Briefly discuss two criticisms of the cognitive-self-regulation perspective
What will be an ideal response?
Among the possibilities, (1) Some of those who speak from the cognitive self-regulation perspective take the computer metaphor very literally, but, knowing how a computer accomplishes something does not necessarily tell us anything about how people do the same thing; (2) Computers or robots cannot possibly serve as adequate models for human behavior, since both have limitations humans do not. For example, humans have free will and make their own decisions, while computers and robots rely on programs they have been given; (3) The cognitive approach, in particular, is little more than a transplanting of cognitive psychology into the subject matter of personality; (4) A model of human behavior based on feedback principles is merely a model of homeostasis ("steady state"). Such mechanisms make sense when talking about control over body temperature, etc., but people rarely have behavioral goals that involve steady states; (5) The feedback approach fails to deal effectively with the homunculus problem (refers to a hypothetical tiny man who sits inside your head and tells you what to do). The question is where do the highest-order goals come from? What tells the "little man" what to do? (6) The cognitive self-regulation perspective seems too mechanistic; too much a description from the outside looking in, with too little of the feel of what it means to be a person who has a personality.
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In his explanation of physical events, Galileo emphasized:
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Your good friend Agnes has difficulty reading road signs when she drives. What condition does she likely exhibit?
a. Her eyeballs are too short. c. She is farsighted. b. She has presbyopia. d. She is nearsighted.
Which parenting style is most likely to have strict guidelines about what is right and wrong and to expect the child to adhere to those guidelines without question?
a. authoritarian parents c. restrictive parents b. permissive parents d. authoritative parents
Fulero and Finkel (1991) compared mock jurors' responses to expert testimony regarding the mental state of a defendant. They found that
A. mental-health experts providing only diagnostic testimony were the most influential. B. mental-health experts providing a diagnosis and a penultimate opinion regarding the defendant's understanding of wrongfulness were the most influential. C. mental-health experts providing a diagnosis, penultimate opinion, and an ultimate opinion about the defendant's mental state at the time of the act were the most influential. D. mental-health experts did not differ in the extent to which they influenced mock jurors.