Practice benefits locomotors: regulatory mode complementarity and task performance

Locomotion is the self-regulatory aspect concerned with movement from state to state, whereas assessment is the self-regulatory aspect concerned with critical evaluation of options. Successful goal pursuit usually requires that both locomotion and assessment work together; however, there may be situations in which such complementarity is unnecessary for optimal performance. In this article, we aim to shed light on the circumstances in which locomotion and assessment complementarity are necessary for adequate performance. In a two-part study, we find that high locomotion alone is sufficient to ensure optimal performance on simple tasks. On complex tasks, however, both high locomotion and high assessment are necessary for optimal performance. We also find that after individuals have had practice on a task, high locomotors are again the best performers, regardless of whether the task is simple or complex. These findings have implications for work performance and goal pursuit more generally.