7- Groups and Performance

Question 1

How is performance decreased in presence of others according to Allport?

Answer 1

People could get nervous/worried

Question 2

How is performance increased in the presence of others according to Allport?

Answer 2

People could rise to the occasion

Question 3

What did Triplett find?

Answer 3

People cycle faster when pacing with others than when alone

Question 4

What does social facilitation suggest?

Answer 4

Improvement in performance of well-learned or easy tasks could be due to mere presence of members of same species

Question 5

How do co-actors influences social facilitation?

Answer 5

They are doing the same thing but not interacting

Question 6

How does a passive audience influence social facilitation?

Answer 6

They are passively watching

Question 7

Who came up with drive theory?

Answer 7

Zajonc, 1965

Question 8

What does drive theory explain?

Answer 8

What determines whether social presence facilitates or inhibits performance

Question 9

How does drive theory suggest arousal is increased?

Answer 9

As we become alert when others are around

Question 10

What can arousal increase according to drive theory?

Answer 10

Our likelihood to perform our dominant response

Question 11

Who came up with evaluation apprehension theory?

Answer 11

Cottrell, 1972

Question 12

What is the key idea of evaluation apprehension theory?

Answer 12

Mere presence isn’t sufficient to produce drive

Question 13

What are social rewards and punishments based on according to evaluation apprehension theory?

Answer 13

Based on others’ evaluations of us

Question 14

What does social presence produce according to evaluation apprehension theory?

Answer 14

Produces a drive based on evaluation apprehension

Question 15

Who supports evaluation apprehension theory?

Answer 15

Cottrell et al, 1968

Question 16

What was Cottrell et al’s research?

Answer 16

Participants performed 3 well-learned tasks in front of 3 types of audiences

Question 17

What were the 3 audiences in Cottrell et al’s research?

Answer 17

Inattentive audience (blindfolded)
Merely present audience
Attentive audience

Question 18

Did each of Cottrell et al’s audiences produce social facilitation?

Answer 18

Only the attentive audience

Question 19

Who contrasted Cottrell et al’s research?

Answer 19

Schmitt et al, 1986

Question 20

What was Schmitt et al’s research?

Answer 20

Participants performed an easy task, then a difficult one in front of 3 different types of audiences

Question 21

What were the 3 audiences in Schmitt et al’s research?

Answer 21

No audience (alone condition)
Inattentive audience (mere presence condition)
Attentive audience (evaluation apprehension condition)

Question 22

What were the results of Schmitt et al’s research?

Answer 22

• Less time taken on easy task for all conditions- least time taken on evaluation apprehension condition
• More time taken on difficult task for all conditions- most on mere presence condition, least on alone condition

Question 23

Who came up with the distraction-conflict theory?

Answer 23

Sanders, 1981

Question 24

What are people in distraction-conflict theory?

Answer 24

A source of distraction

Question 25

What does mere presence produce according to distraction-conflict theory?

Answer 25

Conflict between attending to the task and attending to the audience/co-actors

Question 26

What does attentional conflict produce (distraction-conflict theory)?

Answer 26

Drive that facilitates dominant responses

Question 27

What is the impact of attentional conflict theory on difficult task?

Answer 27

Impair performance

Question 28

What is the impact of attentional conflict on easy tasks?

Answer 28

Improve performance

Question 29

What does the Ringelmann effect suggest?

Answer 29

Individual effort on a task diminishes as group size increases

Question 30

What are the two reasons suggested for the Ringelmann effect?

Answer 30

Coordination loss and motivation loss

Question 31

Why could people not attain full potential according to coordination loss?

Answer 31

Due to jostling, distraction, and the tendency to pull slightly against one another

Question 32

What can be the impact of coordination loss?

Answer 32

Can decrease individual effort

Question 33

Why might people not try as hard according to motivation loss?

Answer 33

They were less motivated

Question 34

What is the problem with the motivation loss explanation?

Answer 34

Cannot identify a specific person at fault

Question 35

Who investigated the Ringelmann effect?

Answer 35

Ingham et al, 1974

Question 36

How did Ingham et al investigate the Ringelmann effect?

Answer 36

Participants pulled on a rope- either real groups or pseudo-groups (only 1 true participant)

Question 37

What happened in Ingham et al’s pseudo-groups?

Answer 37

Confederates weren’t actually pulling on the rope, led to an effort reduction due to motivation loss

Question 38

What is social loafing?

Answer 38

Reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task compared with working either alone or coactively

Question 39

What are the 3 reasons why we loaf?

Answer 39

Output equity: we believe others loaf so want to maintain equity
Evaluation apprehension: we are anonymous and cannot be identified so no longer worry about being evaluated by others
Matching to standard: we don’t have a clear sense of the group’s standards or norms

Question 40

What 5 factors influence the tendency to loaf?

Answer 40

1. Task attractiveness and competition- higher may cause us to work harder
2. Task importance and anticipation of others poor performance- may want to work harder (social compensation effect)
3. Salient group identity
4. Presence of an outgroup
5. Collectivistic cultures- place greater value on groups than on individuals

Question 41

What is the social compensation effect?

Answer 41

People may work harder on an important task to compensate for other group members’ actual, perceived or anticipated lack of effort or ability