Effects of Task Complexity and Goal Specificity on Change in Strategy and Performance Over Time

In this study we examined whether task complexity interacts with goal specific- ity over multiple performance periods. A 2 x 2 x 3 design manipulated goal condition (specific difficult vs. do-your-best) and task complexity (simple vs. complex) over performance on 3 separate days. Results across performance periods indicated that do-your-best goals led to higher quantity of performance than specific difficult goals on a complex task, whereas specific difficult goals led to higher quantity of performance than do-your-best goals on a simpler version of the task. Additionally, goal specificity and task complexity led to greater change in strategy over repeated performance periods, with those in the complex, specific difficult condition exhibiting the highest amount of change in strategy. Finally, there were no differences in quality of performance for indi- viduals working on simple versus complex tasks. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Transfer of responses to open and closed shapes in discrimination learning by cats

Two sets of 32 cats each were matched for performance in learning to discriminate an open and a closed shape and were then trained on a transfer task. The consistent groups were rewarded for choosing the same class of shape (open or closed) in learning and transfer. The inconsistent groups were rewarded for choosing the open figure in one task and the closed figure in the second, or vice versa. After learning the transfer task, all of the Ss relearned the original discrimination task under the same conditions that prevailed in initial training. The inconsistent groups made more errors on both the transfer and retention problems; both these differences were significant at the 0.1% level of confidence. These results and those obtained on preference tests support the hypothesis that cats classify shapes as open or closed in terms of perimeter and number of sides.     

The Effects of Residential Crowding Experience on Reactivity to Laboratory Crowding and Noise1

Sixty male and 60 female subjects previously classified as high and low on a residential crowding experience scale participated in an experiment involving a 2 × 3 × 2 × 2 (density, noise, crowding experience, gender) factorial design. The research was undertaken primarily to determine the influence of previous residential crowding experience as tapped by the Crowding Experience Scale (CES) on reactivity to the environmental stressors of noise and crowding. The results indicated that exposure to environmental stressors produced a deleterious effect on complex task performance and generated negative affect in the respondents. Interestingly, respondents who had reported high levels of experience with crowding showed relatively more crowding tolerance by performing significantly better on cognitively complex tasks (complex anagrams and story comprehension) and exhibiting more positive affect in conditions of high density as compared to low experience of crowding respondents. Reactions to noise were not influenced by crowding experience. Thus, prior experience of crowding as measured by the CES appears to influence reactivity to density in other settings.     

Using Relative Confidence Judgments to Evaluate Group Effectiveness

The performance of groups can be greatly influenced by their ability to identify their best member. This study investigated this issue in the context of a quantitative judgment task. Relative confidence judgments were used to determine the extent to which group members were able to identify their best member. The effectiveness of groups was also compared across three experimental conditions that varied in terms of the specific instructions group members were given about the group discussion. Results indicate that group members were often able to identify the most accurate member even though the judgment task did not have a demonstrable solution. Groups were also at least as accurate as their best member nearly 40% of the time. The group process intervention that encouraged group members to try to determine the most accurate individual judgment fared better than the intervention that focused on intraindividual accuracy rankings. Groups in this condition also showed the strongest correspondence between identifying the best member and performing at this level. Groups assigned to an unstructured group discussion condition performed nearly as well as those assigned to the more successful of the two interventions.     

How a Reflection Intervention Improves the Effect of Learning Goals on Performance Outcomes in a Complex Decision-Making Task

We aim to advance the learning goal literature by examining the contingent effect of a reflection intervention on the relationship between learning goals and performance in a complex decision-making task. Data were obtained from a laboratory experiment with a microworld simulation as the experimental task. Participants were randomly allocated to one of the four conditions in a 2 × 2 (reflection intervention: yes vs. no; learning goals: easier vs. more challenging) between-subjects design (N = 140). Our findings suggest that both learning goals and reflection interventions are effective learning mechanisms in complex tasks. Reflection interventions strengthen the positive performance effect of learning goals. Specifically, the combination of a reflection intervention and more challenging learning goals leads to the highest performance. In the current dynamic business environment, effectively solving complex decision-making tasks is an enduring challenge. By integrating the reflection literature with goal-setting theory, we provide evidence of the joint effect of a reflection intervention and learning goals on subsequent task performance. Our findings help scholars and practitioners to design effective learning interventions to solve complex decision-making tasks. Our study is the first to investigate the joint effect of a reflection intervention (particularly, coached feedback reflection) and learning goals on task performance. Additionally, we are among the first to examine the combined use of learning goals and performance goals in a complex decision-making task.     

Visuospatial and verbal memory in mental arithmetic

Working memory allows complex information to be remembered and manipulated over short periods of time. Correlations between working memory and mathematics achievement have been shown across the lifespan. However, only a few studies have examined the potentially distinct contributions of domain-specific visuospatial and verbal working memory resources in mental arithmetic computation. Here we aimed to fill this gap in a series of six experiments pairing addition and subtraction tasks with verbal and visuospatial working memory and interference tasks. In general, we found higher levels of interference between mental arithmetic and visuospatial working memory tasks than between mental arithmetic and verbal working memory tasks. Additionally, we found that interference that matched the working memory domain of the task (e.g., verbal task with verbal interference) lowered working memory performance more than mismatched interference (verbal task with visuospatial interference). Findings suggest that mental arithmetic relies on domain-specific working memory resources.     

Support Groups for Suicide Survivors: Results of a Survey of Group Leaders

To update and expand Rubey and McIntosh's (1996) survivors of suicide support groups report, SPAN USA completed a survey of U.S. support group leaders (n = 100; 24% completion). There are now more survivor groups (from 280 to 417), and the majority of groups now have a survivor leader (78% vs. 25%). Groups continue to be small (88% < 10 members per session) and meet on a monthly basis (55%). Sharing continues to be a universal experience in groups, which tend to be open‐ended (85%). Current groups are newer, and more operate without a sponsor. Further research is needed to examine group member perspectives and effectiveness of groups.     

Growth coping,work satisfaction and turnover: A longitudinal study

A longitudinal organizational field study examined work satisfaction and employee growth coping as joint predictors of turnover. Three employee categories were examined: 1) No Turnover, 2) turnover within the same occupational field (Intraoccupational Turnover), and 3) turnover to a new occupational field (Interoccupational Turnover). Work satisfaction was moderate in the first two groups and low in the third group. As predicted, a specific strategy of employee coping, growth, was lowest in the first group, moderate in the second group, and highest in the third group. Through the use of linear discriminant analysis, 66.4% of the employees were correctly classified into No Turnover, Intraoccupational Turnover, and Interoccupational Turnover groups based only on information regarding work satisfaction and growth coping. The first squared canonical correlation was found to equal .30, far surpassing the modest work satisfaction/turnover correlations found in all previous studies.The authors wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments.     

The effects of task instructor status on prospective memory performance in preschoolers

The present study applied a 2 × 2 experimental design to assess prospective memory (PM) development across preschool age and to examine the effect of task instructor status (researcher vs. significant other) on PM performance in 80 preschool children. Participants were required to name pictures (ongoing task [OT]), and to remember to refrain from naming but instead give a different response to certain target cues (PM task). Although the OT was of comparable difficulty for both age groups (as indicated by no performance differences), results still indicated significantly higher PM performance in 5-year-olds than in 3-year-olds, confirming the age-related increase of PM capacities between 3 and 5 years. Furthermore, results showed a performance-enhancing effect of significant others as task instructors on both age-groups. Post-hoc analysis revealed that 3-year-olds instructed by a significant other still performed marginally worse than 5-year-olds instructed by a researcher, underlining the finding that substantial changes of PM capacities take place during early childhood.     

Group vs Individual Performance in Mixed-Motive Situations: Exploring an Inconsistency

Previous research has shown that groups, as compared to individuals, perform better on integrative bargaining tasks (Thompson, Peterson, & Brodt, 1996), but worse on dilemma tasks (i.e., the “discontinuity effect”; Schopler & Insko, 1992). After reaching agreement on either a cooperative or a competitive integrative bargaining task in one of three formats (three-person group vs three-person group, three-person group vs a single individual, and individual vs individual), participants were given the opportunity to either keep the agreement or defect within a prisoner's dilemma payoff structure. Groups earned more points than individuals in the bargaining task, but continued to show the discontinuity effect even in the cooperative condition. Results are interpreted in terms of shared motives for group defection, which differed depending on whether the opponent was an individual or a group.     

Team confidence,motivated information processing,and dynamic group decision making

According to the Motivated Information Processing in Groups (MIP‐G) model, groups should perform ambiguous (non‐ambiguous) tasks better when they have high (low) epistemic motivation and concomitant tendencies to engage in systematic (heuristic) information processing and exchange. The authors tested this prediction in an experiment with four‐person groups performing a complex and dynamic decision making task. Group confidence was measured after extensive training and prior to actual group decision‐making. Task ambiguity was manipulated. Results showed that when task ambiguity was low, group confidence indeed benefits decision quality and group performance. But when task ambiguity was high, group confidence hurt decision quality and group performance. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of Coworker Race and Task Demand on Task‐Related Outcomes as Mediated by Evoked Affect1

Using a 2 × 2 (Coworker Race × Task Demand) design and data from 180 White women who worked in dyads with a male confederate, the present study examined the effects of coworker race (White vs. Black) and task demand (low vs. high cognitive demand) on evoked affect, task attention, task performance, task satisfaction, and the desire to work alone (as opposed to with a coworker). As expected, results showed that coworker race and task demand evoked differing levels of affect, which, in turn, influenced several other outcomes. These findings have important implications for promoting racial diversity in organizations.     

Collective action control by goals and plans: applying a self-regulation perspective to group performance

In celebration of the 125th anniversary of The American Journal of Psychology, this article discusses a seminal publication by Marjorie Shaw (1932) on small group performance in the rational solution of complex problems. We then propose an approach for the effective regulation of group goal striving based on the collective action control perspective. From this perspective, group performance might be hindered by a collective intention-behavior gap: Groups fail to act on their intentions despite being strongly committed to the collective goal, knowing what the necessary actions are, and being capable of performing them. To reduce this gap, we suggest specific if-then plans (implementation intentions) in which groups specify when, where, and how to act toward their collective goal as an easily applicable self-regulation strategy to automate collective action control. Studies in which implementation intentions improved group performance in hidden profile, escalation of commitment, and cooperation task paradigms are reported and discussed.     

Effects of Goal Type on Performance,Task Interest,and Affect Over Time1

The purpose of this study was to increase understanding regarding the effects of goal-setting practices on a wide range of dependent variables over time. Goal type (control group, quality goal, quantity goal, and dual goal) was manipulated across 3 time periods. Goal × Time interactions were predicted such that quantity, effort, task interest, and positive affect would initially be low, but by later trials would be higher in the quantity and dual-goal conditions compared to the quality goal and control groups. Quality was expected to be greatest in the quality goal condition and to be relatively constant over time. Participants (N= 80) were undergraduates at a large midwestern university. Results indicated some support for our hypotheses in that Goal × Time interactions were found for quantity produced, rated effort, task interest, and positive affect.     

结构、任务类型和导航对超文本信息搜索的影响

通过两个实验考察了结构、任务类型和导航对超文本信息搜索绩效的影响。实验一采用2（层次结构,混合结构）×2（特定任务,关系任务）的被试内设计,探讨了超文本结构和任务类型对信息搜索的影响;实验二在实验一的基础上,采用2（层次结构,混合结构）×2（有导航图,无导航图）的被试内设计,考察超文本结构和导航对关系任务信息搜索的影响。结果表明：（1）超文本结构和任务类型对信息搜索绩效有显著的交互影响,就关系任务而言,混合结构超文本优于层次结构超文本,但就特定任务而言,两者无显著差异;（2）导航对信息搜索行为有指导作用,尤其对层次结构超文本有利;（3）两种主观指标的结果与客观指标存在一定程度的一致性。     

Informational and motivational components of social reinforcement

Thirty-six four-year-old children of each sex were tested in a two-choice marble dropping task. There were three Ss in each cell of a 3 × 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. The factors investigated were: reinforcement condition (Contingent, Yoked, Nonreinforcement), sex, base preference level (strong vs weak), Base Rate Level (high vs low). The dependent variables were: base preference ratio, base rate, preference ratio change, rate change. The contingently reinforced Ss had significantly higher preference change scores than Ss in the other two reinforcement conditions but only at the high base preference level. The Ss in both the contingent and yoked groups had higher rate change scores than Ss in the nonreinforcement group. The results were interpreted as indicating social reinforcement may have two effects, one a cue function and the other an effect on S's motivational system. The results indicate that regression effects do not operate in the two-choice task and that crossing baseline levels of performance is an effective way to control baseline differences in analyses of change in the two-choice task.     

The Effects of Task and Interpersonal Cohesiveness on Performance of a Disjunctive Group Task1

This experiment examined the effects of two different types of group cohesiveness on performance of a disjunctive task. Both interpersonal and task cohesiveness were varied independently. Results show that high levels of both types of cohesiveness were necessary for success on a task requiring group interaction. Groups high on one type of cohesiveness but low on another performed no better than groups low on both types of cohesiveness. These results suggest that cohesiveness should be conceptualized as a multidimensional rather than as a unitary variable. It is also suggested that the effects noted in the present study may well vary according to task characteristics.     

The impacts of task relevance and cognitive load on adults’ decision information search

ABSTRACT

Higher relevance may increase older adults’ engagement in cognitively demanding activities; however, whether this effect will maintain when available cognitive resources are limited? Consequently, we investigated the joint impact of task relevance and cognitive load on older and younger adults’ decision search behaviors. We adopted a 2 (age: young/old) × 2 (cognitive load: without load/with load) × 2 (task relevance: high/low) mixed design. Sixty-one younger and 63 older adults completed high-relevance and low-relevance decisions. Our results revealed that older (vs. younger) adults took more time and more alternative-based search before decision-making. Both age groups sampled less information with an additional memory task. Additionally, they spent more time and effort to sample more information on high-relevance (vs. low-relevance) decisions; however, such differences disappeared when with an additional memory task. Task relevance promoted both age groups' search engagement, but this effect was subjected to their available cognitive resources.     

Effects of Perceived Group Effectiveness and Group Role on Attributions of Group Performance1

Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy completed a questionnaire describing their experiences in Cadet Basic Training (CBT) and Cadet Field Training (CFT). Analyses of variance examined the impact of Group Role (Leader vs. Follower) and Perceived Group Effectiveness (High vs. Low) on group member perceptions of the extent to which each of six factors affected group performance. Significant main effects for Perceived Effectiveness were interpreted in terms of the egodefensive bias. Role main effects indicated that leaders tended to make stronger dispositional attributions than did followers. There were no signifcant Group Role × Perceived Effectiveness interaction effects. Findings support, in part, hypotheses concerning the operation of an attributional bias within the leader-member relationship.