Social reinforcement as a determinant of performance, performance expectancy, and attributions.
The effects of positive, negative, and nonreinforcement were examined during performance of a fine motor task to observe any expectancy and performance differences. Female high school subjects first learned the task and then were given a series of 30 trials in which social reinforcement was administered noncontingently. Positive social reinforcement had a significant effect on performance, while both positive and negative reinforcement had significant effects on expectancy. In addition, disparate attributions were made by each treatment group.
McCaughan
L R
LR
Department of Education, University of Sydney, Australia.
Gimbert
B
B