Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1977, Vol. 45, No. 6, 1116-1125 When Self-regulation Fails: Tests of Some Preliminary Hypotheses Daniel S. Kirschenbaum City of Cincinnati Department of Health Paul Karoly University of Cincinnati In a laboratory study designed to investigate variables that affect self-regulatory dysfunctioning, 96 college students volunteered to practice solving mathematics problems similar to those found on graduate school admissions tests. They were assigned to groups in which they either self-recorded inaccurate problem solving (negative self-monitoring), self-recorded accurate problem solving (positive self- monitoring), did not self-record but received immediate performance feedback (performance feedback), or did not self-record or receive immediate feedback (control). Groups were matched on ability and received either easy or difficult problems. Predictions derived from the closed loop model of self-regulation were supported in that negative self-monitoring, relative to other conditions, led to lowered self-evaluations, decreased favorableness of self-consequations (self- reinforcement/punishment), and to somewhat increased association of anxiety with performance. Negative self-monitoring also led to decreased accuracy in performance, but, in comparison to positive self-monitoring, it facilitated sus- tained self-monitoring (self-initiated viewing of a videotape of subjects' own problem solving activity) when the task was relatively simple. All groups de- creased sustained self-monitoring when the task was relatively difficult. Theoret- ical and clinical implications are discussed, and attention is drawn to the role of affect in self-regulation. Even though the empirical study of thera- peutic maintenance is an area of primary im- portance for clinicians of all theoretical per- suasions, it has received the lion's share of attention from behaviorally oriented practi- tioners (Bandura, 1969; Craighead, Kazdin, & Mahoney, 1976). Working within a broad learning theory framework, investigators of human behavioral persistence have generally This study is based on a doctoral dissertation sub- mitted to the Division of Graduate Studies of the University of Cincinnati by Daniel S. Kirschenbaum. Paul Karoly chaired the dissertation committee, and committee members Anthony Grasha and John Steffen are acknowledged for their assistance. Thanks are also extended to Richard Melton and David Brandt for statistical consultation, to Jeffrey Diel- man and Gregory Ebner who served as experimenters, and to Frederick H, Kanfer and Arthur L. Miller for reading an earlier draft of the manuscript. A portion of this study was presented at the 10th annual con- vention of the Association for Advancement of Be- havior Therapy, New York City, December 1976. Requests for reprints should be sent to Dan Kirschcnbaum, Cincinnati Health Department, Social Skills Development Program, 411 Oak Street, Suite 205, Cincinnati, Ohio 45219. sought to extend laboratory paradigms while presupposing that factors associated with the original learning situation account for "re- sistance to extinction." Hence, the use of over- learning, schedule thinning, generalized social reinforcers, booster sessions, and the like have been proposed as solutions to the maintenance and transfer problem in behavioral interven- tion (Kanfer & Phillips, 1970; Yates, 1975). A complimentary line of investigation could focus on elements within the social or self- regulatory system whose presence actively dis- rupts maintenance operations. Accordingly, the present study sought to empirically ex- amine some of the conditions potentially medi- ating self-regulatory failure. A closed loop model of self-regulation (Kanfer, 1971; Kanfer & Karoly, 1972) pro- vided a heuristic base from which to speculate about potential dysfunctional elements. The individual is said to maintain goal-directed performance by discriminating task-relevant data (self-monitoring), comparing perform- ance to task standards (self-evaluation), and by contingently self-rewarding or self-punish- 1116