This application focuses on principles of goal activation and the relationship between motivation and cognition. At the core of this work is an unexpected finding from my recent research that a strongly active goal appears to inhibit competing goals and thus to decrease people's preferences for objects that are not related to the strongly active goal. What makes this finding relevant to research on addiction is that it has been obtained not only with """"""""cognitive"""""""" goals like paying bills, but also with need for a drug (nicotine) and with a need for food. The proposed research follows up on my preliminary findings in three ways. 1) To better understand the mechanisms of goal activation. This work will explore two competing theories of how goals are activated and inhibited. One posits a fixed amount of motivational capacity, and the second posits a motivational mechanism in which the goals most strongly inhibited are those that compete directly with the currently active goal. 2) To better understand the organization of goal structures. The basic goal excitation and inhibition mechanisms being explored may provide insight into the level of abstractness of the desired end-states of the goal. 3) To better understand the relationship between approach and avoidance goals. In particular, there is evidence in both neuroscience and psychology that suggests approach and avoidance are mediated by different motivational systems. The proposed studies explore the influence of motivational focus (i.e., the tendency to be affected by approach and avoidance concerns) on the activation of approach and avoidance goals. This work will also examine the relationship between consciously experienced cravings and conflicts between approach and avoidance goals.
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