fei75766_ch18_569-609.indd 596  02/24/20 10:50 AM
Part VI    Learning-Cognitive Theories596
Cognitive-Affective Units
In1973, Mischel proposed asetoffiveoverlapping, relatively stable person vari-
ables thatinteract withthesituation todetermine behavior. More than30years of
research havecaused Mischel andhisassociates tobroaden theirconception ofthese 
variables, which theycallcognitive-affective units (Mischel, 1999, 2004; Mischel &
Ayduk, 2002; Mischel &Shoda, 1995, 1998, 1999). These person variables shifted 
theemphasis from what aperson has(i.e.,global traits) towhat aperson doesina
particular situation. What aperson doesincludes more thanactions; itincludes cogni -
tiveandaffective qualities suchasthinking, planning, feeling, andevaluating. 
Cognitive-affective units include allthose psychological, social, andphysiologi -
calaspects ofpeople thatcause them tointeract withtheirenvironment witharela-
tively stable pattern ofvariation. These units include people’s (1)encoding strategies, 
(2)competencies andself-regulatory strategies, (3)expectancies andbeliefs, (4)goals 
andvalues, and(5)affective responses.
Encoding Strategies
Oneimportant cognitive-affective unitthatultimately affects behavior ispeople’s 
personal constructs andencoding strategies: thatis,people’s ways ofcategorizing 
information received from external stimuli. People usecognitive processes totrans -
form these stimuli intopersonal constructs, including theirself-concept, theirviewof
other people, andtheirwayoflooking attheworld. Different people encode thesame 
events indifferent ways, which accounts forindividual differences inpersonal con-
structs. Forexample, oneperson mayreact angrily when insulted, whereas another 
maychoose toignore thesame insult. Inaddition, thesame person mayencode the
same event differently indifferent situations. Forexample, awoman whoordinarily 
construes atelephone callfrom herbestfriend asapleasant experience mayinone
situation perceive itasanuisance. 
Stimulus inputs aresubstantially altered bywhat people selectively attend, how
theyinterpret theirexperience, andthewayinwhich theycategorize those inputs. 
Mischel andformer PhDstudent BertMoore (1973) found thatchildren cantrans -
form environmental events byfocusing onselected aspects ofstimulus inputs. Inthis
delay-of-gratification study, children exposed topictures ofrewards (snacks orpen-
nies) wereabletowaitlonger fortherewards thanwerechildren whowereencour -
agedtocognitively construct (imagine) realrewards while viewing thepictures. A
previous study (Mischel, Ebbesen, &Zeiss, 1972) haddemonstrated thatchildren 
exposed torealrewards during awaitperiod hadmore difficulty waiting thanthose 
exposed tonoreward. Results ofthese twostudies suggested that,inatleastsome 
situations, cognitive transformations ofstimuli canhaveabout thesame effect as
actual stimuli. 
Competencies and Self-Regulatory Strategies
Howwebehave depends inpartonthepotential behaviors available tous,ourbeliefs of
whatwecando,ourplans andstrategies forenacting behaviors, andourexpectancies 
forsuccess (Mischel, Cantor, &Feldman, 1996). Ourbeliefs inwhatwecandorelate 
toourcompetencies. Mischel (1990) usedtheterm“competencies” torefertothatvast
array ofinformation weacquire about theworld andourrelationship toit.Byobserving Final PDF to printer