Predicting Goal Choice and Goal Commitment Within a Control Systems Framework

Two laboratory studies were conducted to test specific links in a control systems model of goal choice and goal commitment. Male and female subjects performed five trials on either a paper and pencil text editing task (Study 1) or a text transfer task on a microcomputer (Study 2). The results demonstrated that both performance expectations and previous task performance influenced choice of goal difficulty for subsequent trials. The importance of performance expectations relative to previous trial performance for predicting goal choice diminished as subjects gained experience with the task. The value of goal achievement had minimal influence on goal choice. However, the value of goal achievement was highly and positively related to commitment to achieving goals; performance expectations were not related significantly to commitment.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• McLaughlin, Mary Elizabeth

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hulin, Charles

• Psychology, Experimental

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8908774

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/69718