Angela L. Duckworth, Jamie L. Taxer, Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, Brian M. Galla, and James J. Gross, “Self-Control and Academic Achievement.” Annual Review of Psychology 70: 373–99, 2019 [pdf here].
• Definitions of self-control vary (bringing on "jingle-jangle fallacies"); here, self-control is defined as “the self-initiated regulation of thoughts, feelings, and actions when enduringly valued goals conflict with momentarily more gratifying goals [p. 374].”
• The competing actions examined here are the “academic goal-congruent” (AGC) action (like studying) and the academic goal-incongruent (AGI) action (like looking at your phone); the academic-goal congruent action is (in the cases of interest here) the one that would be chosen “upon reflection [p. 376]”
• Many AGIs are of recent origin
• Conflict between competing goals is unpleasant
• Student multitasking is common, but it hinders learning; screens (laptops, phones) in the classroom are bad bad bad, even for college students. [Maybe instructors should make academics more interesting???]
• Average time-on-academic-task is less than 6 minutes (p. 378)
• Self-control is a solid predictor of school success; preschool marshmallow tests predict SAT scores – but in general, self-control predicts grades better than it predicts standardized test scores
• The process model of self-control: situation attracts attention leads to appraisal and then to response (and a new situation)
• Many self-control strategies such as rules, plans, and the inculcation of habits (like “study habits”) aim at skipping the assessment and jumping to the AGC response. Assessments can be altered, too, as with cognitive therapy.
• Other strategies target the situation – eliminate potential distractions, say – or attention.
• Focusing on the response is where willpower comes in (as opposed to relying less on the need for willpower), and willpower is a weak reed.
• Definitions of self-control vary (bringing on "jingle-jangle fallacies"); here, self-control is defined as “the self-initiated regulation of thoughts, feelings, and actions when enduringly valued goals conflict with momentarily more gratifying goals [p. 374].”
• The competing actions examined here are the “academic goal-congruent” (AGC) action (like studying) and the academic goal-incongruent (AGI) action (like looking at your phone); the academic-goal congruent action is (in the cases of interest here) the one that would be chosen “upon reflection [p. 376]”
• Many AGIs are of recent origin
• Conflict between competing goals is unpleasant
• Student multitasking is common, but it hinders learning; screens (laptops, phones) in the classroom are bad bad bad, even for college students. [Maybe instructors should make academics more interesting???]
• Average time-on-academic-task is less than 6 minutes (p. 378)
• Self-control is a solid predictor of school success; preschool marshmallow tests predict SAT scores – but in general, self-control predicts grades better than it predicts standardized test scores
• The process model of self-control: situation attracts attention leads to appraisal and then to response (and a new situation)
• Many self-control strategies such as rules, plans, and the inculcation of habits (like “study habits”) aim at skipping the assessment and jumping to the AGC response. Assessments can be altered, too, as with cognitive therapy.
• Other strategies target the situation – eliminate potential distractions, say – or attention.
• Focusing on the response is where willpower comes in (as opposed to relying less on the need for willpower), and willpower is a weak reed.
No comments:
Post a Comment