Just before leaving college for their holiday break, student volunteers in a research study were instructed to write an essay describing how they spent Christmas Eve and to mail the essay within 48 hours after Christmas Eve. Half of the students were told to form an implementation intention describing exactly where and how they would write the essay before they left school for their Christmas break; the other half were not told to form an implementation intention. What were the results of the study?
A) About half of the students in each group wrote and mailed the essay before the deadline.
B) About 10 percent of the students in each group wrote and mailed the essay before the deadline.
C) About 30 percent of the students in the implementation intention group wrote and mailed the essay before the deadline, while about 70 percent of the students in the other group did so.
D) About 70 percent of the students in the implementation intention group wrote and mailed the essay before the deadline, while only about 30 percent of the students in the other group did so.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The study was testing the effect of forming an implementation intention on the completion of a task. The results showed that the students who formed an implementation intention (i.e. described exactly where and how they would write the essay) were more successful in completing the task (writing and mailing the essay before the deadline). Specifically, about 70 percent of the students in the implementation intention group completed the task before the deadline, while only about 30 percent of the students in the other group did so.

Just Before Leaving College for Their Holiday Break, Student Volunteers