The Role of Experimenter Attitude and Contingent Reinforcement in a Vigilance Task

Abstract

Experimenter attitude toward one group of monitors was democratic (expansive and permissive) and experimenter attitude toward another group was autocratic (brief and brusque). Both groups monitored under three conditions of environmental stimulation (1) control (no stimulation) (2) radio contingent on detection performance, and (3) radio non-contingent on detection performance. The group treated in a democratic manner showed significantly higher levels of detection performance on all three conditions of environmental stimulation. The performance under radio contingent and radio noncontingent conditions was significantly higher than the control condition, and the radio condition contingent showed no performance decrement.