Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Reinforcement Schedules

Reinforcement Schedules

Positive reinforcement is a powerful method for teaching new behaviors to both animals and humans. B.F. Skinner demonstrated this with his experiments using rats in a Skinner box. When a rat pressed a lever, it received a food pellet. This immediate reward encouraged the rat to repeat the behavior. This method, where a reward follows every instance of the behavior, is known as continuous reinforcement. It is highly effective for establishing new behaviors quickly.
Once a behavior is learned,...

Social Traps

Social traps are negative situations where people get caught in a direction or relationship that later proves to be unpleasant, with no easy way to back out of or avoid. The concept was orignally introduced by John Platt who applied psychology to Garrett Hardin's "Tragedy of the Commons", where in New England herd owners could let their cattle graze in the common ground. This situation seems like a good idea, but an individual could have an advantage. If they owned...

Timing and Consequences on Behavior

Timing and Consequences on Behavior

In operant conditioning, the timing of reinforcement is crucial. For animals like rats and cats, immediate reinforcement (within a few seconds) is much more effective than delayed reinforcement. For example, a food reward for a rat needs to follow within 30 seconds of pressing a bar to be effective.
Humans, however, can respond to delayed reinforcers. We often make decisions between immediate small rewards and delayed larger rewards. This ability to delay gratification is a significant...

Persuasion Strategies

Persuasion Strategies

Researchers have tested many persuasion strategies, including the foot-in-the door and the door-in-the-face techniques, in a variety of contexts. Ultimately, the principles are effective in selling products and changing people’s attitude, ideas, and behaviors (Cialdini & Goldstein, 2004).

Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving

Effective problem-solving consists of two steps: 1. identifying the problem and 2. selecting the appropriate problem-solving strategy (i.e., a plan of action used to find a solution). Humans use four problem-solving strategies:

Self-Discrepancy Theory

Self-Discrepancy Theory

One influential perspective on what motivates people's behavior is detailed in Tory Higgin's self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987). He proposed that people hold disagreeing internal representations of themselves that lead to different emotional states.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Albumin as a "Trojan Horse" for polymeric nanoconjugate transendothelial transport across tumor vasculatures for improved cancer targeting.

Biomaterials science·2018

Same author

Dysregulated Response of Follicular Helper T Cells to Hepatitis B Surface Antigen Promotes HBV Persistence in Mice and Associates With Outcomes of Patients.

Gastroenterology·2018

Same author

Clinicopathological Features to Predict Progression of IgA Nephropathy with Mild Proteinuria.

Kidney & blood pressure research·2018

Same author

Gut Microbiome Composition Predicts Infection Risk During Chemotherapy in Children With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America·2018

Same author

Risk of bias and methodological issues in randomised controlled trials of acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis: a cross-sectional study.

BMJ open·2018

Same author

Pursuing sustainable productivity with millions of smallholder farmers.

Nature·2018

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 8, 2025

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal

Published on: April 18, 2017

Goal Length (Short or Long Term) Interacts with Goal Scheduling Strategy (Clock Time or Event Time) for Optimal

Masato Nagamine¹, Li Tang², Shuhei Miwa³

¹Department of Psychology, School of Psychology, Tokai-Gakuen University, Nagoya, Japan.

Perceptual and Motor Skills

|December 16, 2023

Summary

Choosing the right goal scheduling strategy matters. Clock-time scheduling works best for long-term goals, while event-time scheduling is optimal for short-term goals, improving performance.

Keywords:

construal level theory goal performance scheduling style self-regulation

More Related Videos

The Innovation Arena: A Method for Comparing Innovative Problem-Solving Across Groups

The Innovation Arena: A Method for Comparing Innovative Problem-Solving Across Groups

Published on: May 13, 2022

The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task: A Task of Attention and Impulse Control for Rodents

The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task: A Task of Attention and Impulse Control for Rodents

Published on: August 10, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 8, 2025

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal

Published on: April 18, 2017

The Innovation Arena: A Method for Comparing Innovative Problem-Solving Across Groups

The Innovation Arena: A Method for Comparing Innovative Problem-Solving Across Groups

Published on: May 13, 2022

The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task: A Task of Attention and Impulse Control for Rodents

The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task: A Task of Attention and Impulse Control for Rodents

Published on: August 10, 2014

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Behavioral Science
Decision Science

Background:

Effective personal goal achievement relies on appropriate scheduling strategies.
Two primary strategies exist: clock-time (time passage) and event-time (progress-based).
The optimal strategy is context-dependent, influenced by factors like goal duration.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the differential impact of goal length on the effectiveness of clock-time versus event-time scheduling strategies.
To test the hypothesis that clock-time scheduling enhances performance for long-term goals, while event-time scheduling boosts performance for short-term goals.

Main Methods:

A two-part laboratory experiment involving 149 participants (Part 1: n=63, Part 2: n=86).
Manipulation of both goal length (long-term vs. short-term) and scheduling strategy (clock-time vs. event-time).
Assessment of task performance, specifically the completion of mathematical problems, under different condition combinations.

Main Results:

Data supported the hypothesis regarding the interaction between goal length and scheduling strategy.
Clock-time scheduling demonstrated superior performance for long-term goals.
Event-time scheduling was found to be optimal for short-term goals.

Conclusions:

Goal length is a critical factor in determining the most effective personal goal scheduling strategy.
Tailoring scheduling strategies (clock-time for long-term, event-time for short-term) can significantly enhance goal attainment and performance.