title: Increasing and decreasing motor and cognitive output: a model of general action and inaction goals.
abstract: General action and inaction goals can influence the amount of motor or cognitive output irrespective of the type of behavior in question, with the same stimuli producing trivial and important motor and cognitive manifestations normally viewed as parts of different systems. A series of experiments examined the effects of instilling general action and inaction goals using word primes, such as "action" and "rest." The first 5 experiments showed that the same stimuli influenced motor output, such as doodling on a piece of paper and eating, as well as cognitive output, such as recall and problem solving. The last 2 experiments supported the prediction that these diverse effects can result from the instigation of general action and inaction goals. Specifically, these last 2 studies confirmed that participants were motivated to achieve active or inactive states and that attaining them decreased the effects of the primes on behavior.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. dalbarra@uiuc.edu
authors: Dolores
authors: D
authors: Albarracín
authors: Ian M
authors: IM
authors: Handley
authors: Kenji
authors: K
authors: Noguchi
authors: Kathleen C
authors: KC
authors: McCulloch
authors: Hong
authors: H
authors: Li
authors: Joshua
authors: J
authors: Leeper
authors: Rick D
authors: RD
authors: Brown
authors: Allison
authors: A
authors: Earl
authors: William P
authors: WP
authors: Hart
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D001364:Awareness; D003463:Cues; D003469:Culture; D003657:Decision Making; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D011340:Problem Solving; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012660:Semantics; D012718:Set, Psychology