Abstract
Subjects were administered a visual discrimination task for which reinforcements were SVIB interest items. Rein forcers varied in extremity of endorsement (extreme and moderate) and social desirability (high and low). Significant performance gains were obtained attributable to extremity of endorsement (high). Awareness of reinforcing contingency mediated performance change. Results were interpreted as favoring a personal incentive (reinforcement) interpretation.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
BYRNE, D., YOUNG, R.K., & GRIFFITT, W. The reinforcement properties of attitude statements. Journal of Experimental Research in Personality, 1966, 4, 699–702.
ERIKSEN, C. W. Behavior and awareness. Durham: Duke University Press, 1962.
GOLIGHTLY, C., & BYRNE, D. Attitude statements as positive and negative reinforcements. Science, 1964, 146, 798–799.
PAGE, M. M. Cooperation with demand characteristics and the bimodal distribution of verbal conditioning data. Psychonomic Science, 1968, 12, 243–244.
REITZ, W. E., DOUEY, J., & MASON, G. Role of homogeneity and centrality of attitude domain on reinforcing properties of attitude statements. Journal of Experimental Research in Personality, 1968, 3, 120–125.
STAATS, A. W. Social behaviorism and human motivation: Principles of the attitude-reinforcer-discriminative system. In A. G. Greenwald, T. C. Brock, and T. M. Ostrom (Eds.), Psychological foundations of attitudes. New York: Academic Press, 1968.
ZYTOWSKI, D. G., & WALSH, J. A. Response tendencies in the SVIB: The popular, the rare, and the socially desirable. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1967, 51, 491–496.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Reiti, W.E., McDougall, L. Interest items as positive and negative reinforcements: Effects of social desirability and extremity of endorsement. Psychon Sci 17, 97–98 (1969). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336465
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336465