Psychological skills training are an important part of training programs in sports and in other areas of life. Goal setting is one particular area of a psychological skills training that is very important. Another very important area of psychological skills training is concentration. These are the two areas that I have chosen to focus on so that I believe can achieve the optimal level of performance in academics.
Goal Setting and concentration go hand in hand with each other when you are trying to attain a certain goal or achievement. Recently, back on January 31st, I received a grade of 70 percent on my first exam in finance. Although, I scored 10 points higher than the class average, I still believe that I can do better. So I have set a goal for myself to achieve at least an 80 percent or better on the second exam, which is scheduled for February 21st.
According to Casey Spieker and Verlin Hinsz, research shows that challenging and specific goals in conjunction with high self-efficacy lead to higher levels of task performance. The impact of repeated success and failure on personal goals and self-efficacy was examined. Undergraduate students initially participated in two-idea generation tasks in which they generated different uses for common objects, such as a knife, which provided them with opportunities to either succeed or fail in goal attainment. Participants then set personal goals and judged their self-efficacy for a subsequent idea generation trial. Our results show that participants who experienced repealed successes set higher personal goals than did those with only a single success, while self-efficacy was not significantly influenced by repealed success or failure. These findings suggest that situational and personal factors such as reactions to prior successes and failures may influence persona! Goals on future tasks do not seem to have an influence on self-efficacy (Spieker p 191-197).
References: Allman, William F. The Mental Edge. U.S. News & World Report; 8/3/92, Vol. 113 Issue 5, p. 50 Rader, Laura A. Goal Setting for Students and Teachers. Clearing House. Jan/Feb 2005, Vol. 78 Issue 3, p.124 Database: Academic Search Premier Spieker, Casey J., Hinsz, Verlin B. Repeated Success and Failure Influences on Self-Efficacy and Personal Goals. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal; 2004, Vol. 32 Issue 2, p. 191-197 Weinberg, Robert S., Gould, Daniel. (2003) Foundations of Sport & Exercise Psychology. USA