This study has two major goals:
1. test methods to measure goal focus across the entire lifespan
2. get first answers on how goal focus changes across the lifespan
Since goal focus has not been studied across the lifespan before (and adequate measures are missing), this is a descriptive study in which we will not engage in strict hypothesis testing. However, we had a close look at the existing literature on goals, the perception of goal-directed actions and the development of representations in general, which helped us formulate first ideas how goal focus might change across the lifespan.
For details on the theoretical considerations and possible changes in goal focus, see the attached "Theoretical considerations" file.
Furthermore, we conducted several pretests and pilot studies to test and adapt the developed measures. An overview of these tests is presented in the "Pretests_Piloting" document.
For details on the methods used in this study and expected results, see the attached "Method" files. Please note that we attached a "Method_original_setup" file to show what the originally planned setup looked like. Further, the "Method_adapted_setup" file presents the setup that will be used in the main study (with changes resulting from piloting).