Affect and delay of gratification

Three experiments investigated the influence of positive and negative affect manipulations on children's preferences for small immediate versus large delayed rewards. Positive and negative affect were induced via verbal instructions to imagine happy and sad experiences. Elementary school children were randomly assigned to a control condition or to one of several treatment conditions consisting of two affect manipulations: a positive followed by a negative, the reverse, and (in the third experiment) two positives or two negatives. In some conditions (in the second and third experiments) measurement of delayed reward preference followed the first and second affect inductions whereas in other conditions (in the second and third experiments) measurement followed only the second affect manipulation. As predicted, negative affect subjects chose fewer large delayed rewards than did positive affect subjects during the first assessment (p < .02). At the second assessment, comparison among treatment and control conditions revealed the influence of a prior commitment effect which negated the potential influence of a second affect manipulation on preference for delayed rewards.     

Choice in a "self-control" paradigm: effects of a fading procedure

Pigeons chose between an immediate 2-second reinforcer (access to grain) and a 6-second reinforcer delayed 6 seconds. The four pigeons in the control group were exposed to this condition initially. The four experimental subjects first received a condition where both reinforcers were delayed 6 seconds. The small reinforcer delay was then gradually reduced to zero over more than 11,000 trials. Control subjects almost never chose the large delayed reinforcer. Experimental subjects chose the large delayed reinforcer significantly more often. Two experimental subjects showed preference for the large reinforcer even when the consequences for pecking the two keys were switched. The results indicate that fading procedures can lead to increased “self-control” in pigeons in a choice between a large delayed reinforcer and a small immediate reinforcer.     

Affective state mediates causal attributions for success and failure

The influence of affect on causal attributions for success and failure was examined in this experiment. A positive, neurtral, or negative mood was induced in subjects who then learned they had either succeeded or failed an aptitude test taken previously. Relative to neutral mood control conditions, subjects in both positive and negative mood conditions showed a pronounced self-serving bias, particularly following success. The finding is interpreted as self-regulation of affective state. Specifically, causal attribution of success to internal factors can sustain or enhance positive affect; attribution of failure to external factors can diminish negative affect. Ancillary analyses corroborated this interpretation.     

Effects of threat and failure on concern for others

A state measure of social interest or concern for others was developed from an existing trait measure. The state measure was significantly correlated with the trait scale and with volunteering to help others in need. Replicating previous research on the relationship between affect and altruistic behavior, social interest was significantly correlated with affective arousal in three studies comprising a total of 259 subjects. Failure on an ego-involving task and theaanticipation of a midterm examination both resulted in significant reductions in social interest. Results supported the hypothesis that negative affect resulting from personal threat typically produces increased concern for self along with decreased concern for the interests of others, thereby resulting in reductions of altruistic behavior. The potential relevance of social interest to relationships between stressful conditions and other aspects of interpersonal behavior was discussed.     

Social skills training and systematic desensitization in reducing dating anxiety.

Cooper et al. (1969) have criticized the types of target behavior chosen for therapy analogue studies for being irrelevant to clinical practice. A potential target behavior which appears to be pervasive, complex and directly relevant to clinical practice is interpersonal anxiety. Of special concern to college students is the interpersonal anxiety elicited by members of the opposite sex. especially in dating situations (Martinson and Zerface, 1970).An individual may experience interpersonal anxiety because of a deficit in social skills (reactive anxiety) or because of prior conditioning (conditioned anxiety) or because of some combination of both reactive and conditioned components. While it is possible that a treatment program aimed at a reduction of either of these anxiety components may be instrumental in ameliorating the other component, it would appear that a comprehensive treatment program would attempt to teach social skills as well as reduce conditioned anxiety.Desensitization procedures have demonstrated success in alleviating conditioned anxiety for a wide variety of clinical problems (Paul, 1969a. 1969b) and appears to be a logical choice for the conditioned component of dating anxiety. A number of outcome studies have reported some success in the use of in vivo desensitization (Rehm and Marston, 1968; Martinson and Zerface, 1970) and systematic desensitization (Stark, 1970) in reducing anxiety in date anxious subjects.The literature on treatment programs aimed at social skills training for date anxious subjects is meager. Melnick (1973) reported success in improving the appropriateness of the social behavior of subjects who had experienced a minimal dating history by the use of modeling, behavioral rehearsal and self-observation techniques.The present study was designed to test the relative effectiveness of two different types of treatment programs in alleviating interpersonal dating anxiety. The two experimental groups consisted of a systematic densensitization program which focused on the condition anxiety component and a social skills training program which focused on the reactive anxiety component.     

Evaluative verbalization and delay maintenance behavior in children

An experiment is presented which examined the influence of verbalizations on children's tendencies to postpone immediate gratification in terms of increased delayed reward. Children's verbalizations were varied in terms of their evaluative valence and whether they focused upon the reward itself or the delay task. During a delay task children in experimental groups periodically verbalized evaluative statements that were either positive (I like …) or negative (I don't like …) and which focused upon either the reward itself (… the tokens) or the delay behavior (… to wait). Children who focused on reward, under conditions of either positive or negative evaluation, postponed immediate gratification less than control subjects who made no verbalization. Children who evaluated delay behavior positively postponed immediate gratification longer than silent subjects, though children who negatively evaluated delay behavior did not differ from subjects who did not verbalize. The results are interpreted in terms of the influence of evaluative valence and focus as parameters of plans for delay behavior.     

The perceived informational value and affective consequences of choice behavior and intermediate difficulty task selection

Four experiments were conducted that examine the affective and informational determinants of risk-preference behavior. In the initial two experiments, subjects classified according to their level of achievement needs expressed a preference among tasks varying in difficulty. In two of the experimental conditions, instructions, respectively, conveyed that performance at the task chosen should either maximize satisfaction or the information gained about one's ability and effort expenditure. It was found that the majority of all subjects preferred to undertake tasks of intermediate difficulty and that both positive affect and information gain were perceived to be optimal at or near the level of intermediate difficulty. Experiments III and IV investigated at what level of task difficulty individuals most desire information about their performance. Police trainees and high school students with disparate self-concepts of respective target shooting and high-jumping ability were able to receive limited but self-selected performance feedback at a series of achievement tasks that varied in difficulty. The data revealed that the tasks selected for feedback became objectively less difficult as the self-perception of ability decreased. In addition, the tasks chosen for feedback were near the intermediate subjective certainty of success level for all subjects. It was contended that the data contradict Atkinson's model of choice but support an attributional conception. The general issue of affective versus informational models of motivation was discussed.     

Reacting to reactance: An Interpersonal interpretation of the need for freedom

This study was designed to investigate the conditions under which the negative consequences of social influence attempts can be mitigated by freedom-affirming interventions. Eighty-eight high school girls received an influence message, presumably written by a co-worker, containing either a threat or a promise. In addition, subjects were or were not given a choice option as to mode of compliance, if they chose to comply with the message. In half the cases, the Interpersonal condition, subjects received their choice/no choice option from their co-worker; in the other half of the cases, the Noninterpersonal condition, subjects were assigned the choice/no choice option by a random event unknown to the influencing agent. As anticipated, in the Interpersonal as compared to the Noninterpersonal condition, (a) threats produced greater compliance when a choice was offered than when it was not, and (b) promises and threats were more equivalent in gaining compliance when a choice was offered than when it was not. These results, which suggest that in a social setting individuals' concerns about freedom are interpersonally motivated, are discussed in terms of their relation to and implications for reactance theory.     

An Attributional Model Applied to Health Behaviour Change

Weiner's (1986) attributional model was adapted to a study of health behaviour change among hospital workers (N=102). It was predicted that, following success or failure, attributions would influence affective reactions and efficacy expectation, which in turn would influence intention, which in turn would influence subsequent performance. In year 1 and year 2, subjects rated their current performance, efficacy expectation, and intention to perform each of ten behaviours. In year 2, they indicated whether they had succeeded or failed in relation to each year 1 intention. They selected their greatest success and their greatest failure, and for both of these completed measures of attributions and affective reactions. In regression analyses, attributional dimensions did predict affective reactions, efficacy (in the failure condition), and intention (in the success condition). However, many of the specific associations were not what Weiner's model would hypothesize. The personal controllability dimension was particularly prominent as a predictor. Also of note were the interactive effects of attributional dimensions, always involving the stability dimension.     

Effect of donor resources on recipient self-esteem and self-help

A 2 (aid vs no aid) × 2 (high vs low resource potential donor) between subjects design tested the effects of aid and donor resources on recipient self-perceptions and subsequent self-help behavior. The results were characterized by interactions between the two factors. Subjects who received aid from a low resource donor perceived themselves more positively and engaged in less self-help than subjects in the no-aid low resource potential donor condition. In contrast, subjects who received aid from a high resource donor perceived themselves less positively and tended to engage in more self-help behavior than subjects in the no-aid high resource potential donor condition. The relationship between threat to self-esteem inherent in aid and subsequent self-help is discussed in terms of self-esteem theory.     

Outcome expectancy,locus of attribution for expectancy,and self-directed attention as determinants of evaluations and performance

Are internal versus external attributions of responsibility for prior outcomes important determinants of subsequent performances? or is their effect limited to influencing the affective and evaluative experiences that are associated with the task outcomes? Recent theoretical statements appear to differ on this issue. The present study examined the question, while at the same time testing the influence of self-directed attention on the process under investigation. Subjects attempted a series of mazes in collaboration with an ostensible cosubject (actually a confederate). The pair experienced either three consecutive sucesses or three consecutive failures. Subjects were led to perceive the responsibility for these outcomes as residing primarily with themselves or primarily with their partner. Self-focus was manipulated (by a mirror) prior to attempting a fourth maze and completing a set of rating scales. Success-condition subjects performed better on the fourth maze in the mirror's presence than in its absence, whereas failure-condition subjects tended to perform more poorly in the mirror's presence than in its absence. The manipulation of internal versus external attributions did not influence behavior, but did influence subjects' affective and evaluative reactions to themselves and their partner. Discussion centers on the relationship between these findings and other recent findings in the areas of attribution and achievement-related behavior.     

Self-control in male and female rats

Eight male and 8 female Wistar rats were exposed to a discrete-trial procedure in which they chose between the presentation of a small (one pellet) or a large (three pellets) reinforcer. The delay to the small and large reinforcer was 6.0 s in the first condition of Experiment 1. Subjects consistently chose the large reinforcer. When the delay to the small reinforcer was decreased to 0.1 s in the next experimental condition, all subjects continued to choose the large 6.0-s delayed reinforcer. When the contingencies correlated with the two levers were reversed in the next experimental condition, the majority of subjects (5 males and 6 females) still chose the large delayed reinforcer over the small immediately presented reinforcer. The delay to the small reinforcer was maintained at 6.0 s, but the delay to the large reinforcer was varied among 9.0, 15.0, 24.0, and 36.0 s in Experiment 2, in which 4 males and 4 females participated. Most subjects consistently chose the large increasingly delayed reinforcer, although choice for the small 6.0-s delayed reinforcer developed in some females when the large reinforcer was delayed for 24.0 or 36.0 s. These choice patterns were not predicted from a literal application of a model that says choice should favor the alternative correlated with the higher (amount/delay) ratio.     

Transgression and altruism: A case for hedonism

A model to account for the positive relationship between transgression and altruism was proposed and tested against three alternative formulations—Guilt, Social Justice, and Self-esteem Bolstering. The proposed model, Negative State Relief, asserts that people in a transgression situation behave charitably in order to reduce a general, negative affective state which is induced by exposure to harm-doing and that if the negative state is relieved by some other means, benevolent activity will be rendered unnecessary. All of the experimental subjects were exposed to an act of transgression; half performed the act themselves while half only witnessed it. In one set of experimental conditions (the relief conditions), a positive event—the receipt of either money or approval—was interposed between the harmful act and a fellow-student's request for aid. In another set of experimental conditions (the norelief conditions), no such positive event occurred. It was found, as predicted, that subjects who received a positive event were significantly less helpful than those who did not, but were not different from a control group which had never been exposed to the transgression. It was also found that harm-doers and harm-witnesses were identical in benevolent tendency. The results were interpreted as favoring a hedonistic conception of the nature of altruism. Finally, it was contended that a U-shaped relationship exists between mood state and helping tendency.     

The effects of a model's success or failure on subsequent aggressive behavior

It was of interest in the present study to examine the influence of both aggressive and nonaggressive models who are successful or nonsuccessful in reducing aggression from an aggressive opponent. Male and female subjects viewed a same-sexed model interact with an aggressive opponent in a reaction time task. Half the subjects observed an aggressive model while the remaining subjects observed a nonaggressive model. For half the subjects the model was successful in reducing the aggressiveness of the opponent. Results indicated that both the model's behavior and the consequences to the model (success/nonsuccess) were important determinants of subsequent aggression by the subject. Results are discussed in terms of current research and theory in aggression control.     

Feedback seeking as a means of self-assessment and affect optimization

Previous research on feedback choice found considerable inter- and intraindividual differences. It is proposed here that these differences can in part be explained by personality factors (i.e., anxiety and competence) that influence the informational value of external feedback and the congruence between internally generated and externally provided feedback. Feedback seeking was analyzed in two studies in which subjects, working on long series of tasks, had the opportunity to request various forms of achievement feedback. Since complex tasks were used, feedback only marginally affected learning. Anxiety, competence, and expenses for obtaining feedback served as independent variables. Results showed that subjects intending to optimize their affective state (i.e., reduce anxiety) have a strong preference for external feedback, and use such feedback mainly to neutralize aversive internal feedback. In contrast, persons who tried to use feedback as a means to enhance or assess performance suffered from an increased affective load.     

The influence of a model's reinforcement contingency and affective response on children's perceptions of the model

Following their observation of a videotaped model, boys and girls were asked to rate various characteristics of that model. In each of two experiments, the subjects were 90 primary grade children. The model's reinforcement (reward, punishment, or no consequences) and affective response (positive, neutral, or negative) constituted the independent variables. In both experiments, children who observed an affectively neutral model receive punishment, perceived his affective state as more negative than children who observed this model receive reward or no consequences. The converse attribution (i.e., inferring consequences based on depicted model affect) did not obtain. Also, data from both experiments supported the conclusions that (a) the punished model was less attractive than no-consequences and rewarded models, and (b) the model was perceived as less competent when he demonstrated negative affect or received punishment.     

Modelling the Direct and Indirect Effects of Positive Emotional and Cognitive Traits and States on Social Judgements

It was hypothesised that positive affective states and situational information-processing demands would differentially influence the favourability of social judgements of a target social group. These hypothesised direct effects on social judgements were subsequently incorporated into a broader statetrait model of the social judgement process, whereby direct and indirect effects of personality and cognitive traits, along with positive affective states and information-processing demands (i.e. cognitive state), were also hypothesised to influence social judgements. Three hundred and eight subjects reported their trait levels of introversion-extraversion and need for cognition, and were subsequently induced into an affective state (content, happy, surprise, or neutral) and a cognitive state (heuristic or substantive information processing). Results indicated that study participants who were manipulated into either a content or a happy affect state made more positive judgements about the target group than study participants who were manipulated into either a surprised or a neutral state. Moreover, when the cognitive demands of the situation were low, a cognitive trait (need for cognition) and the affective state directly influenced the social judgement. H owever, when the cognitive demands of the situation were high, only an indirect effect of affective state through a cognitive state influenced the social judgement. Discussion focused on the components of the state-trait model of the social judgement process as it applies to positive affective states.     

Second year treatment outcome of alcoholics treated by individualized behavior therapy: Results

Second year treatment outcome results are reported for 69 of 70 male alcoholics who, while hospitalized at Patton State Hospital, served as subjects in an experiment evaluating ‘Individualized Behavior Therapy (IBT)’ techniques. Subjects were initially assigned to either a controlled drinking or non-drinking (abstinence) treatment goal. and were then randomly assigned to either an experimental group receiving IBT or a control group receiving conventional state hospital treatment oriented towards abstinence. Previously reported results found that IBT subjects functioned significantly better than control subjects throughout the first year of follow-up. Second year follow-up results found that IBT subjects treated with a controlled drinking goal functioned significantly better than their respective control subjects on a variety of measures, including drinking behavior. Differences between IBT subjects treated with a non-drinking goal and their control subjects did not retain statistical significance during the second year of follow-up. Individual drinking profiles are presented for all subjects. Only subjects treated by IBT with a goal of controlled drinking engaged in a substantial amount of limited, non-problem drinking during the second year interval, and those subjects also had more abstinent days than subjects in any other group. The nature of adequate follow-up procedures and measures is discussed. Implications of these findings for alcoholism treatment are considered.     

The effects of control on perceived fairness of procedures and outcomes

On the basis of Thibaut and Walker's theory of procedural justice, it was predicted that subjects who experienced control through choosing a trial decision rule would be more satisfied with the outcome of a dispute and the conflict resolution procedure than would yoked subjects who were not given control. Two additional conditions were added to the design in order to investigate the extent to which control had an influence on trial evaluations independent of being allowed to discuss the rules and obtaining a preferred rule in the absence of actual choice. Regardless of role in the dispute (accuser, accused, or no knowledge) and the nature of the rule adopted, those subjects who exercised control through rule choice evaluated all aspects of the trial experience more positively than subjects who did not exercise control through rule choice. The results also revealed that discussion of the rules and obtaining the preferred rule without choice contributed positively to evaluations of the trial procedure and verdict.