Imitation, self-reinforcement, and reinforcement of another person.

Abstract

The effect of imitating a model upon the self-reinforcement (sr) rate of college Ss was investigated using a word-association task and a vocal reinforcer ("Good"). Ss gave associations and said "Good" if they evaluated their response as a "good popular response." The experimental groups observed a tape-recorded model giving associations and saying "Good" at a low rate or a high rate. There were controls for observation of the model and for the degree of S's participation in the task while observing. After a period of postmodel sr, all Ss had 20 trials of reinforcing another person on the same task and then took Cattell's Goodness of Work Test. The findings indicated an imitation of sr rate that persisted through the postmodel trials and transferred to Ss' evaluation of others (ro), both in the word-association task and the Cattell test. There was no significant effect of degree of S participation during the observation period. Exp. II replicated the relationship of model sr to O sr and the relationship of sr and ro. In addition, ½ of Ss evaluated a tape containing low-frequency associations. Competence of the other person being reinforced was found to be related to ro; and this relationship was independent of the effect of prior rate of sr. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)