We all have goals, but only some of us attain these goals on a regular basis. Why are some people more successful than others? This volume answers that question. I begin with the assumption that the key to personal success is effective decision making. The theory that I developed (the self-regulation model) represents my attempt to explain the origin and nature of individual differences in decision-making competence.

I had two primary goals in writing this book. The first goal was to provide a comprehensive review of the developmental literature on decision making. I included every study that I uncovered when I conducted an exhaustive search. Psychologists, educators, and policymakers should find this review extremely helpful. The second goal was to propose a theoretical model of decision-making skill that provided a better description of this skill than prior accounts. Ultimately, I expect that my model will provide the foundation of effective instruction programs for improving decisionmaking competence. We cannot know how to improve decision making until will fully comprehend the nature of this skill.

I have been fortunate to work with colleagues and students in the Department of Human Development at the University of Maryland who have given me valuable feedback about the model over the last 5 years: Steve Porges, Allan Wigfield, Kathy Wentzel, Judith Torney-Purta, Ellin Scholnick, David Miller, Marianne Reynolds, and Bonita McClenny. In addition, I would like to thank Bob Hardy (chair of the department) and Bill Hawley (dean of the college of education) for supporting my sabbatical to finish the book, and Sekai Turner and Linda Yokoi for collecting data for several unpublished studies that I describe in chapter 7. I am also grateful for the support of Judi Amsel at Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Finally, I would like to thank my wife Barbara Wasik and my children, Julia and Tommy, for their patience and encouragement while I wrote this book.

--James P. Byrnes . . .