Modelo equivalente del perfil

Research in this field is underpinned by the notion that the tasks employed re-quire self-control to some extent. Given that performance on the depletion task in these studies is very rarely examined, it is therefore difficult to understand whether the task is accurately recruiting self-regulation resources, or simply just appears to

be. Also important to note is that the self-regulation resource is presented in the mod-els as a limited global reserve. This reserve powers a number of tasks which drain the reserve of its’ processing power. Other complex factors that are linked to the reserve are motivational drive, attentional control, and complex cognitive functioning.

As there is no current operational definition of depletion or detailed model of regulation processing, this means that any task, which appears to require self-control processing can be used in the research largely without question, and provided the follow-up task also requires self-control on a face validity basis, can be used to measure depletion regardless of the domain. Even if these criteria are met, depletion tasks range from being physically demanding to mentally demanding as they are as-sumed to utilise one ambiguous self-regulation resource. To address these conceptual issues, Lurquin and Miyake (2017) first suggest defining depletion operationally, which will allow the research field to appropriately measure an agreed upon concept of self-regulation. Furthermore, the employment of validated tasks with invalidated self-regulation tasks through correlational designs will help to validate self-regula-tion measures (Lurquin & Miyake, 2017). Thereby, if a conceptual link can be identi-fied between validated outcome measures and not validated self-regulation tasks, this could help to further our understanding of depletion and the self-regulatory resource, and in turn validate self-regulation measures. Schmeichel et al. (2003) have sug-gested that measures of executive function may well be a suitable candidate for such shared resources. Hypothetically, all executive functioning tasks should be affected by self-regulatory depletion, as they all require higher cognitive processing and at-tentional control, and should thereby be deemed as sufficiently effortful and tiring.

These standards fit the requirements for the recruitment and eventual depletion of self-regulation processes as identified by Schmeichel et al. (2003).

De Houwer (2011) makes a similar point to Lurquin and Miyake (2017). He critiqued the current methods in cognitive science, but presented a dual cognitive-functional analysis in order to reduce limitations in the field arguing that one needs to separate behavioural effects from the mental constructs that supposedly underpin them. One concern is that cognitive science often relies on inferring evidence to pre-sent a latent construct, as these measures are generally unconscious and cannot be di-rectly measured. Evidence for such constructs then rely on measurable behavioural changes, from which cognitive theories are applied to. For example, working memory capacity is inferred from measurable behavioural constructs, such as the

limit of items that can be recalled. The cognitive constructs, such as binding and maintenance processes, then help to explain these effects, that is, how information can be processed and maintained in memory. This method ultimately limits the con-clusions that can be confidently made on these latent constructs. De Houwer (2011) then made the following suggestions for cognitive science to follow. Firstly, the need to separate conceptual terminology between constructs (i.e., different terms for cog-nitive and functional variables) to limit confusion. When observing effects, behav-ioural or functional markers should be operationalised for what is expected to be found. That is to say, a clear behavioural definition of the expected effect should be provided. Measurable evidence should then be described as behavioural, yet behav-ioural effects should not be acknowledged by cognitive constructs alone. Rather, be-havioural effects should accompany cognitive constructs. Conclusions should be drawn by providing parallel explanations for behavioural theories on cognitive ef-fects and vice versa (De Houwer, 2011). These suggestions are relevant to the pre-sent change in self-regulation literature and approaching the replication of the deple-tion effect. In short, one must first apply a funcdeple-tional approach by identifying the be-havioural markers of a phenomenon. It is at this stage that cognitive approaches are appropriate and have the potential to explore the causal relations between the envi-ronment and behaviour.

In adopting this approach to the strength model of self-control, three behav-ioural markers can be derived using the sequential-task paradigm. Firstly, if resource depletion occurs through repeated acts of self-regulation, then performance decre-ments should be observable over time on the depletion task. Arber et al. (2017) have shown that target identification in the letter-crossing task, exhibits this functional marker. Secondly, if a global, undifferentiated set of resources underpins the deple-tion effect, then there should be shared variance between the tasks with the func-tional maker being evident through significant correlations between performance measures on depletion and outcome tasks. The third behavioural marker is the tradi-tional one. Those who have expended more resources on the depletion task should show greater decrements on the outcome task. This thesis argues that all three behav-ioural markers need to be observed for the strength theory to be viable.

The functional approach attempts to describe the relationships between varia-bles, not to explain them. The cognitive component of the functional-cognitive

ap-proach is to interpret the observed behavioural outcomes and, if need be, discrimi-nate between possible causal relations. For example, the global reserve of the

strength model predicts that there should be correlations between any combination of self-regulation and effortful outcome tasks. Conversely, the selective depletion ap-proach would predict that correlations would exist only if both tasks involved execu-tive function. Some combinations of outcome and depletion tasks would then not necessarily result in the behaviours markers being observed. Thus, following from Schmeichel et al. (2003), the thesis explores the relationship between executive func-tion and the funcfunc-tional markers, acknowledging the fact that other causal mecha-nisms, such as changes in motivation, may also provide alternative accounts of the observed outcomes.