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Smarter Decisions
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PSY101 CASE STUDY #3 – WEEK 9
Smarter Decision Making through Psychology
March 13, 2020
Using your problem solving and self and social awareness skill and the information that you learned in Chapter 7 of the webtext about brain plasticity and mindset, answer the questions below.
For each question, you should write a paragraph-length response (5–7 sentences) to receive credit for this assignment. You may use your Soomo webtext as a resource.
Question 1: What kind of mindset does Reggie need to embrace to be successful? (Hint: Page 7.6 will be a great resource for this question.)
Question 2: How does Reggie’s mindset affect his brain? (Hint: Page 7.6 will help you learn about mindset.)
Question 3: In Chapter 4, you learned about memory and how to effectively study. Using Chapter 4 in the webtext, what specific strategies should Gloria suggest to Reggie so that he will be prepared for the compliance test. Why did you select these strategies? (Hint: Page 4.15 has suggestions to improve your memory.)
Question 4: If Reggie were your coworker, what important aspects of the situation would you want to keep in mind when offering advice and strategies to him? Why do you think this is important?
Sources
1. D. G. Myers & C. N. DeWall. 2019. Psychology (6th ed.). Soomo Learning. http://www.webtexts.com
3/13/2020 https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/PSY/PSY101/WEEK9/submit_content.html
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Assignment: Case Study #3
Overview
It can be hard to know how to handle a problem with a coworker or friend. That’s why the psychological concepts you’re learning in this course are so important. Understanding how the human brain works will help you master your problem solving and self and social awareness skills in your personal and professional life.
And whether at work or home, you’re learning how to read the social cues of others and recommend strategies based on psychological concepts and principles.
This week you’ll use your problem solving and self and social awareness skills to look beyond the opinions of others and figure out a problem’s cause so you can help a coworker make informed decisions. Review the scenario below to get started.
Case Study and Questions
Reggie works with Gloria and Lakeisha. He is a friendly older man who often talks about his plans for retirement in five years. He likes to make people laugh but often jokes about his struggles to learn new programs and technology.
The company recently informed the team that there will be a compliance test on new safety policies, which employees will need to pass in order to keep their jobs. The company has provided materials to study as well as optional practice exams. Gloria, Lakeisha, and Reggie are having lunch in the break room, and Gloria and Lakeisha mention that they have already signed up to take the first practice test. Reggie comments about how hard it is for him to learn a different way of doing the jobs that he has already been doing for years, joking that “you can’t teach an old man new tricks.”
However, later in the day, he stops by Gloria’s desk to find out how she is preparing for the test and asks for advice. Given that they have a month until the compliance test, Gloria is confident that she can help Reggie prepare. Using your problem solving and self and social awareness skills and the information that you learned in Chapter 7 of the webtext about brain plasticity and mindset, answer the questions below:
1. What kind of mindset does Reggie need to embrace to be successful?
2. How does Reggie’s mindset affect his brain?
3. In Chapter 4, you learned about memory and how to effectively study. Using Chapter 4 in the webtext, what specific strategies should Gloria suggest to Reggie so that he will be prepared for the compliance test, and why?
4. If Reggie was your coworker, what important aspects of the situation would you want to keep in mind when offering advice and strategies to him? Why do you think this is important?
Instructions
Use the Case Study #3 Assignment Template to record your responses. For each question, you should write a paragraph-length response (5-7 sentences) to receive credit for this assignment. You may use your Soomo webtext as a resource. Once you have completed your work, save the file and upload it to the assignment submission area.
Strayer University Writing Standards Note: Review the Strayer University Writing Standards. These are provided as a brief set of user-friendly guidelines that make it easier for you to learn the behaviors of appropriate writing (i.e., clear, professional, and ethical writing). This is meant to support the use of the template provided.
3/13/2020 PSY105 & PSY101 – Page 7.8 – Motivation and Grit
https://www.webtexts.com/courses/34215-poirier/traditional_book/chapters/3617709-motivation/pages/3187893-motivation-and-grit 1/2
Psychology
Course Notes Motivation and Grit
On this page, take note of some additional info about achievement motivation that you will need to succeed on course assignments.
7 Motivation / Page 7.8 Course Notes: Motivation and Grit On this page: 1 of 1 attempted (100%) | 1 of 1 correct (100%)
So far we have seen how self-regulation, along with self-efficacy and mindset, can affect motivation. But how do some people manage to sustain their motivation through very difficult tasks, while others give up quickly? Psychologist Angela Duckworth studied high-achieving individuals—such as National Spelling Bee contestants, West Point cadets, and sales professionals—and identified one factor as a vital ingredient of success: grit.
Going for Grit
After examining the characteristics of those who had achieved a high level of success, psychologist Angela Duckworth found that the best predictor of success across many occupational and educational contexts wasn’t IQ, high school GPA, or social intelligence. It was grit, a personality trait that she described in her 2013 TED Talk: “Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals.
Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality” (2013). Duckworth’s research shows that students who graduate from college are higher in grit than those who don’t, and she continues to study how grit can be developed over time (Hanford, 2012).
People with grit possess four psychological assets: deep interest, deliberate practice, a growth mindset, and a sense of purpose. A deep interest provides the optimum level of arousal necessary to engage in a task or skill over and over. It is what sustains spelling- bee contestants, professional basketball players, or paleontologists to continue their quest years after most people have given up on such interests.
Deliberate practice, according to Duckworth, is more than simple repetition. It involves working on your specific weaknesses in an area so you can refine your skills, and it is the kind of practice often done alone. The spelling-bee contestant who studies Latin prefixes every night is engaging in deliberate practice, as is the golfer who spends weeks perfecting a specific swing.
3/13/2020 PSY105 & PSY101 – Page 7.8 – Motivation and Grit
https://www.webtexts.com/courses/34215-poirier/traditional_book/chapters/3617709-motivation/pages/3187893-motivation-and-grit 2/2
As you can see, grit requires having a growth mindset, a high degree of self-efficacy, and well-developed self-regulation. Grit is the rare combination of passion and perseverance. It represents what can happen when we are truly passionate about achieving a goal—when we will do what it takes to sustain our motivation along the way, to monitor our progress, and to make choices that lead us closer to our goal.
Multiple-Choice Question
Which of the following BEST explains how self-efficacy, mindset, and self- regulation are related to grit?
Since grit and mindset are the same concept, self-efficacy and self-regulation are also different terms for the same concept. Each aspect proves that you just have to think positive thoughts and good things will happen to you. Developing a fixed mindset will lead to improved self-efficacy and give you the motivation to be able to regulate your behaviors. To develop grit, you must believe that your intelligence is not fixed and that you will succeed on a task, and you must be able to self-regulate as you persevere.
Correct. To develop passionate perseverance for a long-term goal, you need to believe that your perseverance will lead to improvement or success. You also need to have a growth mindset and a high degree of self-efficacy, as well as the self-regulation skills to actually persevere through difficulties.
3/13/2020 PSY105 & PSY101 – Page 7.9 – Conclusion
https://www.webtexts.com/courses/34215-poirier/traditional_book/chapters/3617709-motivation/pages/3612482-conclusion 1/2
Psychology
7 Motivation / Page 7.9 Conclusion
Conclusion
How does motivation relate to your problem solving and self and social awareness skills?
Using Psychology to Make Good Decisions
Now that you have used your self and social awareness skill to gather insight about your motivation, you can use that insight to make better decisions and improve your problem solving skill. Your motivation for a task will be highest when you feel that you will be successful (self-efficacy, growth mindset) and that the task is valuable (self-regulation, grit). So when you face a difficult problem, you can create motivation by interpreting the problem as a doable challenge and by feeling confident that you can develop new knowledge and skills as you work.
Along with exhibiting that growth mindset and self- efficacy, you can also practice metacognition and self-regulation by evaluating current strategies or learning new ones as you monitor your progress toward a goal. If you need to motivate other people, such as students or employees, you can now recognize why you should set high, clear standards and provide specific feedback that helps people self-regulate and develop a growth mindset. You can use your self and social awareness skill to consider how to ensure that the people around you experience enough, but not too much, physiological arousal.
Quick Chapter Review
This week you honed your problem solving skill by reflecting on your own motivation. You also improved your self and social awareness skill by learning what motivates people. Many of the concepts you learned this week built on what you have already learned about emotions, personality, cognition, and self and social awareness. Let’s take a few minutes to review the key concepts from this week:
Motivation has been studied from four main perspectives: instincts, drive- reduction, arousal, and a hierarchy of needs. Certain types of thoughts or beliefs affect motivation:
Metacognition involves knowing yourself, knowing how to implement strategies, and being able to regulate yourself. It influences motivation by
3/13/2020 PSY105 & PSY101 – Page 7.9 – Conclusion
https://www.webtexts.com/courses/34215-poirier/traditional_book/chapters/3617709-motivation/pages/3612482-conclusion 2/2
allowing you to plan, monitor, and evaluate your progress toward a goal. Metacognition is also a necessary part of your self and social awareness skill. Self-efficacy is a task-specific belief in your ability. A higher degree of self- efficacy promotes motivation—you are more motivated to do things you feel confident about, even when you face challenges. Mindset is the tendency to see intelligence or ability either as something that is fixed, or as something that can grow. When you have a growth mindset, you view ability as something that develops over time, with practice.
Challenges then become opportunities to learn and get better. Self-regulation is the process of controlling your behaviors, thoughts, and emotions in order to reach specific goals or standards of behavior. It relates to metacognition because it requires you to know your strengths and strategies and be able to monitor your progress. Grit is the ability to sustain high levels of motivation and passion for a goal over a long period of time. It requires a growth mindset, a high degree of self- efficacy and metacognition, and well-developed self-regulation skills. Developing grit greatly improves your problem solving skill.
Coming Up: Decision Making
So far in this course, we have discussed concepts that influence decision making. In this chapter, you saw how decisions are influenced by your level of motivation or by certain beliefs, such as mindset or self-efficacy. In the next chapter, you will learn about different strategies for solving problems and making decisions, and you will apply what you have learned in this course to solve problems presented in a case study.
You’ve reached the end of Chapter 7. Before moving on, take a break and reflect on what you’ve learned here. When you’re ready, use the Table of Contents menu in the upper left corner of this screen to select the chapter you want to view next. close
