chap. 9

Question 1

Why is it a problem when people define their goal, then immediately start to strive for it without developing a plan?

Answer 1

• Without a plan, you have no direction or focus in terms of what the journey will look like
• Without a plan, you have no way of holding yourself accountable, which makes it easier to give up

Question 2

___ behaviours tend to be a better predictor than ___ of future behaviours.

Answer 2

Past; intentions

Question 3

What is the intention-behaviour gap?

Answer 3

• the disconnection between a person’s intentions to achieve a goal and their actual actions
  –> in this gap is where the planning happens

Question 4

How can we reduce the intention-behaviour gap?

Answer 4

• High quality goals (difficult, specific, proximal, i.e., SMART)
• Mental stimulations (visualizing your goal)

Question 5

Explain the 2 types of mental stimulations.

Answer 5

1) Outcome simulation: Fantasize about what it will be like when they achieve their goal
–> typically what is seen in self-help books
2) Process simulation: Focus on the steps required to achieve their goal

Question 6

Which mental simulation is better? Why is it so?

Answer 6

• Process simulation is best
  1) It lowers anxiety
  2) Forces the individual to develop a goal plan with details
  –> and forces you to come up with solutions to overcome roadblocks
  3) Contribute to more motivation and excitement about the goal
  –> because they’ve invested more resources to developing the plan
  –> allows them to measure their progress

Question 7

What are implementation intentions?

Answer 7

• They are if-then plans that specify the exact behaviour one will perform in a particular situation
• Specify exactly when, where, and how the individual will achieve their goal
  –> IF (situation cue) said situation occurs, THEN (behavioural cue or action) I will do this

Question 8

If the goal is to write a novel, how might we make an implementation intention table?

Answer 8

When: I will write at 8am on saturdays
Where: I will study at a cafe to avoid distractions
How: I will brainstorm for one hour, and write for the second
How long: I will write for 2 hours each session
Back up plan if-then: If I can’t write on a saturday, I will set aside time on sunday to write

Question 9

If the goal is to ace your finals, how might you make an implementation intention table?

Answer 9

• When: I will study at 1pm every day (not weekends)
• Where: When on campus, I will study at the library or a quiet space
• How: I will create cue cards to quiz myself
• How long: For an hour every day
• Back-up plan if-then: If I am unable to study for a full hour every day, then I will put aside time on saturday evening to fill in the time missed

Question 10

What is the difference between a goal intention and an implementation intention?

Answer 10

• Goal intentions: specifies what the end point of the goal process will be (e.g., « I intend to write a novel »)
  → when you’re setting a goal
• Implementation intentions: specifies exactly what, where, and how the individual will achieve their goal
  → when you’re planning a goal

Question 11

What are the benefits of implementation intentions? They help with…

Answer 11

• Help with goal initiation, makes starting seem a lot less daunting
• Help with goal persistence
• Help with overriding old habits
  → notably with the “if, then” concept
• Help with controlling inner states
  → Cravings, negative emotions, anxiety

Question 12

What are some of the costs of implementation intentions?

Answer 12

• Less attentive to alternative ways to pursue goals
  → if the plan is too specific, it provides little flexibility, causing us to only focus on specific cues
  –> p.ex: focusing on eating broccoli
• Less likely to abandon bad plans
  → even when sticking to this bad plan, it will affect the actual goal achievement

Question 13

What are the 3 moderating factors of success by using implementation intentions?

Answer 13

1) Goal commitment: The HIGHER people are in goal commitment, the greater the benefits are of forming implementation intentions, because the goal is more valuable to you
2) Self-Efficacy: The HIGHER people are in self-efficacy, the greater the benefits are of forming implementation intentions, because the person feels competent
3) Self-Control: The WEAKER a person’s self-control is, the more likely the person is to benefit from forming implementation intentions, because it gives them direction and focus

Question 14

What are the 2 key factors that have been shown to improve the quality of a goal plan?

Answer 14

Flexibility & accountability

Question 15

Elaborate on how lack of flexibility can diminish the quality of a goal plan (2 factors).

Answer 15

• Reduces sense of autonomy
  → makes us feel like we have a lot less choice in our daily activities
• What-the-hell effect
  → all or nothing type of approach, which explains that once a person moves away from their goal (p.ex: going 20$ over budget), they say what the hell and spend 100$ more because they’ve already gone over budget anyway

Question 16

Give an example of how varying levels of flexibility can influence a goal plans.

Answer 16

• One study on goal flexibility examined college students who had the goal to study for an upcoming exam. Some of the students made a detailed daily plan for their studying goal, some made a monthly plan, and some made no plan at all
  → Students with a monthly plan were the ones who showed the greatest improvement on the exam; although the daily goal was high in specificity, it was low in flexibility and students struggled to keep up with its rigid demands

Question 17

Elaborate on how accountability can improve the quality of a goal plan.

Answer 17

• The more accountable your plan is, the easier it is for you to recognize when you are failing to meet expectations and need to increase your effort
  → Write down the goal plan because doing so makes the plan seem more real, brings greater awareness to it; Tell somebody about it

Question 18

What are 3 common mistakes in goal planning?

Answer 18

1) Planning fallacy: Tendency for people to be overly optimistic with their plans
–> underestimate the amount of resources they need: time, money, etc
2) Perceived expertise: Thinking that you are an expert doesn’t make you one
–> they’re less likely to seek out information which leads to worsen or not improve goal plans, they will not evaluate how effective their strategy is, thus not growing or learning
3) Loss aversion: bad is stronger than good; one bad event or one bad piece of information is enough to ruin the whole thing
–> some individuals would rather avoid losses even if that means not getting a win

Question 19

Planning fallacy typically occurs when people assign ___ and ___ causes to their failures.

Answer 19

External; unstable
–> when we fail to take responsibility for our own planning, we’re not learning from our mistakes to improve for next time

Question 20

What is simulation heuristic? Give an example.

Answer 20

• The tendency for people to judge the likelihood of an event by how easily it can be imagined or simulated in their minds
• Takes the form of ”if only” statements
• “If only I hadn’t stopped at Starbucks on the way to the airport, I would’ve caught my flight”
  –> These “if only” statements are referred to as counterfactual thinking

Question 21

Elaborate on counterfactual thinking from the simulation heuristic. What are its 2 types? Give an example for each

Answer 21

• Imagining alternative ways that something could have turned out, when our goal plan fails us (if-then statements)
  1) Upward counterfactuals
  → involve imagining ways things could have turned out BETTER
  → this strategy increases the likelihood of doing better the next time as well, instead of focusing on the worst
  –> p.ex: a student who sleeps through their exam will think “if only I hadn’t hit snooze I would’ve been on time”
  2) Downward counterfactuals
  → involve imagining ways things could have turned out worse
  –> p.ex: a student who gets a good grade will think “if only I hadn’t studied those extra hours, my results would’ve been worse”

Question 22

Once people decide what their goal is going to be (referred to as goal ________), they must next decide how they are going to pursue it (referred to as goal ________).

Answer 22

Setting; Planning

Question 23

According to most research, ________ seem(s) to be a much better predictor than intentions of future behaviour

Answer 23

past behaviour

Question 24

Harry wants to go away on vacation during spring break and needs a way to finance the trip. He has decided that he will sell some of his personal items online to make enough money to cover his costs. Harry is so focused on his online sales that he has missed other alternative ways of financing the trip. Harry’s experience is an example of a problem with…

Answer 24

Implementation intention

Question 25

Writing down a goal plan makes the goal seem more real, brings greater awareness and clarity to the goal, helps people to reorganize their priorities, and helps them focus on the process required to achieve the goal. This strategy increases…

Answer 25

Accountability

Question 26

Charlie has not learned about the influence of perceived expertise on goal planning. He considers himself an expert in hiking. Charlie plans to go on a new hike next month. In preparation, it is likely that Charlie will ________ because he considers himself an expert

Answer 26

do nothing

Question 27

According to James Clear, what is the aggregation of marginal gains?

Answer 27

• 1% improvement in everything you do
• Small improvements every day, tiny habits can be the key that unlocks significant success

Question 28

Name the 4 stages of habit formation according to James Clear.

Answer 28

1) Noticing
2) Wanting
3) Doing
4) Liking

Question 29

Elaborate on the first step of habit formation.

Answer 29

• Noticing: You cannot perform a habit without noticing it first
• implementation intentions fall here (when, where, how, etc.)
  –> many people think they lack motivation, when they really lack clarity (plan)
  –> you need to give your goals a space on your calendar
• Failure premortem: imagine your goal 6 months from now and you’ve failed, what could have led to this? Establishing these failures, you can plan for them (if-then)
  → it’s hard to change something if you aren’t aware of it

Question 30

Elaborate on the second step of habit formation.

Answer 30

• Wanting: if it is not desired then the action won’t be done
• your environment often influences your desires, you want something simply because you are presented with it
  → p.ex: fridges in a caf with sodas vs. with sodas AND water, increases water intake because you are presented with them (because it is now an option), thus “want” it
• it’s much easier to stick to better habits when you’re environment is more positive, you thus need to design your environment in a way that will benefit you
  –> many of our desires are simply shaped because we have an environment that shapes us in this way
• you wanna put more steps between you and bad behaviours, and less steps between you and good behaviours
  → p.ex: putting your phone in a separate room when studying

Question 31

Elaborate on the third step of habit formation.

Answer 31

• Doing: with habits, in the beginning it is thus simply most important to do it, whether it comes out good or bad
• any outcome is just a point along the spectrum of repetitions
  –> the more reps you put in, the more likely you are to achieve your goal
• Quality vs. quantity experiment
  → one group is gonna be graded on quantity of pictures taken (need to take 100 to get an A), the other will be graded on the quality of one single picture
  → at the end of the term, the best grades came from the quantity group
  → while this group was experimenting and practicing their photography, the quality group was sitting and theorizing how to get the perfect shot

Question 32

With the third step of habit formation, how does the 2 minute rule apply?

Answer 32

• During the Doing step, it can be difficult to start, you thus need to make this as easy as possible
• Habits should act as an entrance ramp to the actual end goal, becauseany habit can start in under 2 minutes
  → p.ex: a person who goes to the gym for 2 hours everyday doesn’t have the habit of going to the gym, they develop the starting habit of calling a cab and they know that once they get there, they’ll work out

Question 33

Elaborate on the fourth step of habit formation.

Answer 33

Liking
- many goals have delayed reward, how do you bring the reward to the present behaviour?
- by measuring your progress, you get an immediate reward
→ “don’t break the chain”, eventually when you get into a habit, you don’t wanna break the chain because you’ve kept it going for however long (calendar with X’s)