Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Grades degrade group coordination: deteriorated interactions and performance in a cooperative motor task

  • Published:
European Journal of Psychology of Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

At school, pupils often cooperate on common projects and must coordinate their different individual actions. However, grades are pervasively used even in cooperative situations, which make the pupils’ differences in achievement and their relative rank salient and may reduce their inclination to work constructively with others. Thus, we hypothesized that grades would elicit disruptive interactions and reduce performance in a cooperative cognitive-motor task necessitating inter-individual coordination of members. In a study with 5th graders, grades (vs. a neutral concept) were primed at the onset of a cooperative group interaction. Results showed that, although pupils were set to work cooperatively, priming grades (vs. neutral concepts) harmed inter-individual coordination by eliciting more negative dominant behaviours among pupils during interactions, which decreased group performance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The first setting (pulleys strengthened), initially designed to restrict players’ non-intentional movements (cf. Doise and Mugny 1997), required from players to intentionally release their pulley to allow other players to pull, making it impossible for other players to pull strong enough on their own pulley and control the others’ pulley’s release. In the second setting (pulleys loosened), the pulleys are not locked, allowing players to unroll the others’ pulley simply by pulling

  2. The Start/Finish square was not included in the coding of group performance because we realized afterwards that the instructions were ambiguous as to whether the Start square was to be considered as the Finish, and some groups stopped before reaching this last square. Thus, the Beginning (from square no. 1 to square no. 48) and Middle of the game (from square no. 49 to square no. 96) both contained an equal subtotal of 48 squares, whereas the End of the game (from square no. 97 to square no. 143) contained a subtotal of 47 squares.

References

  • Anderman, E. M., & Midgley, C. (1997). Changes in achievement goal orientations, perceived academic competence, and grades across the transition to middle-level schools. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 22, 269–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderman, E. M., & Young, A. J. (1993, April). A multilevel model of adolescents’ motivation and strategy use in academic domains. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Atlanta.

  • Bales, R. F. (1950). A set of categories for the analysis of small group interaction. American Sociological Review, 15, 257–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs (NJ): Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J. A., & Chartrand, T. L. (2000). The mind in the middle: a practical guide to priming and automaticity research. In H. T. Reis & C. M. Judd (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barron, B. (2000). Coordination in collaborative problem-solving groups. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 9, 403–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F. (1984). Choking under pressure: self-consciousness and paradoxical effects of incentives on skilful performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 610–620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blandin, Y. (2002). L’apprentissage par observation d’habiletés motrices: un processus d’apprentissage spécifique? L'Année Psychologique, 102, 523–554.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brody, C., & Smith-Lovin, L. (1989). Interruptions in group discussions: the effects of gender and group composition. American Sociological Review, 54, 424–435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brookhart, S. M. (2004). Assessment theory for college classrooms. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 100, 5–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchs, C., Butera, F., & Mugny, G. (2004). Resource interdependence, student interactions and performance in cooperative learning. Educational Psychology, 24, 291–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchs, C., Gilles, I., Dutrévis, M., & Butera, F. (2011). Pressure to cooperate: is positive reward interdependence really needed in cooperative learning? British Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 135–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butera, F., Darnon, C., Buchs, C., & Muller, D. (2006). Les méfaits de la compétition: comparaison sociale et focalisation dans l’apprentissage. In Joule, R.-V., & Huguet, P. (Eds), Bilan et Perspectives en Psychologie Sociale (pp. 15–44). Grenoble: PUG.

  • Butler, R. (1987). Task-involving and ego-involving properties of evaluation: effects of different feedbacks conditions on motivational perceptions, interest, and performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 474–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crouzevialle, M., & Butera, F. (2013). Performance-approach goals deplete working memory and impair cognitive performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142, 666–678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darnon, C., & Butera, F. (2007). Learning or succeeding? Conflict regulation with mastery or performance goals. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 66, 145–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darnon, C., Muller, D., Schrager, S. H., Pannuzzo, N., & Butera, F. (2006). Mastery and performance goals predict epistemic and relational conflict regulation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 766–776.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doise, W., & Mugny, G. (1981). Le Développement Social de l’intelligence. Paris: InterEditions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doise, W., & Mugny, G. (1984). The social development of the intellect. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doise, W., & Mugny, G. (1997). Le jeu coopératif et la coordination d’actions indépendantes. In Psychologie Sociale & développement cognitif (pp.47-74). Liège : Armand Colin.

  • Dunbar, N. E., & Burgoon, J. K. (2005). Perceptions of power and interactional dominance in interpersonal relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22, 207–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forman, E. A., & Cazden, C. B. (1985). Exploring Vygotskian perspectives in education: the cognitive value of peer interaction. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed.), Culture, communication, and cognition: Vygotskian perspectives (pp. 323–347). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harackiewicz, J. M., Barron, K. E., & Elliot, A. J. (1998). Rethinking achievement goals: when are they adaptive for college students and why? Educational Psychologist, 33, 1–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawley, P. H. (1999). The ontogenesis of social dominance: a strategy-based evolutionary perspective. Developmental Review, 19, 97–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawley, P. H. (2002). Social dominance and prosocial and coercive strategies of resource control in pre-schoolers. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26, 167–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayek, A. S., Toma, C., Oberlé, & Butera, F. (2014). The effect of grades on the preference effect. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 36, 544–552.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayek, A.-S., Toma, C., Oberlé, D., & Butera, F. (2015). Grading hampers cooperative information sharing in group problem solving. Social Psychology, 46, 121–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2009). An educational psychology success story: social interdependence theory and cooperative learning. Educational Researcher, 38, 365–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. (2007). The state of cooperative learning in postsecondary and professional settings. Educational Psychology Review, 19, 15–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohn, A. (1993). Why incentive plans cannot work. Harvard Business Review, 71, 54–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leffler, A., Gillespie, D. L., & Conaty, J. C. (1982). The effects of status differentiation on nonverbal behavior. Social Psychology Quarterly, 45, 153–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leman, P. J. (2015). How do groups work? Age differences in performance and the social outcomes of peer collaboration. Cognitive Science, 39, 804–820.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrath, J. E., Arrow, H., & Berdahl, J. L. (1999). Cooperation and conflict as manifestations of coordination in small groups. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 30, 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Midgley, C., Anderman, E., & Hicks, L. (1995). Differences between elementary and middle school teachers and students: a goal theory approach. Journal of Early Adolescence, 15, 90–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mugny, G., & Doise, W. (1978). Socio-cognitive conflict and structure of individual and collective performances. European Journal of Social Psychology, 8, 181–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mugny, G., Butera, F., Quiamzade, A., Dragulescu, A., & Tomei, A. (2003). Comparaisons sociales des compétences et dynamiques d’influence sociale dans les tâches d’aptitude. L'Année Psychologique, 104, 469–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muller, D., & Butera, F. (2007). The focusing effect of self-evaluation threat in coaction and social comparison. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 194–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, J. G. (1979). Quality and equality in intellectual development: the role of motivation in education. American Psychologist, 34, 1071–1084.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, J. G. (1983). Conceptions of ability and achievement motivation: a theory and its implications for education. In S. G. Paris, G. M. Olson, & H. W. Stevenson (Eds.), Learning and motivation in the classroom (pp. 211–237). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pintrich, P. R. (2000). An achievement goal theory perspective on issues in motivation terminology, theory, and research. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 92–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollock, B. J., & Lee, T. D. (1992). Effects of the model’s skill level on observational learning. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 63, 25–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Psaltis, C., & Zapiti, A. (2014). Interaction, communication and development: psychological development as a social process. London: Routledge.

  • Pulfrey, C., Buchs, C., & Butera, F. (2011). Why grades engender performance-avoidance goals: the mediating role of autonomous motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103, 683–700.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pulfrey, C., Darnon, C., & Butera, F. (2013). Autonomy and task performance: explaining the impact of grades on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, Published Online.

  • Roseth, C. J., Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2008). Promoting early adolescents’ achievement and peer relationships: the effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 223–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, K. H., & Rose-Krasnor, L. (1992). Interpersonal problem solving. In V.B.V. Hassett & M. Hersen (Eds.), Handbook of social development (pp. 283–323). New York: Plenum.

  • Rucker, D. D., Preacher, K. J., Tormala, Z. L., & Petty, R. E. (2011). Mediation analysis in social psychology: current practices and new recommendations. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5(6), 359–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmid Mast, M. (2002). Dominance as expressed and inferred through speaking time. Human Communication Research, 28, 420–450.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tusing, K. J., & Dillard, J. P. (2000). The sounds of dominance: vocal precursors of perceived dominance during interpersonal influence. Human Communication Research, 26, 148–171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2003). Stereotype lift. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 456–467.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zapiti, A., & Psaltis, C. (2012). Asymmetries in peer interaction: the effect of social representations of gender and knowledge asymmetry on children's cognitive development. European Journal of Social Psychology, 42, 578–588.

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, and is part of Anne-Sophie Hayek’s doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Fabrizio Butera and Dominique Oberlé.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Sciences Sociales, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Anne-Sophie Hayek, Sofia Guidotti & Fabrizio Butera

  2. Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussel, Belgium

    Claudia Toma

  3. Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Nanterre, France

    Dominique Oberlé

Authors
  1. Anne-Sophie Hayek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Claudia Toma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sofia Guidotti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dominique Oberlé
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Fabrizio Butera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fabrizio Butera.

Additional information

Dr. Anne-Sophie Hayek. Institut des Sciences Sociales, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Current themes of research:

Cooperation and competition. Group processes. Grading.

Most relevant publications:

Hayek, A. S., Toma, C., Oberlé, D., & Butera, F. (2014). The effect of grades on the preference effect: grading    reduces consideration of disconfirming evidence. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 36, 544–552.

Hayek, A. S., Toma, C., Oberlé, D., & Butera, F. (2015). Grading hampers cooperative information sharing in    group problem solving. Social Psychology, 46, 121–131.

Dr. Claudia Toma. Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussel, Belgium.

Current themes of research:

Cooperation and competition. Group processes. Judgement and decision making.

Most relevant publications:

Toma, C., & Butera, F. (2009). Hidden profiles and concealed information: strategic information sharing and use    in group decision making. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 793–806.

Toma, C., & Butera, F. (2015). Cooperation versus competition effects on information sharing and use in group    decision making. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 9, 455–467.

Ms. Sofia Guidotti. Institut des Sciences Sociales, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Current themes of research:

Cooperation. Grading.

Most relevant publications:

Dr. Dominique Oberlé. Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Nanterre, France.

Current themes of research:

Group processes and group dynamics.

Most relevant publications:

Aebischer, V., & Oberlé, D. (2012). Le groupe en psychologie sociale (4th edition). Paris: Dunod.

Augustinova, M., & Oberlé, D. (2013). Psychologoe sociale du groupe au travail. Bruxelles: De Boeck.

Dr. Fabrizio Butera. Institut des Sciences Sociales, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. E-mail:Fabrizio.Butera@unil.ch

Current themes of research:

Learning. Motivation. Conflict. Social influence.

Most relevant publications:

Pulfrey, C., Buchs, C., & Butera, F. (2011). Why grades engender performance avoidance goals: the mediating    role of autonomous motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103, 683–700.

Pulfrey, C., Darnon, C., & Butera, F. (2013). Autonomy and task performance: explaining the impact of grades    on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105, 39–57.

Appendix

Appendix

Picture of the Cooperative Game (adapted from Doise and Mugny 1984), kindly lent by Gabriel Mugny. Panel A: the device. Panel B: the trail. Panel C: the grades prime (with the original terms in Italian).

figure a

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hayek, AS., Toma, C., Guidotti, S. et al. Grades degrade group coordination: deteriorated interactions and performance in a cooperative motor task. Eur J Psychol Educ 32, 97–112 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-016-0286-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-016-0286-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation