The effects of information and aspiration level on bargaining behavior

This paper examines a crucial problem facing a bargainer in interpersonal negotiation; should he seek additional information about an opponent's reward structure. The “information is weakness” hypothesis and the “reality of aspiration” hypothesis give conflicting recommendations concerning this question. An “information-aspiration” model is presented as an explanation of why the findings which give support to both positions are not necessarily contradictory. This model is tested in a 2 × 2 factorial design where 80 buyers bargained having either complete or incomplete information and low or high aspiration levels, against 80 sellers with incomplete information. In general the model was supported in that bargainers with low aspirations tended to gain strength with additional information, while those with high aspirations tended to lose strength with additional information.     

Motivation in an asymmetric bargaining situation : A cross-cultural study(1)

Canadian and East Indian dyads played a temporally limited bargaining game with a two by five payoff matrix. There were three experimental conditions: (a) Equality condition: each player had an equal range of possible payoffs, (b) Topdog condition: each player ostensibly had a larger payoff range than the other, and (c) Underdog condition: each player ostensibly had a smaller payoff range than the other. The actual payoff range was identical across players and conditions. Canadians were more cooperative in the Topdog condition than in the Underdog condition whereas for the Indians, there was evidence that the opposite was the case. Among the Indians in the Underdog condition, a dominance-submission order apparently formed which may reflect the rigid social hierarchy in Indian society.     

Effects of alternatives in coalition bargaining

A critical factor in bargaining and coalition formation is the alternative outcomes of the bargainers if an agreement cannot be reached. In some situations bargainers have individual alternatives while in other situations their alternatives must be negotiated with others. The purpose of this study was to contrast the effects of one-person and two-person alternatives on coalition outcomes. The second purpose of the study was to contrast the predictions of four theories of coalition formation: bargaining theory, equal excess model, Shapley value, and a special case of equity theory. The results indicate that one-person alternatives enhance the bargaining strength of the stronger players more than two-person alternatives. The predictions of the equal excess model and the Shapley value were more accurate than the predictions of bargaining theory and equity theory. However, the greater accuracy of the equal excess model and the Shapley value may be restricted to situations in which the bargainers have one-person rather than two-person alternatives.     

Effects of conditioned reinforcement frequency in an intermittent free-feeding situation,

Key-pecking intermittently produced a set of brief exteroceptive stimulus changes under two-component multiple schedules of conditioned reinforcement. Throughout the study, free access to grain was concurrently provided on an intermittent basis via a variable-interval tape. Free food presentations scheduled by the tape were delivered if no peck had been emitted for 6 sec, and the brief stimulus changes produced by responding under the multiple schedules were those which accompanied food presentation. The second component of each multiple schedule was always associated with a 1-min, variable-interval schedule of conditioned reinforcement. The schedule associated with the first component was systematically varied and conditioned reinforcement was either absent (extinction) or programmed on a 1-, 3-, 6-, or 12-min variable-interval schedule. Under these conditions, rate of responding in the manipulated component decreased monotonically with a decrease in the frequency of conditioned reinforcement. In addition, contrast effects were often obtained in the constant, second component. These results are similar to those obtained with similar multiple schedules of primary reinforcement.     

Effects of immediacy of feedback and level of aspiration statements on learning tasks for delinquent youngsters

The performance of institutionalized delinquent youngsters on paired associate learning tasks was investigated to determine whether level of aspiration (LOA) statements were associated with improved performance under varying feedback conditions. The effects of the feedback conditions were also examined. Forty-eight male adolescents were randomly assigned to the following six treatment conditions: (1) Delayed Feedback, (2) Delayed Feedback with LOA, (3) Immediate Feedback, (4) Immediate Feedback with LOA, (5) No Feedback, (6) No Feedback with LOA. The LOA conditions produced significantly better performance than did the no-LOA conditions. Implications for curricular intervention are discussed.