ABSTRACT
The scientific purpose of the dissertation was to try out an empirical method for identifying moderator relationships in prediction of students' success in medical school. Moderator variables permit predictors such as personality traits to predict differently under different circumstances. A long empirical project and a review of the literature on play, dreams, daydreaming, and projective test responses strongly suggested an interaction of cues and motivational factors in triggering thought content. The term thoughts refer loosely to any mental content, whether covert verbal activity such as self-talk or mental images. With methods in place for assessing thoughts and concerns, it became possible to ask specific questions regarding motivational influences—and specifically of concerns—on moment-to-moment thought. The initial model for this process posited that concerns sensitized people to respond cognitively to cues associated with the concern, and that under many circumstances the response would include thought content regarding the concern with which the cue was associated.
