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Biomedical subjects

P M Gollwitzer

Publications and source records attributed to P M Gollwitzer.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Implementation intentions and efficient action initiation.

Implementation intentions ("If I encounter Situation X, then I'll perform Behavior Y!") are postulated to instigate automatic action initiation. In 4 studies, the hypothesis was tested that implementation intentions lead to immediate action initiation once the specified situation is encountered, even under conditions of high cognitive load. First, individuals whose action control is known to be hampered by disruptive cognitive business, such as opiate addicts under withdrawal (Study 1) and schizophrenic patients (Study 2), benefited from forming implementation intentions. Second, the beneficial effect of implementation intentions was also found in 2 experiments with university students (Studies 3 and 4) in which cognitive load was experimentally induced by using dual task paradigms. Results of the 4 studies suggest that forming implementation intentions instigates immediate action initiation that is also efficient.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Reflective and reflexive action control in patients with frontal brain lesions.

Two types of action control derived from the model of action phases (H. Heckhausen & P. M. Gollwitzer, 1987) were analyzed in patients with frontal lesions, patients with nonfrontal lesions, and university students. In Study 1, reflective action control in terms of goal selection was assessed, and impaired deliberation was found in patients with frontal lesions. Study 2 assessed reflexive action control in terms of automatic action initiation as a result of forming implementation intentions (P. M. Gollwitzer, 1999). All participants sped up their responses to critical stimuli by forming implementation intentions. Moreover, lesion patients with weak performances on the Tower of Hanoi (TOH) task did worse than patients with strong TOH performances in Study 1 but better than control participants in Study 2. Findings are interpreted as a functional dissociation between conscious reflective action control and automatic reflexive action control.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The automated will: nonconscious activation and pursuit of behavioral goals.

It is proposed that goals can be activated outside of awareness and then operate nonconsciously to guide self-regulation effectively (J. A. Bargh, 1990). Five experiments are reported in which the goal either to perform well or to cooperate was activated, without the awareness of participants, through a priming manipulation. In Experiment 1 priming of the goal to perform well caused participants to perform comparatively better on an intellectual task. In Experiment 2 priming of the goal to cooperate caused participants to replenish a commonly held resource more readily. Experiment 3 used a dissociation paradigm to rule out perceptual-construal alternative explanations. Experiments 4 and 5 demonstrated that action guided by nonconsciously activated goals manifests two classic content-free features of the pursuit of consciously held goals. Nonconsciously activated goals effectively guide action, enabling adaptation to ongoing situational demands.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Metacognition in action: the importance of implementation intentions.

When people furnish their goal intentions ("I intend to attain the goal x!") with implementation intentions ("I will initiate the goal-directed response y when situation z arises!"), the initiation of goal-directed responses becomes automatized. As this type of automaticity stems from a single act of will, it is referred to as strategic automaticity. We report various studies demonstrating that strategic automaticity leads to immediate and efficient responding, which does not need a conscious intent. In addition, the situational cues specified in implementation intentions seem to be easily detected and readily attended to. Further research indicates that the strategic automaticity induced by implementation intentions also helps resist temptations and fight bad habits. Following Nelson's (1996; Nelson & Narens, 1994) model of metacognition, we suggest that goal intentions and, in particular, implementation intentions are important components of the metacognitive control of action geared toward its initiation, continuation, and termination.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1996

Effects of failure on subsequent performance: the importance of self-defining goals.

Extending R.A. Wicklund and P.M. Gollwitzer's (1982) self-completion theory, 2 experiments examined the role of self-defining goals in predicting performance effects of failure among students committed to professional goals such as becoming a physician (Experiment 1) or a computer scientist (Experiment 2). Results of Experiment 1 revealed that failure on a task characterized as being relevant to students' professional self-definition led to (a) enhanced performance on a subsequent task relevant to the same self-definition and (b) impaired performance on a subsequent task unrelated to the self-definition challenged through prior failure. Experiment 2 replicated these findings. In addition, performance effects due to self-definitional failure were annulled when participants experience intermittent social recognition for the aspired-to-self-definition.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Effects of mindset on positive illusions.

S. E. Taylor and J. D. Brown's (1988) position that mentally healthy people exhibit positive illusions raises a dilemma: How do people function effectively if their perceptions are positively biased? Using Gollwitzer's deliberative-implemental mindset distinctiion, we assessed whether people in a deliberative mindset show less evidence of positive illusions than people in an implemental mindset. Participants completed a mindset task and assessments of mood, self-perceptions, and perceived (in)vulnerability to risk. Deliberation led to worsened mood, greater perceived risk, and poorer self-perceptions, relative to implementation; control (no mindset) participants typically scored in between. Study 3 demonstrated that the mindset manipulation corresponds to how people actually make decisions or implement them. Results suggest that people use relatively realistic thinking when setting goals and more positive thinking when implementing them.

Adolescent↗