Lecture 6: Implementation Intentions

Question 1

Intention-behavior gap

Answer 1

= the phenomenon that people have explicit intentions to change their behavior but fail to take action

Question 2

Explain the theory of planned behavior

Answer 2

Made up of intentions (as the proximal determinant of behavior), attitudes (pos/neg evaluation of behavior), subjective norms (global perception of social pressure), perceived behavioral control (related to self-efficacy)

Question 3

Explain the relationship between the intention to buy fast food and the actual amount of times fast food was bought in infrequent past performance compared to frequent past performance

Answer 3

Infrequent past performance: there is a relationship between these two components; the less intention, the less amount bought (and vice versa)
Frequent past performance: there is no relationship between the two components; whether intention is high or low, the amount bought does not differ

Question 4

What are 3 ways to measure real-life habits

Answer 4

1. Field experiments of snacking habits: eg. a study was done where people in a cinema are given either fresh popcorn or stale popcorn, and it was measured how much of this was eaten —> showed that people who reported to frequently eat popcorn in the cinema (had a habit of it) ate much more of the stale popcorn than people for whom this was not habitual
2. Self-report measures: questionnaires that tap into the subjective experience of habit/automaticity —> Self-Report Habit Index/ Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index
3. Primed lexical decision task: a prime word is shown that is not visible by the naked eye (subliminal priming, the stimulus), then something in between is shown (masking the prime), and then the target word is shown (the response); the strength between the stimulus and the response using the reaction time of pressing a left or right key is measured

Question 5

What are 2 disadvantages of self-report measures

Answer 5

• subjective
• self-report of automatic behavior (can be difficult bc it is automatic) —> although seems to be pretty accurate according to research

Question 6

Implementation intention (II)

Answer 6

If-then plans that link a critical cue to an instrumental action, action plans stipulating where, when and how one will perform an intended behavior

Question 7

Give 2 reasons why II’s are helpful

Answer 7

1. Mental representation of this situation is highly accessible in memory and therefore easily detected to act on
2. Control is delegated from self to situational cue, resulting in automatic elicitation of behavior

Question 8

What are the two mechanisms connected to the if and then-components

Answer 8

If; heightened cue accessibility —> detection of the situation
Then: strong stimulus-response link —> automatic activation of instrumental response

Question 9

Explain the horse race model

Answer 9

Counterhabitual II’s cancel out the cognitive advantage of the habitual over the alternative means in winning the race
—> newly created association between situation and alternative response may be stronger than the old association
—> formation of counterhabitual II’s inhibits the habitual response because it interferes with the alternative response formulated in the II

Question 10

Explain the goal systems theory

Answer 10

If a goal activates one means, the activation of alternative means for this goal are inhibited

Question 11

Explain the 7 steps for behavioral change

Answer 11

1. Choose a behavior that you ate highly motivated to change: strong intention and intrinsic motivation are crucial for effectiveness of II’s
2. Determine the critical cue: in which situation do you carry out the “bad habit”: cue monitoring diary and mental contrasting
3. Can that critical cue easily be avoided/changed: habit discontinuity hypothesis
4. Link the right action to your critical cue: attempts to suppress a thought actually render it more salient and makes one more conscious of it (eg. planning what not to do does not work)
5. Continue to monitor your behavior and adjust your plan if it is no longer optimal
6. Once you have formed this habit, you can consider changing other habits, small steps
7. Don’t forget to celebrate your success

Question 12

What are 2 ways to find your crucial cue

Answer 12

1. Cue monitoring diary
2. Mental contrasting = contrasting positive future with negative reality —> raises awareness of distance from the goal, identification of obstacles/critical cues that hinder goal realization

Question 13

What are the 4 elements of automaticity

Answer 13

• (un)intentionality
• (un)controllability
• (lack of) awareness
• efficiency

Question 14

What are 3 moderators of II’s and explain whether they have a negative/positive effect

Answer 14

• socially prescribed perfectionism (= preoccupation to reach ideals/standards set by others) —> negative effect
• urgency (= tendency to act impulsively under circumstances when negative affect is experienced) —> negative effect
• low executive functioning —> positive effect

Question 15

What are 5 different techniques to incorporate II’s into CBT

Answer 15

1. High motivation is key
2. MI techniques
3. Strategies to increase insight into triggers of unwanted behavior (mental contrasting, monitoring diary)
4. One II should be formulated at a time (sequential behavioral goals as opposed to simultaneously in therapy)
5. Combine add-on treatments that target habitual process with II’s (eg. CBM)