The generalization of deliberative and automatic behavior: The role of procedural knowledge and affective reactions☆
Highlights
► The effect of past behavior on later behavior is either deliberative or automatic. ► This depends on whether the later behavior is goal directed or not. ► Goal-relevant motor actions are performed based on their desirability. ► Goal-irrelevant motor actions are performed independently of their desirability.
Section snippets
Theoretical Background
To reiterate, a particular motor action can be performed intentionally when it is useful in attaining a higher-order goal. However, it might occur without awareness when it is irrelevant to any goal in mind. To account for this difference, we postulate two separate mental representations, each of which is governed by a different processing system. In this respect, our conceptualization differs from recent formulations that assume a single mental representation in which behavior, goals, and the
Experiment 1
Experiment 1 provided preliminary evidence that deliberately performing a goal-directed behavior in one situation can influence the likelihood of performing a similar behavior automatically, without awareness, in a later situation. Participants shadowed a speech that was delivered at either a fast or a slow speed. After doing so, they completed an unrelated marketing survey. We assumed that speaking quickly or slowly would activate a more general concept of doing things quickly or slowly that
Experiment 2
Experiment 1 showed that the performance of a behavior in one situation can influence the likelihood of performing a conceptually similar behavior in a later, quite different situation. However, it did not distinguish between the factors that influence deliberative goal-directed behavior and those that influence behavior that is governed by a production. Experiment 2 accomplished this. In doing so, it confirmed our hypothesis that the desirability that has become associated with a goal-directed
Manipulation checks
Participants recalled that the speech was delivered more quickly in fast-speech conditions (M = 1.92, SD = 0.82) than in slow-speech conditions (M = − 2.28, SD = 0.70), F (1, 127) = 978.72, p < .001, η2 = .89. The thoughts that participants wrote down about the speed of the speech were coded as 1 (positive), -1 (negative), or 0 (neutral). These thoughts were more favorable on average if participants had been asked to list positive thoughts (M = 1.55, SD = 0.85) than if they had been asked to list negative ones (M =
Experiment 3
Although the results of Experiment 2 confirmed our expectations, a potential ambiguity exists in interpreting them. Instructing participants to list positive or negative thoughts about the shadowing task could induce an implicit expectation that the experimenter considered working quickly (or slowly) to be desirable. This could have influenced participants’ rate of completing the questionnaire when the time available was called to their attention. Furthermore, this could have occurred
Method
One hundred ninety-five Hong Kong university students were randomly assigned to conditions of a 2 (speech rate: fast vs. slow) x 2 (affect induction: positive vs. negative) x 2 (time salience) between-subjects design. Participants were told that they would be asked to complete several unrelated studies. In the first, they were told that student affairs office was interested in collecting data about college students’ personal experience. On this pretense, they were asked to write about a recent
Manipulation checks
As expected, participants recalled that the speech was delivered more quickly in fast-speech conditions (M = 1.43, SD = 1.18) than in slow-speech conditions (M = − 2.55, SD = 0.60), F (1, 187) = 849.06, p < .001, η2 = .82. They also recalled feeling happier after writing about the event in positive affect conditions (M = 1.38,SD = 1.25) than in negative affect conditions (M = − 1.22, SD = 1.16), F (1, 187) = 223.56, p < .001, η2 = .55. Moreover, this difference did not depend on the speed with which the speech was delivered
Experiment 4
The first three experiments confirmed our hypothesis that the influence of individuals’ past behavior on their later behavior was governed by a production when the goal to which the behavior was related was not salient, but that motivational factors override the influence of the production when the goal to which the behavior was relevant was called to participants’ attention. However, the impact of a production is also likely to be evident when individuals are aware of the goal to which their
Method
Two hundred seventeen Chinese university students participated. They were randomly assigned to conditions of a 2 (item type: desirable vs. undesirable) x 2 (response criterion: support vs. oppose) x 2 (cognitive load: high vs. low) between-subjects design.
Participants were given a survey that consisted of 15 questions concerning participants’ opinions about public issues. Ten questions solicited opinions concerning the desirability of either joining or not joining an activity. In the
Manipulation check
Participants indicated that it was harder to remember a 12 digit number than a 2 digit number (M = 3.83, SD = 2.21 vs. M = 1.16, SD = 0.81, respectively), F (1, 209) = 136.68, p < .001, η2 = .40. Our manipulation of participants’ choice behavior was also successful. The number of times participants chose “join” is summarized in the top half of Table 3 as a function of cognitive load, questionnaire item type and response criterion (support vs. oppose). The interaction of the first two variables was
Discussion
Experiment 4 confirmed the results of the first three experiments in a quite different research paradigm and extended their implications. That is, individuals may often base their behavioral decisions on the desirability of a relevant goal concept that is activated by their past behavior. If a behavior-relevant goal is not salient, however, their behavior is guided by a production, as Experiments 1–3 indicate. Moreover, as the present experiment indicates, this is also true if a relevant goal
General Discussion
Four experiments provided converging evidence that both deliberate and automatic processes can govern the effect of past behavior on later behavior. The relative impact of these processes can depend on both (a) the salience of the goal concept to which the behavior is relevant and (b) participants’ ability to devote cognitive resources to a consideration of their behavior's goal-relevant implications. When individuals’ past behavior has activated a goal concept, they may consciously decide
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This research was supported by grants GRF453110 and GRF640011 from the Research Grants Council, Hong Kong. Appreciation is extended to Baba Shiv for insightful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of the manuscript.