Social Facilitation Of Complex Tasks: A Comparison Of Zajonc's Drive Theory And Cottrell's Evaluation Apprehension Theory

2312 words - 10 pages

Running head: SOCIAL FACILTATION OF COMPLEX TASKSSocial Facilitation of Complex Tasks: A Comparison of Zajonc's Drive Theory and Cottrell's Evaluation-Apprehension TheoryAbstractZajonc (1965) describes Drive Theory as the increase in levels of arousal in the presence of others which enhances the frequency of dominant behaviours. The aim of this experiment was to challenge Zajonc's theory. This study encompassed ten University students and ten teachers and examined the effect of an Attentive Audience condition compared to Mere Presence condition on the performance of a complex word task. No significant difference was found between both conditions in the mean number of words obtained. This ...view middle of the document...

A number of researchers have contributed to the concept of Mere Presence. Markus (1978) analysed and criticized Mere Presence methodology. She suggests employing a clearer definition of Mere Presence standards. For example when employing simple and complex tasks, it is important to prevent eliciting spontaneous evaluation in the participant and to ensure that subjects are phenomenologically (appear to be) alone. Markus (1978) and Schmitt et. al. (1986) based research on participants completing well learned (simple) and unfamiliar (complex) tasks that involved the exchange of garments in the presence of experimental confederates. Both researchers set up the condition in the same manner, with the exception that Schmitt's confederate was blindfolded and wearing headphones. Both found support for the Mere Presence hypothesis. Schmitt et. al. clearly defined Mere Presence by applying measures that assured theoretical consistency - the confederate was blindfolded and wearing headphones, and observation occurred through a one-way mirror. Schmitt et. al. used these research methodologies to isolate sources of arousal produced by the Mere Presence of another from those produced by evaluation. Markus's study showed that the Mere Presence condition produced a more consistent effect compared to the Attentive Presence condition. She suggests that some Attentive Presence conditions are influenced by other social stimuli for example, body image (Markus, 1978, p. 394). This was also reinforced by Schmitt et. al.Opposing the concept of Mere Presence is Cottrell's Evaluation Apprehension Model. Cottrell's (1968) model questioned the validity of Mere Presence as a source of arousal. In Cottrell's Attentive Condition involved two associates being present, watching individuals perform a verbal habits (difficult) task. From this study Cottrell (1968) proposed that the particular arousal produced by an audience is based on what we believe others think of us. The Evaluation Apprehension Model suggests that individuals have ingrained reward and punishment responses to social presence and that these responses are what produce arousal. Sanna (1992) supports Contrell's Evaluation Apprehension Model. He defined three key sources of evaluation: experimenter evaluation, co-worker evaluation and self-evaluation. Sanna (1992), and Buckingham and Alicke (2002), highlight the importance of Attentive Presence on producing an evaluation response. They go as far as to suggest that self-evaluation is greater with the Attentive Presence of others. This was also supported by Seidel, Stasser and Collier's (1998) study of Action Identification theory and evaluation effects on individuals' performance. Their analysis of difficult coding tasks performed under varying degrees of scrutiny resulted in performance decrease in the high-evaluation condition.The present study attempts to investigate the effects of an attentive audience on the performance of a complex word task. The hypothesis is...

Social Theory of International Politics Essay

1961 words - 8 pages constructivist school, developed the ‘Social Theory of International Politics’ to explain this process, this theory is based on social constructivism. His works can be seen as a response to the theory developed by Waltz, which provided the basis for the neorealist school. This new approach to international relations is increasingly gaining ground and can be seen as a important contribution towards existing theories of international relations

Social Psychological Theory Of Aggression Essay

726 words - 3 pages Social Psychological Theory of Aggression The social learning theory is learning that occurs as a function of observing, retaining and replicating behavior observed in others. Although observational learning can take place at any stage in life, it is thought to be particularly important during childhood, particularly as authority becomes important. Because of this, social learning theory has influenced debates on the

A Theory of Justice

1582 words - 7 pages . Right is set down in the social contract, the same for everyone, inﬂuenced by the "veil of ignorance." Rawls specializes the concept of something's being right as it being fair. (Section 18) Principles of Justice (Section 11) First Principle: Liberty Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all. Second Principle: Wealth Social and

A Theory of Affluence

2236 words - 9 pages Malthus predicted, Darwin wrote in his autobiography, "It at once struck me that under these circumstances favourable variations would tend to be preserved, and unfavourable ones to be destroyed. ... Here then I had at last got a theory by which to work." Given that the English economy operated under Malthusian constraints, might it not have responded in some way to the forces of natural selection that Darwin had divined would flourish in such

Darwin’S Theory Of Natural Selection And Social Darwinism

2711 words - 11 pages been taken up by classic economic theorists, using it as a justification for individualism to drive human progress. This kind of Social Darwinism rejected philanthropy and social welfare as biologically counter-productive. Hofstadter argued strongly that this viewpoint was influential in the nineteenth century leading to a heyday of laissez-faire Social Darwinism. However, this was based on misrepresented extracts taken from Spencer and Sumner in

The Tasks of a Leader

594 words - 3 pages There are several ways of defining a leader. The one who leads others is a sim- ple and complete definition. But, then, what are the tasks of a leader? Leadership is a much sought after quality and every organisation needs good and effective leaders to lead the organisation to success and for achievement of its goals. Some persons are born leaders, for others leader- ship gets thrust upon. In a given organisa- tion, the Head of the

Social and Political Theory

982 words - 4 pages advertisement for free land. However, some of the main reasons behind the immigrations include, but are not limited to, education, economic, social security, and cultural aspects. Using the above four reasons as the main points, this paper helps to explain why USA has remained a major attraction for immigrants from allover the world. As a matter of fact, USA offers a lot in terms of education compared to what other countries in the world are able to

The Role Of Theory In Social Research

1954 words - 8 pages The role of theory in social research is that without a sociological theory, nothing can be sociological. Facts disconnected from theory are just facts. Theory makes the facts speak; the facts don’t and cannot speak for themselves. Without a connection to other facts, we cannot assess anything. With theory, you can relate facts to each other. Theory is the body of interrelated logical concepts or universals that connect to empirical facts and

Social Contract Theory Of John Locke

1278 words - 6 pages Social Contract Theory of John Locke Luca D. Iaria University of Phoenix CJA 532/ Ethics in Justice and Security Professor: Cyril Vierra January 25, 2015 John Locke was a British Philosopher born in 1632. His most famous written work was The second treatise of civil government (written in 1690). This book focused on the natural state of man and how government should be structured. Locke was a fan of man to say the least. Locke describes

Music and Theory of Music

1178 words - 5 pages of this change has been a substantial increase in the number of single parent families and the attendant problems that this brings (Kilmartin, 1997). An important issue for sociologists, and indeed for all of society, is why these changes in marital patterns have occurred. In this essay I will seek to critically examine a number of sociological explanations for the 'divorce phenomenon' and also consider the social policy implications that

Theory And Practices Of Corrections

526 words - 3 pages , judges have a wide range of discretion when it comes to sentencing subjects for the crimes they have been convicted of. Commonly, judges would sentence a subject with a minimum and maximum amount of time to be imprisoned (for example 5 to 10 years). After the subject was incarcerated and had served the minimum number is years in the sentence, a parole board would review the inmate’s records and could decide to release them at that time or keep the

Drive Reduction Theory Essay

632 words - 3 pages satisfies no biological or psychological needs, but a pay check appears to reduce drive through second-order conditioning. Secondly, a drive, such as hunger, is viewed as having a "desire" to eat, making the drive a homuncular being—a feature criticized as simply moving the fundamental problem behind this "small man" and his desires. In addition, it is clear that drive reduction theory cannot be a complete theory of behavior, or a hungry human could

Social Theory Of Aggression Essay

511 words - 3 pages experiment using a film of a women beating a live clown, and when children were placed in a room with the live clown they imitated the aggressive behaviour. Another criticism is that they only studied short-term behaviour, so may not apply to behaviour weeks or years later. An advantage of the social learning theory is that it can be used to explain other types of behaviour in addition to aggression, e.g. eating disorders. Another strength is that

Framing A Theory Of Social Entrepreneurship

457 words - 2 pages Reading: Framing a theory of social entrepreneurship: Building on two schools of practice and thought - J. Gregory Dess and Beth Balle Anderson The paper argues that social entrepreneurship will be most effective and generate the greatest interest of academics when it combines elements of the two main existing schools of thought: the social enterprise and the social innovation school of thought. At the intersection of them, to which the authors

Social Cognitive Theory Of Learning Essay

766 words - 4 pages Social Cognitive Theory of Learning Social cognitive theory of learning is a theoretical perspective that focuses on learning by observing others and eventually assuming control over one’s own behavior (Ormrod, 2011, p.323). Social cognitive theory is a perspective that helps us understand about learning by observing other people doing the same thing. This theory is a blend of behaviorism and cognitive psychology (Ormrod, 2011). Behaviorism