2) participation in the goal-setting process, (3) credibility of the person assigning the goal, and (4) extrinsic incentives.

Most people set many goals but the most memorable ones are the long-term goals. The biggest thing that must be understood about long-term goals is that you must break them down into several short-term goals that follow along the path that leads to the ultimate long-term goal. One interesting thing about long-term goals is that if it is a long-term and interesting goal it will help in creating or enhancing intrinsic motivation.

The most surprising thing I learned was how goal achievement can help with your intrinsic motivation. When we learned about intrinsic motivation it sounded so elusive and difficult to actually increase or improve your intrinsic motivation. I was surprised that long-term goals can aid in that. After reading the section, it does make sense, I just hadn’t thought of it before.

The knowledge I gained from this chapter reinforces what I have learned in other vicinities. One of the big things I learned about goals was SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-Focused, and Time-Bound. I had always hated SMART goals because they required more effort in creating than just saying a goal. I also hated SMART goals because I was required to make them. However, after reading the chapter, I see the psychology and motivation behind why that works and why goals are done that way. The most important thing about SMART goals based off of what we learned in this chapter is that any goal must be specific to work effectively. This chapter helps me understand more ways in which I can motivate myself to reach my goals and how to create my goals. I don’t want to go into it too much, however, because most of what I would say on the subject would be better suited in the next blog comment.

Terms Used: Goals, Ideal State, Incongruity, Plan, TOTE, Test, Operate, Exit, Discrepancy, Discrepancy Reduction, Feedback, Motivation, Discrepancy Creation, Goal-Setting, Goal, Difficult, Specific, Energize, Direct, Goal Acceptance, Long-Term Goals, Intrinsic Motivation

Chapter 8 talks about goal setting and the process to obtain goals.

A goal is whatever you want to accomplish. When you are setting goals you need to make sure that you are setting goals that you can accomplish and are too difficult or too far in the future to be able to achieve. Goal difficulty refers to how hard the goal is to accomplish. As goals increase in difficulty, performance of the individual increases, likewise the easier the goal is to attain the less effort the individual has to put in to achieve their goal. You also don’t want to set a goal for 10 years in the future because it can be hard to measure if you are succeeding or failing. It would be best to set shorter term goals to achieve and that will assist in achieving the long-term goal.

When goal setting be difficult and be specific about your goals. When a goal is more difficult it will energize behavior and like I mentioned up to it increases effort and a person works harder, but it also increases persistence, which will make a person work longer. When you are specific about your goals it directs behavior. When your attention increase, you are more likely to work with more focus, and when you’re planning is increased, you work smarter as a person. Also, difficult and specific goals offer feedback. Feedback is knowledge or results, and a person needs both a difficult and specific goal and timely feedback to maximize their performance.

The most surprising thing in this chapter that I learned is that setting long-term goals is not the best idea, instead set short-term goals to achieve the long-term goal. I am one that sets long-term goals and I think that now by learning this it will help me in the future by just setting smaller goals first. Kind of like the example in class about having a job by May 25th, instead of setting that one goal, work backwards and set smaller goals, that will help achieve the one larger goal.

Terms Used: Goal, Goal Difficulty, Difficult, Specific, Feedback

Chapter 8 discusses goal setting and goal striving. We all utilize cognitions, or cognitive sources of motivation, which lead to us taking action. First, the chapter states that the plan was the initial motivational spring to action studied. This study showed that people have mental representations (plans) of an ideal state of behavior, events, and so on (incentive to strive for). Those same people have an understanding of what their present state looks like as well (standard, whether personal, cultural, or stimulus). If there is any discrepancy between the two mental representations, incongruity occurs. That very same incongruity causes people to become energized and strive for the ideal they are falling short of. This process of energized cognitive action is referred to as the TOTE model, or test-operate-test-exit model. An example of this model in action would be choosing an outfit for the day; try on one outfit, get a friend’s reaction (feedback- which can document progress toward a goal or act as a reward/punisher), try on a different outfit, get feedback, and so on. This example also demonstrates discrepancy reduction. Discrepancy creation is based on the feed-forward system- person looks forward and sets higher goals for the future.

A goal is anything a person wants to accomplish. Like plans, goals generate a person’s motivation by making him/her focus on the level of inconsistency or incongruence between their present level of accomplishment and the ideal. This discrepancy is called a goal-performance discrepancy. Goal setting is affected by the difficulty and specificity of the goal. Difficult goals call for a lot of effort and being specific about a goal is beneficial, and enhance performance. For example, you would rather hear from a friend how he or she hopes you get the part in the play you are wanting rather than just good luck. Four factors determining whether or not a goal will be accepted are perceived difficulty of the goal, participation in goal-setting processes, credibility of the person who assigns the goal, and the extrinsic incentives involved.

Goal-setting theory is about enhancing performance rather than motivating. Also, it works better if the goal is associated with an uninteresting task. In order to obtain long-term goals (goals not in the near future), one must conquer several short-term goals first. Mental stimulations can focus on the planning and problem-solving aspects of goals rather than the outcome itself. Focusing on the goal (e.g. studying to get a good grade on an exam) fares better motivationally speaking than focusing on what is known as implementation intentions. The study of implementation intentions involves the way goals, once they are set, become active. People often face problems with a goal such as getting started, persisting, and resuming.

An effective goal-setting plan includes four steps: specify the object to be accomplished, define the goal’s difficulty level, clarify the goal’s specificity, and specify the time span when performance will be assessed. Also, during this goal-setting process’ execution, steps regarding goal-striving must be assessed: check on goal acceptance, discuss goal attainment, create implementation intentions, and provide performance feedback. There are four predictors of goal choice: ability, self-efficacy, past performance, and incentives involved. The dangers involved in goal-setting are: more stress, the possibility of failure, non-goal areas are ignored, short-range thinking is utilized, cheating is more likely to occur, and intrinsic motivation is undermined when a goal is involved.
We learn from chapter 8 that goals do increase performance, but why? One reason is that it helps clarify performance expectations. A second reason is that goals counteract boredom and apathy and get us going. Another reason goals increase performance is because they make feedback important. Lastly, goal attainment can ultimately generate pride, satisfaction, or competence. Accomplishing a task alone cannot give us the same sense of pride or satisfaction as when accompanied by a goal.

The most surprising thing I’ve learned was regarding the problems with long-term goals (LTGs). Often in my life, I have made the mistake of setting too many long-term goals and because of the lack of feedback and goal reinforcement, commitment really does decrease immensely. Knowing this information will now help me to realize that I need to make more short-term goals, which are easier to commit to and follow through with, and ultimately can lead to the long-term goals I want to attain.

TERMS: plans, goals, short-term/long-term goals, implementation intentions, mental stimulations, cognitions, TOTE model, feedback, discrepancy, goal-performance discrepancy, goal difficulty/specificity/ setting/acceptance, goal-setting/striving

Chapter eight describes goal setting and goal striving. To get to the goal, one has to plan. There are two states to their plan: present and ideal. If there is any incongruity between the present and ideal states, this motivates the person to make a plan to eliminate the incongruity. The test-operate-test-exit (TOTE) model is a cognitive mechanism that makes plans energize and direct behavior. Test means to compare the present state against the ideal state. The incongruity cause the person into action and the person operates on the environment with a plan of action. The person tests the present state with the ideal state again, and if the present state does not match up with the ideal state, the person goes back to the operate . This can go on many times, T-O-T-O-T-O-T-O-T-O-T-O. . ., until the present state matches the ideal state, where the person can exit the plan. The plan allows people to detect present-ideal inconsistencies, generate a plan to get rid of incongruities, instigate plan-regulated behavior, and monitor feedback. Corrective motivation is a decision-making process that the person decides on different possibilities to reduce the present-deal incongruity. Examples could be: change the plan, change the behavior, postpone or eliminate the plan. There are two different types of discrepancies: discrepancy reduction and discrepancy creation. Discrepancy reduction is based on the discrepancy-detecting feedback that underlies plans and corrective motivation. Discrepancy creation is where the person looks forward and proactively sets a future, higher goal.
A goal is something a person is striving to accomplish. In goals, incongruity in the present level of accomplishment and ideal level of accomplishment motivates the person to act. In goal-performance discrepancies, people with goals perform better than people without goals. Under goal-performance discrepancies there are goal difficulty and goal specificity. Goal difficulty is how hard a goal is to accomplish and goal specificity is how clearly a goal informs the performer precisely what to do. Feedback is very important in making goal setting effective. Feedback allows people to keep track of their progress towards their goals. Without feedback, person can feel their performance is emotionally unimportant and uninvolved. Goal acceptance is when goal setting takes place when in an interpersonal relationship in which one person attempts to provide another person with a goal. Four factors that determine if an externally set goal will be accepted or rejects are: perceived difficulty of the imposed goal, participation in the goal-setting process, credibility of the person assigning the goal, and extrinsic incentives. A person can have long-term, short-term, or both goals. Long-term and short-term goals are intrinsically motivated. Short-term goals create opportunities for feedback and long-term goals increase intrinsic motivation. Goal striving is the means to attain a goal. Implementation intention is a plan to carry out a person's goal-directed behavior. This is deciding before the goal striving, when, where, and how long. Implementation intentions facilitates goal-directed behavior by getting started and finishing up.
The most surprising thing in this chapter was the TOTE model. When I was reading about the TOTE model, a person tests the present state with the ideal state and see if there are any incongruities. If so, then the person operates on the environment with a plan of action. The person tests the present state with the ideal state again, and if the present state does not match up with the ideal state, the person goes back to the operate . The person tests and operates until the present state matches the ideal state, where the person can exit the plan. I find myself doing this all the time with hair, picking out clothes for the day, or shopping.
The knowledge from this chapter helped me to motivate myself towards my desired goals by making a plan of action. I usually just write down things I want to accomplish, but never actually making plans on how and when I am going to achieve them. I usually just say "I will finish them when I get to them." I need to set dates to start and finish what I want to accomplish and ways to finish them. I also learned that I should set up more short term goals. I usually have the end goal in mind and take that in whole, not broken down. I think I will be more successful in accomplishing my goals, even if they are small, if I do these things.
TERMS: plan, present state, ideal state, TOTE model, corrective motivation, discrepancy, discrepancy reduction, discrepancy creation, goal, goal-performance discrepancies, goal difficulty, goal specificity, feedback, goal acceptance, long-term goals, short-term goals, intrinsic motivation, goal striving, implementation intentions, goal-directed behavior

Chapter 8 talked about how to create goals and how to achieve them. It gave some insight as to how to make achievable, yet challenging and realistic goals. The chapter explains that a discrepancy, or difference, between the present state and the ideal state is what motivates us to change our behavior. There are two types of discrepancies: discrepancy reduction and discrepancy creation. Discrepancy reduction is when you become aware of how well or how poorly your present state (current performance) matches up with your ideal state (ideal performance). In other words, the environment causes awareness. In discrepancy creation, the person sets their own, higher goal. This goal does not require feedback from others. Feedback is very important in evaluating performance. Feedback makes the performance emotionally important and involving. Feedback tells the person if their performance is at average, above average, or below average. From this feedback, the person can adjust their behavior and become motivated to achieve their goal.

The most surprising thing I learned from this chapter was that I have been terrible at setting goals thus far in my life. This chapter really opened my eyes to exactly how bad of a job I have been doing. The pitfalls in goal setting also surprised me. I did not expect cheating, short-range thinking, or ignoring non-goal areas to be problems with goal setting. However, it does make sense that the pressure to achieve a goal would increase, and with that, performance would decrease. I think that the focus turns from achieving the goal to pleasing others and not letting them down and making yourself look like a failure. It does make sense now that non-goal areas would be ignored, but the extent would depend on how big your goal is. If your goal does not require all of your time and energy, this should not be as big of a problem. However, if your actions to achieve your goal take a lot of time and energy, it would be a big problem.

The knowledge from this chapter will help me motivate myself toward desired goals by giving me the steps needed to be successful in goal setting. I now know that implementation intentions are extremely important in achieving goals. I could have the greatest goal in the world, but without implementation intentions, I would not achieve it. Implementation intentions are plans to help you achieve your goal. They are the little steps that are taken to achieve the bigger goal. A big reason many people do not achieve their goals is because they do not develop action plans. Having implementation intentions will help keep me motivated and keep me moving forward toward my goals. It will also give me insight as to how to energize and direct my behavior toward achieving my goals. Making my goal difficult will energize my behavior and allow me to increase my effort and work harder. In addition, it would increase my persistence and I would work longer. Making my goal specific would direct my behavior and increase my attention and focus, as well as my planning. It would also help me to work more efficiently, or smarter. These things combined would lead to enhanced performance, which would increase my likelihood of achieving my goals.

Terms: discrepancy, discrepancy reduction, discrepancy creation, goal setting, present state, ideal state, feedback, implementation intentions, goal difficulty, goal specificity

Chapter eight discusses cognition and how it is related to motivation. Cognition’s are mental events that evolve around a person’s ways of thinking and believing. These mental constructs can include things such as beliefs, expectations, goals, plans, judgments, values and self concept. Four motivational agents in the cognition-action sequence were examined in chapter eight. These include plans, goals, implementation intentions, and mental simulations. Plan was the first motivational agent discussed. This agent stems from people’s knowledge of their present and ideal states. Any incongruity between the two makes people uncomfortable which drive them to formulate and act on a plan of action to remove the incongruity. The incongruity acts as the motivational tool and provides the energy; the plan becomes the means of organizing our behavior toward the pursuit of the ideal state. The cognitive mechanism by which plans energize and direct behavior is the test-operate-test-exit model. This model demonstrates the steps in which people act to decrease incongruity. This can be long or short term, and the model is still applicable. Plans however are not so fixed, static, or mechanical. People make plans, and often at a later time, will revise an ineffective plan. This is known as corrective motivation. Discrepancy was described in that it creates the sense of wanting to change the present state so that it will move closer and closer toward the ideal state. There are two types of discrepancy. The first is discrepancy reduction, which is based on the discrepancy-detecting feedback that underlies plans and corrective motivation. The second type of discrepancy is discrepancy creation. This is based on a “feed-forward” system in which the person looks forward and proactively sets a future, higher goal. These both provide a motivational basis for action. Chapter eight also discusses goal settings. A goal is defined in the chapter as whatever an individual is striving to accomplish. Goal setting generally enhances performance, however the type of goal is important in determining how long or how much the goal is translated into performance gains. Goals that are difficult and specific are the goals that will enhance performance. Feedback is also a very important variable in which to increase performance. Feedback will document the performer’s progress in relation to the goal. Goal acceptance is another critical variable. If an externally set goal is not accepted then the goal may be rejected. Four factors determine whether an externally set goal will be accepted or rejected. These include perceived difficulty of the imposed goal, participation in the goal-setting process, credibility of the person assigning the goal, and extrinsic incentives. Goal setting has many advantages, but it also has its cautions. The three main pitfalls include stress, opportunities for failure, and putting creativity and intrinsic motivation at risk. Long term goals can also be difficult, so breaking it up into multiple short term goals can enable the person to stay with the goal for the entire time it takes. Specific plans of action must be set in order to attain goals. Implementation intention is the study of how goals, once set, are effectively acted on. It facilitates goal-directed behavior by getting started and finishing up. Getting started is a volitional problem where the individual won’t take the opportunity to accomplish the goals when the time is giving, and finishing up is a volitional problem where the individual is distracted while trying to achieve the goal and never gets back to achieving the goal.
One of the most surprising things that I found in this chapter was how the more difficult a task is the more likely an individual is going to stick with it. I was thinking that it would be the other way around. I figured a simpler task would be easier to stick with, so more people would be likely to accomplish that easier goal. In actuality, as goals increase in difficulty, performance increases in a linear fashion. There was a lot of valuable information in this chapter. It definitely has motivated me to sit down and write out some goals of my own and the steps I can take to achieve them. It is nice to know that I will go farther in life if I do take the time and simply write out my goals. It will give me direction and enable me to go farther than I would have without any goals set.
Terms: cognition, mental constructs, motivational agents, plans, goals, implementation intentions, mental simulations, incongruity, corrective motivation, discrepancy, discrepancy reduction, discrepancy creation, goal setting, feedback, goal acceptance, volitional problem

Chapter 8 talked about goal setting and goal striving and the cognition that is behind this. It first discussed present state verses ideal state. The present state is where we currently are, and out ideal state is where we wish we were. For example an individual’s present state could be having a lot of homework to do tonight, but the ideal state would be already having completed your homework for tonight. This creates two types of discrepancies, discrepancy reduction and discrepancy creation.

Discrepancy reduction is when feedback is given and it shows how well or how poorly an individual is doing on a certain task. This shows the individual if they are lacking in a certain area and don’t meet the criteria for something, for example if a 3.5 GPA was required for an academic position and an individual had a 3.2, they would not be able to do this position until their GPA is raised. Discrepancy creation is looking forward to what needs to be achieved in order to reach a goal. Using the same example, if an individual is hoping to get an academic position and they need a 3.5 GPA and they have a 3.2 then they will work hard so that they can reach their ideal GPA.

Goal setting is a very important thing for individuals to do. Most of the time individuals with goals will perform better than their peers who have not set goals for themselves. Another aspect about goals is that the difficulty of a goal increases performance. If an individual wants to lose 15 pounds in 2 months their much more likely to achieve that then if they had said they wanted to lose 7 pounds in 2 months. Specific goals are also important. If an individual says I want to lose weight, they are likely to not make any changes or only make slight changes. If they have a number in mind and a time set, they are much more likely to achieve their goal.

The final thing that a goal needs is to be accepted. If someone gives an individual a goal, they have the choice of accepting or rejecting that goal. For instance a professor may challenge a student to read a book on their free time and that individual has the choice of accepting or rejecting this goal.
The most surprising thing that I learned was that individuals perform better when the task is more difficult. This seems like it should be the other way, but when I think to experiences in my life it makes sense. For example if I set a goal to work out a few times a week then I will just go and do a minimum amount, but if I sign up for a triathlon, then I will work out much harder than I otherwise would have. This goal and the difficult makes me want to work even harder at achieving it.

After reading this chapter I will definitely be more aware of what my goals are and know how to be more effective in setting them. This will help me achieve more, and help me to feel more accomplished when they are achieved. This will change my motivation behind certain activities.

Terms: Goal setting, goal striving, discrepancy reduction, discrepancy creation, specific, accepted.

Chapter 8 talks about the cognitive perspective on motivation and how it focuses on mental processes as casual determinants to action. In the cognition  action sequence there are four elements. The first element is Plans. Plans are the means of organizing our behavior toward the pursuit of our ideal state. Discrepancy is also talked about in the Plans section of chapter 8. There are two types of discrepancies. The first type is Discrepancy Reduction, which is based on the discrepancy-detecting feedback that underlies plans and corrective motivation. The environment provides feedback about how the person’s present state relates to the ideal state. This particular type of discrepancy is reactive and deficiency oriented. The other type of Discrepancy is Discrepancy Creation, which is based on the “feed-forward” system in which the person looks forward and proactively sets a future, higher goal. Discrepancy Creation is proactive and growth pursuing in nature. The second element in the cognitionaction sequence is Goal Setting. Goal Setting enhances performance if people create goals or accept other goals, but it depends on the type of goal. There are two factors that affect goal setting, and they are Difficulty and Specificity. Only goals that are difficult and specific enhance performance, but other external factors of performance are ability, training, coaching, and resources. The four factors that determine whether an externally set goal will be accepted are the following: perceived difficulty of the imposed goal; participation in the goal-setting process; credibility of the person assigning the goal; extrinsic incentives.

The most surprising thing I learned from reading this chapter was that when you visualize the outcome of the goal, it does not actually help an individual reach that goal, rather they should visualize on how reaching the goal instead before thinking about outcomes. I now have learned my lesson on dreaming about good grades and should dream about studying instead.

This chapter will help me focus on how to set achievable goals and how to achieve those goals by a certain time in my life. An example would be waiting until the last minute to do an assignment or project, but with the help of this chapter I will be able to divide up the assignment/project and make each part of it an individual goal. Then I can set a specific time or day for me to achieve each individual goal, and not have to pull an all-nighter the night before the assignment/project is due.

TERMS: Cognitive Perspective on Motivation; Plans; Goals; Goal Setting; Discrepancies; Discrepancy Reduction; Discrepancy Creation; CognitionAction Sequence.

Chapter 8 covers the cognitive perspective of motivation and the four factors that support a person’s motivation: plans, goals, implementations intentions, and mental simulations. To feed a person’s cognitive motivations a person will look at their present state of being and then consider an ideal state of being. To settle the differences between a present state and an ideal state are what is known as incongruity. For a person to then to get back into sync (out of incongruity) they will work to over come the differences between their current and ideal states because otherwise they will continue to feel uncomfortable in the current state that they are in. To move one from the current state onto the ideal state, a person will uses what is known as the test-operate-test-exit model (TOTE), and until a person has found the ideal state they will repeat their way through the TOTE model until they have felt they have reached their ideal state.
While one is going through the TOTE model they are experiencing discrepancy, which is the difference between the present state and the ideal state. There are two types of discrepancy that people experience. The first is discrepancy reduction, which is based on feedback (which tells you how good or bad that you’re doing on your performance) from an outside source and corrective motivation. The next type of discrepancy creation is based on a goal setting ideal where a person proactively works towards and ideal state. Once a person realizes the discrepancies they can then set plans into place, which will help a person work towards an ideal state from a current state.
A goal is something a person is striving to accomplish. Similar to plans, goals are put into place to settle the incongruities between a person’s current state and their ideal state. When it comes to goals, there needs to be a certain level of difficulty, and depending on the difficulty of the goal determines the effort being put forth by a person. A goal must also be specific (in what is to be done, how it will be accomplished, and in what time span the goal need to be accomplished) so the performer knows how they are precisely execute their intended goal and reduces any ambiguity. Thus, it is better for a person to have a goal that is somewhat difficult and is specific, it energizes a person to focus their attention, do better, and persist until the goal is accomplished, which then in turn generates motivation. People also require feedback on their performance in order to determine if their goal is adequate or if they need to be changed. Feedback also feeds into a person’s emotional state and it can hinder or enhance a person’s motivation. People also go through goal acceptance to determine if they accept or reject a goal that they have, in the hopes that they improve their performance. Goal acceptance is usually internalized and determines a person’s commitment to a goal.
Goal length also has a major factor that affects a person’s interest in continuing or stopping themselves from setting or accomplishing a goal. Short-term goals are usually seen as uninteresting and fairly easy tasks that can get feedback easily, and one can see themselves making some progress. Whereas long-term goals aren’t as easy to track and receive feedback for, therefore, for a person to accomplish their long-term goals it is best for them to break the long-term goal up into short-term goals so they can hopefully continue to strive for the goal. Goal striving is when one visualizes the success of a goal and persists until the goal is accomplished. A person needs to have strong persistence if they are going to accomplish their long-term goals.
Personally, I found this chapter to be interesting in understanding why goals are accomplished. Many aspects go into achieving a person’s goals and plans, especially when it comes to long- term goals. As someone who continually looks towards the future, I am someone with many long-term goals, and I am someone who makes use of short-term goals so I feel like I am achieving something along my way to my long-term goal. I want to go into student affairs, therefore, while I’m in my undergrad I am looking for opportunities to get involved in the university. I have done so m joining groups, become an RA, and I have looking into graduate school. Once I have completed these short-term goals I can hopefully have success in the field of student affairs.

Terms used: test-operate-test-exit model (TOTE), incongruity, discrepancy, discrepancy reduction, discrepancy creation, long-term goals, short-term goals, feedback, goal strivings, difficulty, persistence, ideal state, present state

Chapter 8 is concerned mainly with Goal Setting and Goal Striving. First off, there are four different features of the mental to action process. To better explain this to the reader, an individual needs to realize mentally that something is wrong with the present state of something in their life. Once they have made this 'realization', they begin the TOTE behavior and formulate plans and goals. TOTE stands for test-operate-test-exit. Essentially, this means that someone sees' a discrepancy with their present state of things and how they would like them to be (ideal state). So, they test the current state then they operate or 'spring into action' to correct the state. After that they test again and if satisfied with the newly achieved state then they quit, or exit.

Now back to the original four motivational elements. These elements are plans, goals, implementation intentions, and mental simulation's. Just from looking at the TOTE explanation, clearly it can be seen that goals and plans are essential in goal setting and goal striving as well as goal completion. The amount of effort that is exerted in hopes of completing a goal is directly correlated with how hard that goal is and whether or not a specific goal has been established. These refer to goal difficulty and goal specificity. Specific goals may include making an outline of certain tasks or behaviors which will ultimately lead to the end goal. Goal difficulty is related to how hard the goal will be to achieve by the pursuer.

The larger gap there is between the ideal state and the present state is referred to as incongruity. The larger the incongruity the larger the effort made will be. Goal difficulty correlates strongly with effort. Easy goals require little effort whilst hard goals require a lot of effort. These viewpoints can be blurred when taking a persons ability, cognition, competence, and coaching into account. One individual may exert little effort while someone else may exert a lot to achieve the same goal.

Incongruity can also be referred to as discrepancy. It's worth mentioning as well that there are two different types of discrepancy. First of the two types is discrepancy reduction. Discrepancy reduction concerns plan making and making adjustments to previous plans a long the way to help a long the process. This is called corrective motivation. The second type, discrepancy creation, involves goals and the establishment of the goal-setting behavior.

Implementation intention can really be explained as the goal itself. It is actually the carrying out of a plan, actually doing it.

The most surprising thing I learned about was the TOTE model. Even though it is simple and common knowledge, I find that it interesting to actually think about it in that way. I mean that we actually examine something we don't like then we engage in a behavior to get something to how we want it to be. Then after that, we reevaluate it and if we are satisfied we stop or 'exit'. I just found it interesting when looked at in that much depth.

Well, the knowledge from this chapter really doesn't affect my motivation levels for achieving any specific goals. Short-term and long-term goals have long been in my arsenal for many different aspects of my life. This chapter really just gave me a better idea of what is actually going on behind the scenes. I didn't know that the harder the goal the greater the effort, however, I feel that an extremely hard goal can be discouraging as well. I will keep it in mind next time I set goals to be very specific and not make it to easy for me complete.

Terms: TOTE, Plans, Goals, Discrepancy (reduction and creation), Incongruity, Spring-into-action, Implementation intention, Mental simulation, Goal difficulty, Goal specificity, Correctional motivation, and Short/Long-term goals