Theory: Interrupting the Feedback Loop, and the Role of Expectancy

Abstract

The model of behavioral self-regulation that has been presented thus far describes the various processes that are presumed to occur when the self-regulation system is operating efficiently and smoothly, when there are no obstacles to self-regulation. To recapitulate, the model holds people to be active (though not necessarily unbiased) information processors, who go about recognizing and categorizing aspects of themselves and the various behavioral contexts in which they find themselves. Sometimes these categorizations imply or have associated with them information that is used as a standard for subsequent behavior. If attention is self-directed at that point, it evokes a matching-to-standard sequence, whereby ongoing behavior is adjusted so that it more closely approximates the standard. Such, we believe, are the mechanisms by which behavioral self-regulation occurs.

“One important set of attributes of (automatic) behavior becomes evident if the behavior is interrupted: ... the behavior loses its automatic character at once; it comes into the focus of attention and one of two things happens. Either the individual persists in the interrupted act ... or else he plans an alternative course of action.”

Kimble & Perlmuter, 1970