Effects of discrepancies between observed and imposed reward criteria on their acquisition and transmission.

Abstract

An adult (M) alternated turns with child Ss in a bowling game with experimentally controlled scores and abundantly available rewards. The treatments involved discrepancies between the performance criteria used by M to reward himself and those he imposed on S. Thereafter, Ss continued the game in M's absence, with free access to rewards. To examine "role-taking" effects, ½ the Ss in each treatment performed alone 1st and then demonstrated the game to another younger child (O), with the sequence reversed for the remainder. As anticipated, reward schedules in the adult's absence were most stringent when both M and S had initially adhered to a high criterion, and least when S had been permitted to reward himself for low achievements. Ss who were trained to reward themselves only on a stringent criterion and observed M reward himself similarly, maintained more stringent schedules than those who had been given the same stringent direct training for self-reward but by an M who rewarded himself leniently. The criteria Ss imposed on O tended to be identical with those they imposed on themselves and role taking had only indirect effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)