The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of goal orientation and goal specificity on students´ self-regulation. A 2 (learning goal vs. performance goal) by 2 (goal specificity vs. no goal) design was adopted. One hundred and twenty-seven college students, who majored in educational psychology course, were randomly assigned to the four experimental conditions: learning goal with goal specificity, learning goal with no goal, performance goal with goal specificity, and performance goal with no goal. Subjects summarized reading materials in four trials and completed a set of questionnaires designed to assess their learning strategies, self-setting goal, task interest, self-evaluative reactions, and performance at the last two trials. Subjects were given negative feedback on the third trial. The results indicated: (1) that the interaction effects of goal orientation and goal specificity on self-regulation were small; (2) that self- regulatory variables, including learning strategies, task interest, self-setting goal, attribution to efforts after success, and attribution to difficulty after failure, varied as a function of students´ goal orientation; (3) that the partial effects of goal specificity on learning strategies and causal attribution were reported after negative feedback; and (4) that learning goal was positively linked to the use of self-regulatory processes measured in this study. The results of this study were interpreted in terms of social cognitive theory and educational implications were also discussed.