Albert J. Lott’s research while affiliated with University of Kentucky and other places

This chapter focuses on the expected consequences of interpersonal attitudes derived from a theoretical position in which persons who evoke attitudes are conceptualized as secondary reinforcers. The intent is to show that interrelated hypotheses regarding consequences can be generated by placing the concept of attitude within a learning theory framework, that a substantial number of empirical relationships can be interpreted as supporting these hypotheses, and that the behavioral effects of interpersonal attraction have far-reaching social implications, making the potential application of verified propositions an enticing possibility. The chapter proposes a number of expectations for the behavior of individuals when liked or disliked persons (or their symbolic representations) are present either prior to, during, or contingent upon the behavior. It illustrates by reference to data on human behavior that findings relevant to the effects of differential liking for persons by one another can be systematized and explained by the general behavior principles relating to secondary reinforcers and that interpersonal attitudes affect a wide variety of socially significant behavior. The chapter discusses the areas of applicability of the power of liking.

Independent samples of undergraduates learned to associate the names of public figures (N = 60, Study I), or the names of persons with whom they were very well acquainted (N = 52, Study II), with CVC nonsense syllables (trigrams). In both cases, attitude toward the person whose name was paired with new information made a significant difference in the ease with which the learning took place. Ss made fewest errors in learning relevant to liked persons, most errors in learning relevant to neutrally regarded persons, and an intermediate number of errors in learning relevant to disliked persons. Some evidence was also obtained, in Study II, that the affect evoked by the names of differentially liked persons was conditioned to the trigrams paired with them. Results are discussed in terms of their relevance for the theoretical assumption that differentially liked persons differ systematically in cue and motivational properties. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Interpersonal attitudes are inferred from a variety of behaviors, among which should be the words people use to describe each other. Each S in 2 independent samples of 50 and 60 undergraduates listed 3 persons with whom he was very well acquainted but 1 of whom was very well liked, 1 disliked very much, and 1 regarded neutrally. These stimulus persons were then described by adjectives from N. H. Anderson's list of 200 personality-trait words. Results from both samples were consistent: the number of adjectives used to describe persons varied reliably with interpersonal attraction, in the direction of most to least, from liked to disliked to neutral, supporting theoretical assumptions regarding differences in salience among differentially liked persons. In addition, the particular words chosen to describe well-liked, neutral, and disliked actual persons differed significantly in Anderson's likableness values. Discriminating words were isolated, and a descriptive word measure of interpersonal attraction is suggested.

Provides evidence that interpersonal attitudes can be validly inferred from indirect behavioral indexes which do not require self-disclosure. Study 1, utilizing 20 children aged 6-16 enrolled in a summer recreation program, and Study 2, utilizing 48 boys aged 8-14 living together during a 2- wk camp session, both found positive relations between a 15-step Liking Scale and each of 2 oblique measures adapted from J. C. Nunnally and his associates (see 39:4 and 41:9): a looking box measure of selective looking and a treasure hunt game reflecting anticipation of desirable consequences. 23 1st graders in Study 3 provided data indicating that 3 levels of attraction toward peers, as measured by a Sociometric Test, may be reliably inferred from 2 objective measures of drawings made of their classmates: percentage of head relative to total length and relative degree of detail. A perceptual measure of recognition of peers under conditions of .01-.04 sec. slide exposure time yielded ambiguous sex-related results. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Describes 2 studies which test hypotheses derived from stimulus-response reinforcement theory propositions. In Study I, 60 1st-graders played a game in which photographs of strangers were associated with desirable or undesirable food snacks either before or after lunch. Evidence supported a positive relation between reward quality and the acquired attractiveness of contiguous stimulus persons under conditions of contrast in reward quality but not under conditions of no contrast. The assumed difference in drive between Ss tested before and after lunch proved ineffective, but it is suggested that this difference was overridden by the arousal of appetite for snacks. Study II, utilizing 31 college students with high and low measured needs for academic recognition, found support for a positive relation between drive and the attractiveness of reward-associated stimulus persons. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

60 groups, composed of 6 3rd graders each, played a series of 4 Bingo games in which win-loss patterns were controlled. Each group contained 3 pairs of friends; 1 member of each pair was chosen to actively play the game and be eligible for a prize, while the other member observed and was ineligible for a prize. Measures were taken of interpersonal attraction among the play-group members, affective reactions to one's own or partner's wins and losses, and incidental learning. General support was obtained for the hypothesis that both the directly rewarded, winning players and their O's would acquire greater positive attitudes toward the other group members than would the nonrewarded players and their O's. In addition, both affective reactions to winning and losing and measures of incidental learning were found to be reliably associated with liking of group members by both players and Os. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Supported the hypothesis that liked persons can function as effective positive reinforcers and disliked persons as negative reinforcers. 100 9th graders, working on a moderately difficult discrimination problem, were found to perform differentially as a function of their positive, neutral, or negative attraction to the peer whose photograph was presented contingent upon a particular response. Ss performed in the following order, from best to poorest: (1) those whose correct responses were reinforced with the printed word "right," (2) with the photo of a liked peer, (3) with a blank card (while incorrect responses were followed by the photo of a disliked peer), (4) with the photo of a neutral peer, and (5) with the photo of a disliked peer. These findings were predicted from a theoretical frame work in which interpersonal attitudes are defined in terms of the implicit anticipatory reward or punishment responses evoked by persons. (23 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

On the basis of a theory of interpersonal attraction in which positive attitudes toward persons are conceptualized as implicit anticipatory goal responses (rg-sg), it was predicted that greater liking would be developed toward a stimulus person consistently associated with immediate reward than toward one consistently associated with delayed reward. 32 first grade subjects, treated individually, performed a simple task in the presence of each of two adult assistants, one of whom was always associated with immediate reward (14 trials) while the other was always associated with a 10-second delay (14 trials). For a control group of 16 subjects both of the assistants were paired with an equal number of immediate and delayed rewards. All subjects alternated their trials between one adult helper and the other, in a partially predetermined order. On three dependent measures of attraction, a direct question regarding which helper was liked best, a 15-step liking scale, and evaluative semantic differential judgments, significant differences were found between experimental and control subjects in their relative liking of the two assistants. On two other measures, results were in the predicted direction but not statistically reliable. The data are discussed in terms of positive effects of immediate reward and possible negative effects of delay attributed to frustration.