doxastic stochastic

    Goals & Plans

    Written by

    Cecelia

    Goals

    • A goal objective we are trying to achieve
    • Needs in largely determine the goals we set. One implicitly expects that reaching a goal will help satisfy a certain need or set of needs.
    • Goals can be seen in the context of approach-avoidance, approach-approach, and avoidance-avoidance conflicts.

    Goal Dimensions

    Commitment:

    • willingness and persistence in working towards achieving a goal; the more commitment, the more energy and time a person expends in working towards the goal
    		Specificity:

    • more precise goals (e.g. those that have concrete behaviours and anticipated outcomes associated with them) are more likely to lead to behaviours associated with reaching the goal
    		Difficulty:

    • goals that set a higher standard tend to lead to a higher level of performance
    		Feedback:

    • receiving information about ones progress towards a goal makes it more likely that one persists in working towards the goal. Feedback indicating good progress is reinforcing, feedback indicating shortcomings may induce an individual to try to reduce the performance-goal discrepancy

    Goal Orientation

    • Research by Malouff, Schutte, et al. (1990) found that more goal orientation is associated with:
      • less impulsivity; less anxious mood; less depression; less hopelessness; greater stability in goals; a larger number of overall goals; higher marks among university students
    • Study by Malouff, Schutte, et al (1992):
      • University students were offered four sessions of goal setting training relating to academics. The participants overall goal orientation scores increased significantly from before to after the training. Further, the participant’s marks increased significantly from before to after training.

    Plans

    • The cognitive blueprints for achieving a goal.
    • Long-term goals may incorporate short-term goals that are to be achieved in the process.

    T.O.T.E

    In creating plans we may follow the T (test) O (operate) T (test) E (exit) process

    • We monitor whether our present conditions match how we want to be
    • If there is a mismatch we create plans and show corresponding behaviour in attempts to reach the desired state
    • We then again monitor whether our present state matches how we want to be
    • If there is a match, we go on to other pursuits or just try to maintain conditions
    • If there is still not a match, we may create alternative plans or continue following the original plan in trying to achieve the desired state

    “Future Movie” exercise is intended to increase the specificity of goals and increase commitment to goals.

    Think of a time a few years in the future and vividly (using images and sound) imagine an ideal future and what led to this future. What goals and other motivations underlie one’s “future movie”? Does this type of visualisation help create more specific goals and does the emotion attached to the visualisation increase commitment?