Achievement Goals,Feedback, and Task Performance

Prior research indicates that instructions to focus attention on learning versus performance and the nature of feedback provided have distinct implications for subsequent task performance. We first examined how assigned learning and performance goals and feedback valence interact to determine performance change. Individuals with learning goal instructions performed better after negative feedback but worse after positive feedback. In Study 2, we found that implicit theory, an individual difference that is antecedent to general goal orientation, interacted with learning/performance goal instructions to influence performance change after negative feedback. In both studies, goal instructions influenced performance attributions and affective states, but these variables did not mediate the effects of the goal instructions or performance feedback. We discuss the implications of these results for academic and employment settings.     

The Joint Impact of Achievement Goals and Performance Feedback on Information Giving

This research examined how performance feedback moderates the effects of individuals' achievement goals on information exchange when carrying out a novel and complex task. Experiment 1 demonstrated that mastery goal individuals who received positive performance feedback gave less modified information about their task performance to their exchange partner relative to both mastery goal individuals who received negative feedback and performance goal individuals (who received either negative or positive feedback). In Experiment 2, we found that relative to performance goals, mastery goals led to a stronger reciprocity orientation and a weaker exploitation orientation. Also, mastery goal individuals provided information of higher quality than performance goal individuals, thereby explaining the observed findings in Experiment 1.     

The Effects of Self-Set Goals on Task Performance

Locke & Latham (1990a) report that specific, difficult goals lead to better performance than "do-your-best" instructions, whether the goals are self-set or are set by an external source. However, in Experiment I, as well as in previous research (White, Kjelgaard, & Harkins, 1995), we did not find self-set goal effects. A meta-analysis showed that self-set goal effects can be produced if two conditions are met: Prior to setting their goals, participants take part in a pretest that is equal in duration to the experimental task; and the experimenter has access to the participants' goals and the performances. Experiment 2 confirmed these meta-analytic findings by showing that when these two conditions were met, goals stringent enough to produce the effects were set, and goal-setting effects were obtained.     

The Effects of Self-Esteem,Task Label,and Performance Feedback on Task Liking and Intrinsic Motivation

Abstract

American undergraduate students' task liking and intrinsic motivation were examined using 2 × 2 × 2 (Self-Esteem × Task Label × Feedback) analyses of variance. Identical tasks were labeled as either difficult or easy, and bogus performance feedback was given randomly to each subject. For subjects with high self-esteem, feedback had strong impact on their liking of a difficult task, whereas for those with low self-esteem, feedback had strong impact on liking of an easy task. After positive feedback for performing a difficult task, subjects with high self-esteem increased task liking, whereas those with low self-esteem decreased task liking. Subjects also showed higher intrinsic motivation after positive feedback than after negative feedback.     

An Examination of the Relative Impact of Normative Information and Self-Efficacy on Personal Goals and Performance Over Time1

A model of goal-setting processes was developed that depicted the influence of previous performance, normative information, and self-efficacy on personal goals and performance. Three levels of normative information were manipulated in a counter-balanced fashion across two trials. Norms were hypothesized to have a greater influence than self-efficacy on personal goals for the first trial, whereas efficacy was hypothesized to have a stronger influence than norms on Trial 2 goals. A sample of 135 undergraduates completed a practice and two performance trials of a word game, and the results were analyzed using LISREL structural modeling techniques. Although the general hypothesized model fit fairly well, the specific results concerning the relative impact of norms and self-efficacy were opposite of the expected direction. Potential explanations for these results, and recommendations for future research are offered.     

The Effect of Attitude Similarity on Task Performance1

It was hypothesized in a two-person situation that students would perform significantly better on intellectual tasks when paired with a liked other than when paired with a disliked other. In a laboratory experiment, 108 male undergraduates performed one of three types of intellectual tasks with an attitudinally similar or dissimilar partner or with a partner about whom the subject had no attitude information. Individuals paired with a similar partner felt affectively more positive than those paired with a dissimilar partner (p < .01). Individuals paired with a similar other performed significantly better on the tasks than those paired with a dissimilar partner (p < .01).     

Group Learning Curves: The Effects of Turnover and Task Complexity on Group Performance1

This study examined the effects of turnover and task complexity on group performance. Two hundred and forty subjects arranged into three-person groups performed a production-type task for six experimental periods. The design was a 2 (Turnover vs. No Turnover) × 2 (Simple vs. Complex Task) × 2 (Male vs. Female) × 6 (Periods) factorial with repeated measures on the last factor. The analysis revealed that group performance improved markedly as groups gained experience with the task. Groups which did not experience turnover (closed groups) produced significantly more products than did groups which experienced turnover (open groups). The superior performance of closed over open groups was amplified over periods. Groups produced more of the simple than of the complex product, and this difference was also amplified over periods. The gap in the performance of closed versus open groups increased over periods, and the increase in the gap was greater for the simple than for the complex task. The lesser impact of turnover on the complex task is consistent with an innovation hypothesis, according to which increases in the production of complex tasks are due more to innovation than to repetition. Supportive analyses of innovation data are reported.     

The Effect of Crowding on Human Task Performance1

In a series of three experiments, groups of people performed tasks under varying conditions of density. The tasks ranged from very simple to complex, from rote memory to a test of creativity. Subjects worked on the tasks for 4 hours at a time for two or three successive days. There were no significant effects of density on performance, nor any consistent trends.     

The Moderating Effect of Performance Feedback and the Mediating Effect of Self-Set Goals on the Primed Goal-Performance Relationship

The effect of feedback and a self-set goal on the relationship between a goal primed in the subconscious and performance were examined in three laboratory experiments and one field experiment (n = 241, 465, 201, 74 respectively), using normative (bogus) and absolute feedback manipulations, and different performance tasks that were coded for both performance quality (i.e. creativity) and quantity. The hypothesis that providing feedback, a moderator in goal setting theory, amplifies the causal effect of a primed goal on performance was supported. Specifically, in experiment 1, participants were randomly assigned to a 2 (prime of effective vs. ineffective performance) × 3 (positive, negative, no feedback) factorial design. The primed goal for effective performance led to higher performance than the negative primed goal. In addition, feedback, regardless of its sign, increased both task and creative performance when a primed goal for effective performance was presented, but did not do so when the goal primed ineffective performance. This effect was replicated in two subsequent laboratory experiments which employed three primed goal conditions (effective/neutral/ineffective). In experiments 2 and 3, a consciously set goal, with no prompting by an experimenter, mediated the relationship between a primed goal and performance when feedback was provided. Experiment 4 provided a conceptual replication in a work setting, involving employees in a customer service department of a large communication company. Finally, a meta-analysis of these four experiments indicated an average effect size of d = 0.36, 95 per cent CI [0.23, 0.49] with no evidence of heterogeneity across the four experiments. These findings suggest that not only are subconscious goals a foundation for the difficulty level of consciously set goals, but in addition subconscious goals and conscious goals work together in affecting performance.     

Goal Characteristics and Satisfaction: Personal Goals as Mediators of Situational Effects on Task Satisfaction1

This study modeled the process underlying the experience of satisfaction by examining the interrelationships among the task situation, intention characteristics, and satisfaction. The central proposition of the model was that the effect of the situation on satisfaction is fully mediated by the nature and status of one's own intentions that result from that context. The proposed model, in which the task situation indirectly determines satisfaction only through intention characteristics, was compared to a model in which the situation both directly and indirectly determines satisfaction and to a model which contained no intention characteristics. The intention characteristics assessed in this study included their number, valence, value, commitment, probability, and perceived attainment. Two aspects of the task situation were examined: task enrichment and assigned performance goals. A total of 192 subjects were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions according to goal (no goal vs. assigned goal) and task type (enriched vs. unenriched). Intentions and their characteristics were assessed before the task period, and satisfaction with the task was measured afterward. The results provided support for a model in which the task situation and intention characteristics have independent effects on satisfaction.     

Training for Dangerous Task Performance: The Effects of Expectations and Feedback1

The training of individuals to perform dangerous tasks confronts theorists and practitioners with a critical issue: To what extent should individuals be exposed during training to stressors that characterize the conditions under which the task will eventually be performed? The present study evaluated two variables that might help resolve this dilemma. The first, a personality variable, consists of a person's generalized expectation that he or she will not be physically hurt while exposed to danger. The other, which is more sitution-specific, consists of the feeling of success or failure that the trainee experiences at the conclusion of training under physically dangerous conditions. The quality of soldiers' performance and the intensity of experienced stress were tested in a combat simulation. Individuals who tend to assign a low probability to their being physically injured in dangerous situations were found to benefit more from dangerous than from non-dangerous training. The opposite was found for individuals who assign a high probability to their being injured in dangerous situations. Moreover, exposure to serious physical threats during training yielded better training results than training that did not involve such threats only when the subjects concluded their training with a feeling of success. The subjective feelings of success or failure had no effect, however, under training conditions that did not expose trainees to danger. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Interactive Effects of Goal Orientation and Feedback Specificity on Task Performance

This study examined the impact of goal orientation and feedback specificity on performance. Ninety undergraduate management students completed 3 phases of a computerized management decision-making simulation in conditions of low, moderate, or high feedback specificity. Learning orientation interacted with feedback specificity to predict performance in Phase 1, such that feedback specificity had a greater impact on performance for persons low in learning orientation. Performance orientation interacted with feedback specificity to predict performance in Phase 3, such that feedback specificity had a greater impact on performance for persons high in performance orientation.     

Effects of Goal Choice,Strategy Choice,and Feedback Source on Goal Acceptance,Performance and Subsequent Goals1

This study examined the effects of goal choice, strategy choice, and feedback source on goal acceptance, performance, and future self-set goals. The results were partially consistent with earlier work by Earley and Kanfer (1985) in that goal and strategy choice interacted to affect initial performance and goal acceptance. However, the nature of the performance interaction was not as expected. Results pertaining to future goals and subsequent performance suggested that goal choice was an important determinant of future goals and that feedback, goal choice, and strategy choice interacted to influence subsequent performance. Contrary to expectations, feedback source did not exert a main effect on subsequent performance, goal setting, or perceptions of feedback acceptance and usefulness. Discussion centered on the differential impact of choice on perceptual and behavioral variables and the failure of self-feedback to significantly affect subsequent goals and performance.     

The Influence of Commitment to Assigned Goals and Performance on Subsequent Self-Set Goals and Performance1

Seventy-seven undergraduates were assigned a performance goal for the first of two trials of a word game, and set goals for themselves on a second trial. Goal commitment was hypothesized to moderate the influence of goal level on performance within both trials. In addition, commitment to the assigned Trial I goals was hypothesized to moderate the relationship between goal attainment and self-set goals for the second trial. Subjects' initial performance on a practice trial was also hypothesized to interact with the goal levels they were assigned on the first trial, such that individuals who performed relatively well on the practice trial were expected to evidence a greater positive relationship between goal level and performance than individuals who performed relatively poorly on the practice trial. The results of three moderated regression analyses yielded no support for the hypothesized within-trial moderating influence of goal commitment on goal level-performance relations. However, commitment to assigned goals and goal attainment did interact as related to personal goals for Trial 2. Further, the hypothesized influence of practice trial performance and assigned goal level on Trial I performance was supported. The results are discussed in terms of how goal levels should be determined and assigned to employees, and the role of goal commitment in goal setting predictions.     

The Role of Subjective Task Complexity in Goal Orientation,Self-Efficacy,and Performance Relations

We examined the role of subjective task complexity in goal orientation effects on self-efficacy and performance on a computerized simulation of a class scheduling task (N = 138). Results indicated that goal orientation effects on performance were mediated by subjective task complexity. In addition, our results revealed that subjective task complexity was related to self-efficacy but not cognitive ability. Moreover, subjective task complexity effects on performance were mediated by self-efficacy, and goal orientation effects on self-efficacy were mediated by subjective task complexity. Results are discussed in terms of conceptual relations between goal orientation, subjective task complexity, self-efficacy, and performance.     

The Interactive Effects of Task and External Feedback on Practice Performance and Learning

The interactions of task and external feedback on practice performance and learning were examined. While external feedback was consistently beneficial to performance during practice, regardless of the availability of feedback from the task, it was detrimental to learning when the task provided little feedback. External feedback benefited learning only when feedback was also available from the task. In addition, task feedback benefited learning, partially due to its effects on error detection and correction skills. Results suggest the importance of examining the simultaneous provision of feedback from different sources, studying the role of task feedback in learning, and more cleanly assessing learning to avoid confounding it with transient performance improvements.     

The Effects of Self-Esteem,Task Label,and Performance Feedback on Goal Setting,Certainty, and Attribution

An identical task was labeled as either difficult or easy. Bogus performance feedback was given to each subject at random after the first work period. Subjects were divided into high or low self-esteem groups based on a median split in their scores on the self-esteem measure. The results showed that subjects set lower goals in the difficult condition than they did in the easy condition in the first period; however, no difference was found in the second period. Subjects with high self-esteem had higher certainty than those with low self-esteem in the second period. Subjects in the positive feedback group made higher ability and effort attributions than those in the negative feedback group.     

个人自立、反馈对长时距估计的影响

为了探索人格与反馈对时间估计的影响,本研究采用非时间任务和预期式时距估计的方法对个人自立高分组与低分组共40名被试进行了研究。结果发现：（1）虽然差异不显著,但是在两次时距估计中个人自立高分组的时距估计绝对错误量均小于低分组;（2）个人自立高分组的时距估计绝对错误量变化幅度显著小于低分组;（3）个人自立高分组在两次时距估计绝对错误量上的相关明显大于低分组;（4）有反馈组的时距估计绝对错误量显著小于无反馈组。据此可以认为：（1）由个人自立导致的时间估计的个体差异表现在时间估计的误差变异度和准确性两个方面。高个人自立者的时间估计误差的变异度更小,同时可能倾向于更准确地进行时距估计。（2）反馈有助于提高时间估计的准确性。（3）“绝对错误量变化幅度”和“时距估计绝对错误量的相关”是两个值得在今后的研究中应用的指标。     

The Effect of Giving Informal Performance Feedback on Subsequent Formal Memory-Based Performance Evaluations1

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that raters' formal memory-based performance evaluations can be significantly influenced by their having previously given the ratee informal performance feedback. In Experiment 1 subjects either did or did not give informal feedback to another person who performed either well or poorly on an interviewing task. In Experiment 2 subjects role played giving informal feedback about behavior relevant to only one of the two performance dimensions subsequently evaluated. In both experiments subjects later ratcd the interpersonal and task performance of the feedback recipient. The results of both studies support the hypothesis for ratings of interpersonal performance. Giving informal feedback to a ratee exhibiting good interpersonal performance led to more positive interpersonal performance ratings, whereas giving informal feedback to a ratee exhibiting poor interpersonal performance led to more negative interpersonal performance ratings. Task performance ratings, on the other hand, were not affected. Conditions likely to have mitigated the impact of giving informal feedback on the task performance ratings are discussed, as are the implications of the results for practical strategies to improve the quality of formal memory-based performance evaluations.     

Group and Individual Decision Making for Task Performance Goals: Processes in the Establishment of Goals:in Groups1

The study examines the processes by which goals in groups are established. Performance goals and preferences for goals were stated by individuals acting alone, by groups deciding in unison, and by group members. All subjects performed a card-sorting task as individuals, and self-set goals were selected for expected levels of individual performance. Groups selected goals that were less difficult than individual goals on several occasions of goal setting. Analysis of the group goal decisions suggests that a success-based social comparison process occurs that implies groups select a goal slightly lower than the average of the member preferences so that the group members may appear successful. Analyses also indicated that the lower group goals arose quickly in the group interaction, and that group members readily adopted the lower goals as appropriate levels of performance. Discussion focuses on the observed differences among group, group member, and individual performance goals, and the ability of the success-based social comparison process to account for these differences.