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The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
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Interaction between self-efficacy and initial performance in predicting the complexity of task chosen.

Carmen Tabernero1, Robert E Wood

  • 1University of Córdoba, Department of Psychology, Avenida San Alberto Magno s/n, 14004 Córdoba, Spain. carmen.tabernero@uco.es

Psychological Reports
|March 17, 2010
PubMed
Summary

Students with high self-efficacy choose challenging tasks for learning. Avoidance performance goals also predict task difficulty selection in complex decision-making scenarios.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Educational Psychology
  • Motivation Science

Background:

  • Cognitive-affective variables predict performance in complex tasks.
  • Determinants of task choice, especially in discretionary situations, are less understood.
  • Understanding task selection is crucial for optimizing learning and performance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the role of dispositional and self-regulatory variables in the complexity of task chosen.
  • To investigate how goal orientations, need for cognition, self-efficacy, and satisfaction influence task difficulty selection.

Main Methods:

  • An experimental study involving 117 students.
  • Participants undertook a complex decision-making task with varying difficulty levels.
  • Assessed dispositional variables (goal orientations, need for cognition) and self-regulatory variables (self-efficacy, intrinsic satisfaction, task involvement).

Main Results:

  • Avoidance performance goal orientation predicted the difficulty of the chosen task.
  • Self-efficacy beliefs explained the range of task difficulty considered feasible.
  • High self-efficacy individuals selected tasks offering maximal learning opportunities.

Conclusions:

  • Dispositional and self-regulatory factors significantly influence task choice complexity.
  • Self-efficacy is a key factor in selecting tasks that promote learning and development.
  • Future research should explore interventions to foster adaptive task selection based on these variables.