ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the cognitive structures and processes responsible for the production of goal-directed social action. It focuses on the origins of planned action and how plan-based actions are modified when frequently used or canned plans are not available to guide actions. The theoretical position advanced rests on the fundamental assumption that much of human conduct is ostensibly goal-directed. The question of whether the criterion of deciding the “goal-directedness” of individual conduct rests on conscious awareness of goals or on the mere external appearance of purposiveness presupposes a simplistic view of the way in which individuals process and act on information related to goal-directed action. The top-down view argues that plans are first formulated at relatively high levels of abstraction. At the other extreme, the bottom-up approach posits that people process action as it unfolds, and from these data derive more abstract plans.
