This research proposal supports a program in social psychology which uses a variety of game paradigms and related tasks to obtain estimates of the relative dominance of various social motives including those of maximizing own gain (individualism), joint gain (cooperation), and relative gain (competition). Numerous major studies completed or in…

The effects of two social contexts on the risk -taking behavior of elementary boys on a shuffleboard task were investigated. It was predicted that Atkinson's motive-probability-incentive (M-P-I) model would be supported in the peer-competitive context, in that the success-oriented subjects would choose more goals with median Ps values than the…

This research tests the hypothesis that trust is a prerequisite for the exchange of information about needs and priorities in negotiation. Bargainers who do not trust one another will fail to exchange information because they fear exploitation. Aspiration level and trust were manipulated in a simulated bargaining task. Bargainers induced to trust…

Self-injurious behavior is a serious concern for individuals who must provide educational services to developmentally disabled children. This article discusses research related to the motivation of self-injury; provides guidelines for designing treatment programs for self-injurious behavior; and introduces a new nonaversive treatment, differential…

Discusses motivational processes as they apply to educational contexts. Defines motivation and compares it to other constructs. Provides a brief history of motivation theory and reviews important trends and areas in motivation research. Suggests four areas that future research might address: constructivism and learning, long-term motivation,…

The role of incentives, i.e. economic and service supports, is explored in an attempt to find ways and means to provide elderly family members with creative enviornments so as to enhance their life conditions and relationships. In order to investigate the feasibility, circumstances, and conditions under which the family network, in lieu of…

The study tested the applicability of portions of the Porter and Lawler model in a cognitive training environment and examined the relationships among some behavioral variables in Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training. The variables analyzed were the Maslow need hierarchy, effort, abilities, role perceptions, performance, satisfaction and the…

Discussion centered on three sets of factors that may influence the variability observed in "concept identification" (concept formation and discrimination learning) studies: stimulus characteristics, incentives employed, and subject characteristics. Stimulus characteristics are described in terms of the number of dimensions…

Four research papers discuss the influence of social cues on children's behavior. Specifically, the focus of this program of research was to systematically investigate the impact of two classes of social cues: (1) implicit or explicit instructional cues inherent in social interactions, and (2) inferred or actual evaluative cues present in…

Fifty-four elementary school children who had been identified as consistently inattentive to classroom activities were involved in a four-week treatment program. Attention was assessed using a time-sampling observational instrument developed for the study, based upon a previously-developed technique. Subjects were assigned randomly to either an…

To determine short-run effects of experimentally imposed leadership roles, a sample of 221 Boy Scouts (aged 10 to 17) was formed into (usually) 4-man teams that competed in 3 skill games. One member of each team was randomly designated as captain, with power to administer and reward. Captains who were leaders in their troops responded to becoming…

This book explores some of the basic principles of behavior which have been derived from the study of operant conditioning and considers the phenomenon of sport in society in the light of these principles. First, some of the terms used in Skinnerian behavioral analysis are defined and explained. The second section examines the reinforcements…

The cooperative behavior of 144 children in three groups--Cuban-Americans in either private or public schools and Anglo-Americans--decreased when task instructions emphasized individual rewards. Only the Anglo-American children, who maintained a significant level of competitiveness throughout, significantly increased their competitive behavior in…

Presents study results determining the effect of incentives on willingness to participate in experiments involving varying degrees of aversive treatments. Reports methods, procedures, and results for three different experiments. Concludes that willingness to participate was greater with larger incentives but lower for aversive treatments. Argues…

This work centers on the study of consumer recycling roles to examine the sociodemographic and psychographic profile of the distribution of recycling tasks and roles within the household. With this aim in mind, an empirical work was carried out, the results of which suggest that recycling behavior is multidimensional and comprises the undertaking…