Performance-approach goals deplete working memory and impair cognitive performance

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

Volumn 142, Issue 3, 2013, Pages 666-678

  Crouzevialle, Marie ^a   Butera, Fabrizio ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LAUSANNE   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

Modular arithmetic problems; Performance; Performance approach goals; Working memory

Indexed keywords

ADULT; ARTICLE; ATTENTION; COGNITION; CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIAL; CONTROLLED STUDY; FEMALE; HUMAN; MALE; MOTIVATION; NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TEST; PHYSIOLOGY; PROBLEM SOLVING; RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL; SHORT TERM MEMORY;

ADULT; ATTENTION; COGNITION; FEMALE; GOALS; HUMANS; MALE; MEMORY, SHORT-TERM; NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS; PROBLEM SOLVING;

EID: 84888060270     PISSN: 00963445     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1037/a0029632     Document Type: Article

References (81)

1. Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 261-271.
2. Ames, C.,&Archer, J. (1988). Achievement goals in the classroom: Students' learning strategies and motivation processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 260-267.
3. Anderman, E.,&Danner, F. (2008). Achievement goals and academic cheating. International Review of Social Psychology, 21, 155-180.
4. Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Working memory. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
5. Baddeley, A. D. (1996). Exploring the central executive. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology A: Human Experimental Psychology, 49(A), 5-28.
6. Baddeley, A. D. (2000). The episodic buffer: A new component of working memory? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 417-423.
7. Baddeley, A. D.,&Hitch, G. (1974). Working memory. In G. H. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (pp. 47-90). New York, NY: Academic Press.
8. Barron, K. E.,&Harackiewicz, J. M. (2001). Achievement goals and optimal motivation: Testing multiple goal models. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 706-722.
9. Barron, K. E.,&Harackiewicz, J. M. (2003). Revisiting the benefits of performance-approach goals in the college classroom: Exploring the role of goals in advanced college courses. International Journal of Educational Research, 39, 357-374.
10. Baumeister, R. F. (1984). Choking under pressure: Self-consciousness and paradoxical effects of incentives on skillful performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 610-620.
11. Beilock, S. L.,&Carr, T. H. (2001). On the fragility of skilled performance: What governs choking under pressure? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130, 701-725.
12. Beilock, S. L.,&Carr, T. H. (2005). When high-powered people fail: Working memory and "choking under pressure" in math. Psychological Science, 16, 101-105.
13. Beilock, S. L.,&DeCaro, M. S. (2007). From poor performance to success under stress: Working memory, strategy selection, and mathematical problem solving under pressure. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory,&Cognition, 33, 983-998.
14. Beilock, S. L., Kulp, C. A., Holt, L. E.,&Carr, T. H. (2004). More on the fragility of performance: Choking under pressure in mathematical problem solving. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 584-600.
15. Beilock, S. L., Rydell, R. J.,&McConnell, A. R. (2007). Stereotype threat and working memory: Mechanisms, alleviation, and spillover. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136, 256-276.
16. Butler, R. (1992). What young people want to know when: Effects of mastery and ability goals on interest in different kinds of social comparisons. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 934-943.
17. Conroy, D. E.,&Elliot, A. J. (2004). Fear of failure and achievement goals in sport: Addressing the issue of the chicken and the egg. Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal, 17, 271-285.
18. Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24, 87-185.
19. Cury, F., Elliot, A. J., Da Fonseca, D.,&Moller, A. C. (2006). The social-cognitive model of achievement motivation and the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 666-679.
20. Darnon, C., Butera, F., Mugny, G., Quiamzade, A.,&Hulleman, C. S. (2009). "Too complex for me!" Why do performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals predict exam performance? European Journal of Psychology of Education, 24, 423-434.
21. Darnon, C., Dompnier, B., Delmas, F., Pulfrey, C.,&Butera, F. (2009). Achievement goal promotion at university: Social desirability and social utility of mastery and performance goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 119-134.
22. Darnon, C., Harackiewicz, J., Butera, F., Mugny, G.,&Quiamzade, A. (2007). Performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals: When uncertainty makes a difference. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 813-827.
23. Darnon, C., Muller, D., Schrager, S. M., Pannuzzo, N.,&Butera, F. (2006). Mastery and performance goals predict epistemic and relational conflict regulation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 766-776.
24. DeCaro, M. S., Rotar, K. E., Kendra, M. S.,&Beilock, S. L. (2010). Diagnosing and alleviating the impact of performance pressure on mathematical problem solving. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63, 1619-1630.
25. DeStefano, D.,&LeFevre, J.-A. (2004). The role of working memory in mental arithmetic. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 16, 353-386.
26. Dompnier, B., Darnon, C.,&Butera, F. (2009). Faking the desire to learn: A clarification of the link between mastery goals and academic achievement. Psychological Science, 20, 939-943.
27. Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes affect learning. American Psychologist, 41, 1040-1048.
28. Dweck, C. S.,&Leggett, E. L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 95, 256-273.
29. Elliot, A. J. (1997). Integrating the "classic" and "contemporary" approaches to achievement motivation: A hierarchical model of approach and avoidance motivation. In M. Maehr&P. Pintrich (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 10, pp. 143-179). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
30. Elliot, A. J. (1999). Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals. Educational Psychologist, 34, 169-189.
31. Elliot, A. J.,&Church, M. A. (1997). A hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 218-232.
32. Elliot, A. J.,&Harackiewicz, J. M. (1996). Approach and avoidance achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: A mediational analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 461-475.
33. Elliot, A. J.,&McGregor, H. A. (1999). Test anxiety and the hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 628-644.
34. Elliot, A. J.,&McGregor, H. A. (2001). A 2 × 2 achievement goal framework. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 501-519.
35. Elliot, A. J., McGregor, H. A.,&Gable, S. (1999). Achievement goals, study strategies, and exam performance: A mediational analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 549-563.
36. Elliot, A. J.,&Moller, A. C. (2003). Performance-approach goals: Good or bad forms of regulation? International Journal of Educational Research, 39, 339-356.
37. Elliot, A. J.,&Murayama, K. (2008). On the measurement of achievement goals: Critique, illustration, and application. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 613-628.
38. Elliot, A. J.,&Sheldon, K. M. (1997). Avoidance achievement motivation: A personal goals analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 171-185.
39. Elliot, A. J., Shell, M. V., Henry, K. B.,&Maier, M. A. (2005). Achievement goals, performance contingencies, and performance attainment: An experimental test. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 630-640.
40. Engle, R. W. (2001). What is working-memory capacity? In H. L. Roediger, III&J. S. Nairne (Eds.), The nature of remembering: Essays in Honor of Robert G. Crowder (pp. 297-314). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
41. Engle, R. W. (2002). Working memory capacity as executive attention. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 19-23.
42. Gimmig, D., Huguet, P., Caverni, J.-P.,&Cury, F. (2006). Choking under pressure and working-memory capacity: When performance pressure reduces fluid intelligence. Psychonomic Bulletin&Review, 13, 1005-1010.
43. Grant, H.,&Dweck, C. S. (2003). Clarifying achievement goals and their impact. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 541-553.
44. Harackiewicz, J. M., Barron, K. E., Carter, S. M., Lehto, A. T.,&Elliot, A. J. (1997). Predictors and consequences of achievement goals in the college classroom: Maintaining interest and making the grade. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1284-1295.
45. Harackiewicz, J. M., Barron, K. E., Tauer, J. M., Carter, S. M.,&Elliot, A. J. (2000). Short-term and long-term consequences of achievement goals: Predicting interest and performance over time. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 316-330.
46. Harackiewicz, J. M., Barron, K. E., Tauer, J. M.,&Elliot, A. J. (2002). Predicting success in college: A longitudinal study of achievement goals and ability measures as predictors of interest and performance from freshman year through graduation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 562-575.
47. Harackiewicz, J. M., Manderlink, G.,&Sansone, C. (1984). Rewarding pinball wizardry: Effects of evaluation and cue value on intrinsic interest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 287-300.
48. Jagacinski, C. M.,&Nicholls, J. G. (1987). Competence and affect in task involvement and ego involvement: The impact of social comparison information. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 107-114.
49. Janssen, O.,&Van Yperen, N. W. (2004). Employees' goal orientations, the quality of leader-member exchange, and the outcomes of job performance and job satisfaction. Academy of Management Journal, 47, 368-384.
50. Judd, C. M.,&McClelland, G. H. (1989). Data analysis: A model comparison approach. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
51. Koole, S. L., Smeets, K., van Knippenberg, A.,&Dijksterhuis, A. (1999). The cessation of rumination through self-affirmation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 111-125.
52. Linnenbrink, E. A., Ryan, A. M.,&Pintrich, P. R. (1999). The role of goals and affect in working memory functioning. Learning and Individual Differences, 11, 213-230.
53. Mangels, J. A., Butterfield, B., Lamb, J., Good, C. D.,&Dweck, C. S. (2006). Why do beliefs about intelligence influence learning success? A social cognitive neuroscience model. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 1, 75-86.
54. Meece, J. L., Blumenfeld, P. C.,&Hoyle, R. H. (1988). Students' goal orientations and cognitive engagement in classroom activities. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 514-523.
55. Miyake, A.,&Shah, P. (Eds.). (1999). Models of working memory: Mechanisms of active maintenance and executive control. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
56. Muller, D.,&Butera, F. (2007). The focusing effect of self-evaluation threat in coaction and social comparison. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 194-211.
57. Murdock, T. B.,&Anderman, E. M. (2006). Motivational perspectives on student cheating: Toward an integrated model of academic dishonesty. Educational Psychologist, 41, 129-145.
58. Navon, D. (1984). Resources-A theoretical soup stone? Psychological Review, 91, 216-234.
59. Nicholls, J. G. (1984). Achievement motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance. Psychological Review, 91, 328-346.
60. Norman, D. A.,&Bobrow, D. G. (1975). On data-limited and resourcelimited processes. Cognitive Psychology, 7, 44-64.
61. Pekrun, R., Elliot, A. J.,&Maier, M. A. (2009). Achievement goals and achievement emotions: Testing a model of their joint relations with academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101, 115-135.
62. Poortvliet, P. M., Janssen, O., Van Yperen, N. W.,&Van de Vliert, E. (2007). Achievement goals and interpersonal behavior: How mastery and performance goals shape information exchange. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 1435-1447.
63. Pryor, J. H., Hurtado, S., DeAngelo, L., Palucki Blake, L.,&Tran, S. (2010). The American freshman: National norms Fall 2010. Los Angeles, CA: Higher Education Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles.
64. Ryan, A. M.,&Pintrich, P. R. (1997). Should I ask for help? The role of motivation and attitudes in adolescents' help seeking in math class. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 329-341.
65. Sage, L.,&Kavussanu, M. (2007). The effects of goal involvement on moral behavior in an experimentally manipulated competitive setting. Journal of Sport&Exercise Psychology, 29, 190-207.
66. Sansone, C. (1986). A question of competence: The effects of competence and task feedback on intrinsic interest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 918-931.
67. Sarason, I. G. (1984). Stress, anxiety, and cognitive interference: Reactions to tests. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 929-938.
68. Schmader, T.,&Johns, M. (2003). Converging evidence that stereotype threat reduces working memory capacity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 440-452.
69. Seibert, P. S.,&Ellis, H. C. (1991). Irrelevant thoughts, emotional mood states, and cognitive task performance. Memory&Cognition, 19, 507-513.
70. Senko, C.,&Harackiewicz, J. M. (2002). Performance goals: The moderating role of context, achievement orientation, and feedback. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 603-610.
71. Senko, C.,&Harackiewicz, J. M. (2005). Achievement goals, task performance, and interest: Why perceived goal difficulty matters. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 1739-1753.
72. Senko, C., Hulleman, C. S.,&Harackiewicz, J. M. (2011). Achievement goal theory at the crossroads: Old controversies, current challenges, and new directions. Educational Psychologist, 46, 26-47.
73. Sideridis, G. D. (2005). Goal orientation, academic achievement, and depression: Evidence in favor of a revised goal theory framework. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 366-375.
74. Trbovich, P. L.,&LeFevre, J.-A. (2003). Phonological and visual working memory in mental addition. Memory&Cognition, 31, 738-745.
75. Van Yperen, N. W. (2003). Task interest and actual performance: The moderating effects of assigned and adopted purpose goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 1006-1015.
76. Van Yperen, N. W., Hamstra, M. R. W.,&Van der Klauw, M. (2011). To win, or not to lose, at any cost: The impact of achievement goals on cheating. British Journal of Management, 22, S5-S15.
77. Wegner, D. M. (1994). Ironic processes of mental control. Psychological Review, 101, 34-52.
78. Wegner, D. M. (2009, July 3). How to think, say, or do precisely the worst thing for any occasion. Science, 325, 48-50.
79. Wenzlaff, R. M.,&Wegner, R. M. (2000). Thought suppression. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 59-91.
80. Wolters, C. A. (2004). Advancing achievement goal theory: Using goal structures and goal orientations to predict students' motivation, cognition, and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96, 236-250.
81. Yzerbyt, V., Muller, D.,&Judd, C. M. (2004). Adjusting researchers' approach to adjustment: On the use of covariates when testing interactions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 424-431.