Perceived control in the college classroom: Limitations in instructor expressiveness due to noncontingent feedback and lecture content.

Consistent with various control theories, recent evidence suggests that exposure to noncontingent outcomes interferes with instructional quality in the college classroom. The present study examined whether the density of negative noncontingent outcomes limits instructor expressiveness as an effective teaching behavior in different lecture content conditions. 361 undergraduates took an aptitude test that provided contingent feedback (CF) or low or medium noncontingent failure feedback (NCFF). Ss completed an attribution questionnaire and then observed a videotaped lecture low or high in content given by a low- or high-expressive instructor, after which Ss responded to a postlecture achievement test and an attribution questionnaire. Medium NCFF reduced Ss' perceived control and lowered their internal attribution locus for their aptitude performance, compared to low NCFF and CF. Postlecture results indicated that for high-content lectures, instructor expressiveness facilitated achievement and confidence in Ss who received CF and low NCFF but not in Ss who received medium NCFF. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gain–loss versus reinforcement–affect ordering of student ratings of teaching: Effect of rating instructions.

Investigated whether student rating instructions would influence the rank ordering by 83 undergraduates of 4 lecture quality sequences, (i.e., whether instructions influence primacy and recency effects). It was also investigated whether affect, self-esteem, and liking would show the same ordering for the 4 lecture quality sequences as ratings. In a laboratory analog of a classroom, using videotaped lectures, initial testing (good or poor Lecture 1), final teaching (good or poor Lecture 2), and student rating instructions (consider only Lecture 2, consider Lectures 1 and 2) were manipulated in a 2?×?2?×?2 design. Effects were measured on final ratings of the instructor, liking for the instructor, S affect, and S self-esteem. For Ss considering only Lecture 2, ratings and liking varied moderately and inversely with Lecture 1 quality (negative primacy effect) and greatly with Lecture 2 quality (positive recency effect), consistent with gain–loss theory. For Ss considering both Lectures 1 and 2, ratings and liking varied moderately with Lecture 1 quality (positive primacy effect) and greatly with Lecture 2 quality (positive recency effect), consistent with reinforcement–affect theory. Evidence failed to show that the effect of lecture quality on liking and ratings was mediated by affect or self-esteem. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between student personality characteristics, teacher ratings, and student achievement.

In Study 1, 388 undergraduates (a) rated themselves on the Adjective Check List (ACL), (b) viewed a videotape that varied in instructor expressiveness and lecture content, (c) evaluated the videotaped instructor and a test on the lecture, and (d) completed the ACL for the instructor. In Study 2, 87 Ss were also exposed to 2 videotaped lectures given 1 wk apart. In Study 3, 108 Ss completed the ACL for themselves and their instructors, evaluated their instructor's teaching, and completed a test on common course material. No meaningful or consistent relationship between ratings and student personality characteristics appeared to exist. Personality characteristics of instructors were related to teacher effectiveness ratings. Ratings predicted teacher-produced achievement equally well for classes that differed in the personality characteristics of the students enrolled. Teacher effects on ratings appeared significantly greater than teacher effects on achievement. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived control in the college classroom: Response–outcome contingency training and instructor expressiveness effects on student achievement and causal attributions.

Following an incentive (low, high) manipulation, 296 college students received response–outcome contingency training involving contingent, noncontingent, or no feedback and responded to an attribution questionnaire. All Ss then observed a lecture presented by a low- or high-expressive instructor and completed a postlecture achievement test and an attribution questionnaire. Results show that noncontingent Ss perceived less control and also manifested a helplessness attribution profile after the contingency manipulation. Postlecture results indicate that the high- compared to the low-expressive instructor increased achievement and internal locus in contingent but not noncontingent Ss for low-incentive conditions only. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instructor reputation: An expectancy relationship involving student ratings and achievement.

Instructor reputation, defined as student expectations of an instructor's teaching ability, was investigated to determine its influence on student ratings and achievement. Two teaching behaviors, instructor expressiveness and lecture content, were combined with reputation in a 2–3 factorial design to assess interaction effects. 198 undergraduates read an introductory statement about an instructor (reputation), viewed a videotape lecture, rated the instructor, and took a test. Results indicate that reputation interacted with expressiveness but not content, in which students rated the positive, high-expressive instructor more favorably than the negative, high-expressive instructor. Results suggest a complex relationship in which reputation interacts with some teaching behaviors and affects some student outcomes. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Primacy/recency effects in student ratings of instruction: A reinterpretation of gain–loss effects.

Examined how the side effects of initial and final lecture quality on end-of-course student ratings can be predicted from seemingly unrelated gain–loss theory. Also investigated was the effect on ratings of student belief that the instructor will use midterm rating feedback to improve teaching. Using videotaped lectures in a 2?×?2?×?2 laboratory analog study, the present authors manipulated Lecture 1 (good, poor), Lecture 2 (good, poor), and whether 131 college students were told that feedback to the instructor about Lecture 1 would be used to improve teaching (yes, no). With Lecture 2 ratings as the principal measure, ratings varied moderately and inversely with Lecture 1 quality (negative primacy effect), greatly and directly with Lecture 2 quality (positive recency effect), and trivially with feedback. The primacy/recency findings confirm gain–loss predictions and illustrate how gain–loss theory can be interpreted as primacy/recency effects. Implications for expectancy research and field research on instructors using midterm ratings to improve instruction in the final portion of the course are discussed. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of previous performance on evaluations of present performance.

In Study 1, 82 undergraduates viewed 3 videotaped lectures presented by the same lecturer. Ss in the good-performance condition viewed 2 good lectures, followed by a lecture of average quality. Ss in the poor-performance condition viewed 2 poor lectures, followed by the same average lecture. Results show significant contrast effects both for ratings of the frequency of several critical behaviors and for performance evaluations. Ss in the poor-performance condition assigned more favorable behavior ratings and higher performance evaluation ratings to the 3rd (average) lecture than did Ss in the good-performance condition. In Study 2, 71 Ss were used to test the hypothesis that memory biases were responsible for the contrast effects observed in Study 1. Ss viewed the same videotapes but rated the 3rd tape from memory the day after viewing the tape. Results show weak, nonsignificant contrast effects, suggesting that memory biases were not sufficient to explain the results of Study 1. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between course entry attitudes and end-of-course ratings.

Course entry attitudes and end-of-course ratings were collected from 1,088 college students using as pretest the Affective Entry Questionnaire and as posttest the Course Evaluation Form. Two groups of Ss were studied: those reporting precourse attitudes toward the course but not the instructor, and those reporting precourse attitudes toward both the course and the instructor. Multiple regression analysis indicated a significant relationship between course entry attitudes and end-of-course ratings for Ss reporting precourse expectations prior to entry into the course. Different sets of items from the Course Entry Scale were found to predict end-of-course ratings for the different groups of Ss studied. Course entry bias is a relatively rare occurrence, but when it exists, it exerts a predictable influence on the evaluation of instructor performance. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding frame-of-reference training: The impact of training on the recall of performance information.

Extends research on the cognitive mechanisms underlying frame-of-reference (FOR) rater training by examining the impact of FOR training on the recall of performance information. It was hypothesized that the shared performance schema fostered by FOR training would serve as the basis for information processing, resulting in better recall for behavioral performance information as well as more accurate ratings of individual ratees. 174 FOR-trained Ss produced more accurate performance ratings, as measured by L. Cronbach's (1955) differential accuracy and differential elevation components, than did 142 control-trained Ss. FOR-trained Ss also recalled more behaviors, representing more performance dimensions, and exhibited less evaluative clustering and a larger relationship between memory and judgment. No differences were found between control and FOR Ss on measures of recognition accuracy. Implications for the evaluative judgment process are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of subsequent performance on evaluations of previous performance.

Tested the hypothesis that subsequent performance levels would bias the recall and evaluations of a ratee's previous level of performance with 183 undergraduates, who rated 3 videotaped lectures in either immediate or delayed rating conditions. The 1st videotape depicted an average level of performance and was followed by either 2 good lectures or 2 poor lectures. A significant performance level?×?time of rating interaction was found, in which memory-based ratings were biased in the direction of subsequent performance (i.e., when there was a delay between observation and rating, Ss who had seen an average lecture followed by good lectures rated that average lecture more favorably than did Ss who had seen that same lecture followed by poor lectures). It is suggested that raters are biased in favor of recalling behaviors that are consistent with their general impression of a ratee and that subsequent performance may systematically alter the rater's recall of the ratee's previous behavior. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rewarding pinball wizardry: Effects of evaluation and cue value on intrinsic interest.

Examined the effects of rewards for pinball competence on subsequent interest in the game in 3 studies with 219 Ss in which 3 components of performance-contingent reward structures—an evaluative contingency established before playing, performance feedback, and the receipt of a reward—were identified. The symbolic cue value of the reward may affect interest independently of evaluation and competence feedback. To isolate its effect, groups receiving a performance-contingent reward were compared with groups that experienced the same evaluative contingency and feedback and with feedback-only controls (Studies 1 and 3). Results show that evaluation reduced intrinsic motivation, compared with controls, whereas reward enhanced intrinsic motivation relative to evaluation. In Study 2, groups receiving rewards for attaining competence but differing in whether the evaluation was anticipated before playing were compared. Results indicate that unexpected performance-contingent rewards enhanced interest, compared with expected rewards. Findings suggest that the 3 reward properties have separate effects on intrinsic motivation. Anticipation of evaluation was responsible for negative reward effects, whereas competence feedback and due value had independent positive effects (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In smoke's way: Socioemotional reactions to another's smoking.

Assessed the immediate impact of second-hand cigarette smoke on interpersonal attraction and personal feelings. 75 US Army and Air Force enlisted men who were either nonsmokers or smokers and who either refrained or indulged during the session interacted with a stranger who either did not smoke, smoked courteously, or smoked discourteously. Following the encounter, Ss rated the other person on several evaluative dimensions and also rated their own affective state. Nonsmoking Ss made more favorable evaluations and reported a more pleasant affective experience after interacting with a nonsmoking stranger as compared to either a courteous or a discourteous smoker. Smoking Ss who refrained made their most positive ratings in the presence of a courteous smoking other and their most negative ratings in the company of a discourteous one. In contrast to both nonsmokers and smokers who refrained, smokers who indulged during the session made the most favorable ratings when exposed to an indiscriminant smoking stranger. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity of student ratings of instruction under different incentive conditions: A further study of the Dr. Fox effect.

Investigated the validity of student ratings of instruction for different lecturer types. 212 undergraduates were divided into 12 equivalent groups. Groups viewed a lecture that varied in substantive teaching points covered (high, medium, low) and expressiveness of delivery (high, low). Half were offered an incentive to learn before the lecture; the other half after the lecture. Ss then rated lecture effectiveness and completed an achievement test. Higher achievement was associated with more content coverage and before-lecture incentives. Differences in lecture expressiveness did not affect achievement. Student ratings generally reflected inservice and continuing-education programs; differences in content coverage under low-expressiveness conditions, but were not sensitive to variations in content coverage when lectures were high in expressiveness. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attention and weight in person perception: The impact of negative and extreme behavior.

Analyzed the social perception process to determine whether selectivity of available stimuli is based on the informativeness of person attributes, the properties of which are the evaluative extremity (distance from the scale midpoint) and the evaluative valence (positive or negative). In a preliminary scaling study and a main weighting study, 126 undergraduates independently rated the likability of the 16 stimuli persons portrayed on slides. Negativity and extremity were manipulated on the slides across 2 behavioral dimensions: sociability and civic activism. Ss saw 2 prescaled behavior photographs for each stimulus person and controlled a slide changer switch, providing a measure of attention as looking time. Likability ratings provided a measure of relative weight derived from N. H. Anderson's (1968) information integration model. Results show that Ss preferentially weighted behaviors that were extreme or negative, and the behavioral measure of attention (looking time) replicated the predicted pattern. (58 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of expressiveness, content coverage, and incentive on multidimensional student rating scales: New interpretations of the Dr. Fox effect.

Reanalyzed data from 2 studies with 419 undergraduates of the Dr. Fox effect (R. G. Williams and J. E. Ware; see PA, Vol 55:8285 and Vol 60:12778). Factor analysis identified 5 evaluation factors that varied in the way they were affected by experimental manipulations of instructor expressiveness (IE) and content coverage in 3 incentive conditions. For Ss in the incentive condition most like the actual classroom, the Dr. Fox effect was not supported in that (a) IE only affected ratings of Instructor Enthusiasm—the factor most logically related to the manipulation—and (b) content coverage affected ratings of Instructor Knowledge—the factor most logically related to that manipulation—and examination performance, but not ratings of Instructor Enthusiasm. However, when Ss were not given the incentive to learn, IE had a greater impact than did content coverage on each of the rating factors (supporting the Dr. Fox effect) and examination performance. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Another look at Dr. Fox: Effect of stated purpose for evaluation, lecturer expressiveness, and density of lecture content on student ratings.

Investigated the extent to which the student's perception of the purpose for evaluating an instructor, the instructor's expressiveness, and the density of content presented in a lecture influenced student ratings and student achievement. 161 college students were randomly assigned to view lectures that systematically differed in lecturer expressiveness and density of content. The perceived purpose for evaluating the instructor had no effect on the Ss' ratings. All 5 student-rating subscale scores were significantly higher for the expressive lectures than for the nonexpressive lectures. On the dimension of instructor explanations, medium-content lectures received higher ratings than high-content lectures. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of self-concept on group member reception of positive and negative feedback.

Examined the effects of valence and self-concept of the receiver on receiver ratings of feedback credibility, desirability, and impact. Data were collected during the 6th wk of counseling groups that met for 2 hrs each week. A total of 30 volunteers participated in the study. Results indicate that positive feedback was perceived as more desirable and impactful than negative feedback; however, no such difference was found for the credibility measure. The only significant difference found in relation to the self-concept variable (Tennessee Self-Concept Scale) was a more favorable desirability rating for negative feedback by high-level self-concept Ss than by medium-level self-concept Ss. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Feedback exchange in counseling groups: An analysis of message content and receiver acceptance as a function of leader versus member delivery, session, and valence.

36 university students and 27 community residents (all Ss aged 20–47 yrs) participated in 9 6-wk personal-growth groups led by 18 advanced doctoral students. 410 items of interpersonal feedback (both leader-to-member and member-to-member) were analyzed for message content quality and recipient acceptance. Findings indicate that leader feedback was generally of higher quality than member feedback but not more readily accepted. There was a significant tendency for feedback to be of higher quality and more accepted in later than in earlier sessions, but this tendency was not consistent across other conditions. The strongest effects were for valence, with positive feedback consistently more accepted than negative. Positive feedback consistently received higher ratings of message content quality than did negative feedback. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of sex guilt and sexual arousal on the retention of birth control information.

Tested the notion that high-sex-guilt individuals have difficulty retaining sex-related information. 28 male and 28 female undergraduates were assigned in equal numbers to a high and a low sex-guilt group. Within each group, 1/2 of the Ss were sexually stimulated by reading erotic passages, while 1/2 read neutral passages. All Ss then listened to a lecture on birth control and took an exam based on the lecture. Results indicate that high-sex-guilt Ss retained less lecture information than low-guilt Ss. In addition, sexually stimulated Ss displayed poorer lecture retention than nonstimulated Ss. Across all conditions, females retained more lecture information than males. Results support the hypothesis that guilt-generated anxiety raises arousal past the optimum level necessary for efficient recall performance. Females had a greater interest in learning about birth control than males. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Degrees of client comfort as a function of dyadic interaction distance.

27 male undergraduates were interviewed by 9 male counseling students using an intake interview. Each student counselor saw 3 Ss, one in each of 3 counselor-client distance conditions: 18, 30, and 48 in. An analysis of variance revealed significant differences between conditions in the degree of comfort reported by Ss on evaluative scales of a posttest semantic differential. As a further indicator of Ss' degree of comfort, the semantic differential scales were compared to observers' ratings on a behavior checklist and found to have a positive correlation. Ss' degree of comfort scores ranged from highest for 30 in to lowest for 18 in, with intermediate scores at 48 in. Results suggest that degree of client comfort is optimized at specific interaction distances during an intake interview. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)