Clark is planning to apply to college but as not yet decided where he will apply. Describe how the following psychological concepts and terms relate to his choice; availability heuristic, compliance, intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation and self-fulfilling prophecy.
Approximately 40% of future college students reported a "great deal" of stress, and more than 20% experienced "more stress then they could ever imagine"; the decision process of choosing which college to apply for is what is causing the stress (Cohen). Many students become indecisive and over whelmed. Choosing a colleges affects the rest of your life and is very important. Clark is planning on applying to college but hasn't been able …show more content…
Motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic, are greatly responsible. Extrinsic motivation occurs when we are motivated to perform a behavior or engage in an activity to earn a reward or avoid punishment (Cherry). This type of motivation can push someone to chose a college to earn or avoid consequences. Clark is choosing between Alabama or Florida state. If Clark choses Alabama, the college will pay for half of his tuition, yet if Clark choses Florida, he won't be able to take his car because college freshman aren't allowed to have cars on campus. Clark is more opted to chose Alabama because there's a benefit and he won't have to give up his car. Unlike Extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation involves engaging in a behavior because it is personally rewarding (Cherry). Clark enjoys playing soccer. Since Alabama has a better soccer program, Clark will chose Alabama. Florida has a superb chess club, making the decision even harder. Extrinsic motivation can make the decision easier or make it harder to chose between the two. Intrinsic motivation is choosing because it's personally rewarding and extrinsic motivation is choosing because you want to earn a reward or avoid consequences. Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation may not be the same, but they are both equally …show more content…
Explicit compliance is getting a person to do a large request, by first setting them up to do a small one. This will then lead to a snowball effect until the large request is fulfilled. Advertising is an implicit compliance. Clark continuously receives mail from Alabama, interesting him more into that school. If he decides to apply there that would be an example of implicit compliance, because he gave in, after repeatedly receiving mail. An authority figure in Clarks life, such as Clarks father, asked him to go to Florida. He continuously brought up his good times and the college, so Clark decided to go Florida. This is an example of explicit compliance. Because a self-fulfilling prophecy is unknowingly made by a persons actions, they believe it was true the whole time. A self-fulfilling prophecy is when a person unknowingly causes a prediction to come true, due to the simple fact that he or she expects it to come true. Clark believes he won't be able to get into Florida because he won't do good on his SAT. With this attitude he stresses about the SAT and does poorly on the test, enabling him to go to Florida. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It can work in many ways, it could be a positive or a