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.     

The self-attention-induced feedback loop and social facilitation

It has been proposed that self-directed attention leads to the engagement of a cybernetic feedback loop, by which discrepancies between present behavior and a standard of comparison are reduced. This analysis is applied to performance facilitation effects, which are more typically explained in terms of drive theories. Though these two approaches to motivation make similar behavioral predictions in this context, they assume different mediating states. Support is noted for the assumptions that mirror presence and audience presence induce self-focus, and that they lead to comparison with salient behavioral standards. Support for the assumption that these manipulations increase arousal is also reviewed, and is challenged on methodological grounds. The attentional analysis is used to derive predictions regarding changes in physiological state over the course of a typical social facilitation procedure. An experiment is reported which confirmed these predictions. Discussion centers on how to interpret physiological changes in terms that are compatible with control theory, how to account for social impairment phenomena in terms of the present model, and the conceptual relationship between mirror presence and audience presence as experimental manipulations.     

Self-consciousness and reactance

Two studies examined the effects of dispositional self-consciousness on reactance. In Experiment 1, men who were high in private self-consciousness displayed greater reactance responses to a coercive communication attempt (as reflected by attitude reversal) than did men lower in private self-consciousness. In contrast, the effect of public self-consciousness in this context was to inhibit the expression of reactance. In Experiment 2, women high in private self-consciousness exhibited greater reactance responses to a self-imposed threat to their freedom of choice (as reflected by equivocation over two choice alternatives) than did women lower in private self-consciousness. The effect of public self-consciousness in this context was negligible. These findings replicate and extend a previous self-awareness and reactance finding; they provide additional evidence that manipulated self-awareness and dispositional self-consciousness converge on the same psychological entity; and they provide additional evidence that there are important differences between the dimensions of private and public self-consciousness.     

Actors' and observers' attributions for success and failure: A comparative test of predictions from Kelley's cube,self-serving bias,and positivity bias formulations

An experiment was conducted to test implications of Kelley's cube, self-serving bias, and positivity bias formulations for attributions associated with success and failure on a test of “abstract reasoning.” Subjects either experienced or observed outcomes on three tasks. They then made attributions for only the third outcome, which was either a success or a failure. The first task was of the same type and had the same outcome as the third task, thus providing the information that the outcome being attributed was high in consistency. The second task was of a different type than the first and third tasks, and its outcome either did or did not differ from their outcomes, thus varying information about the distinctiveness of the outcome being attributed. Consensus was manipulated by presenting false norms, ostensibly from a previous experiment. In contrast to previous research, the present study included thorough checks on all of these informational manipulations. Regardless of attributor role (actor or observer), subjects attributed success more to internal than to external factors and attributed failure more to external than to internal factors. These findings indicate a general bias toward positive evaluations. Discussion centers on possible alternative interpretations of these findings, restrictions on their generality, and the limitations that they seem to impose on the applicability of the other two formulations.     

Why does self-reference promote incidental encoding?

Answering a question regarding a stimulus word can cause incidental encoding of the word itself. The thoroughness of the encoding depends in part upon what question is answered. For example, saying whether a word describes oneself causes a particularly high degree of incidental encoding. The study reported here investigated several variables that have been proposed as mediators of that effect. As in previous research, subjects completed an incidental-encoding and recall procedure. They then rated (a) the quality and degree of affect that they would experience if each stimulus word were to be applied to them, (b) the importance to them of the behavioral/psychological dimension implied by the stimulus word, and (c) the degree to which they saw themselves as distinctive on that dimension. As in previous studies, deciding whether a word described the self increased the likelihood of subsequent recall. There also was a highly significant interaction such that words judged to be applicable to self were recalled better than those judged not to be applicable. There was no evidence, however, of a mediational role for any other variable studied. Discussion centers on theoretical implications of the data.     

Modeling: An analysis in terms of category accessibility

It is proposed that many of the releasing or disinhibiting effects caused by models can be accounted for by information-processing mechanisms, without recourse to the concept of reinforcement. More specifically, it is suggested that the process of viewing a model's behavior involves the activation of an interpretive schema. This renders the information the schema incorporates more accessible for subsequent use. If the schema incorporates (or is closely related to) behavior-specifying information, that information becomes more accessible as well, thus making it more likely to influence overt behavior. Two studies are reported that assessed the plausibility of this reasoning. In Experiment 1 subjects who had viewed an aggressive model perceived greater hostility in the behavior of an ambiguous stimulus person that they subsequently encountered than did control subjects. This finding is consistent with the assumption that the model's behavior activated a conceptual schema for use in interpretation. In Experiment 2 subjects in whom an aggressive schema had been activated under a guise displayed greater aggression in their subsequent behavior in a different context than did control subjects. This finding is consistent with the assumption that activating the conceptual schema also activated behavioral information. The discussion centers on the implications of the findings.     

Anticipation of future interaction and the bystander effect

Previous research suggests that people are slower to offer help in an emergency when there are other witnesses than when there are not. This finding has come to be known as the bystander effect. In research that has demonstrated this effect, however, the other witnesses were invariably anonymous others who had no relationship with the subject and with whom the subject probably did not expect to interact again. The present research examined the hypothesis that the expectation of participating in subsequent face-to-face interaction with other bystanders would cause the bystander effect to be minimized. Female college students were led to believe either that they would have no personal contact with the other participants in an ostensible group discussion, or that the participants would be involved in a later face-to-face discussion session. Each subject then participated in what she believed to be an anonymous discussion via intercoms, involving either one person or five persons beside herself. During this period, an ostensible co-subject experienced a choking fit. Help was offered more quickly among subjects who expected future interaction than among those who did not. In the no future interaction condition, latencies to help were longer in six-member than in two-member groups, but the comparable difference, although in the same direction, was not reliable among subjects who expected interaction. Presence of male “co-subjects” in an exploratory condition failed to inhibit helping. Discussion centers on the broader implications of the findings.     

Resolution of complex decisional conflicts as a function of degree of avoidance

The relationship between difficulty of conflict resolution and degree of avoidance was investigated in three experiments using imaginary conflicts consisting of choosing to have more or less of certain personal characteristics. Double forms of conflict were used to control for complexity of choice. In the first experiment, it was found that double approach-approach conflicts were resolved more quickly than double approach-avoidance which in turn were faster than double avoidance-avoidance. The second experiment showed a similar result using scaled judgments of subjective difficulty. In the third experiment, the basic finding was shown to be independent of situational pressure by permitting an undecided choice. The basic finding was also shown to be independent of individual differences in social desirability.     

Bogus physiological feedback and response thresholds of Repressers and Sensitizers

Repressers and Sensitizers viewed tachistoscopically presented TAT transparencies under conditions of high and low bogus physiological feedback. As predicted, during high bogus physiological feedback, Repressers showed a significant increase and Sensitizers showed a significant decrease in response thresholds. These results serve to extend the validity of bogus physiological feedback procedures in the analog investigation of emotion and offer theoretical implications relevant to the areas of personality, emotion, psychophysiology, and psychopathology.     

Individual differences in preschool children's knowledge of superordinate categories

The present study assesses intensional knowledge of superordinate categories in preschool children. This assessment is part of a larger programmatic research effort aimed at the development of a cognitive preschool screening test to detect learning problems prior to their manifestation in school failure. Necessary prerequisites for including intensional superordinate category knowledge as a potential component of this screening test are addressed: (a) Are there substantial variations in this knowledge across preschool children? (b) Can the knowledge be measured reliably using game-like picture tasks? (c) Do individual differences in this knowledge relate to the child's current level of intellectual functioning? An underlying assumption for the development of this screening test is that assessing gradually emerging abstract knowledge that develops through active, ongoing processing is more likely to predict learning problems than assessing knowledge that develops through rote associative learning. Consistent with this approach was the prediction that one component of intension, knowledge of differences, would be a better predictor of current functioning than knowledge of similarities. The data support this contention. Although both knowledge of similarities and differences was stable within an individual, variable among individuals and highly correlated with each other, only knowledge of differences related to the child's concurrent level of intellectual functioning.     

The order of continuous,partial and nonreward trials and resistance to extinction

In the first experiment rats were given either 16 or 48 nonrewarded or continuously rewarded trials prior to 24 continuously or partially rewarded trials, followed by extinction. Increased resistance to extinction was found for increasing numbers of nonrewarded trials when they were followed by partial reward, but not when followed by continuous reward. Similarly, more continuously rewarded trials followed by partial reward tended to increase resistance to extinction. Because of the theoretical importance of the effect of continuous reward followed by partial, a second experiment was performed where the range of the number of continuously rewarded trials was extended to 0, 48, and 96. Contrary to many theoretical predictions, resistance to extinction increased as a function of increasing amounts of continuous reward.     

Self-consciousness, outcome expectancy, and persistence

A study investigated persistence as a function of two variables: the disposition to be self-attentive (called private self-consciousness) and outcome feedback on a prior task that was described as closely related to the target task. More specifically, subjects first completed a concealed-figures test and were told that their performances were either very good or very poor. The second test, which ostensibly measured the same abilities, was an insolvable design problem that is commonly used to measure persistence. Feedback concerning prior outcomes had a direct influence on expectancies for the second task, but persistence on that task was a joint function of feedback and self-consciousness. That is, favorable feedback led to greater persistence than did unfavorable feedback, but only among subjects high in self-consciousness. This finding replicates and extends the results of several previous studies. Discussion centers on the relationship between the present research and an earlier experiment which yielded apparently different results.     

Time urgency and the Type A behavior pattern: Implications for time investment and psychological entrapment

Type A's have been described as more time urgent than Type B's, and research indicates that they underestimate the passage of fixed time intervals. The present study examined the implications of these differences in time perception for decisions where time is a resource that can be invested. Type A's and B's were given an initial stake of $4 and provided the opportunity to invest some or all of that amount for the chance to win an additional $2. Investment occurred as a function of time, with subjects believing they would win the additional $2 if a counter reached a randomly determined number. Each unit increment on the counter also resulted in the loss of 1¢ from the initial stake, thus as the counter progressed, goal attainment became more certain, but expenses also increased. Subjects could stop the counter at any time and keep the remainder of their initial stake or continue to invest until the initial stake was depleted (the counter was programmed to never hit the “jackpot”). Half of the subjects could monitor the counter directly, while the other half could not and had to rely on their subjective time estimates. Results indicated that when objective time passage cues were present, Type A's and B's did not differ in their investment decisions. When subjects had to estimate time passage, however, Type A's invested far more than Type B's. These results indicate that under appropriate conditions, Type A's are more susceptible than Type B's to psychological entrapment.     

Magnitude of negative reinforcement and resistance to extinction

In the first experiment rats experienced large or small magnitude of negative reinforcement (shock reduction) in a straight alley. Half of the subjects in each magnitude group received continuous reinforcement, and the other half received a 50% partial reinforcement schedule (nonreinforcement consisting of no shock reduction in the goal box). In extinction the groups were ordered: large partial > small-partial > small-continuous > large-continuous. In the second experiment rats received large, small and nonreinforcement in various sequences using the runway-negative reinforcement procedure and were ordered: SNL>LNL>SNL>LNS in resistance to extinction (letters represent the magnitudes in the sequence experienced in acquisition). The results of these experiments indicate a commality between positive and negative reinforcement with respect to behavioral phenomena and theoretical accounts of those phenomena.     

Film-facilitated arousal and prosocial behavior

The present investigation sought to test the applicability of the excitation transfer model (P. Tannenbaum & D. Zillmann. In L. Berkowitz, Ed., Advances in experimental social psychology, Vol. 8, New York: Academic Press 1975) to prosocial behavior. This model predicts that for individuals predisposed to act prosocially, arousal transferred from an unrelated source will facilitate such behavior. Two studies were conducted in which male college students, treated in either a positive or neutral manner and shown an arousing erotic or nonarousing control film, ostensibly rewarded and punished a confederate for performance on a memory task. Contrary to predictions, the first experiment found the arousing film increased reward regardless of treatment. In the second experiment, where the neutral treatment was given a more negative tone, the predicted interaction was found. Specifically, subjects treated in a positive manner and shown an arousing film were significantly more rewarding than were similarly treated subjects shown the nonarousing film. While type of film had no effect on neutral subjects' reward behavior, the arousing film did increase their punitive behavior. These results, coupled with physiological and self-report data, strongly support the excitation transfer model.     

Sensitivity and responsivity measures for discrimination learning

The present report considers alternative measures of sensitivity and response bias for the discrimination learning paradigm. The classical signal detection measures, d′ and β, were compared with their nonparametric equivalents, A′ and B″, with theoretical measures derived from threshold theory and with empirical measures derived from the ROC graph. Differential rabbit eyelid conditioning data from three experiments were analyzed with these measures, and the results of these analyses were used along with other information to determine which measures of sensitivity and response bias are most useful for the analysis of discrimination learning data.     

A functional measurement analysis of the development of dimensional coordination in children

The development of children's dimensional coordination was investigated using kindergarten, second, fourth, and sixth grade subjects (Ages 5, 7, 9, and 11 years, respectively), and an adult sample, by means of a perceptual estimation task requiring the subjects to match in total area a stimulus rectangle to an adjustable square stimulus. The problem was formulated using information integration theory, and the procedures and techniques of functional measurement were used in the analysis. Dimensional coordination was found to develop from a stage of total centration on one dimension to a stage of total decentration with equal weighting applied to both dimensions.Contrary to extant hypotheses, the vertical dimension was not the salient dimension for single dimension centerers. Rather, the spatial axis on which the compared-objects were placed determined the displacement of attention. When this frame of reference effect was controlled, the longer of the two dimensions was the salient dimension for centering subjects.     

Social elicitation of infant vocal behavior.

The time course and the nature of social elicitation of vocalizations in 3-month-old infants were analyzed. Adult stimulation produced an immediate and significant increase in both the rate and the percent of bursts of vocal sounds of eight infants (Experiment 1). Both response-independent and response-dependent social stimulation were effective in producing increased rates of vocalizations, but only when each of four infants could see the eyes of the adult who delivered the social stimulus (Experiment 2).