How affective states, task difficulty, and self-concepts influence the formation and consequences of performance expectancies

Positive versus negative affective states are associated with the use of broad versus specific knowledge structures. We predicted that specific self-concepts and task difficulty would affect performance expectancies only for individuals in a negative mood; for individuals in a positive mood, only the general self-concept, but not task difficulty, would affect performance expectancies. In an experiment, we manipulated task difficulty and mood, and we assessed self-concepts, performance expectancies, and task performance. The expected interactions for the formation of performance expectancies (mood × general self-concept, mood × specific self-concept, mood × difficulty) were found. Concerning the consequences of performance expectancies, we predicted that expectancies would affect actual performance only if the task was difficult and if task difficulty was taken into account when the expectancy is generated. This hypothesis was supported: The relationship between performance expectancies and actual performance was significant only for difficult tasks and given negative mood.     

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MOTHERS AND FATHERS IN PREDICTION OF SON'S PERFORMANCE IN EASY THROUGH DIFFICULT EXAMS*

Twenty-four Indian couples predicted in confidentiality to the school principal, the performance, in very easy, ok, and very difficult exams, of several 12-year-old boys, presented as their only son. As hypothesized, pattern in the Motivation X Ability effect depended upon the experience of subjects with the task and the difficulty of the exams. Prediction by mothers conformed to the patterns of parallelism and linear fan; those by fathers conformed to the patterns of parallelism and convergence. The findings of the present research and those of past research lead to the conclusion that the egalitarian (i.e., pattern of parallelism), elitist (i.e., pattern of linear fan), and Horatio Alger (i.e., pattern of convergence) beliefs are present in Indian, as well as in North-American adults, but that Indians manifest the elitist and Horatio Alger beliefs very selectively. The implications of these results for cross-cultural research on cognitive processes and for the understanding of differences between mothers and fathers in the cognition of their son are discussed.     

Joint Relationships of Task Proficiency With Aptitude,Experience, and Task Difficulty: A Cross-Level,Interactional Study

We adopted a cross-level interactional perspective in investigating the prediction of United States Air Force (USAF) jet engine mechanic task-level proficiency from aptitude, experience, and task difficulty. Aptitude, job and task experience, and task difficulty measures all were significant predictors of task proficiency. An hypothesis that task difficulty would moderate the aptitude-task proficiency relationship received no support. Similarly, hypothesized moderating effects of job experience on relationships of task proficiency with aptitude and task difficulty received little support. lhsk-level experience, however, had significant moderating effects on relationships of task proficiency with both aptitude and task difficulty. Aptitude and task difficulty had weaker relationships with task proficiency with increased task experience. We recommend that future research on performance determinants (a) clarify further the experience construct and (b) exploit theoretical and analytic advantages of cross-level and multilevel research designs.     

The Effects of Identity-Relevance and Task Difficulty on Task Motivation,Stress, and Performance

Tested the hypothesis that the identity-relevance of a performance domain would predict task motivation, stress, and actual performance. Psychology majors and non-majors (N = 94) completed either moderately difficult or very difficulty questions from a standardized verbal aptitude test. Before the test participants were told that performance on the test was either predictive of success as a psychologist (identity-relevant condition) or were given no information on the predictive ability of the test (control condition). Results revealed that only psychology majors evidenced higher motivation and stress in the identity-relevant condition in comparison to the control condition. The results of actual test performance revealed that when identity-relevance was high, psychology majors tended to do better than non-majors on a task of moderate difficulty, but tended to do worse on a task of high difficulty. Implications of the results for identity-relevance as a motivational and emotional lynchpin for performance are discussed. The author would like to thank Cynthia Ellison, Melissa Kinder, and Kelly Riddle for their assistance in data collection. A paper based on the results of the present study was presented at the 2004 meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association and was the co-recipient of the outstanding professional paper award.     

Necessary versus sufficient causal schemata: Attributions for achievement in difficult and easy tasks

Previous research on Kelley's schemata for multiple sufficient and multiple necessary causes has failed to examine the hypothesis that a schema influences both predictions of an event and attributions of its causes. This research examined the effects of the difficulty of a hypothetical exam on predictions of exam grades, and on attributions of ability and effort. Exam difficulty influenced both the pattern of judgments of grades and reported beliefs in multiple necessary versus multiple sufficient causes. Contrary to the predictions of the schema theory, exam difficulty had little influence on the pattern of attributions of ability and effort. Kelley's concept of a causal schema is reinterpreted in terms of current views of human judgment, and the possible implications of the data for the interpretations of a causal schema are examined. The results question the assumption that attributions are based on beliefs about how causes combine to determine an effect, and suggest further research on the relationship between predictions and attributions.     

Self-organized criticality and learning a new coordination task

The purpose of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that a self-organized criticality (SOC) practice condition would have a higher improvement rate in performance outcome than a typical progressive difficulty of practice regimen. The roller ball task was used where participants undergo a phase transition from failure to successful performance after sufficient practice. The findings from two experiments showed that the SOC condition had the fastest rate of improvement and the highest performance success level. The success probability in the SOC practice regime was close to the theoretically predicted value of 50%. It appears that the SOC practice condition - by scaling task difficulty to skill level in a self-controlled adaptive strategy - facilitates the learning of new movement coordination pattern by keeping the participant close to the parameter region of the transition of the movement dynamics.     

Performance as a function of resultant achievement motivation (perceived ability) and perceived difficulty

Subjects worked on a task which was described as either easy or difficult. When the task was thought to be difficult, Ss high in resultant achievement motivation performed better than those low in resultant achievement motivation. However, when the task was perceived as easy, the high motive group performed worse than the low group. These results confirm a prediction from Kukla's attributional theory of performance, in which resultant achievement motivation is conceived as a measure of perceived ability. They are not, however, deriveable from Spence's theory of the effects on performance of objective task difficulty, nor from Weiner's hypothesis concerning the motivational effects of success and failure. On the other hand, Kukla's theory provides an explanation for both the data usually cited in support of Spence's position and those taken to confirm Weiner's hypothesis. The relationship between the present results and Atkinson's theory of achievement motivation, which also hypothesizes an effect of perceived difficulty on performance, is discussed.     

Self-Relevance of Performance, Task Difficulty, and Task Engagement Assessed as Cardiovascular Response

Two experiments examined task engagement, quantified as cardiovascular (CV) response, under conditions of high self-relevance of performance (i. e., when performance had strong implications for the individual's self-definition and self-esteem). Experiment 1 involved a 2 (self-relevance) × 2 (task difficulty) design and revealed, in accordance with predictions derived from Brehm's energization model, that self-relevance per se does not result in high engagement, but that high self-relevance bound up with high task difficulty does. Experiment 2 involved three difficulty conditions (very easy, moderate, very difficult) under highly self-relevant performance conditions and revealed a curvilinear difficulty/engagement relationship. In both studies CV responses were independent of feeling states.     

The role of goal specificity in the goal-setting process

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between goal specificity and task performance, with specificity operationalized as a continuous quantitative variable reflecting the range of performance levels individuals chose as their personal goals. It was hypothesized that, controlling for goal difficulty, specific personal goals would be associated with higher levels of task performance. It was also hypothesized that task strategy would mediate the relationship between goal specificity and performance and that specific goals would be associated with smaller goal-performance discrepancies. The results from a sample of 162 college students working on an eye-hand coordination task supported the hypothesis concerning goal-performance discrepancies. They hypotheses regarding task strategy and the relationship between goal specificity and performance were supported only on the second of two trials.     

Effects of test anxiety, tests, and sleep on children''s performance

This study examined the interrelationship between children's test anxiety, sleep, and performance. The subjects, 239 sixth and seventh graders, responded to questionnaires examining sleep behavior and test anxiety on a day when they had a major exam in school, and on a day when they did not. They also completed a vigilance task on both days. The results showed that partial sleep loss (i.e., under 3 hr) did not adversely influence subjects' performance on the vigilance task or on the actual class exam. However, the results did reveal that test anxiety was negatively related to performance on the class exam.     

Standing Posture on Land and at Sea

We studied the influence of ship motion on postural activity during stance, varying stance width (the distance between the feet in side-by-side stance) and the difficulty of visual tasks. Participants (experienced crewmembers) were tested on land and then on successive days on a ship at sea in mild sea states. On land, we replicated classical effects of stance width and visual task on the magnitude of postural movement. The magnitude of forces used in postural control was greater at sea than on land. Visual performance at sea was comparable to performance on land. Both stance width and visual task difficulty influenced postural activity at sea. In addition, postural activity changed over days at sea. We conclude that experienced crewmembers modulated standing posture in support of the performance of visual tasks and that such effects occurred even in mild sea states. The overall pattern of effects is compatible with the hypothesis that postural activity is modulated, in part, in support of the performance of suprapostural tasks.     

Conceptual deficits and aging: the Category Test

Category Test performance of 41 bright aged normals was compared with the performance of 40 young normals and a group of 43 patients with suspected neurological dysfunction. The aged normals were not only as deficient as the neurologic patients but showed a similar pattern of deficits on Category subtests. The extreme difficulty experienced by aged normals and patients on Subtests III and IV was explained as a function of task complexity rather than of conceptual difficulty of conceptual principles and task complexity in a variety of impaired groups was suggested.     

Achievement goals, task performance, and interest: why perceived goal difficulty matters

In field studies, mastery goals, which focus on developing skill, often predict task interest but not actual performance. Performance-approach goals, which focus on outperforming others, instead often predict strong performance but not interest. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that these distinct goal effects trace to goal difficulty perceptions. In each study, participants assigned to a performance-approach goal perceived their goal to be harder, and therefore felt more performance pressure, than those assigned to a mastery goal. Among participants low in dispositional achievement orientation, this experience translated into lower task interest when pursuing the performance-approach goal. However, participants in both studies also performed the activity better when pursuing this goal instead of a standard mastery goal, although this was not mediated by self-reported goal difficulty perceptions. Finally, further demonstrating the role of goal difficulty, a mastery goal manipulated to appear more difficult than a standard mastery goal produced effects matching the performance-approach goal.     

Task difficulty and inertial properties of hand-held tools: An assessment of their concurrent effects on precision aiming

Aiming hand-held tools at targets in space entails adjustments in the dynamical organization of aiming patterns according to the required precision. We asked whether and how these adjustments are modified by the tool’s mass distribution. Twelve participants performed reciprocal aiming movements with a 50-cm long wooden probe. Kinematic patterns of probe movements were used as a window into the behavioral dynamic underlying performance of a reciprocal aiming task. We crossed three levels of task difficulty (IDs 2.8, 4.5 and 6.1) with two types of probe varying in their mass distribution (proximal vs distal loading). Movement duration was affected by task difficulty and probe loading (shorter for larger targets and proximal probe loading). Progressive deviations from a sinusoidal movement pattern were observed as task difficulty increased. Such deviations were more pronounced with proximal probe loading. Results point to a higher degree of non-linearity in aiming dynamics when the probe was loaded proximally, which might reflect employment of additional perceptual-motor processes to control the position of its less stable tip at the vicinity of the targets. More generally, the effects of probe loading on aiming pattern and dynamics suggest that perceptual-motor processes responding to task level constraints are sensitive to, and not independent from, biomechanical, end-effector constraints.     

Mind wandering while reading easy and difficult texts

Mind wandering is a phenomenon in which attention drifts away from the primary task to task-unrelated thoughts. Previous studies have used self-report methods to measure the frequency of mind wandering and its effects on task performance. Many of these studies have investigated mind wandering in simple perceptual and memory tasks, such as recognition memory, sustained attention, and choice reaction time tasks. Manipulations of task difficulty have revealed that mind wandering occurs more frequently in easy than in difficult conditions, but that it has a greater negative impact on performance in the difficult conditions. The goal of this study was to examine the relation between mind wandering and task difficulty in a high-level cognitive task, namely reading comprehension of standardized texts. We hypothesized that reading comprehension may yield a different relation between mind wandering and task difficulty than has been observed previously. Participants read easy or difficult versions of eight passages and then answered comprehension questions after reading each of the passages. Mind wandering was reported using the probe-caught method from several previous studies. In contrast to the previous results, but consistent with our hypothesis, mind wandering occurred more frequently when participants read difficult rather than easy texts. However, mind wandering had a more negative influence on comprehension for the difficult texts, which is consistent with the previous data. The results are interpreted from the perspectives of the executive-resources and control-failure theories of mind wandering, as well as with regard to situation models of text comprehension.     

An interactive approach to work motivation: The effects of competition,rewards, and goal difficulty on task performance

This study examined the interactive effects of competition, rewards, and goal difficulty on task performance and goal commitment. Students were assigned to one of eight experimental conditions and participated in a computerized anagram solution task. Rewards significantly increased performance, especially along with difficult goals. Competition was not found to have an effect on goal commitment or task performance, and goal difficulty increased performance although the results did not reach statistical significance. Goal commitment was shown to have a direct effect on task performance as opposed to a moderating role in the goal level-task performance relationship. A discussion of the findings and suggestions for further research are included.DePaul University     

Task difficulty, cardiovascular response, and the magnitude of goal valence

Sixty-four young women expected to perform an easy, moderately difficult, or extremely difficult memory task with the opportunity to earn a small incentive for good performance. Cardiovascular (heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) and subjective measures were taken immediately prior to task performance. Both systolic blood pressure (SBP) responses and ratings of goal attractiveness were nonmonotonically related to expected task difficulty, with the most pronounced SBP elevations and highest goal attractiveness in the moderately difficult task condition. Product-moment correlations among cardiovascular response measures revealed a strong positive association between systolic and diastolic pressure (but not heart rate) change in the easy condition, positive relationships among all measures in the moderately difficult condition, and no significant correlations in the extremely difficult condition. Subjective measures of arousal were not affected by the task difficulty manipulation. Principal findings are discussed in terms of a theoretical model proposed by Brehm (1979) that states that motivation varies as a nonmonotonic function of the difficulty of goal attainment. Intercorrelations among cardiovascular response variables are considered in terms of their possible indication of the mechanisms underlying blood pressure changes associated with variations in motivation.     

Attribute Range and Response Range: Limits of Compatibility in Multiattribute Judgment

Previous research suggests that attributes may have greater effects on judgment when attribute scales and response scales are compatible. We examine a particular form of compatibility, similarity of ranges, and test between two theories of attribute range and response range effects. Two groups of subjects rated the overall class performance of students as described by two exam scores and an essay grade. An identical set of exam scores was presented in narrow and wide exam ranges. One group made performance ratings using a narrow response scale, and the other rated performance with a wide response scale. In both response range conditions, the effect of the common attribute levels was greater for the narrow exam range than for the wide exam range. This finding is inconsistent with a range-compatibility hypothesis which predicts that the effect of an attribute depends on the compatibility between attribute range and response range. Results are consistent with a range-frequency hypothesis in which the same attribute levels span a greater range of subjective values when presented in a narrow attribute range, regardless of the response scale.