The distracting effect of material reward: An alternative explanation for the superior performance of reward groups in probability learning

To determine whether the distraction effect associated with material rewards in discrimination learning can account for the superior performance of reward groups in probability learning, the performance of 144 school children (preschool, second, and fifth grades) on a two-choice successive discrimination task was compared under three reinforcement conditions (material reward, marker, and knowledge of results). The two events in the task had different frequencies of occurrence, as in probability learning, yet they appeared in a constant order to make 100% payoff possible. The subjects in the reward and marker groups learned the task more slowly, and the nonlearners among them used stereotyped alternation patterns to a greater degree than subjects in the knowledge-of-results condition. These findings suggest that a distracting effect of material reward is present in probability learning and may explain the superior performance of reward groups typically found in probability learning studies.     

Involvement and response language effects in attitude scaling

An analytic procedure was developed for separating the effects of involvement from the number of response language categories the subject employs in judging a set of sentence stimuli. The procedure treats category usage as an independent variable and an aspect of the subject's response language. Category usage was shown to have significant influence on several attitudinal judgment processes: Informational complexity, mean judgment functions, and a successive intervals analysis testing Thurstone's assumption of the effect of involvement on equal category spacing. The decrement in scale responding typically associated with involvement is shown to depend on category usage operating either singly or in interaction with involvement. Some tentative conclusions about category usage as a response language variable are discussed.     

Does school desegregation change occupational goals of Negro males?

Instruments, designed to assess values which affect the motivation to work and aspiration levels, were administered to over 600 Negro male seniors in Texas high schools. Results indicate that the degree and duration of school desegregation these students have experienced, ranging from less than 1 to more than 5 years, have had little effect on work values and occupational aspirations.     

Differential reinforcement of interresponse times with controlled probability of reinforcement per response

Pigeons were presented food after interresponse times (IRTs) longer or shorter than a fixed percentage of their most recent IRTs. This procedure controlled probability of reinforcement per response while still allowing different classes of IRTs to be reinforced differentially. Support was found for IRT-reinforcement theory in that response rates were determined by the degree and direction of differential reinforcement of IRTs, but were relatively independent of probability of reinforcement per response and of the length of the control system's IRT memory. Stimulus control of these differential response rates was also demonstrated.     

Effort is virtuous,but it's better to have ability: Evaluative responses to perceptions of effort and ability

Evaluative responses to imagined task outcomes were found to depend on the question asked, as well as on perceptions of effort and ability. When university students were asked when they would experience pride or shame, they indicated effort would increase pride over success and reduce shame over failure. On the other hand, when asked what type of person they would like to be they chose high ability regardless of outcome. This modified Weiner's (1972) statement of the relation of causal attributions and affective expression. Individual differences in responses to these questions related to differences in self-concept of ability. This result suggested extensions of the attributional analysis of achievement motivation.     

Focus of attention,self-esteem,and the attribution of causality

An experiment was conducted to investigate how actors' attributions of causality are affected by their expectancy about the outcome of an action and their observation of the actual outcome while in a state of high or low objective self-awareness. In the presence or absence of a camera, subjects delivered therapeutic instructions which were expected to have a positive or a negative effect and which resulted in a positive or a negative effect on a supposedly phobic patient. Principal findings were that (1) attributions to self were greater under high objective self-awareness for positive relative to negative outcomes, (2) attributions to the patient were relatively great under high objective self-awareness when a positive outcome was expected but a negative outcome actually occurred. The results are discussed in terms of the joint role of focus of attention and self-esteem processes in the attribution of causality and in terms of their relationship to Duval and Wicklund's (1973) “focus of attention” attributional analysis.     

Study habits and Eysenck's theory of extraversion-introversion

Predictions derived from Eysenck's theory of personality were tested in two samples by relating extraversion scores to library study locations, frequency of study breaks, and self-report of factors which influence study location. The predicted main effects for study location were found, with extraverts occupying locations that provided greater external stimulation. Positive correlations were consistently found between extraversion and preferred level of noise, preferred level of socializing opportunities, and rated importance of socializing opportunities. The prediction that extraverts would take more frequent study breaks was supported in Sample 1 but not replicated in Sample 2. The data are interpreted as providing direct support for Eysenck's theory of behavioral differences and mixed indirect support for his theory of neurological differences between introverts and extraverts.     

Career maturity aspects of the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey

The Kuder Occupational Interest Survey (1979) (KOIS) is used in counseling services as an aid in career counseling, but the KOIS does not have a measure of career maturity. The purpose of this study was to determine if selected scores from the KOIS could be indicative of client career maturity. The data for each subject included three scores from the KOIS and one measure of career maturity. The three scores from the KOIS included the highest Occupation score, the highest College Major score, and either the Father score for male subjects or the Mother score for female subjects. Career maturity was assessed with the Career Maturity Inventory Attitude Scale (1973) (CMI). The three scores from the KOIS were correlated with the score from the CMI to determine the relationship between the KOIS and career maturity. t tests were used to test for significant differences between men and women on the four measures. Significant correlations were found between the KOIS scores and career maturity, supporting the statements in the KOIS manual regarding the relationship between high KOIS scores and maturity. There was no significant difference between females and males on the CMI, Occupation, or College Major scores, but females scored significantly higher on the Mother scale than males did on the Father scale. Implications for career counseling were discussed.     

The effects of a salient self-schema on the evaluation of proattitudinal editorials: Top-down versus bottom-up message processing

The effects of a salient self-schema on message evaluation were studied. Subjects were identified who characterized themselves using trait adjectives that reflected the prototype of either a “religious” or a “legalistic” person. Equally persuasive sets of proattitudinal messages were developed empirically using weak arguments. Half of the messages were developed to reflect a “religious” perspective on the issue (capital punishment, abortion) whereas half were developed to reflect a “legalistic” perspective on the issue. Religious and legalistic subjects were then exposed to religious or legalistic arguments supporting an equally acceptable position (e.g., eliminating capital punishment). Afterward, subjects evaluated the persuasiveness of the communication and listed their thoughts as part of a “curriculum development project.” Results suggested that subjects when exposed to a schema-relevant message arguments for a position in which they believed were more positive about the quality of the message arguments and in their cognitive responding. These data extend the heuristic value of selfschemata to the area of attitudes and suggest that cognitive responses in persuasion are subjectively rather than objectively rational.