Thinking as the control of imagination: a conceptual framework for goal-directed systems

This paper offers a conceptual framework which (re)integrates goal-directed control, motivational processes, and executive functions, and suggests a developmental pathway from situated action to higher level cognition. We first illustrate a basic computational (control-theoretic) model of goal-directed action that makes use of internal modeling. We then show that by adding the problem of selection among multiple action alternatives motivation enters the scene, and that the basic mechanisms of executive functions such as inhibition, the monitoring of progresses, and working memory, are required for this system to work. Further, we elaborate on the idea that the off-line re-enactment of anticipatory mechanisms used for action control gives rise to (embodied) mental simulations, and propose that thinking consists essentially in controlling mental simulations rather than directly controlling behavior and perceptions. We conclude by sketching an evolutionary perspective of this process, proposing that anticipation leveraged cognition, and by highlighting specific predictions of our model.

National Identity and Attitude Toward Foreigners in a Multinational State: A Replication

An analysis of the 1995 Belgian General Election Survey indicates that the bipolar national identity variable, which contrasts citizens who identify exclusively with the Belgian nation with those who identify exclusively with the Flemish or Walloon subnation, measures not only the direction but also the intensity of national feelings. Respondents who are located at the middle of the scale tend to have a weak identification with both the nation and the subnation. On the basis of a structural equations modeling approach involving a test of the construct equivalence in the two regions and a control for agreeing-response bias, it is shown that the bipolar national identity variable and attitude toward foreigners are inversely related in Flanders and Wallonia. In Flanders, citizens with a strong subnational identification tend to have a negative attitude toward foreigners; those with a strong Belgian identification are more positive. This relationship became more pronounced after controlling for the respondents' level of education. In Wallonia, a reverse but less pronounced relationship was found. These findings support the hypothesis that the relationship between the variables of national identity and attitude toward foreigners is not intrinsic, but is at least partly determined by the social representation of the nation.     

Achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: Coherence, concordance, and achievement orientation

Two studies examined the effects on intrinsic motivation of pursuing lower-order target goals in an achievement context emphasizing a performance purpose goal. The purpose goal was theorized to be concordant with intrinsic needs for individuals high in achievement motivation (HAMs), but not for individuals low in achievement motivation (LAMs). Target goals that were coherent with the overall purpose goal were hypothesized to help LAMs enjoy the task even though the purpose goal was not concordant. HAMs evidenced high enjoyment in all conditions. LAMs enjoyed the tasks most when pursuing coherent target goals. Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 and tested process variables theorized to mediate goal effects on intrinsic motivation.     

The efficiency of binding spontaneous trait inferences to actors’ faces

Three experiments tested the hypothesis that the process of binding spontaneous trait inferences (STIs) to actors’ representations is relatively independent of attentional resources. Participants were presented with faces paired with single behaviors. Binding of STIs to actors was revealed by a higher false recognition of implied traits paired with actors’ faces than of implied traits randomly paired with other familiar faces. This effect replicated when each face-behavior pair was presented for 2 s (Experiment 1), when the processing of the information was shallow (Experiment 2), and when participants performed a secondary task during the presentation of behaviors (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 showed that explicit on-line trait judgments of the actor, but not explicit behavior judgments, predicted the false recognition of implied traits in the context of the actor. The possibility that the process of binding STIs to actors’ representations is automatic is discussed.     

Les représentations de l’entretien structuré chez les recruteurs

We studied recruiters’ representations of the structured interview. In Study 1, 90 recruiters were interviewed. They define “structure” mainly as a schema or list of questions. The terms “structured” and “unstructured” also have different connotations. This can create a social desirability bias in surveys on selection practices, causing an overestimation of the real prevalence of structured interviewing. In Study 2, 59 recruiters responded to a questionnaire. Attitudes towards structured interviews are positive, but representations diverge from scientific definitions, especially regarding unstructured interviews. Recruiters’ representations allow flexibility in practice while maintaining a positive self-image.     

Goal conflict and facilitation as predictors of work–family satisfaction and engagement

In a study of working adults (N = 131; Mean age = 43.52 yrs; 62 males) in Germany and Finland, the mean level of goal facilitation was found to be significantly higher than that of goal interference. Hence, many individuals seem to be rather successful in constructing a personal goal system that is functional in terms of supportive links. As hypothesized, goal conflict and facilitation were associated with work-related outcomes, especially with work satisfaction. The associations with family-related outcomes were less pronounced when the focus was exclusively on either supportive or interfering goal relationships. However, when the intraindividual relation between goal conflict and goal support was taken into account, we found that the relative dominance of facilitation was clearly positively associated with both work-related and family-related indicators of positive functioning.     

The influence of social groups on goal contagion

Goal contagion is the automatic adoption of a goal upon perceiving another’s goal-directed behavior (Aarts, H., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Hassin, R. R. (2004). Goal contagion: Perceiving is for pursuing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(1), 23-37). This paper tests the hypothesis that goal contagion is more likely between people who belong to the same groups. Because past work on goal contagion has required participants to read about the behavior of others, we also test whether goals are caught when one sees rather than reads about another’s motivated behavior. Across three studies, this ecologically valid methodology reliably produced goal contagion, and this effect was more likely to emerge when participants shared a group membership with those they observed. In Study 1, participants were more likely to take on the goal of individuals who belonged to their same university. Study 2 demonstrated that this effect occurred even when participants were not explicitly focused on the group membership of others. A final study verified that our effects were motivational by demonstrating that failing at a goal relevant task increased negative affect, but only for those who viewed the motivated behavior of someone from their own group.     

Interpersonal similarity as a social distance dimension: Implications for perception of others’ actions

Building on the assumption that interpersonal similarity is a form of social distance, the current research examines the manner in which similarity influences the representation and judgment of others’ actions. On the basis of a construal level approach, we hypothesized that greater levels of similarity would increase the relative weight of subordinate and secondary features of information in judgments of others’ actions. The results of four experiments showed that compared to corresponding judgments of a dissimilar target, participants exposed to a similar target person identified that person’s actions in relatively more subordinate means-related rather than superordinate ends-related terms (Experiment 1), perceived his or her actions to be determined more by feasibility and less by desirability concerns (Experiment 3), and gave more weight to secondary aspects in judgments of the target’s decisions (Experiment 2) and performance (Experiment 4). Implications for the study of interpersonal similarity, as well as social distance in general, are discussed.     

The Effects of Coaching on Mathematics Homework Completion and Accuracy of High School Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

As many as 30% of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) do not achieve academically at the level predicted by their age or IQ. One of the variables that may contribute to their poor academic performance is homework completion. Unfortunately, a paucity of research has investigated interventions that address homework problems, particularly at the secondary level. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a coaching intervention that incorporated self-monitoring, goal-setting, and systematic fading on the homework completion and accuracy of three high-school students diagnosed with AD/HD. Results suggest that coaching led to improvements across all three students. Performance was maintained during fading and post-treatment for the two students for whom it was examined.     

“<Emphasis Type="Italic">Do the very best you can</Emphasis>”: The third-grade class test

The aim of this study was to examine third-graders’ test situations such as they appeared in the day-to-day functioning of the school. The research was ethnographic, focusing on the test situations of one third-grade class in the mother tongue and mathematics during one school year. Our analyses suggest that third-graders no longer see the test practices as objects of learning but rather as a familiar part of their everyday schoolwork. The test-taking practices have been mastered, but preparation for the test still needs to be emphasized and practised. And, according to our findings, cheating is an object of practice as well. To third-graders, test situations appear as ‘real tests’: the evaluative import of these situations seems clear to them. The teacher and the school institution reach for maximal proficiency and performance so as bring out the pupils’ ‘pure’ ability and performance in the class test. The class teacher must deal with the ever-strengthening evaluative significance of the test in relation to both the pupils and the school administration: we find that in the test situation the class teacher creates a social-psychological we-group—an alliance of the teacher and the pupils versus the test writer—as comes out particularly clearly in connection with national tests. The findings of the study are discussed with special reference to the ways in which the class test constructs the selective-restrictive sphere of education.