The Impact of Motivation and Affect on Judgement Essay Example

The Impact of Motivation and Affect on Judgement Essay The first is judgment, according to the Merriam- Webster Online Dictionary (n. D. ) this is defined as the ability of an individual to make a decision or come to a conclusion after careful thought. The second term is motivation and that is an inner state that energies, directs and sustains behavior (Ellis-Nimrod, 2012). The final term, affect, is defined as any feelings, emotions and moods that a learner brings to bear on a task (Ellis-Nimrod, 2012). Motivation and affect can be said to be intertwined in forming Hot Cognition. Hot cognition focuses on the mental processes that are driven by an individuals desires (goals) and feelings (affect) (Sundae, 1999). The two (motivation and affect) are important because of how they may influence our thought processes that are used to arrive at judgments and influence which concepts or beliefs are applied to judgment. In addition to his hot cognition influences our judgments in terms of how we process information. Take for example a scenario of two women, Sally and Jane. Jane has just moved into Sally apartment building and no one knows anything about her except that she is always seen going out at nights and coming in early mornings. We will write a custom essay sample on The Impact of Motivation and Affect on Judgement specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Impact of Motivation and Affect on Judgement specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Impact of Motivation and Affect on Judgement specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer If Sally uses the little information available to her and comes to the conclusion that Jane is a stripped though using inferential shortcuts. However if Sally and Canes sons attend the e same school and Sally goes to visit her mother at a nursing home and sees Jane then she will come to a judgment about Jane through elaborate systematic reasoning. Motivation can be seen as a very important factor in our lives. It is the most basic drive for all our actions and can be either intrinsic or extrinsic. Our basic behaviors and feelings are affected by our inner drive to succeed over lifes challenges while we set goals for ourselves. Even our ability to carry out our everyday functions such as eating or working is affected by motivation. The Cognitive perspective of motivation focuses on how it is that our mental processes affect motivation (Ellis-Nimrod, Cakewalks, Achaean, Andrews, Shore, 2010). Simply put this is saying that an individuals motivation is based mainly on how it is that the person tries to understand all that is happening around them. If one has no understanding of the world around them then it is highly unlikely that they will be motivated to get involved in anything and will feel as an outcast among others. Ellis-Nimrod et al. (2010) further stated that the Social Cognitive Perspective placed an emphasis on how a persons motivation is very dependent on their future expectations. The Goal Orientation Theory of Motivation outlines how it is that our cognitive presentations determine the type of goal we pursue. It brings out two main tenets that an individual is motivated by either performance goals or mastery goals. Performance goals are those which arise from a persons desire to outdo someone while mastery goals are those emerging from having strong interests in a task to the point where it is important that you do extremely well at it or aim to do better than before (Australian Institute of Professional Counselors, 2010). Three girls are a part of a football team, girl A, girl B and girl C. Girls A and C have been best friends for most of their lives and so they eave a genuine love for the sport. This then allows them to be on top of their game and is ranked as the top scorers for the team. For each match they aim to score more goals than the last match, this would be seen as a mastery goal. Girl B on the other hand holds the view that she is a better player than Girls A and C and so if they score two goals per match she tries to outdo them by scoring three (performance goal). In the book, Social Cognition, Sundae (1999) outlined how directional goals and accuracy goals impact ones judgment. A directional goal is that which motivates the individual to draw a reticular judgment. On the other hand accuracy goals actually motivate the individual to end up with the best possible solution. In a final year Social Cognition class are two friends Shank and Oral who have an upcoming mid- semester exam. Previously their GAP was getting low and so this final examination would determine if they are going to meet graduation requirements. Shank is a potential A student but does not take enough interest in his school work, however since his last disappointing test results he has decided that he is going to put in the extra studying to get his grades up. Shames motivation would be an example of an accuracy goal because he is going to invest greater efforts into the task at hand so this can actually improve their judgment through better strategies for reasoning. Accuracy goals can improve judgment under some circumstances but can make it worse under others. Oral is the opposite of Shank, he does not go to class nor is interested in studying for the test because he believes that he is going to fail navys so it makes no sense to study for the test (directional goal) . This is the problem with directional goals they impact our judgment by creating biases in our beliefs. So it could be that Oral could have mastered the examination as well but his judgment has been biased and so he just accepts his failure. Our outcome dependency is one way in which motivation bias judgment. Outcome dependency is where in order to achieve a goal we create a bias of our judgments about the people around us in order to make that goal seem more convincing. For example five random persons are placed on a quiz team, none had any prior interaction but they will hold each other high in esteem that they are competent enough to carry out the task. This is similar to evidence found by Birched et al. As cited in Sundae, 1999, p. 21 5) where participants part of a dating to study rated their potential partners in a positive light as opposed to others. When new information has been given which ends up conflicting what it is that is already known then there is some feeling of discomfort (Ellis-Nimrod, 2012). This is known as cognitive dissonance. Arousal is a big factor to contributor to our judgments. When referring to arousal it is more to the constraints of brain stimulation rather than the basic pleasure of satisfying our sexual needs. With reference to cognitive dissonance it was put forward that studies have showed that errors are more likely to conform in order to reduce tension in situations (Sundae, 1999). If one is asked to write against something that they do not agree to they will not object due to motivation. However this view was somewhat challenged by Daryl BEMA saying that if a person chooses to do something that they are not in favor of then this is actually their self, perception and as such they are motivated to change their attitudes. Damascus (as cited in Sundae, 1 999, p. 21 8) stated that those who suffered from brain damage were more likely to engage in danger even when they are aware of such danger. It can be said that due to brain damage these persons have less feelings of or no arousal at all and so they are susceptible to making bad decisions. Our moods when acting as a source of information can actually affect our judgment. The mood congruent of judgment is that one will give a positive answer when in a good mood and respond negatively when we are experiencing bad moods (Sundae 1999). Bower (as cited in Sundae 1999) found that: Network model our brains tend to keep our memories in nodes, which it then connects with associated other memories. Nodes can be semantic (with straightforward meaning) or affective (with emotional meaning). Thus we may have a node for happiness, with which are associated all our happy memories. Nodes can also inhibit one another (a form or negative association). Thus when we are happy it is difficult to think of sad things, and vice versa. Similarly it was found by Johnson and Trotsky (1983) that mood congruence effects shows that those who are in positive affective states have a higher expectation of successful goal attainment when compared to those of negative affective states who may have a higher likelihood judgment that they will not be able to attain their goals. Schwartz ND Color (1983) suggested that a person will rely more on how they are feeling at the moment to form a judgment. People experiencing positive core affect are likely to make progress judgments less frequently and more favorably, which will lead to greater persistence in following the current course of action. In contrast, people in negative affective states will be less persistent in maintaining the intended course of action by making progress judgments more frequently, thoroughly, and less favorably. Mood will affect our judgment but this is not something that is consistent. The Affect Infusion Model (AIM) is one that ensures that the effect of the affect on judgment depends on the reasoning strategy that the individual uses such as the heuristic process or the substantive process (Forges, 1994). With the heuristic process this is where one uses quick and easy shortcuts that require very little or no effort at all and our mood creates a bias unnoticeable. When using the substantive process our reasoning is more systematic and analytical so our mood does not have that much of an effect to create a bias on our judgment (Forges, 1995). Motivation and affect actually intertwine in influencing our judgments. Motivation is an important factor in everyday life. Our basic challenges while we set goals for ourselves. Our motivation also promotes our feelings of competence and self-worth as we achieve our goals.