Elimination of vicarious reinforcement effects within an implicit reward situation.

The presence of cognitive evaluations of reward conditions in vicarious reward situations set in typical classrooms has been suggested in theoretical literature. The present study investigated this suggestion by examining the effect of free- versus no-talk conditions between target and peer Ss under vicarious reward conditions. Ss were 18 boys and 14 girls from a typical 4th-grade classroom. Data collected on a task involving reproduction of the letters of the alphabet showed that vicarious reinforcement effects occurred when verbal communication of reward enjoyment to nonreward Ss was possible but not when such communication was restricted. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Social categorization and the truly false consensus effect": Correction to Krueger and Zeiger.

Reports an error in "Social categorization and the truly false consensus effect" by Joachim Krueger and Joanna S. Zeiger (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1993[Oct], Vol 65[4], 670-680). In this article, the second and third column headings of Table 2 were inadvertently transposed. The corrected table is provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1994-33435-001.) The false consensus effect involves adequate inductive reasoning and egocentric biases. To detect truly false consensus effects (TFCEs), item endorsements were correlated with the differences between estimated and actual consensus within Ss. In Exp 1, Ss overgeneralized from themselves to gender in-groups and to the overall population, but not to gender out-groups. Exps 2 and 3 demonstrated intuitive understanding of consensus bias. Another person's choices were inferred from that person's population estimates or estimates about the gender in-group. In Exp 4, Ss inferred that consensus estimates for a behavior were higher among people who were willing to engage in that behavior than among those who were not. Implications of these findings for general induction, social categorization, and the psychological processes underlying TFCEs are discussed. [A correction concerning this article appears in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1993, Vol 65(6), 1090. The second and third column headings of Table 2 were inadvertently transposed and the corrected table is included.] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pseudomemory effects over time in the hypnotic setting.

Highly (n?=?36), moderately (n?=?26), and low (n?=?48) susceptible Ss were administered either hypnosis or waking instruction to examine the hypothesis that pseudomemory will occur for hypnotic Ss as long as 2 wks after suggestions are given for accepting false events. Accuracy and confidence of memory were measured for all Ss, and memory was examined for free recall, structured recall, and recognition. Results indicated persistence of pseudomemory for the 2-wk period for both highly and moderately susceptible Ss. Data highlighted the multifaceted operation of skill, contextual, and state instruction factors, and a hypothesis that ambiguity of communication when suggestion is delivered plays a part in the maintenance of pseudomemory over time is offered for further testing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of reward contingency and performance feedback on intrinsic motivation.

93 high school students were offered performance or task-contingent rewards or no reward for doing hidden-figures puzzles. Ss offered performance-contingent rewards all received positive feedback concerning performance, and half the Ss in task-contingent and no-reward conditions received the same positive feedback. Performance-contingent rewards were found to undermine intrinsic motivation more than task-contingent ones, which produced decrements relative to control conditions of no reward, supporting E. Deci's (1972, 1975) control model. Positive feedback enhanced intrinsic motivation; this effect was independent of reward effects. A recall measure indicated that Ss receiving performance-contingent rewards remembered fewer performance-irrelevant details about the task, suggesting that rewards may affect the process of task involvement as well as its motivational outcomes. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Arousal of frustration following gradual reductions in reward magnitude in rats.

16 male Holtzman rats were assigned to each of 4 groups; Ss were given a 14-pellet reward for 60 runway acquisition trials. During a subsequent 18-trial shift phase, one group was shifted to a 1-pellet reward on Trial 1, a 2nd was shifted on Trial 13, and a 3rd was given 1 less pellet each trial and then 1 pellet for the last 6 trials. The speeds of all 3 groups decreased to a level below that of a control group given a 1-pellet reward throughout training. All Ss were then given hurdle-jump training to escape from the 1-pellet reward to a neutral box. All 3 shifted groups showed acquisition of the response, whereas the control group did not. Results indicate that both gradual and abrupt reward reductions arouse frustration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The transparency of denial: Briefing in the debriefing paradigm.

Tested a new conceptualization of the impression-perseverance effect, using 92 undergraduates. As in earlier studies (e.g., Exp II conducted by L. Ross et al [see PA, Vol 55:7163]), some actor and observer Ss were given false feedback about the actor–Ss' performance in the experiment and then were informed during debriefing that the feedback had not been genuine. Other Ss, however, received a briefing about the falsity of the feedback before the task performance. These briefed Ss, like the debriefed Ss, subsequently made estimates of the actors' actual performance on the task that were significantly influenced in the direction of the false feedback. The briefed Ss did not, however, follow the debriefed Ss in making ability attributions to the actor in line with their performance estimates. Results cast doubt on the notion that attributional processing of the false information, as observed in the debriefing condition, is a necessary component of the perseverance effect. The idea that denied information and the denial may contribute independently to subsequent impressions is offered as an alternative explanation of briefing and debriefing phenomena. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of physical countermeasures on the physiological detection of deception.

In Exp I, 48 undergraduates were divided into 4 groups, 3 of which enacted a mock crime. Two of these guilty groups were trained in the use of a countermeasure, either biting the tongue (pain countermeasure) or pressing the toes against the floor (muscle countermeasure) during the control question zones of the control question test (CQT). All countermeasure Ss were given extensive information about the nature of the CQT. Results show that no significant effects for countermeasures were found. In Exp II, 57 Ss were divided into 3 groups, 2 of which enacted a mock crime, to assess the effects of additional training and concurrent use of both countermeasures. Results show that countermeasure Ss produced 47% false negative outcomes as compared to no false negatives for guilty control Ss. False negative outcomes occurred when Ss were able to produce physiological responses that were larger to control questions than to relevant questions. Findings should be qualified by the possibility that the countermeasure task would be more difficult if the relevant questions dealt with a real crime in an actual investigation. It is concluded that a substantial number of Ss can be trained to defeat a CQT in a laboratory paradigm. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Knowledge of performance as an incentive in repetitive, monotonous tasks.

This experiment tried to isolate the purely motivational effect of knowledge of performance from its informational and rewarding aspects. The Ss worked an hour a day, for 24 days, punching random digits into a teletype tape. They were told they were programming a computer and efforts were made to lend credibility to this ficion. 16 males undergraduate sudents were assigned to 1 of 4 groups. Ss in 1 group received no information about their output. In 2 other groups, the Ss could see a counter which taillied every stroke on the perforator and could, if they so chose, determine their daily work output. In the 4th group Ss were required to write down their output at the end of 15, 30, and 45 minutes, "for accounting purposes only." No significant differences were discovered among the 4 groups. Suggestions are offered to account for the discrepancy between the results of this experiment and those of a similar experiment reported by Gibbs and Brown in 1955. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream deprivation and facilitation with hypnosis.

Attempted to modify sleep and dreaming through the administration of various posthypnotic suggestions. Ss were 17 male undergraduates who were selected (using the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility) for high susceptibility to hypnosis. After 2 adaptation nights, 5 Ss were given a dream-deprivation suggestion, 8 were given a suggestion of dream-facilitation, and the remaining 4 Ss were administered a neutral posthypnotic suggestion. Subjective dream reports were dramatically affected in the predicted directions. Electrophysiological changes were also noted in certain Ss, although these results were not nearly as consistent as the subjective data. The dream-deprivation group had significantly more Stage I sleep than the other 2 groups, and certain of these Ss had much less REM sleep. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of differences in suggestibility within self- and external-control conditions.

Studied possible effects of differences in waking suggestibility on performance within self- and external-control conditions. 10 high-suggestible and 10 low-suggestible undergraduate Ss, as measured by body sway, were assigned to each of 3 experimental conditions—self-control, external-control, and no reward. Response rates of self and external groups were higher than the no-reward group. However, response rates of high-suggestible Ss in the self-control condition were not significantly different than similar Ss in the no-reward groups. Moreover, performance of high- and low-suggestible Ss was not significantly different in the external-control condition, whereas response rates of high-suggestible Ss were significantly lower than low-suggestible Ss in the self-control condition. It is concluded that low-suggestible Ss respond equally well to either self- or external demands and rewards, whereas high-suggestible Ss are so dependent on external factors that their performance is minimal when self-determination of reward contingencies is required. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suggested amnesia and disorganized recall in hypnotic and task-motivated subjects.

Submitted 52 undergraduates to task motivation or hypnotic treatment. Ss were then given an amnesia suggestion for a previously learned list of categorized words. The number of words recalled and the extent to which they were recalled in clusters were compared before, during, and after lifting the amnesia suggestion. Results show that more hypnotic Ss than task-motivated Ss showed amnesia. Furthermore, hypnotic Ss, but not task-motivated Ss, showed less clustering during the suggestion than they did before or after the suggestion. The Ss who showed at least partial failure to recall during the suggestion were classified into 3 groups: (a) those who remembered but did not verbalize the words, (b) those who experienced amnesia as an effortful process involving distraction or forceful suppression, and (c) those who simply relaxed and experienced amnesia as an effortless process. A theoretical model is tentatively advanced to account for these data. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attentional focus and locus of performance causality as determinants of equity behavior.

168 undergraduates divided reward between themselves and a competitor following performance on a task in which they were either responsible or not responsible for the results. While receiving performance feedback and allocating reward, Ss either faced a mirror (self-focused condition) or a nonreflecting surface (not-self-focused condition). The equity norm was followed when Ss were responsible for their performance, although the degree of differentiation between recipients was much more extreme among self-focused allocators than among not-self-focused allocators. The equality norm was followed when Ss were not responsible for their performance, regardless of their attentional focus. Results show that equity behavior is exacerbated by self-awareness when the Ss sees himself or herself as responsible for relative performance differences. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young children's conception of lying: Moral intuition and the denotation and connotation of "to lie."

126 children (aged 4 yrs 2 mo to 5 yrs 11 mo) were told stories in which a protagonist with the intention to communicate truthfully said something false because he himself was mistaken. Ss were asked to judge whether the protagonist should be rewarded or punished for his false statement (moral judgment) and whether he had lied (lexical judgment). Replicating an earlier finding by the present authors (see record 1984-14615-001), there was a high number of inconsistent responses when the moral judgment was elicited first: Frequent subjectivist reward judgments were followed by realist "lying" judgments. Such an inconsistent response pattern was nearly absent when the lexical judgment was elicited first. Here the frequent realist lying judgments led to subsequent realist punishment judgments. Findings show (1) that young children's moral intuition about lying is advanced as compared to their definition to lie and (2) that children's realist definition of to lie carries a strong negative moral connotation that overrides their usual subjectivist moral intuitions. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social status and success strivings.

It was hypothesized that, due to differences in parental demands for success, achievement striving would be a more central motivational factor in middle class children than in working class children and that their responses to situations containing success-failure cues would be relatively consistent, despite variations in rewards offered for success. "High school students from both social classes were given a series of tasks under 2 reward conditions. In one, reward was limited to personal satisfaction derived from attaining a norm; in the other, a material reward was added to the satisfaction. Following failure experiences to induce deprivation, Ss were given McClelland's projective test for achievement motivation." The results confirmed the hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Competition and summation between rewarding effects of sucrose and lateral hypothalamic stimulation in the rat.

Rats were offered a forced choice between a train of brain stimulation that varied in strength from trial to trial and a fixed standard reward. This standard reward consisted of an intraoral sucrose infusion presented either alone or paired with an equipreferred train of brain stimulation. Postingestional effects were minimized by opening a gastric cannula. The presence of a sucrose standard led the Ss to forgo trains of brain stimulation for which they had responded when the sucrose was absent. The strength of the brain stimulation required to balance the compound reward exceeded the stimulation strength required to balance a reward consisting of sucrose alone. These results imply that the rewarding effects of brain stimulation and intraoral sucrose can be evaluated in a common system of measurement and combined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Partial delay extinction effects within-subjects based on sequential manipulations.

Describes an experiment with 4 groups of 10 male albino Sprague-Dawley rats. 3 groups received partial delay of reward in 1 runway and immediate reward in a discriminably different runway followed by extinction to both runways. Group 1, which received transitions from delay to immediate reward in the partial-delay alley, showed greater resistance to extinction in the partial-delay alley than in the immediate alley. Groups that received transitions from delay to immediate reward in the immediate alley (Group 2) and in both partial-delay and immediate alleys (Group 3) showed no differential within-S extinction performance. A between-group, partial-delay extinction effect was found; all Ss experiencing delay showed greater resistance to extinction than Group 4 (controls) that received only immediate reward. Data are interpreted within the framework of E. J. Capaldi's sequential theory. However, an extension of sequential theory was needed to account for the nondifferential extinction performance of Group 2. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student teams and comparison among equals: Effects on academic performance and student attitudes.

Investigated the independent effects of level of reward (recognition based on the performance of a 4- to 5-member cooperative learning team vs recognition based on individual performance) and comparison of student quiz scores (comparison with ability-homogeneous groups vs comparison with entire class) on student achievement and attitudes. Ss were 205 7th graders in 8 intact English classes. The experiment used a 2?×?2 (Reward Level?×?Comparison Group) factorial design, in which Ss studied grammar and punctuation for 10 wks. Results indicate reward level effects in favor of team reward and comparison group effects in favor of the comparison with equals on percentage of time on task, positive interpersonal perceptions, and other variables. No academic achievement effects were found for either factor. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of varied reward schedules on generalized persistence of rats.

Gave concurrent acquisition training to 4 groups of male albino rats (N = 70) in 2 parallel runways, such that continuous reward (CR) occurred in 1 alley and varied reward (VR) occurred in the other. The varied reward conditions were partial reward (PR), partial delay (PD), variable magnitude (VM), and constant delay (CD). A CR control group received CR in both alleys. All Ss were extinguished in the alley which had previously been associated with CR. Using resistance to extinction in the CR runway as the index of generalized persistence, the groups were ordered from greatest to least persistence as follows: PR, PD, VM, CD, and CR. This specific ordering is most easily accommodated by an elaboration of stimulus-aftereffects theory. (27 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rewards and adolescent health behavior.

Observed 363 male and 369 female 7th-grade adolescents' use of a fluoride rinse over 2 school years. The rinse habit tended to end when reward contingencies were withdrawn. Although participation was higher with a saturated schedule of reward contingencies in effect, the comparison partial schedule of rewards showed less immediate attrition when the reward contingencies were withdrawn. Other findings include higher participation levels for girls compared to boys and for urban compared to suburban students. Self-management instruction, a strategy intended to compensate for the withdrawal of tangible rewards, worked temporarily among urban Ss but at the same time resulted in lower levels of postreward rinsing among suburban Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)