A STUDY OF THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF PRIOR REINFORCEMENT AND VARIABLES IN THE INDIVIDUAL AS PREDICTORS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION

In a laboratory investigation of the effect of prior reinforcement and personality upon social interaction, 85 adult non-college Ss run in pairs made simple perceptual judgments alone and were then subjected to contradictory judgments purportedly made by a fellow observer. Subjects were run in five experimental conditions differing in the frequency with which responses in the first along judgments were positively reinforced. Differences in Ss acceptance of the fellow observer's judgmental range were seen as a function of the interaction of situational and intra-individual determinants. Ss low in dogmatism maintained their judgments if reinforced, shifted when non-reinforced; Ss high in dogmatism showed no significant difference in shift as a function of level of reinforcement. Dogmatism is posited to be a modulator variable which differentially influences the potency of a given situational determinant of shift. (Author) Available copy will not permit fully legible reproduction. Reproduction will be made if requested by users of DDC. Copy is available for public sale.