Deck 8: Self-Regulation and Control

Question 1

Self-regulation and control have to do with the ________ of goal achievement.

A) "what"
B) "why"
C) "how"
D) "when"

Answer 1

"how"

Question 2

Walter Mischel's classic studies with children using what came to be called the "marshmallow test" showed that children who were able to_____________ went on to become more socially and academically competent teenagers.

A) delay gratification by resisting immediate temptations
B) save and accumulate resources
C) seek social support and practical help in times of stress
D) resist social influence pressures rather than caving in

Answer 2

delay gratification by resisting immediate temptations

Question 3

A study of 200 college students (Wolfe & Johnson) examined the extent to which high school grades, SAT scores, and 32 different personality variables could predict students' grades in college. This study found that

A) high self-esteem and competence (good high school grades and high SAT scores) were the best predictors of college grades.
B) a number of the 32 personality variables, such as self-esteem, extroversion, self-control, and openness predicted college grades.
C) high school grades and SAT scores were not good predictors of college grades.
D) high school grades was the top predictor and self-control was the second best predictor of college grades.

Answer 3

high school grades was the top predictor and self-control was the second best predictor of college grades.

Question 4

The control theory model of self-regulation is based on the idea of feedback loops used to control some process relative to a particular reference point. An example would be the way

A) a cars accelerator controls the speed of a car.
B) a thermostat on a home furnace controls house temperature.
C) water seeks its own level.
D) computer software controls what a computer can do.

Question 5

According to the control theory model of human self-regulation, what determines whether people feel good or bad as they work to achieve their goals?

A) how close or how far away they are from goal achievement
B) whether a goal is easy or hard to achieve
C) the rate of progress towards goal achievement
D) whether they confident or doubtful about succeeding

Question 6

Self-discrepancy theory describes self-regulation as a process involving on-going comparisons between a person's

A) actual, ideal, and ought self.
B) past, present, and future goals.
C) present and desired future accomplishments.
D) own goals and accomplishments and those of his/her reference group.

Question 7

According to self-discrepancy theory, what determines how people feel (e.g., good or disappointed) when they evaluate themselves relative to their own standards?

A) the size of the discrepancy between expectations and actual goal achievement
B) the rate progress they are making in reducing the discrepancy between their current and desired state
C) the degree of success in overcoming the challenges and setbacks involved in achieving important personal goals
D) the magnitude of the discrepancy between their actual, ideal, and ought selves

Question 8

Applied to the pursuit of personal goals, what three factors are critical to effective self-regulation according to control theory?

A) effective comparisons of actual, ideal, and ought selves
B) self-restraint, self-awareness, and self-motivation
C) clear standards, effective monitoring, and personal strength
D) personal evaluation, planning, and execution

Question 9

Gollwitzer's distinction between goal intentions and implementation intentions has to do with the difference between

A) desire and a definite plan of action.
B) wishful thinking and marshalling necessary resources.
C) planning before and after the fact.
D) lost and renewed commitment.

Question 10

In studies examining students' completion of their own projects or those assigned by researchers, and in studies of patients' health-promoting practices, Gollwitzer and his colleagues have consistently found support for the value of what they call

A) goal intentions - desire to achieve a goal.
B) implementation intentions - planning the when, where, and how of a goal's achievement.
C) commitment - strong resolve and determination to achieve a goal.
D) support - enlisting the help of caring others.

Question 11

A student who wants to do well in a difficult course decides to study for this class in the same place and the same time each day. The advantage of such a plan, according to Gollwitzer, is that it

A) may make studying relatively automatic and controlled by the environmental cues of time and place rather than conscious control and "will power."
B) ensures that the material is understood as it is learned rather than crammed in right before an exam.
C) maintains and strengthens the goal intention of doing well in the class.
D) builds a plan of action for one class that can then be applied to others.

Question 12

Research by Baumeister and his colleagues presented people with tasks that require self-control (like eating vegetables instead of available chocolates) have found that on subsequent self-control tasks people's effectiveness and self-control ability are diminished. Baumeister, et al. argue that these results suggests that

A) people generally have less self-control ability than they believe they do.
B) self control is more a function of temptation than of will-power.
C) commitment is critical to people's ability to resist temptations.
D) self-control is a limited resource like a muscle that tires with repeated use.

Question 13

One of the potential advantages of planning for where, when, and how to work on personal goals is that over time goal behaviors may

A) become relatively automatic and routine.
B) require less conscious control which helps conserve our limited self-control resources.
C) become less susceptible to disrupting distractions and temptations.
D) all of the above

Question 14

If your goal is to do something nice for someone, you only have to think of one thing to do. If your goal is to avoid offending people, you have to be continuously on guard for signs of any offense in all your social interactions. This example highlights one reason that avoidance goals are more difficult to achieve. Avoidance goals

A) involve negative behaviors where one slip up causes failure.
B) require constant monitoring and vigilance that may deplete our self- control resources.
C) require us to behave "out of character" which makes us self-conscious.
D) are easily detected by others and considered disingenuous.

Question 15

Which of the following help explain why avoidance goals are more difficult to achieve than approach goals? Compared to approach goals, avoidance goals

A) evoke anxiety and self-defensiveness.
B) may reduce feelings of competence and self-esteem.
C) are more likely to feel imposed rather than freely chosen.
D) all of the above

Question 16

According to Higgin's analysis based on self-discrepancy theory, people with a strong avoidance goal orientation may have had parents who emphasized

A) safety and social obligations that led to the development of an "ought" self-regulatory system.
B) nurturing goals that led to the development of an "ideal" self- regulatory system.
C) punishment for social transgressions that led to a fear of violating social norms.
D) achievement and rule-following that led to a "perfectionist" self- regulatory system.

Question 17

As a potential solution to goal conflict and multiple goals, intergoal facilitation refers to

A) setting priorities and working on your most important goals first.
B) getting help from others when faced with multiple or conflicting goals.
C) ways of pursuing one goal that enhances the success of achieving other goals.
D) avoiding goals that overlap because of the increased confusion and the drain on our energy resources they may cause.

Question 18

A father helping his son with his homework could think about his actions in terms of what he is doing (helping solve homework problems) or why he is doing it (being a helpful parent). According to action level identification theory, the father will prefer to identify his actions

A) at the higher level of being a helpful parent because this explanation is more self-expressive and self-affirming.
B) at the lower level of helping solve homework problems because the level of action identification needs to match the task at hand.
C) at the lower level during the task to get the job done and at the higher level after the task to enhance the self.
D) at the higher level because the theory states that people have a self- serving bias that affects how behavior is explained.

Question 19

According to Little, some people devote their lives to "magnificent obsessions" (very abstract goals) while others are content with "trivial pursuits" (very concrete goals). Research by Emmons suggests that when people's personal goals are dominated by either abstract or concrete pursuits, they are more likely to suffer distress - either emotional or physical. Emmons believes these goal-related problems occur because

A) Abstract goals are manageable, but not meaningful. Concrete goals are meaningful, but not manageable.
B) Abstract goals are in pie-in-the-sky dreams that are impossible to fulfill. Concrete goals are short-term and do not produce long-term satisfaction.
C) Abstract goals are fuzzy and lack clear standards for monitoring progress and achievement. Concrete goals may reflect a repressive personality that seeks to avoid emotionally charged issues of what is important in life.
D) Both overly abstract or overly concrete goals present the same set of conflicts between people's actual, ideal and ought selves.

Question 20

In Wegner's research, the ironic effects of mental control refer to findings that attempts at self-control, such as trying not to think about a white bear,

A) are best achieved when we give up our attempt at self-control.
B) may leave us drained of self-control energies.
C) make it more likely that other unwanted thoughts and desires that are not the focus of our immediate attention will spontaneously arise.
D) often increases rather than decreases the occurrence of the unwanted thoughts or desire that we are trying to suppress.

Question 21

According to Wegner, two processes are involved in mental control: an intentional operating system and an ironic monitoring process. When people exert mental control, such as a dieter trying to suppress thoughts and desires about food, the ironic monitoring process

A) which is largely conscious, suppresses unwanted thoughts and desires.
B) which is largely unconscious, scans the environment, memory, and current thinking for any signs of the unwanted thought or desire.
C) works best under mental load when we are stressed or distracted.
D) only operates intermittently so we never know when an unwanted thought or desire might intrude into consciousness.

Question 22

According to Wegner, two processes are involved in mental control: an intentional operating system and an ironic monitoring process. What conditions may disrupt these two systems from working together to control unwanted thoughts, desires, and behaviors?

A) mental relaxation - times of cognitive tranquility where the intentional operating system is effectively shut down
B) mental relaxation - times of cognitive tranquility where the monitoring system catches us off-guard
C) mental load - times of stress and distractions where the monitoring system continues to operate unconsciously but the intentional system is impaired
D) mental load - times of stress and distractions where the intentional system continues to operate but the monitoring system is impaired.

Question 23

In a clever demonstration of the ironic effects of mental control, Wegner had people try to hold a pendulum steady over a target. Some participants were instructed to hold the pendulum steady and some were instructed not to make any sideways movements. Results showed that

A) people made more sideways movements when they were specifically instructed not to do so and that these effects were magnified in a mental load condition.
B) the mental load condition reduced the effects of instructions not to make sideways movements.
C) the instruction not to a make a specific movement produced less movement than instructions just to hold the pendulum steady.
D) a physical mental load (holding a brick) improved performance while a mental load (counting backwards from 1000) impaired performance.

Question 24

Proponents of self-determination theory argue and provide evidence that the depletion of self-control resources during acts of mental control are significantly reduced when our actions are

A) supported by people who care about our well-being.
B) reinforced by tangible monetary rewards.
C) autonomous and freely chosen rather than imposed by self or others.
D) initiated and sustained by strong pressures from others.

Question 25

Schlenker and his colleagues provide a triangular model that describes prescriptive clarity, personal obligation, and personal control. Each of these three concepts describes how people

A) can get away with murder if they have the right excuse.
B) think about how to create a good excuse for a negative event.
C) use deception, lies, and falsehoods to cover up their mistakes and failure to meet social and job obligations.
D) evaluate the legitimacy of an excuse in terms of personal responsibility for a negative event.

Question 26

Schlenker and his colleagues believe that the major advantages of excuses are that they

A) allow us to maintain our inflated and self-enhancing perception of ourselves.
B) help maintain self-esteem/confidence when we fail, and social harmony in our relationships when honesty might be harmful.
C) get us out of things we don't want to do with a minimum of negative consequences.
D) help us conceal our actual motives and desires, particularly in cases when our motives are self-centered.

Question 27

Schlenker and his colleagues believe that the disadvantages of chronic excuse-making include

A) increased potential for addictions such as gambling and alcoholism.
B) being viewed by others as lacking integrity and as unreliable and reducing the self-control and self-discipline of the excuse-maker.
C) the excuse-maker coming to believe that they are the victims of uncontrollable negative life events.
D) setting the stage for increasing distress as the person begins to run out of excuses for their irresponsibility.

Question 28

The text examples of American GIs who used heroin during their service in the Vietnam War and countries such as France where people drink alcohol on a regularly basis all suggest that

A) exposure is a critical factor in addiction and people's ability to resist temptation.
B) drugs of all kinds are powerfully addictive and need government control to avoid widespread abuse.
C) self-control may have less to do with the power of the temptation and more to do with cultural beliefs about how much control a person should or can exercise.
D) self-control failure and success is heavily dependent on individual "will power" and not much affected by cultural and social factors.

Question 29

Research investigating the issue of impulse control versus restraint generally uses a dual process models that describe two control systems, such as Mischel's distinction between a hot and a cool system of control. From the dual process perspective and using Mischel's terminology, whether we follow our impulses or exert control depends on

A) whether the hot or the cool system is in control of our actions.
B) the strength of the cool or hot system within an individuals control system.
C) the strength of the impulse relative to the strength of the control.
D) whether distractions and stress impair the control system.

Question 30

In a study of his distinction between a hot and a cool control system Mischel used the delay of gratification marshmallow test. Which set of instructions described below led to longest delays in gratification? Children who were asked to think about

A) how chewy and sweet the marshmallow will feel in your mouth.
B) the marshmallow as a puffy cloud.
C) how all the sugar will cause tooth decay.
D) how much you will enjoy two marshmallows later rather one right now.

Question 31

Research by Tice and Baumeister examined differences in performance and stress levels among college students who did or not procrastinate in completing term papers and major class projects. Overall they found that procrastination

A) produces short-term benefits, but longer-term costs.
B) produced no short- or long-term benefits.
C) was related to low self-esteem, incompetence, and conflicted goals about the point of attending college.
D) showed clear gender differences; women were most concerned about the quality of their work, and men just wanted to get it done.

Question 32

Research by Carver & Scheier suggests that people who "give up" on an important life goal

A) may be considered losers in American culture.
B) may be avoid the stresses and possible depression associated with hanging on to an unobtainable goal.
C) must deal with the dilemma of giving up to soon or hanging on too long.
D) all of the above

Question 33

Research by Carver & Scheier suggests that important factors determining the well-being effects of goal disengagement (giving up an important life goal) are

A) differences in people's ability to let go (disengage from a goal) and ability to reengage in new goals.
B) the importance of the goal and the social support for letting go.
C) whether the goal was central or peripheral to personal identity.
D) whether letting go of the goal had primarily personal and individual effects or whether it effected many significant people in a person's social network.