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Persistence of the effects of choice on paired-associate learning
Abstract
Four experiments are reported in which half of the subjects were permitted to choose either the stimulus or response members of S-R pairs from groupings of alternative stimuli or responses following the procedures of Perlmuter, Monty, and Kimble. The other subjects were exposed to the materials and were forced to learn the material chosen by their yoked partners. Approximately 24 h later, both groups learned PA lists comprised of either the chosen or forced material. Choosing either the stimulus or the response facilitated performance irrespective of whether the other member of the S-R pair was present at the time of choosing. This finding ruled out an associative hookup interpretation in favor of a purely motivational hypothesis and demonstrated the temporal durability of the effect of choosing.
... Even in long-term memory research there is precedent distinguishing between information that is assigned to be learned versus information that is chosen to be learned. The self-choice effect refers to the finding that information that is chosen to be remembered is better remembered than information that is assigned to be remembered (Monty & Perlmutter, 1975; see also DuBrow et al., 2019;Kuhl & Kazén, 1994;Murty et al., 2015;Takahashi, 1992Takahashi, , 2002. The original studies reporting a self-choice effect had subjects perform a typical paired-associates learning task, whereby two words were associated with each other, and the relationship between the two words was to be learned (Monty & Perlmutter, 1975;Monty et al., 1979;Perlmutter et al., 1971). ...
... The self-choice effect refers to the finding that information that is chosen to be remembered is better remembered than information that is assigned to be remembered (Monty & Perlmutter, 1975; see also DuBrow et al., 2019;Kuhl & Kazén, 1994;Murty et al., 2015;Takahashi, 1992Takahashi, , 2002. The original studies reporting a self-choice effect had subjects perform a typical paired-associates learning task, whereby two words were associated with each other, and the relationship between the two words was to be learned (Monty & Perlmutter, 1975;Monty et al., 1979;Perlmutter et al., 1971). Generally, half of the subjects were able to choose one of the words of the pairings, while the other half of subjects were yoked to the choices of the previous subjects (i.e., they learned the pairs that were the results of choices of a previous subject). ...
... Generally, half of the subjects were able to choose one of the words of the pairings, while the other half of subjects were yoked to the choices of the previous subjects (i.e., they learned the pairs that were the results of choices of a previous subject). The general pattern of findings was enhanced memory performance for those subjects who were able to make a choice (Perlmutter et al., 1971), be it for associative memory or memory of one of the alternatives in the absence of the other (Monty & Perlmutter, 1975), as long as the choice was somewhat meaningful or seemed to allow a certain measure of control (Monty et al., 1979; but see the description of Watanabe, 2001, below for self-choice effects when the choice did not allow for control over the situation). ...
The directed forgetting paradigm has long been used to test whether humans can voluntarily choose to forget learned information. However, to date, nearly all directed forgetting paradigms have involved a forced-choice paradigm, in which the participants are instructed about which learned information they should forget. While studies have repeatedly shown that this directed forgetting does lead to a decreased ability to later remember the information, it is still unclear whether these effects would be present if participants were allowed to, of their own accord, choose which information they wanted to forget. In two experiments here, we introduce a free-choice variety of the item method directed forgetting paradigm and show that directed forgetting effects are robust, both for instructed and voluntary forgetting. We discuss the implications of our findings for notions of voluntary forgetting and for the self-choice effect in memory.
... A related, but different line of classical research in cognitive psychology revealed the beneficial effects of personal choice on memory performance (Monty & Permuter, 1975;Monty, Rosenberger, & Perlmuter, 1973;Perlmuter, Monty, & Kimble, 1971;Perlmuter, Scharff, Karsh, & Monty, 1980;Takahashi, 1992). In these experiments, participants are typically presented with cue-target word pairs, but unlike standard memory experiments, there are multiple (typically five) cues or targets. ...
... on memory performance seems to be stronger after a 24-hour delay, rather than in immediate tests (Monty & Permuter, 1975). Studies in cognitive neuroscience (Lisman & Grace, 2005;Shohamy & Adcock, 2010) have revealed that activation in the striatum (i.e., part of the reward network) facilitates declarative memory by modulating the activation in the hippocampus (i.e., memory system in the brain). ...
Studies in psychology have long revealed that making personal choice involves multiple motivational consequences. It has only been recent, however, that the literature on neuroscience started to examine the neural underpinnings of personal choice and motivation. This chapter reviews this sparse, but emergent, body of neuroscientific literature to address possible neural correlates underlying personal choice. By conducting the review, we encourage future systematic research programs that address this topic under the new realm of "autonomy neuroscience." The chapter especially focused on the following motivational aspects: (i) personal choice is rewarding, (ii) personal choice shapes preference, (iii) personal choice changes the perception of outcomes, and (iv) personal choice facilitates motivation and performance. The reviewed work highlighted different aspects of personal choice, but indicated some overlapping brain areas-the striatum and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)-which may play a critical role in motivational processes elicited by personal choice. © 2017 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
... Several studies have manipulated the construct of perceived control comparing choice conditions, in which participants were allowed to choose one alternative out of a choice set, to choiceless conditions, in which each participant was yoked to a "choice" counterpart, namely was given the same alternative without choosing it. This yoking procedure has been used in particular to study the effect of perceived control in learning tasks, both when the choice sets included key features of the learning task (Monty and Perlmuter, 1975;Stotland and Blumenthal, 1964;Zuckerman, et al., 1978), and when the choice sets referred to only peripheral and instructionally irrelevant features of the learning task (Cordova and Lepper, 1996;Iyengar and Lepper, 1999). ...
... i There are also objective reasons for choosers to be more satisfied of the outcome of their own choices than non-choosers. For example, choosers' higher intrinsic motivation leads them both to spend more resources to ensure a superior performance (Cordova and Lepper, 1996;Deci, 1975Deci, , 1981Deci and Ryan, 1987;Iyengar and Lepper, 1999;Langer and Rodin, 1976;Monty and Perlmuter, 1975;Perlmuter and Monty, 1977;Wathieu, et al., 2002;Zuckerman,et al, 1978), and to make more rational decisions (Koriat, et al., 1980). Moreover, choosers, compared to non-choosers, have the opportunity to achieve a better match between one's own preferences and the available options (Brown and Feinberg, 2001;Chernev, 2001;Iyengar and Lepper, 2000). ...
This paper explores people’s preferences for being in control and the consequences of perceived control on satisfaction with the choice outcome. Perceived control is here defined as the freedom to choose an alternative from a choice set, instead of being imposed the same alternative from the same set. The central assumption of this research is that choosing, compared to not choosing, involves both emotional benefits and emotional costs. The benefits derive from the sense of self-determination associated with choice and the anticipated rejoicing with the outcome. The costs are generated by the responsibility of making the right choice and the anticipation of regret over forgone alternatives. The first hypothesis put forward in this paper is that people overestimate the emotional benefits and underestimate the emotional costs of choosing, so they prefer choosing to not choosing. The second hypothesis is that the emotional benefits and costs are carried over to the choice outcome and influence its evaluation. Hence, if the emotional costs are higher than the emotional benefits, choosers will be less happy with the choice outcome than non-choosers. If instead the emotional benefits are higher than the emotional costs, choosers will be happier with the choice outcome than non-choosers. Taken together, these hypotheses imply that people always prefer to choose a specific alternative, but choosers end up more satisfied than non-choosers only if the benefits of choosing are not overcome by
... The temporal durability of the effects of choice was examined in a series of studies. In one experiment (Monty & Perlmuter, 1975), subjects chose one of five potential stimulus words in the presence of the response words while the force group was assigned stimulus words in the presence of response words. Subjects returned on the following day and were presented with PA learning trials comprised of the respective S-R pairs. ...
... In two additional experiments, subjects selected response words in the absence of the stimuli or selected stimuli in the absence of the respective response words. Once again, performance was significantly better after a 24-hour delay for choice than for force subjects (Monty & Perlmuter, 1975). In yet a', 1 -ier experiment, a 1-week duration was used to examine the effect.venes of choice in enhancing discrimination performance. ...
This report summarizes several years of research on how offering subjects a choice of task parameters leads to a perception of control over their environment, which in turn can lead to improved task performance. The development of a theoretical explanation of the phenomenon is traced, and implications for the design of displays are deduced and illustrated with hypothetical examples.
... Prior research has shown that when participants make choices about when and what to learn, memory for the chosen information is often enhanced, leading to a "choice effect" DuBrow et al., 2019;Gureckis & Markant, 2012;Rotem-Turchinski et al., 2019). For example, letting participants select cues or targets during paired-associate learning can improve cued recall (e.g., Monty & Permuter 1975;Perlmuter et al., 1971; see also Watanabe & Soraci 2004) as does honoring participants' choices about what to restudy (Kornell & Metcalfe, 2006). Additionally, allowing participants to make decisions regarding aspects of learning such as presentation order or duration can benefit memory Murty et al., 2015Murty et al., , 2019Voss et al., 2011). ...
Predicting what we will remember and forget is crucial for daily functioning. We were interested in whether evaluating something as likely to be remembered or forgotten leads to enhanced memory for both forms of information relative to information that was not judged for memorability. We presented participants with lists of words to remember for a later test and on each list, participants were asked to identify some words that they were confident that they would remember and some words that they believed that they were most likely to forget on the test. Relative to words not given a prediction, memory was enhanced for words participants selected as likely to be remembered but also for words participants indicated were most likely to be forgotten. We also examined whether requiring participants to engage in self-cued directed forgetting by selecting a subset of words to be remembered or forgotten produced a memory advantage for these words. Results again demonstrated enhanced memory for selected words regardless of whether they were designated as to-be-remembered or to-be-forgotten. Thus, we demonstrate a reactivity type of effect such that when participants are asked to select certain items, this process can enhance memory regardless of the reason for selecting the item, potentially arising as a result of these words becoming more distinct and/or receiving additional processing. As such, the present results are consistent with the richness of encoding and metacognition modifying attention to cues accounts of reactivity.
... Besides memory benefits from active behaviours, individuals can improve memory performance by deciding which items they wish to learn. When given the opportunity to choose which words to learn from presented paired associates, the opportunity itself was shown to enhance memory for those words (Monty & Permuter, 1975), as well as for other words presented in the task (Monty, Perlmuter, Libon, & Bennet, 1982;Watanabe, 2001). Similar findings have been hypothesised to involve self-referential processes, whereby information that is processed in relation to the self is deemed advantageous to subsequent memory performance (Cunningham, Brady-Van den Bos, & Turk, 2011;Symons & Johnson, 1997). ...
Episodic memory is typically studied under conditions that treat participants as passive agents. Here we sought to explore how actively engaging in ongoing naturalistic occurrences affects long-term episodic memory. Participants viewed 40 short movie clips that depicted a protagonist that conversed with the participants. In each clip, they were either offered the chance to (supposedly) determine the clip’s continuation (active condition), or let the computer decide for them (passive condition). Participants returned either two days or one week after the experience to undergo a true/false memory test for the clips’ details and a two-alternative recognition test for the choices made. Memory performance for both groups was superior for information and choices conveyed in the active vs. passive condition. These findings suggest that the sense of actively influencing the unfolding of events is beneficial to long-term memory of the experience at large, baring potential interventions in the fields of education and cognitive enhancement.
... In addition to being an important antecedent of feelings of autonomy, subsequent motivational and performance benefi ts of choice may lie in its ability to support the perception or experience of having control (Langer, 1975;Rotter, 1966;Taylor, 1989) and the need for competence (Cordova & Lepper, 1996;Henry, 1994;Henry & Sniezek, 1993;Katz & Assor, 2007;Monty & Perlmuter, 1987;Patall et al., 2008;Perlmuter & Monty, 1977;Perlmuter, Scharff , Karsh, & Monty, 1980;Tafarodi, Milne & Smith, 1999;Tafarodi, Mehranvar, Panton, & Milne, 2002). Based on a series of studies showing that choice of either stimulus or response words in a paired-associates memory task led to enhanced performance outcomes (Monty & Perlmuter, 1975;Monty, Rosenberger, & Perlmuter, 1973;Perlmuter, Monty, & Kimble, 1971), Perlmuter and Monty (1977) argued that the performance benefi ts of choice are a result of increased motivation in the form of enhanced perceived control and subsequent increased arousal and cognitive engagement with the task (Monty & Perlmuter, 1987;Perlmuter et al., 1980). Similarly, Henry (1994;Henry & Sniezek, 1993) argued that the benefi ts of choice lie in its ability to increase perceived control and subsequent self-effi cacy. ...
Years of research have implicated a complex set of motivational causes and consequences of choice. Psychological theory has often prescribed the benefits of choosing, though limitations to this view of choice as being ubiquitously positive are apparent. In this chapter, the relation between choice and motivation is examined. Conceptualizations of choice as both an outcome of motivation and a motivational experience are described. The benefits and determinants of receiving and perceiving choice for motivation are then discussed according to various psychological theories. Next, the complex and often contradictory findings regarding the relation between choice and motivation is discussed in light a various factors (e.g. characteristics of choices, persons, and situations) that may influence those effects. Issues that have yet to be adequately addressed in the research on choice effects and the directions that future research might take are briefly discussed.
... This alternative, however, cannot account for related studies in which choice of initial pairings also led to faster learning of unchosen pairs in the set (Monty, Rosenberger, & Perlmuter, 1973). Moreover, choosing either the stimulus or the response in the absence of the paired word appears to produce a comparable advantage (Monty & Perlmuter, 1975). Perlmuter and Monty (1977) argue that choice benefits performance by generally increasing motivation. ...
Past research suggests that choice in deciding the features of a task can enhance performance. Independent of the quality of per-formance, choice may also increase the actor's confidence by pro-viding a secondary source of subjective control during the task. In two studies designed to examine this augmentation hypothe-sis, college students were asked to read and understand a short story. Study 1 revealed that those who selected names to be used in the story felt more confident about their performance than did those who were assigned names, although the groups in fact per-formed equally. Study 2 revealed that the enhancement was not due to anticipatory confidence, arguing against the possibility that choice was operating as a performance cue. The findings are interpreted in relation to perceived control and implications for motivation and competence are discussed. Task confidence has been shown to foster success through a variety of self-fulfilling processes. Given this link between confidence and achievement, close atten-tion has been given to factors that influence the self-judgment of performance. Any characteristic that enhances perceived performance may produce the motivational, cognitive, and behavioral changes that improve actual performance over time (Bardwell, 1984; Markus, Cross, & Wurf, 1990). Self-judgment therefore stands out as a promising point of entry in efforts to pro-mote efficacy. Accordingly, research has focused on situational factors that alter the actor's subjective assess-ment during task performance. Choice has been identi-fied as one such factor. In this article, we propose a spe-cific judgmental process by which incidental choice boosts the self-perception of performance independent of any immediate effect it may have on actual perform-ance. Before the theoretical rationale for this process is described, the relation of choice to motivation and per-formance will be briefly reviewed.
... The impact that control plays in motivation and learning was examined by Monty and Perlmuter (1975). They studied the effect of control on the rate that 32 male and female volunteer subjects learned pairs of words. ...
Typescript (lithograph copy) Thesis (Ed. D.)--Oklahoma State University, 1995. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-88).
Motivation is that which moves us to action. Human motivation is thus a complex issue, as people are moved to action by both their evolved natures and by myriad familial, social, and cultural influences. The Oxford Handbook of Human Motivation aims to capture the current state-of-the-art in this fast developing field. The book includes theoretical overviews from some of the best-known thinkers in this area, including articles on Social Learning Theory, Control Theory, Self-determination Theory, Terror Management Theory, and the Promotion and Prevention perspective. Topical articles appear on phenomena such as ego-depletion, flow, curiosity, implicit motives, and personal interests. A section specifically highlights goal research, including chapters on goal regulation, achievement goals, the dynamics of choice, unconscious goals and process versus outcome focus. Still other articles focus on evolutionary and biological underpinnings of motivation, including articles on cardiovascular dynamics, mood, and neuropsychology. Finally, articles bring motivation down to earth in reviewing its impact within relationships, and in applied areas such as psychotherapy, work, education, sport, and physical activity.
This volume demonstrates how readers can become more effective parents, teachers, students, coaches, managers, or work supervisors, while also gaining practical skills to enhance their self-motivation, communication skills, and intervention acumen. The first eight chapters explain evidence-based principles from applied behavioral science (ABS) that can be used to improve the human dynamics of any situation involving behavior. Fundamentals from humanism are integrated strategically to show how an ABS intervention can be more acceptable, influential, and sustainable. The following twelve chapters detail the deployment of ABS interventions to optimize performance in a wide variety of fields, including occupational and transportation safety, quantity and quality of organizational work behavior, healthcare, athletic coaching, parenting, pre-school and college education, environmental sustainability, and the control of obesity and alcohol abuse. Applied Psychology provides a thorough review of the latest research in relation to these domains and explores issues for future investigation.
This volume demonstrates how readers can become more effective parents, teachers, students, coaches, managers, or work supervisors, while also gaining practical skills to enhance their self-motivation, communication skills, and intervention acumen. The first eight chapters explain evidence-based principles from applied behavioral science (ABS) that can be used to improve the human dynamics of any situation involving behavior. Fundamentals from humanism are integrated strategically to show how an ABS intervention can be more acceptable, influential, and sustainable. The following twelve chapters detail the deployment of ABS interventions to optimize performance in a wide variety of fields, including occupational and transportation safety, quantity and quality of organizational work behavior, healthcare, athletic coaching, parenting, pre-school and college education, environmental sustainability, and the control of obesity and alcohol abuse. Applied Psychology provides a thorough review of the latest research in relation to these domains and explores issues for future investigation.
This volume demonstrates how readers can become more effective parents, teachers, students, coaches, managers, or work supervisors, while also gaining practical skills to enhance their self-motivation, communication skills, and intervention acumen. The first eight chapters explain evidence-based principles from applied behavioral science (ABS) that can be used to improve the human dynamics of any situation involving behavior. Fundamentals from humanism are integrated strategically to show how an ABS intervention can be more acceptable, influential, and sustainable. The following twelve chapters detail the deployment of ABS interventions to optimize performance in a wide variety of fields, including occupational and transportation safety, quantity and quality of organizational work behavior, healthcare, athletic coaching, parenting, pre-school and college education, environmental sustainability, and the control of obesity and alcohol abuse. Applied Psychology provides a thorough review of the latest research in relation to these domains and explores issues for future investigation.
Verbal materials are more likely to be remembered if they are chosen by the subject, rather than by the other subjects or the experimenter. This self-choice effect, as it is called, has been demonstrated under a various conditions. The experiment was designed to determine whether a self-choice effect could be found with nonwords, and if so, how much of its magnitude compared to that found with words. A 2×2 factorial design was employed to investigate item type (words versus nonwords) and input condition (choice versus force) on free recall. One hundred and ninety-two female college students were asked to remember one TBR item from each pair items. In the choice condition, TBR items were chosen by the subjects. In the force condition, TBR items were selected randomly by the experimenter. At the end of the lists, subjects were asked to recall the all of the items. A significant interaction was found for item type and input condition: a self-choice effect was obtained only for words not for nonwords. This result is inconsistent with the explanations of the self-choice effect's being due to an enhanced state of motivation or greater degree of attention. Rather, this result is discussed in terms of the subjects' metamemory.
This chapter explains the sense of control in midlife. The chapter states that midlife is paradoxically a period in which individuals have many goals, roles, and responsibilities besides stress and lack of time for leisure. They also experience a peak in personal control and power. In midlife, adults may begin to recognize more external sources of control and adopt more accommodative (or secondary) control strategies, while maintaining their own sense of internal control and efficacy. To achieve a balanced mental state and attitude during midlife, when roles, goals, responsibilities, and stress tend to peak, individuals must believe in their own competence and effectiveness, and also be aware of their limitations and the influences of outside factors. According to the chapter, to understand individuals' sense of control in middle adulthood, one must study their sense of control within the context of the entire lifespan, as well as within the social and historical context.
This paper addresses the issue of allowing clients the choice of activities to perform for evaluative purposes. Studies demonstrating that choice or control may improve performance in both occupational therapy and psychology literature are reviewed. It offers a description of the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (Fisher, 1995) as an assessment that considers choice a critical component of the assessment process and describes a study that demonstrates client choice improves performance during the assessment process.
Few variables have been found to predict successful use of augmentative and alternative communication devices (AAC) by persons with aphasia. The present study used a single case alternating treatment design to test whether choice of conversational topic improved the ability of three adults with aphasia to use symbol-based communication aids in clinical dialogues with familiar and unfamiliar partners, and in natural environment conversations with family members and friends. Results showed that the youngest participant with most recent onset of aphasia benefited clinically from choice in communication aid training. However, the benefit of topic choice did not extend to natural environments. At home and in other natural environments, use of communication aids was dependent on multiple social and contextual factors. Findings of this study were interpreted using a model of human motivation that considers both personal and environmental influences on achievement.
The movement in favor of lifelong education has grown rapidly in the last 5 years and has provided the impetus for changing our philosophy and ideas concerning the critical needs and requirements for education and training for all age groups, including the elderly. Numerous authors, having questioned the notions of universal decline in various cognitive and intellectual abilities as a function of age, have begun to seek new approaches to studying the learning and memory performance of elderly groups and to place more emphasis on solving real‐life, applied problems. Although there is this current emphasis on and critical need for extracting practical principles and teaching methods for use in the newly designed and future education and training programs for the elderly, it does not appear to be possible to generalize from the existing literature. Virtually all of the research in learning and memory has concentrated on analog tasks with unconnected words, digits, and letters, which may not be generalizable to situations that require the processing of meaningful connected discourse. Thus, there is a critical need for research using meaningful, non‐laboratory‐type prose materials to obtain data applicable to educational and training environments.Supported by the Medical Research Service of the Veterans Administration.
This article summarizes prior research findings concerning self-adapted testing (SAT) and examines the hypothesis that positive effects obtained with SAT are due to examinees perceiving greater control over the testing situation, leading to reduced anxiety and improved test performance. Prior research on perceived control is presented and discussed.
Past research has found that allowing people a choice of task materials sometimes increases performance on the task. A self-presentation interpretation for this effect was tested and supported in two experiments. In Experiment 1, subjects performed better on a paired-associate learning task when allowed to select some of the words for the test, but only when they believed the experimenter would know of their choice and their performance. In Experiment 2, subjects performed better on what they believed was a cognitive abilities test when allowed to select the test, but again only when they believed their performance would be known by those who were aware of the choice. It was concluded that providing increased control over a task often results in increased concern for self-presentation that may lead to a better performance on the task.
Three experiments evaluated the effects of perceived choice upon comprehension and memory of prose reading passages. Participants in the choice conditions selected the titles of the passages they read, while the rest of the volunteers were not given the opportunity to choose. Experiment 1 compared choice and no choice conditions with young (x = 28.3 years) and elderly (x ‐ 68.9 years) adults of various vocabulary levels. Experiments 2 and 3 tested only elderly groups to evaluate a wider range of vocabulary levels and to compare the effects of starting the reading task either immediately after choosing the titles or after a delay of 2 to 3 weeks. The results indicated both age‐ and vocabulary‐related deficits. However, perceived choice conditions did not produce any consistent improvement in performance.
Discusses issues related to concepts of preferences and choice-making among persons with severe disabilities by providing suggestions for acknowledging preferences and teaching choice as a decision-making process. The broader implications of choice-making among persons with severe handicaps as an expression of personal autonomy and dignity are included. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Tested the hypothesis that providing students with meaningful choices about their study improvement programs would enhance the beneficial effects of planning. 150 undergraduates were assigned to 1 of 7 groups (4 experimental, 2 comparison, and 1 control); experimental groups chose or were assigned (choice) to daily or monthly planning (specificity). Comparison groups received the same information as the experimental groups except for instruction on planning, and no-treatment controls received no information. In accordance with hypotheses, one or both of the plans plus choice groups improved more than the lost-choice, comparison, and control groups on most of the process and outcome measures, including exam grades and reported study time. The most substantial gains were made by the moderately specific planning plus choice group (monthly choice). The lost-choice groups, especially the daily lost-choice group, showed the anticipated adverse reactions and some decrements in performance. Results are interpreted as underscoring the importance of choice as an active ingredient in determining the facilitative effects of moderately specific planning. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The self-choice effect, that is the superior memory performance observed when participants are allowed to choose the item at the study phase than when they are not (lack of choice), has been explained by the encoding-strategy hypothesis (Takahashi, 1997). This hypothesis distinguishes between organizational processing, which focuses upon the relationship between chosen items, and item-specific processing, which itself focuses on the elements that make the chosen item distinctive. The encoding-strategy hypothesis predicts that the ability for the successive recall of chosen items can be affected by organized list (Experiment 1). The results of our experiments ran counter to the prediction and were interpreted by a new concept called connective processing, which would emphasize the relationship of paired items. Connective processing was examined through orienting tasks (Experiment 2). The results were more suitably interpreted by connective than organizational processing.
Although this concept has rarely been investigated systematically, the prison is an environment that severely limits inmates’personal control. This article applies theoretical and empirical advances in the area of personal control to the issue of inmate adjustment to prison. Personal control has three components: outcome control, choice, and predictability of future events. Research findings suggesting adverse impacts of limited control are discussed in light of their implications for prisoner adjustment. Several models of personal control, including the environmental/learned helplessness, individual difference/self-efficacy, and incongruency/reactance models, are applied to the process of prisoner adjustment. Using these models, a conceptual framework for integrating past research in the sociology and social psychology of corrections is proposed, and directions for future research are discussed.
There has been an increasing emphasis in psychology on the perception of control over one''s environment and its effect on behavior and performance. In the present experiment, subjects were allowed to choose material they would like to learn if given the opportunity, or allowed to choose material for others to learn. Their learning of a nonchosen (forced) set of materials was then examined and compared with that of subjects given no opportunity to choose at all. It was found that the choice-for-self condition led to better performance than either the choice-for-other condition or the nochoice (forced) condition. However, when an additional group of subjects was given the opportunity to choose for others and their personal involvement was augmented by emphasizing their willingness to choose, their performance was enhanced relative to subjects offered no choice. The results were discussed in terms of motivational benefits stemming from perceived control.
Permitting subjects to choose materials to be learned on a task enhances performance on that task. These results support the idea that choice increases the learner's perception of control, thereby enhancing motivation and performance. The purpose of the present experiments was to determine whether choosing responses to be learned on a paired-associate task would also benefit performance on a reaction-time task. Half of the subjects selected their responses to be learned on a paired-associate task while the remaining subjects were assigned responses. In one experiment, subjects then performed both the PA and RT tasks simultaneously, while in the second experiment the RT task was performed following the choice/force procedure. Providing the learner with the opportunity to choose produced a generalized increase in motivation, which resulted in significantly faster responding on the nonchosen RT task. Also discussed are the limitations of the effects of perceived control.
This investigation was designed to determine whether perceived control effects found in humans extend to rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) tested in a video-task format, using a computer-generated menu program, SELECT. Choosing one of the options in SELECT resulted in presentation of 5 trials of a corresponding task and subsequent return to the menu. In Experiments 1-3, the animals exhibited stable, meaningful response patterns in this task (i.e., they made choices). In Experiment 4, performance on tasks that were selected by the animals significantly exceeded performance on identical tasks when assigned by the experimenter under comparable conditions (e.g., time of day, order, variety). The reliable and significant advantage for performance on selected tasks, typically found in humans, suggests that rhesus monkeys were able to perceive the availability of choices.
Consumer choice is a central principle of psychosocial rehabilitation and supported housing approaches. This study assessed level of housing choice and the relationship of choice to community success in supported housing demonstration projects in five states. Assessment of level of choice about housing revealed very limited housing options and a high degree of influence from service providers over housing choice. Despite few options, most respondents liked their housing option(s) and felt they had enough information to make a good housing decision. The relationship of choice to community success over time demonstrated that choice was positively related to housing satisfaction, residential stability, and psychological well-being. Discussion focuses on implications of the findings for mental health services and public policy.
Individuals experience choice when they select one option from among meaningful alternatives that possess relatively equal attractiveness and some degree of indeterminacy. Choice has been found to influence important psychological and behavioral outcomes. After differentiating among choice, personal control, and self-determination, the author offers a model of choice, with self-determination as the key mechanism regulating how choice influences intrinsic motivation. The model suggests specific types of choice-relevant information that should affect whether choice results in an internal (self-determined) or external (controlled) locus of causality. The individual characteristics of locus of control, self-presentation, self-esteem, and Type A personality are suggested as possible moderators of the effects of choice. Finally, the implications of the choice model for organizations and further areas of research are discussed.
Conducted 2 experiments in paired-associate learning in which 20 undergraduates were permitted to choose their responses from alternatives following the procedure of L. C. Perlmuter, R. A. Monty, and G. A. Kimble . The other 20 Ss were forced to learn the responses chosen by their yoked masters. Both groups of Ss were forced to learn an interposed A-C list following the choice-force procedure but prior to learning the A-B list. The performance of force Ss was reliably superior to that of choice Ss on A-C; however, when both groups learned A-B, the typical facilitative effect of choice was disturbed. In Exp II with 40 undergraduates, interposing a C-D list produced equivalent performance in both groups on C-D. Similarly, the facilitative effect of choice was not observed on the subsequent A-B trials. The degraded performance of choice Ss is discussed in terms of frustration as an additional source of motivation.
Investigated the effect of giving 120 undergraduates the opportunity to choose the response materials they wish to learn in a paired-associate task. A paradigm was used which manipulated the amount of choice allowed during the selection procedure and the locus or point at which choice took place. Results show that locus of choice was an extremely powerful variable and that if properly manipulated, choosing only 3 responses in a 12-item list elevated performance to a level near that of a 12-item list in which all responses were chosen. Motivational mechanisms are postulated to account for these findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examined the effect of giving Ss the opportunity to choose learning materials in a paired-associate paradigm. 4 studies using high- and low-meaning materials and employing between- and within-Ss designs were conducted with 40 undergraduates in the 1st 2 and 21 Ss in the others. Use of a between-Ss design showed that A-B learning was facilitated by choice with high-meaning but not low-meaning materials. Using a within-Ss design in which Ss chose 5 stimulus-response (S-R) pairs and were forced to learn 5 others, results show performance on the forced pairs was elevated to the level of the choice pairs. These data suggest that allowing Ss the opportunity to choose at least some S-R pairs generally facilitates performance through the operation of a proposed motivational mechanism which may also benefit learning of nonchosen S-R pairs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Conducted 3 paired-associate learning experiments with a total of 120 male and female undergraduates. Under some conditions, a-b learning was facilitated when ss chose responses to be learned on a subsequent a-b list. Ss who chose their a-b responses and were subsequently forced to learn a competing set of material (a-c) showed a relatively greater disruption of learning than ss who did not have the opportunity to choose either a-b or a-c. All of these effects required that when ss chose their responses, the choosing occurred in the presence of their respective stimuli. Simply choosing responses in the absence of the stimuli produced performance which was not different from that resulting when ss were denied the opportunity to choose their responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Notes previous experiments showing that if Ss choose responses from among alternatives, subsequent paired-associate learning is facilitated if the choosing occurs in the presence of the respective stimuli. Choosing in the absence of the stimuli does not facilitate performance. In experiments with university students (N = 122), choosing the stimuli in the presence of the respective responses facilitated performance; however, choosing the stimuli in the absence of the respective response hindered performance. This lack of symmetry between choice of stimulus and choice of response is consistent with the finding that the effect of some variables may be different when either the stimulus or response items have been differentially familiarized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A review of the research conducted with animals and humans indicates that the sense of control over impending reinforcements serves to mitigate the aversive consequences of negative reinforcements. Symptoms varying from distractibility to ulcers, and even sudden death have been associated with a loss of perceived control. It is concluded that the surrender of one's sense of control, even to benevolent authorities, may prove to be an ill choice for man as well as other species. (23 ref.)
Conducted 2 experiments with 20 male and 4 female albino rats using an operant analogue of the double-alley runway in an attempt to clarify the relationship between the frustration effect (FE) and the time since reward or nonreward of a preceding response sequence. Ss' leverpressing performance on a VI reinforcement schedule was measured following reward or nonreward of an FR component. The time course of the aftereffects of reward and nonreward was studied by inserting midtrial intervals (MTIs) between the 2 components. In Exp I, the intertrial interval (ITI) was constant between Ss, while in Exp II, ITIs were identical to MTIs and varied between trials. Both experiments found the FE to be attenuated with increased time since reward or nonreward of the ratio. This attenuation was due primarily to increasing performance with time following rewarded ratios. Generalization of FR-like responding to the VI component at times masked the effects of the reward-nonreward manipulation. (22 ref)
Conducted 2 experiments to examine undergraduates' associative learning and pictorial representations of 48 concrete and 48 abstract noun pairs. In Exp. I, 24 Ss drew their own pictures of each noun. In Exp. II, another 24 Ss chose S-drawings that best represented their subjective meaning of the word referents. These Ss also received pretraining in labelling the S-drawings. Results from both experiments show that recall of noun pairs was superior to recall of S-drawn picture pairs. These findings conflict with the literature on picture and word paired-associate learning. In addition, concreteness of items facilitated recall. In Exp. I, concrete S-drawings were significantly better retrieval cues than abstract S-drawings. Results are discussed in terms of Pavio's theory of verbal and imagery processes of memory. (French summary)
To assess the effect of allowing S to choose the items which might be learned later, 227 students from seven psychology classes were shown 30 words differing widely in meaningfulness (m) value. Experimental Ss were asked to select the 15 items they most preferred to learn. Several days later, Ss learned a 9-item list of either high or low mean m. The analysis of correct anticipations during learning showed that choice resulted in significantly faster acquisition of the low m list. No difference for Ss receiving items chosen vs rejected was obtained.
The method of Glaze was used to scale 320 words and paralogs for meaningfulness. One hundred Ss provided data from which three such measures were derived. Employing the most conventional of these measures (percentage of Ss responding in less than 2.5 sec) to select the items to be learned, a validating study demonstrated the usual relationship between association value and speed of learning. Other investigations have employed the materials successfully for purposes of control when the main interest of the experiment was in some other problem.
unpredictable and uncontrollable aversive events
- Glass
Glass, unpredictable and uncontrollable aversive events. American Scientist, 1972, 60, 457-465
Meaningfulness and familiarity Verbal behavior and learning: Problems and processes Effect of choice of stimulus on paired-associate learning
- C E Noble
- L C Perlmuter
- R A Monty
', Noble, C. E. Meaningfulness and familiarity. In C. N. Cofer and B. S. Musgrave (Eds.), Verbal behavior and learning: Problems and processes. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963. Perlmuter, L. C., & Monty, R. A. Effect of choice of stimulus on paired-associate learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology 1973,99,120-123.
Meaningfulness and familiarity Verbal behavior and learning: Problems and processes
- C E Noble
Verbal behavior and learning: Problems and processes
- C E Noble
- C. E. Noble