I am very familiar to procrastinating. In fact, this assignment is being completed at 11:00 PM the night before it is due. The article “When Bonuses Backfire: An Inaction Inertia Analysis of Procrastination Induced by a Missed Opportunity” about how incentives to complete a task early can actually impede efficiency of completion or cause incompletion of the task. The central idea surrounding these studies is inaction inertia. Inaction inertia is the tendency for a person to be less likely to complete a task at the second completion opportunity once the first opportunity is missed. In other words, when a person doesn’t do their work when the first opportunity arises, they’ll probably push it off the next time too.
Study 1 Five groups were set up to complete a task: read a two page article and complete the comprehension quiz. There were two control groups with a flat completion reward of 1 credit. The first group had to complete the task in 2 weeks to earn the reward, the other had 3 weeks to complete the task. The three other groups would receive the 1 credit reward for completing the task in 3 weeks but would also receive a bonus (small: ¼ credits, medium: ½ credits, or large: 1 credit) for completing the task within the first two weeks. It was found that there were two completion clusters. The small and medium bonuses’ completion rates did not vary significantly from each other but were significantly lower (about 30%) than the control groups and the large bonus groups whose completion rates did not vary significantly. However, as the bonus grew, the completion in the third week decreased. In the small bonus group, about half of those who completed the task submitted it after the bonus deadline, while in the medium group it was about 1/13 of completers submitted theirs in the final week. In the large bonus group, no one submitted the assignment after the 2 week bonus period. This result shows that the incentive increases the likelihood that inaction inertia will take hold. As the bonus increased, less participants took the second opportunity to complete the task. Study 2 Three groups were set to complete the task in 1 week and were monitored for time of completion. Each subject was promised a reward of 1 credit and $3 for task completion and a 1 credit deduction for failure to complete the task. Each needed to respond to an email stating that they would participate in the study. Two groups were informed that the first five people to respond to the email would receive a bonus (either large: $15, or small $2). These groups were later informed that they were not of the first five to respond. The final control group was not informed of a bonus. In this study, the small bonus group and the control group did not vary significantly in the time it took them to complete the task. However, the large bonus group took about three times as long to complete the task. These findings demonstrate that a perceived lost opportunity contributes to lack of motivation to work on a task. When it comes to my life, I should really get things done the first chance I get. Otherwise, inaction inertia could take ahold of me, and I’ll be less likely to do my work. Also this study plays into school. In the past teachers have tried to give my classes extra credit for turning in assignments early, but as this article shows, there is little benefit from these incentives. They can even be harmful. I need to learn to get things done right away so I’m not finishing my psychology assignment at 12:00 AM. Inaction inertia be darned. Pittman, T. S., Tykocinski, O. E., Sandman-Keinan, R., & Matthews, P. A. (2008). When bonuses backfire: An inaction inertia analysis of procrastination induced by a missed opportunity. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 21(2), 139-150. doi:10.1002/bdm.576 https://www.simple.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-managing-an-end-of-year-bonus
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by Ashley Allen Netflix or Finals Review? The answer is usually the former, but why? Why does our mind subject itself to the vicious cycle of procrastination? You come home after school exhausted and are expected to do homework or chores but all you really want to do is sit and relax, you make the soon to be a regrettable mistake and skip the work. We know that we will eventually have to do these tasks but still procrastinate. We know procrastination will only cause a negative outcome and an inevitable one as well and yet the cycle continues. Essentially procrastination is a mixture of anxiety, insecurity, frustration, resentment, self-doubt, or boredom associated with a task that causes us to delay it as much as possible. “People engage in this irrational cycle of chronic procrastination because of an inability to manage negative moods around a task,” said Dr. Fuschia Sirois, professor of psychology at the University of Sheffield. When presented with a task so complicated or draining we come to the belief that we aren't smart enough or capable to complete it. To fix this mindset the only way we know how, we push it away for as long as possible. It's not about poor time management or laziness, its an emotional complex we’ve created to shield ourselves from negative feelings we have associated with a task. Dr. Tim Pychyl, professor of psychology at Carleton University states it as “The primacy of short-term mood repair … over the longer-term pursuit of intended actions. [Procrastination is] The immediate urgency of managing negative moods” I interpret this as meaning we “just can’t” do it and even the thought of the dreadful task creates anxiety and you place a mental wall between yourself and the task. “Procrastination is a perfect example of present bias, our hard-wired tendency to prioritize short-term needs ahead of long-term ones.” Meaning our brain is subconsciously is defending itself to actions it knows will cause you distress. Embedded into our DNA we are conditioned to put our short term need first, you aren't focused on the future because you’re focused on helping yourself in the here and now. “Dr. Hershfield’s research has shown that, on a neurological level, we perceive our “future selves” more like strangers than as parts of ourselves. When we procrastinate, parts of our brains actually think that the tasks we’re putting off and the accompanying negative feelings that await us on the other side are somebody else’s problem.” Essentially we dissociate with the truth of that future and when it comes time to face that truth we blame ourselves for the situation we’ve put ourselves through. I find myself doing this constantly with homework, and eventually, when it comes time to complete it, I’m surprised to find a huge pile of work. I push it off just for a while to escape the feelings, and frustration that comes along with it. I know it's not healthy and I know it’s not an effective way to balance school work but I still do it every day. And even for people like me who are master procrastinators, that can convince themselves to skip the work every time, there are ways to make procrastination harder for yourself. Dr. Pychyl provides the “Next Action” method, to separate your task into chunks of work so even if your only doing one whole task it could feel like five. When you feel more productive, you are. Another tactic is placing obstacles like making your temptations harder to get to induce a degree of frustration or anxiety. If social media is a common distraction try deleting your apps or placing your phone in another room. To attack procrastination at another angle Dr. Sirois found that “procrastinators tend to have high stress and low self-compassion”. When you look back on all your incomplete tasks you put yourself down and beat yourself up about the situation, but this doesn’t stop you from repeating your mistakes. Dr. Sirois suggests to practice self-compassion, because it increases motivation and decreases the psychological stress of self-blame due to procrastination. So next time you skip your homework for an easier, less challenging task remember it’s truly a vicious cycle that only hurts yourself.
Source- Lieberman, C. (2019, March 25). Why You Procrastinate (It Has Nothing to Do With Self-Control). Retrieved May 25, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/smarter-living/why-you-procrastinate-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-self-control.html?rref=collection/timestopic/Psychology and Photo- pittnews.com/article/138722/news/students-and-faculty-examine procrastination-cures/ by: Cassie Young Those diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has increased three times the amount it used to be, and makes up one fifth of all claim benefits in the Department of Veterans Affairs. However, his disorder has not been easy to diagnose with only the judgement of a clinician. The fact that some people either conceal or exaggerate their symptoms, in aims to get more money or fear of being discharged, does not make it any easier to find out who really suffers from this distressing disorder. The Department of Defense has funded several projects to identify a “biomarker” such as brain scans or blood tests that would be more accurate in a diagnosis of PTSD. Through the study of voice characteristics, an algorithm has been created that has the potential to correctly identify 89 percent of PTSD patients. In a recent study at the New York University School of Medicine, researchers created an algorithm that has been fairly efficient with PTSD diagnosis. Out of 129 male military veterans that had significant combat in the field and were around the age of 32, 52 were diagnosed with PTSD while the other 77 came out clean. While in this experiment they took out all applicants who had other disorders and addictions, the problem has been raised as to how this will fit into the picture. |
Ms. Carrigan's Psych ClassWe have been reading articles about psychological studies to inform the way we live our lives. Please explore, and we hope you learn a bit about the psychology in your life! Categories
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