Knowledge of score and goal level as determinants of work rate

Abstract

Most previous studies of the motivational effects of knowledge of results have failed to control for differential goal setting by Ss in the different knowledge conditions. An attempt was made to separate the effects of knowledge qua knowledge from those of goal setting using a 2 * 2 factorial design. The task was simple addition. The factors were knowledge of (raw) score (KR) vs. no knowledge of (raw) score (NKR), and hard vs. easy goals. Scores in the KR condition were given in such a form that they could not be used to set goals. Ss were 23 male and 17 female undergraduates. The hard- and easy-goal Ss, on the other hand, were informed only of their progress in relation to a standard set by E. It was found that the hard-goal Ss worked significantly faster than the easy-goal Ss, but the KR and NKR groups did not differ in performance. (35 ref.) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)