A reinforcer is different from reward, in that reinforcement is intended to create a measured increase in the rate of a desirable behavior following the addition of something to the environment.
15、選擇的定義
Are we free to make our own choices? To answer the question, we must first cut the fat off the widely used definition of choice. Defining choice in this situation can be a difficult task. A popular definition of choice could be a mental process through which an individual weighs the consequences of their actions to create an ideal image of their preference to the outcome of their actions. But, when you look at this definition, you see that it suggests that someone who fails to carefully analyze their actions doesn’t actually make choices. Can we assume by this definition that choices are free? We can say yes, because according to this definition, if we do carefully analyze our actions, we create the outcome that we choose.
16、選擇的自由性
Some people may say choice is not free. They may say that if we do not reflect carefully on our actions, we are not taking responsibility for them, leaving the cause of the action to some other force. When looking at the word responsibility in the one side of the argument, one may still draw up a few questions that need to be explained. If we are ignorant of our own responsibility in taking a course of action, how are we to know that we are not reflecting carefully on our actions? What are the standards of responsibility when reflecting on our actions? What if we do something that we do not know is wrong? To answer these criticisms, ignorance of our actions is natural and cannot affect our ability to rationalize to the best of our ability. In a given situation where it is impossible to know what is best, we have the ability to do what we think is best in that given situation. Assuming that an individual has the power to think about and carefully consider choices, they do have a free will within them that they can bring out in any situation, even if the person has no knowledge of what to do in that certain situation.
17、選擇理論的十大公理
The Ten Axioms of Choice Theory：
1.The only person whose behavior we can control is our own.
2.All we can give another person is information.
3.All long-lasting psychological problems are relationship problems.
4.The problem relationship is always part of our present life.
5.What happened in the past has everything to do with what we are today, but we can only satisfy our basic needs right now and plan to continue satisfying them in the future.
6.We can only satisfy our needs by satisfying the pictures in our dream.
7.All we do is to behave.
8.All behavior is Total Behavior and is made up of four components:acting, thinking, feeling and physiology.
9.All Total Behavior is chosen, but we only have direct control over the acting and thinking components. We can only control our feeling and physiology indirectly through how we choose to act and think.
10.All total behavior is designated by verbs and named by the part that is the most recognizable.
18、選擇的自由性
（Are we free to make our own choices?） Pre-destination can often bring up the question as to whether we as humans control our own actions. Are we free to make our own choices, or is everything we do pre-determined by a supernatural being of some sort? Is it safe to say that we are responsible for our own choices? Do we own a free will that allows us to choose our life path, or are our actions pre-determined, making our exertions useless?
We do have a free will and are quite able to make our own choices.
19、影響自由意誌的兩大因素：意識和下意識
There are two popular elements, the conscious and the unconscious. The conscious represents things we are aware of, and the unconscious represents what we are not aware of. When we are conscious, we are aware from moment to moment in our ordinary everyday experiences. For example, when at work, I am aware of everyone and everything in my environment, phones, fax machine, co-workers, and computers. I will know who is at work and who is not. I know who has pictures of their children on their desk and who does not. The conscious element simply allows me to see, feel, and actively be aware. The unconscious is a powerful element which affects and drives memories and motives. The unconscious represents an area that is much deeper than the surface of our mind. An obvious example of the unconscious is our dreams. The unconscious says things about our lives through pictures and symbols. This element, if recognized, will prevent free will from occurring and can directly affect our behavior. Thus, the unconscious is a powerful force that affects almost everything we do.
20、弗洛伊德觀點：影響決策的三大要素
Sigmund Freud proposes three aspects of our personality structure that directly effects our decisions. The elements that Sigmund Freud talks about are the Id, Ego, and Super Ego. These three elements play an important role in our decisions and support the view of not having free will.
The Id is the source of our basic drives and all of our psychological energy. Sigmund Freud also states that we all are born with this element. The Id is also refereed to the pleasure principle, which also represents self-gratification. The Id has two basic drives—sex and aggression. The Id is the part of us that is seeking pleasure through the immediate satisfaction of its needs. In reference to the Id, it is always trying to satisfy every impulse whenever and wherever, it knows no limits.
The second element of our personality is the ego; Freud relates this as the reality principle. The ego is the practical side of our personality; it is aware of what’s possible and impossible and is able to accept limits and to act in a practical way. The ego’s main purpose is to figure out appropriate ways to satisfy the id’s desire.
In a sense, the ego is like congress and the id the president. The president can not take major actions without the approval of congress. In short, the id supplies the power and the ego supplies the control. The reaction of the two acts as a driving force in which our decisions are made, thus eliminating free will.
21、弗洛伊德觀點：選擇的自由性及阻止自由意誌的三大因素
People are not free and do not have free will due to unseen forces within the human mind and areas of the unconscious which is not aware to us. There are arguments that go against the principle of free will in reference to the unconscious. Many people who have done studies in this area conclude that the unconscious can be seen or measured, so it is able to exist.
According to Sigmund Freud, the unconscious does exist and the areas of the human mind control and affect our behavior. Freud also states that because of these forces, free will is prevented. Freud proposes three aspects of our personality that prevent free will. They are the Id, Ego, and the Super Ego. Many People feel they are free and possess free will. They do not feel that some mechanism in their mind is the basis for their behavior and actions. They feel that they have the ability to size up a situation, think about their options, and choose how they will act. What we do then, is the result of our own deliberate free choice. There are unseen forces that prevent free will. These unseen forces along with other factors prevent us from acting freely.
22、人的局限性
History has taught us that from the advent of time, man has proven himself to be his own worst enemy. Throughout history, various controversies and disputes have progressed into major wars with devastating effects. Some people believe that these are the subsequent results of increasing power in man. To many, it may seem that the acquisition of varying degrees of power and influence cause marked changes in otherwise placid personalities. The more power one has, the more he wants and, what is worst, he is never satisfied. This mentality, however, is not accelerated by power, but rather by an inner drive which comes as a result of one’s limitations.
23、征服是人的局限性的結果
Disputes and world conquests are not manifestations of human power, but the inevitable results of human limitations. Along with power comes a keener sense of security and self-confidence which, when threatened by others or discontented factors, becomes the basis for disputes and world conquests. This takes shape when an individual has reached his or her limitations as a human being. An individual’s limitations can be regarded as his or her imperfections, which is the bridge that separates man from the supreme beings. These limitations encompass the lack of ability to deal with moral, emotional, mental and physical predicaments. These can be further categorized as insecurity, poverty, fear, lust, greed, and lack of knowledge among other things. These are the limitations that are present in a human being, and that actuates him or her to abuse and misuse power. With the absence of these limitations, there would be no compulsive ordinance for any disputes and conquests, because an individual’s emotions and confidence would then be directed towards compromise. If an individual is confined to accept reality as it is, then he or she will be led into having an egocentric mentality, which will be transformed into disputes.
24、自我控製
The self-control of motivation is increasingly understood as a subset of emotional intelligence; a person may be highly intelligent according to a more conservative definition （as measured by many intelligence tests）, yet unmotivated to dedicate this intelligence to certain tasks. Yale School of Management Professor Victor Vroom’s “expectancy theory” provides an account of when people will decide whether to exert self-control to pursue a particular goal.
25、自我意象的概念
Self-efficacy is an impression that one is capable of performing in a certain manner or attaining certain goals. It is a belief that one has the capabilities to execute the courses of actions required to manage prospective situations. Unlike efficacy, which is the power to produce an effect （in essence, competence）, self-efficacy is the belief （whether or not accurate） that one has the power to produce that effect. For example, a person with high self—efficacy may engage in a more health related activity when an illness occurs, whereas a person with low self-efficacy would result in feelings of hopelessness.
It is important here to understand the distinction between self-esteem and self-efficacy. Self-esteem relates to a person’s sense of self-worth, whereas self-efficacy relates to a person’s perception of their ability to reach a goal. For example, say a person is a terrible rock climber. They would likely have a poor self-efficacy in regard to rock climbing, but this wouldn’t need to affect their self-esteem; most people don’t invest much of their self-esteem in this activity.
26、影響自我意象的四大因素
Four sources affecting self-efficacy:
1.Experience
“Mastery experience” is the most important factor deciding a person’s self-efficacy. Simply put, success raises self-efficacy, and failure lowers it.
“Children cannot be fooled by empty praise and condescending encouragement. They may have to accept artificial bolstering of their self-esteem in lieu of something better, but what I call their accruing ego identity gains real strength only from wholehearted and consistent recognition of real accomplishment, that is, achievement that has meaning in their culture.”
2.Modeling—“Vicarious Experience”
“If they can do it, I can do it as well.” This is a process of comparison between a person and someone else. When people see someone succeeding in something, their self-efficacy will increase; and when they see people failing, their self-efficacy will decrease. This process is more effectual When the person sees themselves as similar to his or her model. If a peer who is perceived as having similar ability succeeds, this will likely increase an observer’s self-efficacy. Although not as influential as past experience, modeling is a powerful influence when a person is particularly unsure of him- or herself.
3.Social Persuasions
Social persuasions relate to encouragements/discouragements. These can have a strong influence—most people remember times where something said to them significantly altered their confidence. When positive persuasions increase self-efficacy, negative persuasions decrease it. It is generally easier to decrease someone’s self-efficacy than it is to increase it.
4.Physiological Factors
In unusual, stressful situations, people commonly exhibit signs of distress: shakes, aches and pains, fatigue, fear, nausea, etc. A person’s perceptions of these responses can markedly alter a person’s self-efficacy. If a person gets “butterflies in the stomach” before public speaking, a person with low self-efficacy may take this as a sign of their own inability, thus decreasing their efficacy further. In contrast, a person with high self-efficacy is likely to interpret such physiological signs as normal and unrelated to his or her actual ability, which will continue to be seen as a disregard for trembling hands, etc. Thus, it is the person’s belief on the implications of their physiological response that alters their self-efficacy, rather than the sheer power of the response.
27、自我意象與思維模式
Low self-efficacy can lead people to believe tasks are harder than they actually are. This often results in poor task planning, as well as increased stress. Observational evidence shows that people become erratic and unpredictable when engaging in a task in which they have low efficacy. On the other hand, people with high self-efficacy often take a wider picture of a task in order to take the best route of action. People with high self-efficacy are shown to be encouraged by obstacles to greater effort. Self-efficacy also affects how people respond to failure. A person with a high efficacy will attribute the failure to external factors, where a person with low self-efficacy will attribute failure to low ability. For example, a person with high efficacy in regards to mathematics may attribute a poor result to a harder than usual test, feeling sick, or lack of effort. A person with a low efficacy will attribute the result to poor ability in mathem-atics.
28、自我意象與動機和世界觀
Motivation:
People with high self-efficacy in a task are more likely to spend more effort, and persist longer than those with low efficacy. On the other hand, low self-efficacy provides an incentive to learn more about the subject. As a result, someone with a high efficacy may not prepare sufficiently for a task.
The Destiny Idea: