THE EFFECT OF MOTIVATION AND AMOUNT OF PRE-REST PRACTICE UPON INHIBITORY POTENTIAL IN MOTOR LEARNING

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W asaeraan, H ilto n N a th a l^ e l ^ ^ ^ f ^ The e f f e c t o f m o tiv a tio n an d amount o f p r e - r e s t p r a c t i c e upon in h ib ito r y p o t e n t i a l in m otor le a r n in g . New York, 1 9 5 0 . v i i i , 9 7 ty p e w r itte n le a v e a . d ia g rs , t a b l e s . 29cm. T h e s is (P h .D .) - New York U niver­ s i t y , G ra d u ate S chool, 1950* B ib lio g r a p h y : p.95>-*97« C57542

Shelf List

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T H I S D I S S E R T A T I O N HAS BEEN M I C R O F I L M E D E X A C T L Y AS R E C E I V E D .

T JB R A R I 0 9 H E W T O R I DNIVXRSITI TOimpRSITI HEIQHT9

v

THE EFFECT OF MOTIVATION AND AMOUNT OF PRE-REST PRACTICE UPON INHIBITORY POTENTIAL IN MOTOR LEARNING

by

\

H ilto n N. wassemian

A d i s s e r t a t i o n in th e d ep artm en t o f p sy ch o lo g y su b m itted in p a r t i a l f u l f i l l m e n t o f the re q u ire m e n ts fo r th e degree o f D octor o f P h ilo so p h y a t New York U n iv e rs ity , A p r il, 1950.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT I w ish to acknow ledge with s i n c e r e th a n k s the u n f a i l i n g a id and a d v ic e p ro v id e d by P ro fe s s o r L elan d W. C ra fts through­ o u t the p ro g r e s s o f t h i s in v e s t ig a tio n .

F u r th e r , I am i n ­

debted to P ro fe s s o r C r a f t s fo r h a v in g f i r s t aroused my i n t e r e s t in le a r n in g theory w ith h i s s tim u la tin g l e c t u r e s on t h e s u b je c t. I am a ls o g r a t e f u l to P r o fe s s o r Howard H. K en d ler fo r h i s many v a lu a b le s u g g e s tio n s , and to P r o f e s s o r Thomas W. J e n k in s f o r h is s u g g e s tio n s concern in g th e s t a t i s t i c a l tr e a tm e n t of th e d a ta .

20^210 I

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM .................................................................

1

HISTORICAL REVIEW .................................................................................

7

I.

In tro d u c tio n ..........................................................................

7

II.

T h e o re tic a l C o n s id e ra tio n s ...........................................

7

A. E x is tin g T h e o rie s ....................................................

7

........................

8

b . The S a tu r a tio n H y p o th e s is ......................

11

c . The L e a rn in g and Work -Factor T h e o ry ..

12

d . B e l l 's Theory ................................................

13

e . H u l l 's Perform ance I n h i b i t i o n Theory .........................................................

15

B. The R e la tio n of wo r k and E f f o r t t o I n h i b i t i o n T h e o r y ........................................

17

Experim ents Employing t h e A lphabet r r in t i n g T a s k ...........................................................................

20

IV. Experim ents Employing t h e P u rsu it R o t o r .................

25

a . ^ n o d d y 's Growth Theory

III.

A. Amount

o f P re -R e st P ra c tic e

.......................

25

B« Length o f I n t e r p o la te d Rest ................................

26

C. Warming Up E f f e c t ....................................................

26

The F a c to r of M o tiv a tio n ...............................................

28

V I. R estatem ent of th e P r o b l e m .............................................

29

METHOD AND PROCEDURE ..........................................................................

31

A. S u b je c ts .......................................................................

31

B . M a te ria ls

31

V.

...............................................................

C. P rocedure .......................................

iii

31

RESULTS ...........................................................................................................

37

A. L e a r n i n g ...............................................................................

37

B . Rem iniscence ( l R) ...........................................................

44

C. Permanent Decrement (gift.) .........................................

56

DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................

72

A. L e a r n i n g ...............................................................................

72

B. Rem iniscence (1^)

..........................................................

72

C. Permanent Decrement (gift) .........................................

85

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................

92

BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................

95

iv

LIST OF TABLES T ab le I . T ab le I I .

T ab le I I I .

T a b le IV.

T able V.

T ab le VI.

T able V II.

T ab le V I I I .

T ab le IX.

T ab le X.

D is tr ib u tio n of su b jects among the v a rio u s e x p e rim e n ta l c o n d itio n s ................................................ Mean d if f e r e n c e s in s c o re betw een th e two m o tiv a tio n c a te g o rie s f o r th e v a rio u s ex­ p e rim e n ta l c o n d itio n s on th e in d ic a te d t r i a l s . .

32

43

R e l i a b i l i t y (t- v a lu e s ) o f mean d if f e r e n c e s betw een th e two m o tiv a tio n c a te g o r ie s f o r th e v a r io u s ex p erim en tal c o n d itio n s on th e in d ic a te d t r i a l s ...............................................................

45

Mean in c r e a s e in score a f t e r r e s t f o r each ex p erim en tal group and th e r e s p e c tiv e t - v a l u e s of th e s e in c r e a s e s .......................................

46

Mean d if f e r e n c e s between in c r e a s e in sco re a f t e r r e s t in th e e x p e rim e n ta l groups ana i n c r e a s e without r e s t i n th e massed group, and th e re s p e c tiv e t- v a lu e s o f th e s e d if f e r e n c e s .........................................................................

48

Amount by which the mean in c r e a s e in s c o re a f t e r r e s t w ith high m o tiv a tio n exceeds th a t w ith low m o tiv a tio n , to g e th e r w ith th e r e s p e c t i v e t-v a lu e s ................................................

52

C h i-s q u a re a n a ly s is o f th e number o f i n ­ d iv id u a ls showing any g a in i n score a f t e r r e s t u n d e r th e various ex p ei’im en tal c o n d itio n s ...................................................................

53

M atching of cum ulative means and c o rre s ­ ponding t r i a l s between t h e ex p erim en tal and spaced groups .....................................................................

58

The amount by which th e sp a c e d group exceeds the re m in is c e n c e p o in t a f t e r n in e d i f f e r e n t amounts o f p r e - r e s t p r a c t i c e a s computed by two d i f f e r e n t methods, t o g e t h e r w ith th e r e s p e c tiv e t-v a lu e s ......................................................

62

A n a ly sis o f v a ria n c e o f th e amount by which th e sp a c e d group exceeds th e re m in isc en c e p o in t a f t e r v a rio u s amounts o f p r e - r e s t p r a c t i c e under two c o n d itio n s o f m o tiv a tio n . . .

69

v

Table XI.

Mean d if f e r e n c e between th e two m o tiv a tio n c a te g o rie s i n tn e amount by w hich th e spaced group exceeds th e re m in is c e n c e p o in t a s computed by two d i f f e r e n t m ethods, t o ­ g e th e r w ith t h e re s p e c tiv e t - v a l u e s ........................... 70

vi

LIST OF FIGURES Fig. F ig.

1. 2.

The basic d a ta o f the e x p erim en t f o r th e low m otivation groups ................................................................

38

The basic d a ta o f the e x p e rim e n t f o r th e h ig h m otivation groups ...............................................................

39

F ig.

3.

The perform ance o f the f o u r c o n tro l g r o u p s

41

F ig.

4*

The p o s t - r e s t perform ance o f th e n in e e x p e r i­ m ental groups u n d e r each m o tiv a tio n c o n d itio n on the f i r s t t e n t r i a l s fo llo w in g a te n minute r e s t ................................................................

42

The mean i n c r e a s e in sc o re on th e f i r s t p o s t­ r e s t tr i e d ( rem in iscen ce) a f t e r n in e d i f f e r e n t amounts o f p r e - r e s t p r a c t i c e fo r b o th m o tiv a tio n c o n d itio n s ..............................................

49

Smoothed graph o f the same v a ria b les p lo tte d in Figure 5 ..................................................................

50

The amount o f rem in iscen ce p e r re s p o n se w ith n in e d i f f e r e n t amounts o f p r e - r e s t p r a c t i c e f o r both m o tiv a tio n c o n d i t i o n s ....................................

55

Amount by w hich th e spaced p r a c t ic e group exceeds th e re m in isc en c e p o i n t a f t e r n in e d if f e r e n t am ounts of p r e - r e s t p r a c t i c e f o r both m o tiv a tio n c o n d itio n s ....................

60

Smoothed g rap h o f the same v a r ia b l e s p lo tte d in Figure 8 ...........................................................................

61

P o s t-r e s t perform ance of th e nine e x p e rim e n ta l groups compared w ith t h a t o f the sp aced group a f t e r e q u iv a le n t amounts o f p r e - r e s t p r a c tic e f o r the low m o tiv a tio n c o n d itio n ...............................

64

P o s t- r e s t perform an ce o f th e nine e x p e rim e n ta l groups compared w ith t h a t o f th e sp aced groupa f t e r e q u iv a le n t amounts o f p r e - r e s t p r a c tic e f o r the h ig h m o tiv a tio n c o n d i t i o n ...........................

65

F ig.

fig. F ig .

F ig .

F ig .

5.

6. 7.

8.

9.

Fig. 1 0 .

F ig . 1 1 .

v ii

F ig . 12.

F ig . 13.

The amount try which th e spaced g ro u p exceeds th e rem in iscen ce p o in t a f t e r n in e d i f f e r e n t amounts o f p r e - r e s t p r a c ti c e f o r b o th m o tiv a tio n c o n d itio n s ..................................................

66

Smoothed graph o f th e same v a r ia b le s p lo tte d i n F ig u re 12 ......................................................................

67

v iii

STATEMENT 0 5' THE PROBLEM

A ccording to H u ll, "Whenever any re a c tio n i s evoked in an organism t h e r e i s l e f t a c o n d itio n o r s t a t e which a c ts a s a p rim ary n e g a tiv e m o ti­ v a tio n in t h a t i t h a s an in n a te c a p a c ity to produce a c e s s a tio n o f th e a c t i v i t y w hich produced the s t a t e "

(1 5 , p . 2 7 8 ).

s t a t e is c a l l e d r e a c tiv e i n h i b i t i o n ( I f t) .

T h is n e g a tiv e d r iv e

The r e a c t io n decrem ent which

i s a t t r i b u t e d to r e a c tiv e i n h i b i t i o n b e a r s a s t r i k i n g resem blance t o th e d e c re m e n ts in a c ti o n e v o c a tio n p o t e n t i a l i t y (gEft) which are o r d i n a r i l y a t t r i b u t e d t o "f a tig u e ." H ull f u r t h e r s t a t e s th a t "The n e t amount o f fu n c tio n in g in h i b i to r y p o t e n t i a l r e s u l t i n g from a sequence o f re a c tio n e v o c a tio n s i s a p o s i­ t i v e l y a c c e le r a te d fu n c tio n o f th e amount of work (W) inv o lv ed in th e perform ance o f th e re sp o n se i n q u e s tio n 1.11 (15, p . 2 7 9 ). A lso, H u ll fo rm u la te s th e p r o p o s itio n th a t "Each amount of i n h i b i ­ t o r y p o t e n t i a l (Ift) d im in ish e s p r o g r e s s iv e ly w ith th e passage o f tim e acc o rd in g t o a simple decay o r n e g a tiv e growth f u n c tio n " Hull

(15, 281) .

t h e n a r r i v e s a t an im p o rta n t c o r o lla r y : S tim u li c lo s e ly a s s o c ia te d w ith th e a c q u i s i t i o n and acc u m u la tio n o f i n h i b i t o r y p o t e n tia l (Ift) become c o n d itio n e d t o i t i n such a way th a t when such s t i m u l i l a t e r precede o r o c c u r sim u lta n e o u sly w ith s tim u lu s s i t u a t i o n s o th e rw is e evoking p o s i t i v e re ­ a c t i o n s , th e s e l a t t e r e x c it a to r y te n d e n c ie s w i l l be weakened ( 1 5 , p. 2 8 2 ).

T h is s tim u lu s c o n tr o lle d in flu e n c e o f in h i b it i o n on b e h av io r ev o ca tio n i s c a lle d c o n d itio n e d i n h i b i t i o n (g ift) •

2

The r e la tio n s h ip between th e se tw o i n h i b i t o r y p o t e n t i a l s and r e a c tio n p o t e n t i a l (gEp) i s g iv e n by the e q u a tio n (15, p . 284): S % = SJi;R - I R >^ie re

S%t = e ffe c tiv e r e a c t i o n p o t e n t i a l , an d IR = ( I R + SlR) Kimble (.22) summarizes these p r o p o s itio n s b r i e f l y a n d in sim p le

term s.

F o llow ing him, th e n , the t o t a l in h ib ito r y p o t e n t i a l is made up

o f two e le m e n ta ry d e crem e n ta l com ponents, r e a c tiv e i n h i b i t i o n and con­ d itio n e d i n h i b i t i o n .

T hese two f a c t o r s are a l i k e in t h a t they b o th d e ­

p re s s th e h a b i t being le a r n e d .

They d i f f e r , how ever, i n many ways:

R e a c tiv e in h ib iti o n i s a d riv e s t a t e c lo s e ly a l l i e d to pain a v o id a n c e . I t i s re s p o n s e produced in h ib itio n w h ic h r e s u l t s from o r accom panies a l l e f f o r t f u l b e h a v io r w h eth er re in fo r c e d o r n o t, a n d d i s s i p a t e s d u rin g a re s t in te rv a l.

I f th e r e s t i n t e r v a l s a r e not lo n g enough to a llo w f o r

th e d i s s i p a t i o n of a good d e al o f I p ( a s in m assed p r a c t i c e ) , Ift accumu­ l a t e s and t h e need f o r r e s t in c r e a s e s .

Wien th e r e s tin g response o c c u rs,

Ift d i s s i p a t e s and t h i s se rv e s as a d r i v e re d u c tio n o r re in fo rc e m e n t.

In

Kimble1& w o rd s, " . . . r e s t i n g i s th o u g h t o f as a c t i v e , m o tiv ated b e h a v io r which i s a g o a l response and reduces t h e d riv e I p "

(2 2 , fo o tn o te , p . 1 5 ).

b ecau se o f th e re in fo rc e m e n t c a u s e d ty r e s t , th e resp o n se o f r e s t i n g w i l l become a h a b it w hich w ill be c o n d itio n e d t o w h atev er s tim u li a re p r e s e n t i n th e le a r n in g s i t u a t i o n .

This c o n d itio n e d re s tin g tendency

i s ( s ^ r) • The tw o in h ib ito r y components a r e , then, a d riv e ( I r ) and a h a b i t (g ift), and e a c h must h a v e th e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , r e s p e c t i v e l y , of o t h e r

3

d riv e s and h a b i t s .

Thus, g ift should d ev elo p as a p o s i t i v e growth

fu n c tio n o f th e number

o f re in fo rc e m e n ts , w hile

m ig h t be expected

I r

to accum ulate a s some in c r e a s in g fu n c tio n o f the am ount of e f f o r t ex­ pended.

F u r th e r , c o n d itio n e d i n h i b i t i o n , being a h a b i t , should show a l ­

most no d im in u tio n w ith th e p a ssa g e o f tim e , w hile

I r,

b ein g a d riv e ,

w i l l be re d u c ib le by th e a p p r o p r ia te g o a l re sp o n se , re s tin g .^ "

T his l a t t e r

d if f e r e n c e makes i t p o s s ib le ( a s has been done by K im ble (22, p. 18) to tr a c e th e s e p a r a te course o f developm ent o f each o f t h e s e two in h ib ito r y components. Kimble (22) h y p o th e s iz e s t h a t w ith continuous p r a c t i c e (w ork), s in c e I r i s a d r i v e , th e accu m u la tio n o f a c e r t a i n c r i t i c a l amount w i l l auto­ m a tic a lly produce r e s t i n g , t h u s r e s u lti n g in d i s s i p a t i o n o f I r before a form al r e s t i n t e r v a l i s in tr o d u c e d . c o n tin u e s , once

I f m o tiv atio n t o perform th e ta sk

i s red u ced below th e c r i t i c a l l e v e l , the organism w i l l

I r

resume work and co n tin u e u n t i l th e c r i t i c a l le v e l o f

I r

i s reached a g a in .

Hence, a s o r t o f e q u ilib riu m w i l l be reach ed in w hich th e organism r e s t s long enough to keep

Ir

a t , o r s l i g h t l y below some

s p e c if ic l e v e l .

I t i s to be expected t h a t w henever m o tiv a tio n d e c r e a s e s in le a r n in g , t h i s le v e l w i l l drop somewhat. Kimble f u r t h e r h y p o th e s iz e s th a t some th re s h o ld v a lu e o f sa ry b e fo re r e s tin g and re in fo rc e m e n t le a rn in g (when

Ir

o f s^R can b e g in .

I r

is neces­

Thus, e a rly i n

has n o t y e t reached th is* th re s h o ld v a lu e ) no rI r sh o u ld

be p r e s e n t. The r e s u l t s o f K im b le 's experim ent (22) (which i s d e sc rib e d in d e t a i l 1 . I t should be p o in te d o u t, however, t h a t because s^R a h a b it, i t sh ould be a f f e c te d by r e t r o a c t i v e i n h ib i ti o n , t h e n a tu re o f th is e f f e c t being dependent upon th e th e o ry o f r e t r o a c t i v e in h ib itio n h e ld . Hence, what h a p p e n s , during an in te r v a l o f tim e a f f e c t s glR, w h ile th e mere passage o f tim e ( r e s tin g ) a f t e r t h e c e s s a tio n o f th e re sp o n se d im in ish e s I r .

4

b elow ) support these two h yp oth eses and s u g g e s t a third*

E ven though

the c u r v e o f development o f g ig ten d s tow ard n e g a tiv e a c c e le r a t io n (a s i s e x p e c te d for a h a b i t ) , Kimble su g g e sts t h a t th e reaching o f th e a sy m p to tio value w ill be postponed because any oondition w h ich ten d s to reduce t h e c r i t ic a l ( t o l e r a b l e ) amount o f I g w i l l increase t h e amount o f r e s t i n g , and th e r e fo r e , t h e r a te o f developm ent o f g ig . One su c h o o n d itio n te n d in g t o reduce the c r i t i c a l amount o f r e a c t i v e in h ib itio n c o u ld be th e d e c r e a se in m otivation w hich ooours la t e i n le a r n in g with c e r t a i n a c t i v i ­ tie s .

T h is decrease i n m o tiv a tio n i s o f t e n v e r b a liz e d by s u b j e c t s in

motor le a r n in g experim ents in term s o f f e e l i n g s o f monotony o r boredom, Kimble sp eak s of th is phenomenon a s a kind o f dim inishing n e e d t o fu rth er m aster t h e motor task l a t e in le a r n in g . By u t i l i z i n g two m o tiv a tio n c o n d it io n s , each having a sp a o ed p r a c t ic e c o n tr o l group, a massed p r a c t ic e c o n tro l g ro u p , and nine ex p e r im e n ta l groups w orking under c o n d it io n s o f massed p r a c t io e except f o r th e in tr o ­ d u c tio n o f a ten-m inute r e s t a f t e r varyin g amounts o f p r a c t ic e , th e p r e se n t exp erim en t i s designed t o t e s t th e f o llo w in g h y p o th esis and f i v e r e la te d p r e d ic t i o n s . The h y p o th e sis i s t h a t h igh m o tiv a tio n should r a i s e th e o r i t i c a l (to le r a b le ) l e v e l o f Ig n ecessa ry t o produoe the a u to m a tio r e s t in g r e s p o n s e . The p r e d ic tio n s based upon t h i s h y p o th e s is and th e p reced in g d is c u s s io n are as fo llo w s * l)

S in ce high m o tiv a tio n Bhould r a i s e t h e organism's r e s i s t a n c e to

I g , i . e . , perm it the a ccu m u la tio n o f a h ig h e r l e v e l o f Ig b e f o r e an auto­ m atic r e s t i n g response o c o u r s , and sin c e t h i s r e s is ta n c e m ig h t , in tu rn , in v o lv e a greater ex p en d itu re o f e f f o r t , th u s r e s u lt in g in m ore I g , i t may be p r e d ic t e d th a t, la t e i n le a r n in g . Ig sh o u ld be le s s w ith a p o o r ly m oti­ vated grou p than with a h ig h ly m otivated g ro u p . Hence, a r e s t in t e r v a l

5

l a t e in l e a r n in g should be more b e n e f ic ia l ( in te rm s of d i s s i p a t i o n o f Ift) fo r a h i g h ly m o tiv a te d group th a n fo r a p o o r l y m o tiv a te d group.

T h is

p re d ic tio n fo llo w s from th e h y p o th e s is th a t i n a hig h ly m o tiv a te d group th e r e should be l e s s au to m atic r e s t i n g during le a r n in g , t h u s le ss d i s s i p a ­ tio n of Ift d u rin g le a r n in g .

T h e re fo re , in the h ig h ly m o tiv a te d group t h e r e

should be more Ift p re s e n t a t th e tim e of in tr o d u c tio n of a fo rm al r e s t i n ­ t e r v a l , and i t follow s t h a t the m ore Ift p r e s e n t, th e more b e n e f i c i a l w i l l be a form al r e s t i n t e r v a l . 2) I f t h e amount o f im provem ent a f te r r e s t

(which is d u e to the d i s s i ­

p a tio n of I f t d u rin g r e s t ) becomes sm aller the l a t e r in l e a r n i n g the r e s t i n t e r v a l i s in tro d u c e d ( a s Kimble (22) and o t h e r s have fo u n d ) , th is d e ­ c re a se in improvement a f t e r r e s t sh o u ld be l e s s f o r the h i g h l y m o tiv ated grou« than f o r th e p o o rly m o tiv a te d group. 3) E a rly i n le a r n in g (b e fo re th e th re sh o ld v alu e of I r h a s been r e a c h ­ ed) no gift sh o u ld be p r e s e n t in e i t h e r cf the m o tiv a tio n c o n d itio n s . 4) S in c e w ith th e h ig h ly m o tiv a te d group t h e r e w ill b e le s s r e s tin g l a t e in l e a r n i n B, and th e r e f o r e , l e s s re in fo rc e m e n t (need r-ed u c tio n ), i t m ig h t be e x p e c te d th a t she curve o f development o f s^R s h o u ld reach an asym ptotic v a lu e sooner than in t h e poorly m o tiv a te d group. I n other w o rd s , l a t e in l e a r n in g , th e r a t e of developm ent of g i f t should be l e s s in the h ig h ly m o tiv a te d group th a n in t h e poorly m o tiv a te d group. 5) The amount o f g ift la te i n le& rning s h o u ld be le ss i n m otivated g ro u p than in th e p o o rly m otivated g r o u p .

the h ig h ly

This f o llo w s from

tn e f a c t t h a t even though le s s Ipt w i l l accum ulate in the p o o r l y m o tiv a te d group, th e n e e d re d u c tio n (re in fo rc e m e n t of g ift) produced b y restin g w i l l be g r e a te r i n t h i s group than i n t h e highly m o tiv a te d g r o u p .

In o th e r

6

w ords, even though th e r e w i l l be more 1 ^ in th e h i g h ly m o tiv a te d group l a t e in l e a r n in g , th e g r e a t e r r e s i s t a n c e to i t w i l l r e s u lt i n le s s r e s t ­ in g and t h e r e f o r e , l e s s glR th a n in th e p o o rly m o tiv a te d g ro u p . In a d d i t i o n , one would e x p e c t th e fo llo w in g g e n e r a l r e s u l t s : 1) The perform ance o f each o f th e h ig h m o tiv a tio n groups should be s u p e r io r t o t h a t of th e c o rre sp o n d in g low m o tiv a tio n groups. 2) The spaced c o n tr o l g ro u p s u n d e r both c o n d itio n s of m o tiv a tio n should show th e b e st perfo rm an ce o f t h e i r r e s p e c tiv e c o n d itio n s , w hile th e massed c o n tro l g roups s h o u ld show th e t h e i r r e s p e c tiv e c o n d itio n s .

w o r st

perform ance o f

7

HISTORICAL REVIEW I . I n tr o d u c tio n The p r e s e n t experim ent i s concerned p r im a r i ly w ith on]y one a s p e c t o f H u ll’ s th e o r y , th e c o n c e p t o f i n h i b i t o r y p o t e n t i a l .

F urtherm ore, t h i s

c o n c e p t i s o f i n t e r e s t h e re a s i t a p p lie s t o m otor le a r n in g .

W ith t h i s

i n mind, t h i s review w ill be lim ite d to th e m ost re le v a n t l i t e r a t u r e , a n d w ill be d e a l t w ith in f o u r s e c tio n s '• l ) T h e o re tic a l C o n sid e ra tio n s ; 2) E xperim ents Employing th e A lphabet P r i n t i n g Task (w hich i s u sed in th e p r e s e n t e x p e rim e n t); 3) Experim ents Em ploying th e P u r s u it Rotor; and 4) The F a c to r o f M o tiv a tio n . II.

T h e o re tic a l C o n s id e ra tio n s

The t h e o r e t i c a l b a s is o f th e p r e s e n t ex p erim en t h a s been p ro v id e d by H u ll (1 5 ) .

The most im m ediately r e l e v a n t p o in ts in t h i s th e o ry have

b e e n review ed in th e s ta te m e n t o f th e p ro b lem above and w ill n o t be r e ­ p e a te d h e re . A number o f a tte m p ts t o ap p ly H u l l 's Perform ance I n h ib i tio n Theory t o m otor le a r n in g have been made.

W otable among th e se a r e the ex p erim en ts

o f Kimble (2 2 , 23, 2 4 ), Ammons (4 ) , and K ie n t z l e (2 0 ). w i l l be rev iew ed below.

These e x p erim en ts

However, i t w i l l be w orthw hile b r i e f l y t o con­

s i d e r f i r s t some o th e r t h e o r e t i c a l fo r m u la tio n s which have been advanced i n th e a tte m p t to e x p la in th e observed phenomena in m otor le a r n in g . A. E x is tin g T h e o rie s A re c e n t a r t i c l e o f Ammons (3) may he u sed a s a p o in t o f d e p a rtu re

8

in t h i s survey.

Ammons o f f e r s a t h e o r e t i c a l f o r m u la tio n , th e c o n s tr u c ts

o f w h ich are v e ry s im ila r t o th o se o f H u ll even though d i f f e r e n t symbols a re u t i l i z e d .

However, o f more i n t e r e s t here

i s Ammons' review o f th e

e x t e n t to which e x is t in g th e o rie s can account f o r th e ob serv ed c h a r a c te r­ i s t i c s o f a m otor le a r n in g curve a f t e r th e in tr o d u c tio n o f a r e s t .

T hese

c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a r e a s fo llo w s: 1) An a b ru p t r i s e i n th e curve. 2) A g ra d u a l f l a t t e n i n g out o f t h e curve. 3) Resumption o f th e p r e - r e s t c u rv e of g r a d u a l improvement. A) Permanent d if f e r e n c e in perform ance l e v e l . Ammons sum m arizes th e adequacy o f each o f f i v e d i f f e r e n t th e o r ie s to a c c o u n t f o r th e s e o b serv ed c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s .

The th e o r ie s d e a lt w ith

a re a s fo llow s: a ) The P rim ary and Secondary Growth Theory o f Snoddy; b) The M atu ratio n H y p o th e sis of Dore a n d H ilg ard ; c) The L earning and Work F a c to r Theory o f Core and H ilg a rd ; d) The I n te r f e r e n c e and Warming Up E f f e c t Theory o f B e ll; and e) The Perform ance I n h i b i t i o n Theory o f H u ll. a) Snoddy1s Growth Theory: According to Snoddy (3

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44

fa c to r a r e shown f o r a l l p o in ts a t w h ic h th e p r e - r e s t p r a c t i c e v a r ia b le was m an ip u lated . In T a b le II I a r e p re s e n te d the r e l i a b i l i t i e s o f th e se d i f f e r e n c e s . I t may be seen th a t w ith a l l of the ex p erim en tal g ro u p s th e d if f e r e n c e s between t h e m otivation c a te g o rie s a r e s t a t i s t i c a l l y

s ig n ific a n t a t w e ll

beyond t h e fiv e p e r c e n t le v e l of c o n fid e n c e from th e very f i r s t t r i a l . F u rth e r, t h e t-v a lu e s te n d to become l a r g e r as t h e amount o f p r e - r e s t p ra c tic e in c re a s e s , so t h a t on t r i a l 50 the t - v a l u e s are w e ll over t h a t re q u ire d f o r the one t e n t h percent l e v e l of c o n fid e n c e .

W ith the m assed

c o n tro l g ro u p s, the m o tiv a tio n d ifferen ce becomes s i g n i f i c a n t on t r i a l 5 ( a c tu a ll y the d if f e r e n c e on t r i a l 4 i s a lso s i g n i f i c a n t ) , and w ith t h e spaced g ro u p s the d i f f e r e n c e becomes s i g n i f i c a n t on t r i a l 10 (th e d i f ­ ference o n t r i a l 9 i s a l s o s ig n if ic a n t) . B . Rem iniscence H r !

I t may be n o te d from Figures 1 and 2 t h a t a s tr ik in g f e a tu r e o f th e perform ance of e a c h o f the e x p e rim e n ta l g ro u p s under b o th m o tiv a tio n c o n d itio n s i s a marked in c re a s e in perfo rm an ce a f t e r r e s t (r e m in is c e n c e ). Table IV p re s e n ts th e m ean increase fro m the l a s t p r e - r e s t t r i a l to t h e f i r s t p o s t - r e s t t r i a l f o r each of th e e ig h te e n e x p e rim e n ta l g ro u p s. The r e l i a b i l i t y of each o f th e s e in c re a s e s i s a lso shown.

From t h i s ta b le

i t is q u i t e evident t h a t th e in c re ase on the f i r s t p o s t - r e s t t r i a l i s s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t f o r a l l o f t h e groups e x c e p t th e low m otiva­ tio n g ro u p having r e s t a f t e r t r i a l 4 0 .

The t - v a l u e f o r t h i s group d o e s

n o t reach th e five p e r c e n t le v e l of c o n fid e n c e . T a b le V shows an a d d i t i o n a l c o m p a r is o n t h a t may be u t i l i z e d in

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46

TABLE IV Mean In c re a s e in Score A f te r Rest f o r £ach E xperim ental Group and t h e R e s p e c tiv e t- v a lu e s o f th e se In c re ase s

M o tiv a tio n

Low

High

T r i a l A fter Which R e s t was Given

Mean In c r e a s e

t

P

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12.46

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5

5 .3 5

7.23

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1.31

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1.84

1.64

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1.21

1.01

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15

6.35

5.57

< .0 0 1

4.66

3.88

< .0 0 1

20

7.39

5.77

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2.59

1.60

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20

3.80

2.38

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2.67

1.60

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25

7 .5 4

4.19

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30

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3.93

< .001

4 .65

2.72

35

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3.74

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4.47

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40

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3.11

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.0 1

ie method u s e d b y Kimble (2 2 ,2 4 ). 4'he s c o re on the f i r s t p o s t r e s t t r i a l i s s u b tr a c te d from th e sco re o f t h e spaced p r a c tic e t r i a l o f the sam e o rd in a l number. * $ i t h th is v a r ia tio n o f K im b le's method the s c o re on t h e f i r s t p o s t - r e s t t r i a l i s s u b tr a c te d from tn e sco re on th e c o rre s p o n d in g t r i a l (b a s e d upon c u m u la tiv e means) of t h e spaced g ro u p .

63 T h at i s , e ac h p o in t p l o t t e d on th e se c u rv e s i s th e mean s c o re on th e t r i a l in d ic a te d i n T able V I I I .

I t should b e noted t h a t no two c o rre sp o n d in g

p o in ts a re e x a c t l y p e rp e n d ic u la r to e a c h o th e r because th e cum ulative means do n o t match e x a c t l y . With low m o tiv a tio n i t may be s e e n (Figure 10) th a t t h e re m in isc en c e p o in t f o r group 2 f a l l s above the s p a c e d p r a c tic e curve, w h ile w ith h ig h m o tiv a tio n (F ig u re 11) t h e re m in isc e n c e p o in ts f o r both group 2 and 5 f a l l above the s p a c e d p r a c tic e curve.

A g a in , i t may be seen t h a t w ith lo n g e r

p e rio d s o f p r e —r e s t p r a c t i c e the re m in is c e n c e p o in ts tend t o f a l l p ro ­ g r e s s iv e ly f u r t h e r below th e spaced p r a c t i c e c u rv e , th is te n d e n c y bein g mors marked w i t h low th a n with high m o tiv a tio n . These r e l a t i o n s h i p s a re more c l e a r l y d e p ic te d in F ig u re s 12 and 1 3 . I n th e fo rm e r a re p l o t t e d th e amounts b y which each re m in isc en c e p o in t f a i l s below t h e c o rre sp o n d in g spaced p r a c t i c e perform ance a s a fu n c tio n o f th e number o f p r e - r e s t p ra c tic e t r i a l s ,

•‘•he l a t t e r i s a smoothed cu rv e

o f th e same v a r ia b le s p l o t t e d in F ig u r e 12, each p o in t b e in g th e mean o f each two s u c c e s s iv e s c o re d if f e r e n c e s . These two curves a r e very s i m i l a r in shape t o fig u re s 8 and 9 which a r e based upon K im ble's method of c o m p u ta tio n . th e two sm oothed curves (F igures 9 a n d 1 3 ).

T his is e s p e c i a ll y so f o r

T hus, i t may be seen from

F ig u re s 12 a n d 13 th a t t h e re m in isc en c e p o in t f i r s t f a l l s below the sp aced p r a c tic e c u rv e a f te r f i v e p re -re s t t r i a l s w ith low m o tiv a tio n , while t h i s does n o t o c c u r u n t i l a f t e r ten p r e - r e s t t r i a l s w ith high m o tiv a tio n . A g ain , t h e high m o tiv a tio n c u rv e tends to f a l l below th e low m o tiv a tio n c u rv e, t h i s te n d e n c y being m ost c le a rly and c o n s i s t e n t l y evident i n th e smoothed graph (F ig u re 1 3 ).

A g a in , th e hig£i m o tiv a tio n curve a p p ea rs to reach an

40 Experim ental groups Spaced control group

MEAN SCORES

35

30

25

20

15 75

150

225

300

375

450

525

600

675

750

CUMULATIVE MEANS F l C . 10. P o st-r e st performance of the n in e experimental groups compared w i t h that of the s p a c e d group after equivalent amounts of practice for the lo w motivation condition. E a c h point on the curve sh o w in g the performance o f t h e experimental groups is the mean sco re on th e first post-rest trial. E a c h point on the spaced p r a c tic e curve i s the mean score on the trial im m e d ia te ly fo llo w in g the tria l upon w h ich the cum ulative mean most c l o s e l y m a tc h e s that of the corresponding experimental group. Because the cumula­ t i v e means are o n ly matched approximately, each p a ir of points are not e x ­ a c t l y perpendicular to each other.

40

MEAN SCORES

35

30

25

Experimental groups

20

Spaced control group

15 100

200

300 400

5 0 0 600

700

80 0

900

1000

CUMULATIVE MEANS F i g . l i . P o s t-r e s t performance of t h e nine experimental groups compared with that o f the s p a c e d group after e q u iv a le n t amounts of p ractice for the high motivation c ondition. Each point o n the c u r v e showing the performance of the experimental groups is the m e a n score on the first post-rest trial. Each point on the s p a c e d practice c u r v e is the m ean score on the trial im m e d ia te ly fo llo w in g the trial upon w h i c h the cumulative m ean most c l o s e l y matches that o f the corresponding experim en tal group. B e c a u s e the cumula­ tive means are only matched approximately, ea ch pair of p o in ts are not e x ­ a ctly perpendicular to each other.

8

r-

7 6

SCORE DIFFERENCE

5 ^ ______

4

3 2 1 L o w m o tiv a tio n

0

H i g h m o tiv a tio n

•1 -2

2

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

NUMBER OF PRE-REST TRIALS F lG . 1 2 . Amount by which the s p a c e d practice group e x c e e d s the reminis­ c e n c e point after nine different am ounts of pre-rest p ractice for both moti­ v ation conditions. E a c h point i s t h e difference between the score of the experimental group on the first p o s t -r e s t trial and that o f the spaced group on the trial follow ing a similar am ount of work.

MEAN OF EACH TWO SUCCESSIVE

SCORE DIFFERENCES

8

7

6 5 4

3

2

0

«

Low motivation

-a

High motivation

•2 2

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

NUMBER OF PRE-REST TRIALS FlC. 13. Smoothed graph of the sam e variables plotted in Figure 12. This curve has been smoothed by the method of m oving averages.

ri ~

68

asym ptote soo n er than t h e low m o tiv a tio n curve,

l a s t l y , both c u rv e s a re

in c r e a s in g fu n c tio n s show ing a te n d e n c y toward n e g a tiv e a c c e l e r a t i o n . The r e l i a b i l i t i e s o f th e s c o r e d iff e r e n c e s o b ta in e d by th e cu m u lativ e mean method (F ig u re 12) a re p r e s e n te d in the r i g h t hand p a r t o f '■‘■able IX . I t may be s e e n th a t w ith low m o tiv a tio n the amount by which th e spaced p r a c t i c e c u rv e exceeds th e re m in isc e n c e p o in t becomes s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f ­ i c a n t with group 15, w h ile w ith h ig h m o tiv atio n i t becomes s i g n i f i c a n t w ith group 25. I t i s q u i t e e v id e n t from a com parison o f f i g u r e s 8 and 9 w ith f ig u r e s 12 and 13 an d from T a b le IX t h a t v e iy s im ila r tre n d s a re su g g e ste d by th e r e s u l t s o f b o th methods of com puting permanent decrem en t, th e m ajor d if ­ f e r e n c e b e in g th e s m a lle r m agn itu d e o f th e v a lu e s y ie ld e d by t h e cu m u lativ e mean method a s compared w ith t h e s e y ie ld e d by K im ble’ s m ethod. In o rd e r f u r th e r to d e te rm in e th e d i f f e r e n t i a l v a r i a t i o n produced b y t h e tvro v a r i a b l e s , m o tiv a tio n and amount of p r e - r e s t p r a c t i c e , a n a n a ly s is o f v a ria n c e o f t h e s c o re d i f f e r e n c e s was p erfo rm ed .

The r e s u l t s o f t h i s

a n a ly s is a r e p re s e n te d i n T able X, th e upper p a r t of th e t a b l e u t i l i z i n g th e v a lu es o b ta in e d by K im b le 's method and th e lo w er p a r t u t i l i z i n g th o se o b ta in e d by t h e cu m u lativ e mean m ethod.

H may be seen t h a t th e f - r a t i o s

f o r both m o tiv a tio n and amount o f p r e - r e s t p r a c t i c e a re s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t r e g a r d le s s o f th e m ethod o f com putation. The e s tim a te of t h e e r r o r v a ria n c e o b ta in e d from t h i s a n a l y s i s of v a ria n c e was th e n used t o d e te rm in e th e r e l i a b i l i t y o f ' th e d if e r e n c e s i n perm anent decrement betw een th e tw o m o tiv atio n c a te g o r ie s . o b ta in e d i n t h i s way a r e p re s e n te d i n Table X I.

The t - v a l u e s

xt may be seen t h a t th e

d if f e r e n c e s betw een th e two m o tiv a tio n c a te g o rie s a re s i g n i f i c a n t a t b e-

69

TABLE X A n aly sis o f V a ria n ce o f th e Amount by w hich th e Spaced Uroup Exceeds the R em iniscence P o in t a f t e r V arious Amounts o f P re-R est P r a c t ic e Under Two C o n d itio n s o f M o tiv a tio n Method o f Measurement

Source o f V ariance

Sum of Squares

M o tiv a tio n

15.90

V ariance E stim ate

F

P

1

15.90

1-4.59

< .0 1

117.07

7

16.72

1 5 .3 4

< .0 1

7

1.09

9.70

1

9.70

7 .8 9

< .0 5 > .01

69.81

7

9.97

8 .1 1

< .0 1

E rro r

8.63

7

1.23

T o ta l

88.14

15

Kimble *s

P r a c tic e

Method

E rro r

7.65

T o ta l

140.62

M o tiv a tio n Cum ulative Mean Method

P r a c tic e

df

70

T a b le h

Mean D iff e re n c e B etw een the Two M o tiv a tio n C ateg o ries i n th e Amount by which the S p aced Group Exceeds t h e -Reminiscence Point a s Computed by Two D if f e r e n t M ethods, Together w ith th e R esp e ctiv e t - v a l u e s

Group*

Kimble* s Method t** Mean D ifference

P

C um ulative Mean Method Mean t* * P D iffere n c e

7.97

< .0 0 1

2.31

7.00

.07

-------

- .1 1

.34

2.04

6.80

< -0 0 1

2.07

6.47

< .0 0 1

20

3.59

11.22

< .0 0 1

2.14

6.48

< .0 0 1

25

.05

- 1 .6 0

4.85

< .0 0 1

30

2.82

9.40

< .0 0 1

3 .0 6

9.56

< .0 0 1

35

1.14

3.56

< .0 0 1

2.32

6.6 3

< .0 0 1

40

3.78

11.45

< .0 0 1

2.27

6.49

< .001

5

2.55

10

-.0 2

15

***

.16 < .9 0 >.30

< .0 0 1 < .8 0 > .7 0

*

As shown i n Table IX , the p o s t - r e s t perform ance o f t h e two t r i a l group in b o th m otivation c a te g o r ie s was s u p e r io r to th e perform ance o f th e spaced g ro u p r e g a r d le s s of th e method o f m easurem ent. For t h i s re a s o n Group 2 i s not in c lu d e d in t h i s t a b l e . These t —valu es are b a s e d upon th e e s tim a te of e r r o r v a ria n c e g o tte n from t h e a n aly sis o f v arian ce shown i n T ab le X. ***

The m in u s sign i n d ic a t e s th a t th e v a lu e fo r the h ig h m o tiv a tio n group is g r e a t e r than t h a t fo r th e lo w m o tiv a tio n group.

71 yond t h e one t e n t h p e rc en t l e v e l with tw o e x c e p tio n s ^groups 10 an d 25) when K im b le 's method i s u t i l i z e d , and w ith one e x c e p tio n ^group 10) when th e cum ulative mean m ethod is u s e d (a lth o u g h r e fe re n c e to f i g u r e 12 w i l l show th a t group 25 d e v ia t e s from t h e tre n d b y t h i s method a l s o ) . T hus, i t i s q u ite c le a r t h a t th e tr e n d s su g g este d by th e two methods o f co m putation a re v e ry s i m i l a r . One f in a l p o in t may be n o te d .

The e r r o r v a r ia n c e was a lso u s e d to

d e te rm in e the r e l i a b i l i t y o f th e d if f e r e n c e s in perm anent decrem ent be­ tw een t h e groups varying i n amount o f p r e - r e s t p r a c t i c e .

T w en ty -eig h t-*-

t - v a l u e s were c a lc u la te d f o r each m o tiv a tio n c a te g o ry and f o r each method o f c o m p u tatio n .

The great m a jo rity o f th e r e s u l t a n t t- v a lu e s were found

t o be s i g n i f i c a n t a t well beyond the f i v e p e rc e n t l e v e l o f c o n fid e n c e . With b o th methods o f com putation a l l d if f e r e n c e s i n permanent decrem ent b ased upon two groups s e p a ra te d by more th a n te n p r e - r e s t t r i a l s w ere found t o be s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t .

Thus, w ith fev; e x c e p tio n s , d i f ­

f e r e n c e s i n amount of p r e - r e s t p r a c tic e produced s i g n i f i c a n t d if f e r e n c e s i n perm anent decrem ent.

1 . Perm anent decrement was fo u n d in e i g h t e x p e rim e n ta l groups in e ac h m o tiv a tio n c ate g o ry . T he number o f p o s s ib le com binations i s N (N -l)/2 w hich eq u als 8 (7 )/2 o r 2 8 . s in c e th e r e a r e two m o tiv a tio n c a te g o r ie s and two methods of com putation, a t o t a l of 1 1 2 t- v a lu e s would have had t o b e c a lc u la te d . However, th e m a tte r was f a c i l i t a t e d by th e f a c t t h a t most o f th e d if f e r e n c e s were la r g e enough to be o b v io u sly s i g n i f ­ i c a n t a t w e ll beyond t h e % l e v e l . Thus, o n ly in th e d o u b tfu l cases was t h e c a lc u la tio n a c t u a l l y c a r r i e d o u t.

72

DISCUSblON A. Learning As a f i r s t step in e v a lu a tin g th e r e s u l t s o f t h i s e x p erim en t and r e la tin g th e m to the t h e o r e t i c a l framework o u tlin e d a b o v e , i t i s n e c e ssa ry to c o n s id e r th e e x te n t to which th e r e s u l t s s u b s t a n t i a t e some b a s ic a ssu m p tio n s vhich t h e d e sig n o f th e experim ent n e c e s s i t a t e d .

In

t h i s c o n n ec tio n i t w ill be h e lp f u l to compare some o f th e p r e s e n t f in d ­ in g s with th e r e s u l t s of some p re v io u s s t u d i e s . Follow ing K inble ( 2 2 ) , i t was assumed in th e p re se n t i n v e s t i g a t i o n t h a t th e m assed p ra c tic e c o n tr o l group worked u n d e r c o n d itio n s o f n e a r ly maximal i n h i b i t i o n , while i n h i b i t i o n was n e a r a minimum f o r th e spaced c o n tro l group.

Since Kimble u sed f o r ty -30-second t r i a l s w ith th e a lp h a b e t

p r i n t i n g t a s k an d K ientzle (20) u s e d tw enty 1 -m in u te t r i a l s w ith t h i s t a s k , Kimble >x>uld compare h is s c o re s on th e l a s t two t r i a l s w ith th o s e o f K ie n tz le on t h e la s t t r i a l , and th u s was a b le t o show t h h t he was j u s t i ­ f ie d i n making t h e above assu m p tio n co n cern in g th e amount o f i n h i b i t i o n to which each c o n tro l group was s u b je c t.

However, i t i s d i f f i c u l t to com­

p are th e p r e s e n t re s u lts w ith th o s e o f e i t h e r Kimble o r ^ i e n t z l e sin c e th e p re s e n t e x p erim en t extended th e work p e rio d to f i f t y 3 0 -seco n d t r i a l s .

A

comparison of t h i s sort may n o t be e n t i r e l y j u s t i f i e d s in c e some f a c to r o f d i f f e r e n t i a l pacing may be in v o lv e d .

The com parison w i l l be made, th e n ,

w ith t h i s c a u ti o n in mind. I t was s t a t e d in th e h i s t o r i c a l re v ie w above t h a t th e groups used i n K im b le's e x p erim en t (22) m ight be ex p ected to l i e somewhere i n between th e low arri high m o tiv a tio n groups o f th e p r e s e n t ex p erim en t.

■Lh a t i s , i t

might be e x p e c te d th a t t h e p re s e n t low m o tiv a tio n groups s h o u ld be some-

73

w hat i n f e r i o r in perform ance to K im ble's g ro u p s, white th e p r e s e n t high m o tiv a tio n groups sh o u ld be somewhat s u p e rio r to K im ble's g ro u p s ,

'-this

e x p e c ta tio n i s borne o u t by a com parison o f t h e scores made b y Kimble's spaced p r a c t i c e group on th e l a s t two t r i a l s ( t r i a l s 39 and 4.0) with th e sco res of t h e low and h ig h m o tiv a tio n spaced p ra c tic e g ro u p s o f the p re s e n t experim ent on t r i a l s 39 and 40.

On th e s e t r i a l s K im b le 's group

p r in te d an average o f 8 1 .5 l e t t e r s while th e low m o tiv atio n spaced group o f the p r e s e n t experim ent p r i n t e d an average o f 70.6 l e t t e r s and the h ig h m o tiv a tio n group p r in t e d an a v e ra g e of 82.1 l e t t e r s .

A com parison of th e

massed p r a c t i c e groups su g g e s ts a sim ila r r e l a t i o n s h i p .

K im b le 's massed

group p r i n t e d an av erag e of 54»7 l e t t e r s , w h ile th e p re s e n t low motiva­ ti o n massed group p r i n t e d an a v e ra g e of 4 3 .3 l e t t e r s on t r i a l s 39 and 40, and the p r e s e n t high m o tiv a tio n massed group p rin te d an a v e r a g e of 58.4 l e t t e r s on t h e s e t r i a l s . Thus, i n th e l i ^ a t o f t h e s e com parisons and the f in d in g by K ientzle (20) th a t d im in is h in g r e tu r n s ( i n terms o f amount of re m in isc e n c e ) se t i n a f te r f o r t y - f i v e seconds of r e s t with o n e-m in u te t r i a l s , i t

seems

j u s t i f i e d t o assume ( a s Kimble (2 2 ) did) t h a t th e massed p r a c t i c e group i n each m o tiv a tio n c a te g o ry of t h e present experim ent worked under condi­ tio n s o f n e a r l y maximal i n h i b i t i o n , while f o r th e spaced p r a c t i c e group i n each m o tiv a tio n c a te g o ry i n h i b i t i o n was n e a r a minimum.

'T his co n clu sio n

i s given m ore weight b y F ig u re s 1 and 2 w here th e d if f e r e n c e s in perform ance between t h e massed and spaced g ro u p s may be s e e n .

At th e e n d o f th e ex­

perim ent ( t r i a l 50), t h e d i f f e r e n c e between t h e two curves i s most pro­ nounced.

T h is would be e x p e c te d i f the a cc u m u la tio n of i n h i b i t i o n with

m assing p ro d u ced th e d i f f e r e n c e .

A s e c o n d b a s ic assum ption in h e re n t i n th e p re s e n t experim ent con­ cerns th e f a c t o r of m o tiv a tio n .

More s p e c i f i c a l l y , i t was assumed t h a t

th e perform ance o f th e high m o tiv a tio n groups would be s u p e r io r to t h a t o f the low m o tiv a tio n g ro u p s.

The most commonly used c r i t e r i o n o f g r e a t e r

m otivation i s g r e a te r a ch iev em en t. much more c o m p lic a te d than t h i s .

However, th e s i t u a t i o n was found t o be P re lim in a ry e x p e rim e n ta tio n w ith s e v e r a l

s e ts of i n s t r u c t i o n s re v e ale d t h a t i t was n o t a m a tte r o f g e ttin g a maxi­ mum amount o f m o tiv a tio n , b u t r a t h e r an optimum amount. For example, i t i s quite o b v io u s i n th e high m o tiv a tio n in s tr u c tio n s g iv e n in th e p ro ­ cedure above t h a t a s p e c ific e f f o r t i s made to em phasize th e f a c t t h a t th e r e s u l t s o f t h i s " i n t e l l i g e n c e t e s t " w i l l be s t r i c t l y c o n f i d e n t i a l . T his was fo u n d to be n ecessary s in c e th e s l i g h t e s t s u g g e s tio n t h a t t h e r e s u lts o f t h e t e s t would a f f e c t th e p a r t i c i p a n t 's c la s s grade o r g e n e r a l college s ta n d in g r e s u lte d in p o o r e r p erfo rm an ce, th e s tr o n g e s t i n s t r u c ­ tio n s (most s tr e s s - in d u c in g ) a c t u a l l y r e s u l t i n g in p erfo rm an ce which was s lig h tly i n f e r i o r to t h a t of t h e low m o tiv a tio n group. i t i s a p p a r e n t, th e n , t h a t when u t i l i z i n g e g o - o r ie n ta tio n (as th e present e x p e rim e n t d o e s), th e s t r e s s f u l n e s s o f th e s i t u a t i o n must be c a r e fu lly c o n t r o l l e d .

This f in d in g i s , o f co u rse, i n agreem ent w ith th e

most r e c e n t e x p erim en tal l i t e r a t u r e c o n ce rn i ng the r e t e n t i o n of com pleted and in c o m p le te d a c t i v i t i e s . In a d d i t i o n to th e d i f f i c u l t y in v o lv e d in ind u cin g h ig h m o tiv a tio n , c e rta in p ro b le m s a re in h e re n t i n th e u s e o f t a s k - o r ie n ta t io n as a lo w er degree of m o tiv a tio n (a s was done in th e p re s e n t e x p e rim e n t^ .

As Al p e r

(2) had f o u n d e a r l i e r , th e r e was a ten d en cy f o r some of t h e

in th e

low m o tiv a tio n categ o ry to e g o -o rie n t th e m se lv e s,

•tor exam ple, a few

o f these s u b j e c t s v o lu n te e re d t h e in fo rm a tio n th a t th e y h i t upon th e id e a

75

o f com peting w ith t h e i r perform ance on p re v io u s t r i a l s in o rd e r to combat th e monotony of t h e t a s k . I n s p it e of t h e s e d i f f i c u l t i e s , i t i s quite o b v io u s from r ig u r e s 1 ,

2 , 3, and 4 and from T ables I I and I I I t h a t the perform ance o f t h e high m o tiv a tio n groups was c o n s is te n tly s u p e r io r to t h a t o f th e low m o tiv a tio n g ro u p s, th e d if f e r e n c e s being h ig h ly s i g n i f i c a n t . T h u s, the r e s u l t s bear o u t th e se two b a sic assu m p tion s t h a t were e s s e n t i a l to the d e s ig n of th e ex p erim en t, and the e v a lu a tio n o f th e fin d ­ in g s concerning th e v a r ia b le s under in v e s t ig a t io n may proceed from t h is p o in t .

B. R em iniscence ( I r ) I t i s not a t a l l s u r p r is in g th a t s t a t i s t i c a l l y r e l i a b l e in c r e a s e s i n perform ance (rem in isc en c e ) o c c u rre d a f t e r the in tr o d u c tio n o f a te n m inute r e s t i n t e r v a l .

R em iniscence i s u s u a lly found w ith sim p le motor

le a r n in g ta s k s , and i t s o c c u rre n c e p ro v id e s a method o f m easuring r e ­ a c tiv e i n h i b i t i o n .

J-t was h e r e assumed ( a s did R im b le (22, 24 .)) t h a t

re m in isc e n c e i s p ro d u ced by t h e d i s s i p a t i o n of Ig d u r in g r e s t .

J-hus, i f

th e r e s t in te r v a l i s long enough to a llo w fo r the d i s s i p a t i o n o f a l l o r most o f th e accum ulated r e a c t i v e i n h i b i t i o n , the m ag n itu d e of t h e in c r e a s e a f t e r r e s t p ro v id es a n i n d i r e c t measure o f the amount o f I r t h a t was p r e s e n t b e fo re r e s t . The assum ption t h a t th e ten -m in u te r e s t u t i l i z e d i n t h is experim ent was am ple to a llo w f o r n ea rly com plete reco v ery from i n h ib it i o n i s su p p o rt­ ed by K im b le's s t u d i e s (22, 24-) with t h e alphabet p r i n t i n g t a s k , and a ls o b y th e p r e v io u s p u r su it r o to r s t u d i e s of Ammons (4 ), A-imble and n o r e n s te in

76

(26), and I r i o n (1 9 ), a l l o f which s u g g e s t t h e t th e maximal r a t e o f d is s ip a tio n o f r e a c tiv e in h ib i t i o n ta k e s p la c e d u rin g th e f i r s t few minutes o f r e s t w ith g r e a t l y d im in ish e d r e tu r n s a f t e r about f i v e m inutes of r e s t . The j u s t i f i c a t i o n o f t h i s t h i r d b a s ic assum ption leav es b u t one ad d i­ tio n a l p r e lim in a r y p o i n t to be d e a l t w ith b e fo re p ro ceed in g w ith th e e v a lu a tio n o f the re m in isc en c e d a ta .

T h is p o in t co n cern s the c l a r i f i c a ­

tion o f t h e s t a t i s t i c a l method u s e d i n d e a lin g w ith rem in iscen ce in t h i s experim ent.

U sually th e r e l i a b i l i t y o f th e in c re a s e a f t e r r e s t i s d e te r­

mined by com paring th e in c re a s e in the e x p e rim e n ta l group w ith th e "normal" t r i a l - t o - t r i s J . in c r e a s e which o c c u rs i n th e massed c o n tr o l group w ithout r e s t.

In th e p re s e n t ex p erim en t, how ever, t h i s co u ld be done o n ly with

those g ro u p s f o r w hich com parable m assed p r a c tic e s c o re s were a v a ila b le . These s c o r e s were n o t a v a ila b le f o r t r i a l s 11, 21, 31* the tim e l o s t in tu r n in g pages.

4-1 because o f

T hus, th e "normal" in c re a s e c o u ld no t

be computed f o r g roups 10, 20, 3 0 , and 4-0. The s u b s t i t u t e p ro ced u re which was u s e d in t h i s experim ent (and ap­ p a re n tly by Kimble (2 2 )) assumed th e p r e - r e s t t r i a l s o f th e e x p e rim e n ta l groups to be com parable to the c o rre s p o n d in g t r i a l s o f th e m assed p ra c tic e group.

( I t w i l l be remembered t h a t th e m assed p r a c tic e curves i n F ig u res 1

and 2 in c lu d e a l l o f th e p r e - r e s t s c o r e s o f the e x p erim en tal g ro u p s in a d d itio n t o th e s c o r e s

o f the m assed p r a c t i c e c o n tr o l groupa)

The h u l l

H ypothesis was th e n s e t up t h a t th e in tr o d u c tio n o f a r e s t i n t e r v a l w ill produce no s p e c ia l in c r e a s e in s c o r e .

The r e l i a b i l i t y v a lu es i n Table

IV, o f c o u r s e , le a d t o th e r e j e c t i o n o f th e h u l l h y p o th e s is .

T h at th is

procedure i s v a lid i s confirm ed by th e r e l i a b i l i t y v a lu e s p re s e n te d in

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T a b le V which a re based upon th e f i v e com parisons w ith th e massed c o n tro l group which co u ld be made sin c e th e tu rn in g o f p a g e s a t th e se p o i n t s .

is

n o t necessary

S im ila r tre n d s a r e in d ic a te d by b o th m ethods.

F u rth er­

m ore, s im ila r r e s u l t s w ere a ls o g o tte n by use o f th e c h i- s q u a r e technique. The c h i-s q u a re a n a ly se s shown in T able VII

co n firm th e r e l i a b i l i t y of

th e in c re a s e s a f t e r r e s t un d er b o th c o n d itio n s o f m o tiv a tio n , and also th e r e l i a b i l i t y of th e d if f e r e n c e s between th e two m o tiv a tio n c a te g o rie s . The r e s u l t s of th e p r e s e n t ex p erim en t may be u sed to co n firm and supplem ent Kimble*s (22) fin d in g s co n cern in g th e d ev elo p m en t o f re a c tiv e in h ib itio n .

F i r s t o f a l l , a m ajor gap in Kimble* s e x p e rim e n t may be

f i l l e d in by th e p re s e n t f in d in g s .

The use o f a gro u p h a v in g r e s t a f t e r

t r i a l 2 was designed s p e c i f i c a l l y to t e s t th e h y p o th e s is t h a t up e x tre m e ly r a p id ly . h y p o th e s is .

I ft b u ild s

F ig u r e s 5 and 6 and T able IV le n d su p p o rt to t h i s

P re v io u s ly , Kimble (22) found t h a t th e maximum amount of I ^

was p re s e n t a f t e r 7j> m in u te s o f w ork, w ith 8 8 . 5% o f t h i s maximum amount b e in g p re s e n t a f t e r 2 j m in u te s o f w ork, an d 99.4% o f i t b e in g p re sen t a f t e r fiv e m in u tes o f work:.

The r e s u l t s o f th e p r e s e n t ex p erim en t show

t h a t w ith low m o tiv a tio n th e maximum amount o f I ^ was re a c h e d a f t e r fiv e m in u tes o f w ork, w ith 93*4% o f t h i s maximum b ein g p r e s e n t a f t e r only one m inute o f work.

W ith high m o tiv a tio n th e maximum was re a ch e d a f te r

o n ly one m inute o f work, and th e l e v e l o f Ift was m a in ta in e d throughout le a r n in g a t a b o u t 70% o f t h i s maximum. However, th e se p e rc e n ta g e s b ased upon th e r e s u l t s o f th e p re sen t experim ent a r e probably somewhat i n f l a t e d by a c o m p lic a tin g f a c t o r .

It

was noted above th a t th e Ss a p p a re n tly became c o n fu se d i n making the tra n s itio n t r i a l 2.

from t r i a l 1 to 2 . T h is r e s u lte d i n a d e c r e a s e in score on S in c e the d if f e r e n c e betw een the l a s t p r e - r e s t t r i a l and the

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f i r s t p o s t - r e s t t r i a l vas the m easure o f rem in iscen ce u se d , th e a c tu a l amount o f rem iniscence in each o f the g ro u p s having r e s t a f t e r t r i a l 2 was p ro b a b ly le s s th a n the v a lu e shown i n Table IV .

That i s , p a r t o f

t h i s d if f e r e n c e was due to an in c r e a s e a f t e r r e s t produced b y th e d i s s i ­ p a tio n o f Ift, but a l s o p a rt o f i t must have been due to th e p r i o r lo s s on t r i a l 2.

This i n f l a t i o n o f t h e measure may be d e a l t w ith by u sin g

the s c o re on t r i a l 1 r a th e r th a n th e (low er) sco re on t r i a l 2 to c alc u ­ l a t e th e in c re a s e a f t e r re s t i n th e s e two g ro u p s.

When t h i s i s done, th e

amount o f rem iniscence fo r group 2 with low m o tiv a tio n becom es 6.15 in ­ s te a d o f 7 .1 0 , and w ith high m o tiv a tio n 6 .5 9 in s te a d o f 7 .2 9 .

I t i s ob­

v io u s t h a t th e in d ic a te d trend i s but l i t t l e changed by t h i s c o r r e c tio n . With low m o tivation 8 0 .9 a of th e maximum amount o f I r was p r e s e n t a f t e r only one m inute of w ork, while w ith high m o tiv a tio n th e maximum was s t i l l reach ed a f t e r o n ly one m in u te o f w ork, w ith th e le v e l o f IR b ein g m a in ta in e d throughout learn in g a t about 7 7 .5£ o f t h i s maximum. These fin d in g s a r e in s u b s t a n t i a l agreem ent w ith th o se

o f Ammons

(4.) who found with p u r s u it l e a r n in g th a t th r e e m in u tes o f w ork produced a lm o st a s much rem iniscence a s t h e maximum amount which was reach ed a f t e r e ig h t m inutes o f work. From th e r e s u lts o f the p r e s e n t experim ent i t seems j u s t i f i e d to c o n c lu d e , th e n , th a t 1 ^ was b u i l t up extrem ely r a p id ly , m ost o f i t being p r e s e n t a f t e r only one minute o f w oik.

F u r th e r , th e r e seems t o be a

te n d en c y f o r th e maximal value o f I g to be reached somewhat e a r l i e r w ith high m o tiv a tio n than w ith low m o tiv a tio n . On th e b a s is o f th e main h y p o th e s is o f t h i s ex p erim en t, two

m ajor

p r e d ic tio n s concerning re a c tiv e in h i b i t i o n were made in th e s ta te m e n t o f th e problem above.

Each o f t h e s e w ill be d e a l t w ith a t t h i s p o in t.

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The f i r s t o f th e s e p r e d ic tio n s was t h a t la t e in le a r n in g th e r e should b e le s s r e a c t i v e i n h i b i t i o n with lo w m o tiv atio n th a n w ith h ig h m o tiv a tio n .

This p re d ic tio n i s v iv id ly co n firm ed by t h e graphs shown

in F ig u r e s 5 and 6 .

i t is e v id e n t th a t t h e curves c r o s s between te n

and f i f t e e n p r e - r e s t t r i a l s , an d then d i v e r g e more and m ore, th e g r e a t e s t d if f e r e n c e being fo u n d a f t e r f o r t y p r e - r e s t t r i a l s . in d ic a te d by th e s t a t i s t i c a l a n a ly s is .

T h i s tren d i s a lso

I t may be seen i n Table VI th a t

the d i f f e r e n c e betw een the two m o tiv atio n c a te g o rie s a r e n o t s t a t i s t i ­ c a lly s i g n i f i c a n t (w ith one ex cep tio n ) u n t i l la te in le a r n in g ( a f t e r 30 p r e - r e s t t r i a l s ) .

Hence, th e in fe re n c e t h a t high m o tiv a tio n sh o u ld

r e s u lt i n le s s r e s t i n g during le a rn in g and th u s , more 1 ^ la te in le a r n ­ ing i s c l e a r l y s u b s ta n tia te d by th e r e s u l t s o f th is e x p erim en t.

Ap­

p a r e n tly , th e p o o r ly m otivated Ss more f r e q u e n t l y went i n t o an a u to m a tic re s tin g re sp o n se r e s u ltin g i n th e d i s s i p a t i o n of IR d u r in g le a r n in g , while t h e h ig h ly m o tiv ated S s r e s is te d t h i s tendency t o a g re a te r e x te n t. A n o th e r i n t e r e s t i n g f e a t u r e o f the g r a p h s shown i n F ig u res 5 and 6 c o n c e rn s the r e la tio n s h ip betw een the lo w and high m o tiv a tio n c u rv e s early i n le a r n in g . (Figure 6 ) .

This i s m o st c le a rly shown ty the smoothed c u rv e s

Up t o te n p r e - r e s t t r i a l s t h e low m o tiv a tio n groups a p p a r­

e n tly show more I r than the h ig h m o tiv a tio n groups.

W ith one e x c e p tio n

(group 1 0 ) th ese d if f e r e n c e s a r e no t s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t . However, they may b e s u g g e s tiv e of a p o s s ib le t r e n d . As was n o te d above i n th e sta te m e n t o f the problem , a c c o rd in g to H u l l , I r is a p o s i t i v e f u n c tio n of the am ount of w ork involved in the r e s p o n s e .

In o t h e r words, th e

g re a te r t h e amount o f work o r e f f o r t in v o lv e d , the g r e a t e r w ill be th e

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amount o f I ^ .

Looking back to F ig u re 6 , i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g to s p e c u la te

as to th e p o s s ib le cause o f th e i n i t i a l g r e a t e r amounts o f I r w ith low m o tiv a tio n as compared w ith hig h m o tiv a tio n . I n o rd e r t o d e a l w ith t h i s p o in t f u r t h e r , a rough a p p ro x im a tio n o f the amount o f I r b u i l t up p e r resp o n se ( l e t t e r p rin te d ) was g o tte n byd iv id in g th e am ount o f rem iniscen ce by th e cum ulative m ean. I t sh o u ld be em phasized th a t t h i s i s o n ly a rough approxim ation and i s s u b je c t t o th e c r i t i c i s m t h a t t h e developm en t o f 1 ^ i s n o t a lin e a r f u n c tio n .

However,

i t i s b e in g used h e re only to su g g est p o s s ib le tre n d s , and n o t as con­ firm a to ry e v id e n c e .

F igure 7 was p l o t t e d to show the r e l a t i o n s h i p be­

tween th e amount o f I r b u i l t up p e r re sp o n se and the amount o f p re —r e s t p ra c tic e .

The c u rv e s f o r b o th m o tiv a tio n c a te g o rie s a r e o b v io u sly n eg a­

ti v e l y a c c e le r a te d d e c re a sin g fu n c tio n s o f t h e amount o f p r e - r e s t p ra c tic e . I f th e amount o f

I r

accum ulated p e r resp o n se i s assum ed to r e f l e c t

the amount o f e f f o r t expended p e r re s p o n s e , some i n t e r e s t i n g s p e c u la tio n s are su g g e s te d ,

i t seems t h a t up to f i f t e d n p r e - r e s t t r i a l s th e ta s k was

more e f f o r t f u l f o r th e low m o tiv a tio n g roups than fo r th e h ig h m o tiv a tio n groups.

In o th e r w ords, more e f f o r t p e r resp o n se a p p a r e n tly was expend­

ed e a r ly i n le a r n in g by th e low m o tiv a tio n groups than by th e high m o ti­ v a tio n g ro u p s.

Between f i f t e e n and tw e n ty - f iv e p r e - r e s t t r i a l s th e r e

i s o n ly a s l i g h t d if f e r e n c e between th e two cu rv es,

b o v e v e r, beyond t h i s

p o in t th e curves c r o s s so t h a t the h ig h m o tiv a tio n curve from t h i s p o i n t on f a l l s somewhat above th e low m o tiv a tio n c u rv e .

This seems t o su g g e s t

t h a t l a t e in l e a r n in g th e hjigh m o tiv a tio n g ro u p s expended more e f f o r t p e r response th a n d id th e low m o tiv a tio n g ro u p s.

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I t should be emphasized once again t h a t a l l o f th e s e d iffe re n c e s a r e s m a ll, and t h a t th e curves a r e ap p ro x im a tio n s, and t h u s , the c o n clu sio n s can o n ly be s u g g e s tiv e ,

V-ith due re g a rd t o th ese c a u tio n s , however, i t

can be pointed o u t th a t th e se fin d in g s a r e e n t i r e l y c o n s is te n t w ith th e p r e s e n t e x te n sio n o f th e perform ance i n h i b i t i o n s t h e o r y .

These r e s u l t s

s u g g e s t th a t th e d if f e r - n e e i n r e s is ta n c e to th e a u to m a tic r e s t in g re sp o n se betw een the two m o tiv a tio n c a te g o r ie s may be u n d e rsta n d a b le in term s o f a d i f f e r e n t i a l in exp en d itu re o f e f f o r t .

P u ttin g i t d i f f e r e n t l y , th e g r e a te r

r e s is ta n c e to r e s t i n g with h ig h m o tiv a tio n may be b ro u g h t about by a g r e a t e r e x p e n d itu re of e f f o r t th a n o ccurs w ith low m o tiv a tio n . C losely r e l a t e d to th is problem i s th e second p re d ic tio n concerning r e a c t i v e i n h i b i t i o n which was made in th e s ta te m e n t o f th e problem above. Recognizing th e g e n e ra l f in d in g th a t th e amount o f rem in iscen ce te n a s to d e c re a s e as th e r e s t in te r v a l i s in tro d u c e d p r o g r e s s iv e ly l a t e r in le a r n ­ in g , i t was p r e d ic te d th a t t h i s d ecrease sh o u ld be l e s s w ith high m otiva­ t i o n th a n w ith low m o tiv a tio n . The r e s u l t s of the experim ent as shown i n F ig u r e s 5 and 6 an d Table IV d e f i n i t e l y confirm t h i s p r e d ic tio n .

I t may

be s e e n th a t w ith h ig h m o tiv a tio n a f t e r an i n i t i a l d ro p (from th e 2 - to 5 - t r i a l point) th e le v e l o f I r f l u c t u a t e s up and down a l i t t l e , m a in ta in ­ ing a f a i r l y c o n s ta n t l e v e l ,

however w ith low m o tiv a tio n there i s a d e f i n i t e

te n d e n c y fo r th e l e v e l of I ^ t o d ecrea se from the maximum point as th e amount of p r e - r e s t p r a c t i c e in c r e a s e s .

The c h i-s q u a r e a n a ly s e s (Table V II) o f th e

d e c r e a s e s in th e freq u e n cy o f re m in isc e n c e from th e e a r l y to th e l a t e c a t e ­ gory a ls o confirm th e s e d if f e r e n c e s in t r e n d between t h e two m o tiv a tio n c o n d itio n s .

I t may be seen from Table V II th a t w ith low m otivation th e

d e c re a s e in th e fre q u e n c y of re m in isc e n c e from e a r ly t o la t e in le a r n in g

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i s s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t a t beyond th e one percent l e v e l o f c o n fid e n c e , w hile w ith high m o tiv a tio n t h i s d e c re a s e i s d e f i n i t e l y n o t s i g n i f i c a n t , th e p r o b a b ility being g r e a ta r th an n i n e t y - f i v e percent t h a t i t i s a chance d if f e r e n c e . In th e l i g h t of t h i s d is c u s s io n i t seems j u s t i f i a b l e t o ex p lain th e v a rio u s a s p e c ts of th e re m in isc e n c e d a ta shown i n Figures 5 and 6 as follow s s With higja m o tiv a tio n th e maximum amount of Id was b u i l t up v e r y e a r ly i n le a r n in g ,

an e q u ilib riu m was th e n s e t up between th e amount o f

r e s tin g d u rin g le a rn in g (a llo w in g fo r t h e d is s i p a tio n o f some in.) and t h e c o n tin u a tio n of work ( r e s u l t i n g in th e f u r t h e r accum ulation o f I r ) .

■‘■his

e q u ilib riu m i s r e f le c te d i n th e m ain ten an ce o f th e le v e l o f 1^ a t , o r s l i g h t l y below th e c r i t i c a l l e v e l .

In t h i s c a se the l e v e l o f ■lr th a t was

m ain ta in ed was somewhat o v e r seventy p e r c e n t o f th e maximum.

On the o t h e r

hand, w ith low m o tiv a tio n th e maximum amount o f I r was re a c h e d a l i t t l e l a t e r in le a r n in g .

As w ith high m o tiv a tio n an e q u ilib riu m was s e t up b e ­

tw een th e amount o f r e s t i n g d u rin g l e a r n in g and th e c o n tin u a tio n o f w o rk . However, i n th i s case th e r e s u l t a n t l e v e l o f 1^ was only ab o u t f i f t y - n i n e p e rc e n t o f th e maximum, and f u r t h e r , i t tw e n ty -fiv e p r e - t e s t t r i a l s .

s t a r t e d to drop c o n sid e ra b ly a f t e r

I h is d ro p in th e c r i t i c a l l e v e l of xr was

p ro b a b ly due to a d e c re a se in m o tiv a tio n l a t e i n le a rn in g ( a f t e r 25 p re ­ re st tria ls ). I t may be noted t h a t th e r e s u l t s w ith th e ihow m o tiv a tio n groups a re v e ry s im ila r to those r e p o r te d by Kimble (22) w ith the a lp h a b e t p r in tin g

83

ta s k , and Ammons (4 ) and I r i o n (19) w ith th e p u r s u i t r o t o r .

F u r th e r ,

sin ce th e S s in th e low m o tiv a tio n g ro u p s o f t h e p re s e n t ex p erim en t were probably l e s s m o tiv a te d th a n th e S s i n th e se p re v io u s s t u d i e s , i t would be ex p ected th a t th e d e c re a se in re m in isc en c e l a t e in le a r n i n g sh o u ld be more marked in t h i s ex p erim en t than i n th e previous ones.

As f a r a s can

be d e te rm in e d by a com parison o f t h e fin d in g s o f th ese e a r l i e r s tu d ie s w ith th o se o f .the p r e s e n t e x p erim en t, t h i s e x p e c ta tio n i s confirm ed. B efore le a v in g th e re m in isc en c e d a ta , an a d d itio n a l p o i n t co n cern ­ ing warming up e f f e c t may be n o te d ,

as

d is c u s s e d by Ammons (3, U) and

I r io n (19) , th e m agnitude o f th e warming up e f f e c t i s i n d i c a t e d by t h e amount by w hich th e second p o s t - r e s t t r i a l ex ceed s the f i r s t .

U sing t h i s

method o f m easurem ent, Kimble (22) n o te s th a t h i s d ata f a i l to e x h i b i t th e warming up phenomenon which Ammons (4) dem onstrated w ith the p u r s u i t r o to r .

T h a t i s , K im b le 's p o s t - r e s t p erfo rm an ce curves show a drop on th e

second p o s t - r e s t t r i a l , and th e r e f o r e , no warming up e f f e c t i s e x h ib ite d . T his i s e s p e c ia ll y i n t e r e s t i n g sin c e th e r e s u l t s of the p r e s e n t e x p e r i­ m ent, u s in g th e a lp h a b e t p r in t i n g t a s k a s d id K im ble, a ls o show a r a t h e r sudden d ro p on the second p o s t - r e s t t r i a l (F ig u re s 1, 2, a n d 4) • The e x p la n a tio n o f th e s e f in d in g s m ight be a s fo llo w s : i t seems p o s s ib le t h a t Kimble* s d a ta and th o se o f th e p r e s e n t e x p e rim e n t f a i l e d to e x h ib it any warming up e f f e c t because t h i s d ecrem en tal in f l u e n c e was g r e a tly outw eighed by th e b e n e f ic i a l e f f e c t o f th e d i s s i p a t i o n o f I re s t.

r

d u rin g

I t a l s o i s p o s s ib le t h a t in th e s e ex p erim en ts th e warming up e f f e c t

was n o t o f c o n s id e ra b le m agnitude ( e s p e c i a l l y w ith th e s m a l l e r amounts o f p r e - r e s t p r a c tic e ) s in c e in bo th o f t h e s e ex p erim en ts only a te n -m in u te r e s t was u s e d , w hile Ammons found th e maximum warm-up d e crem e n t a f t e r

84

twenty m in u te s of r e s t in p u rs u it l e a r n i n g . I f t h i s e x p la n a tio n i s c o rre c t, t h e in c re a s e a f t e r r e s t must hav e been d im in is h e d somewhat by th e o p p o s ite in flu e n c e o f th e warming up e f f e c t.

T h is inference can ^e te s t e d b y in tro d u c in g v a ry in g amounts o f

warming up a c t i v i t y j u s t b e fo re th e resu m p tio n o f p r a c tic e a f t e r a r e s t . I t w ill be remembered t h a t I r io n (18) u t i l i z e d t h i s p ro ced u re w ith nonsense s y lla b le s and found t h a t warning up a c t i v i t y was b e n e f i c i a l up to a p o in t, but then a p p a re n tly produced a d d itio n a l r e a c tiv e i n h i b i t i o n which d im in is h ­ ed r e c a l l .

With th e se r e s u l t s in m in d , i t seems t h a t , i f th e in f e r e n c e

ju s t m en tio n ed concerning th e e f f e c t o f warming up on rem in iscen ce i s c o r r e c t, the in tr o d u c tio n of v a ry in g amounts o f warming up a c t i v i t y j u s t b e f o r e th e resum ption o f work should r e s u l t in an in c re a s e in rem in iscen ce up t o a p o in t, and th e n a d e c re a se as th e amount o f warming up a c t i v i t y i n c r e a s e s . The o n ly a v a ila b le r e s u l t s which may be r e le v a n t to t h i s p o in t a r e provided b y one of K i a i t z l e 's (20) g ro u p s .

T his group had te n one-m inute

t r i a l s on t h e alp h ab et p r i n t i n g ta s k w ith a s ix ty -s e c o n d r e s t betw een each t r i a l .

This group was unique i n th a t th e e n t i r e r e s t i n t e r v a l was

spent in m aking t a l l i e s and cro ss b a r s on a s e p a ra te sh e e t o f p a p e r. From th e above d is c u s s io n , i t would be e x p ec te d t h a t w ith a one-m inute work period and a one-minute r e s t , the o p tim a l amount o f warming up a c t i v i t y would be v e r y sm all.

In o th e r wards, s ix t y seconds o f warming up a c t i v i t y

would p r o b a b ly r e s u lt in a decrement r a t h e r th an f a c i l i t a t i o n .

R eferen ce

to K i e n t z l e 's date shows t h a t th is gro u p was i n f e r i o r in le a r n in g t o another g ro u p d iff e r in g spent s im p ly in r e s tin g .

from i t o n ly i n th a t th e r e s t i n t e r v a l s were A d d itio n a l e x p e rim e n ta tio n i s n eeded to

c la r if y t h i s aspect o f th e problem so t h a t th e r e l a tio n s h ip

between rem-

85

in iscen ce and warming up e f f e c t may be more a d e q u a te ly u n d e rs to o d . One p o i n t rem ains to be d is c u s s e d in t h i s s e c tio n .

I t has b e e n noted

th a t th e p o s t —r e s t perform ance c u rv e s are c h a r a c te r is e d by g rad u al improve­ ment f o l 1owing t h e a b ru p t drop which occurred on the second p o s t - r e s t t r i a l . This g ra d u a l im provem ent i s u n d e rstan d a b le in te rm s of t h e e x p la n a tio n out­ lin e d in th e t h e o r e t i c a l c o n s id e ra tio n s above.

Since I r i s m a in ta in e d a t

some le v e l below th e maximum v a lu e , w ith c o n tin u in g m o tiv a tio n and r e i n ­ forcement t h e r e a c t i o n p o te n tia l (^E r) w ill be g re a t enough to o u tw eig h th e t o t a l i n h i b i t o r y p o t e n t i a l

(Ir )

so th a t t h e e f f e c tiv e re a c tio n

p o te n tia l (^ E r) w i l l become g re a t enough to p ro d u ce g ra d u a l im provem ent. This p o in t to g e th e r w ith th e f a c t t h a t , as le a r n in g p ro c e ed s once a g a in a f te r r e s t , t h e r e i s a re in s ta te m e n t o f s e t ( t h e warm-up decrem ent d i - • minishes to z e ro ) seem adequate to account f o r t h e o b serv ed re su m p tio n o f gradual im provem ent. C. Permanent D ecrem ent (s ift) The p re v io u s d is c u s s io n h a s noted some of the problem s in h e r e n t in the u s e o f re m in isc e n c e as a m easure of r e a c t i v e i n h i b i t i o n .

A d d itio n ­

a l problems a r e e n c o u n te re d in th e measurement o f c o n d itio n e d i n h i b i t i o n . Kimble (22) h a s advanced one p o s s ib le method o f m easuring t h i s h a b i t com­ ponent o f t o t a l i n h i b i t o r y p o t e n t i a l , what might be a s e r io u s c r i t i c i s m .^

flis m ethod, however, i s s u b j e c t to i'he b a sic te ch n iq u e u se d c a p i t a l i z e s

on the d i f f e r e n t n a tu re of the two in h ib ito r y com ponents. I r,

being a d r i v e , d i s s i p a t e s d u rin g r e s t , w h ile

a I R,

That i s ,

s in c e

b e in g a h a b i t , does

1 . The w r i t e r i s g r a t e f u l to P r o f e s s o r Howard H. Kendler f o r having f i r s t c a lle d h i s a t t e n t i o n to t h i s p o i n t .

86

not d is s ip a te w ith tim e , th e in tr o d u c tio n o f a r e s t in t e r v a l may be used to s e p a ra te t h e two in h iM ta ry com ponents.

Thus, w hatever d ecrem ent re ­

mains a f t e r a r e s t i n t e r v a l s u f f i c i e n t t o d i s s i p a t e due to s ! r >

e n t i r e l y should be

th e measurement of t h i s "perm anent" decrem ent may be used

a s an i n d i r e c t measurement o f c,IR.

F u r th e r , sin c e in K im b le's experim ent

(and in th e p re s e n t one) th e sp aced p r a c tic e group i s assumed t o be sub­ j e c t to a minimum o f i n h i b i t i o n , th e amount by which th e perform ance of th e spaced group exceeds t f c t o f th e ex p erim en tal groups on e ac h i n i t i a l p o s t- r e s t t r i a l sh o u ld give an in d ic a tio n o f th e amount of perm anent decrem ent o r ^1^ which was p r e s e n t .

What Kimble d id was to s u b tr a c t th e

sco re on t h e f i r s t p o s t—r e s t t r i a l of each e x p e rim e n ta l group from the score of th e spaced group on t h e t r i a l o f t h e same o rd in a l num ber. I t may be a rg u e d , however, t h a t p a r t o f th e s u p e r io r ity o f th e spaced group may not be due t o th e decrem en tal e f f e c t s o f c o n d itio n e d in h ib iti o n on th e ex p erim en tal g ro u p , b u t r a t h e r to be b e n e f ic i a l e f f e c t s o f a g r e a te r number o f re in fo rc e m e n ts ( g r e a t e r h a b it s tre n g th ) in th e sp aced group. That i s , spaced p r a c t i c e has been found t o be su p e rio r to m assed p r a c tic e . This s u p e r i o r i t y i s i n d i c a t e d by th e h ig h e r le v e l o f perform ance a tta in e d on each t r i a l ,

th e s u p e r i o r i t y becoming g r e a te r as p r a c t ic e p ro g re s s e s .

Now, s in c e -the spaced group, a t alm ost e v e ry p o in t in th e le a r n in g p ro c e s s , has p r in t e d a g r e a te r t o t a l number of l e t t e r s than have th e e x p erim en tal groups (w hich have m assed p r a c tic e e x ce p t f o r th e s in g le r e s t i n t e r v a l ) , i t fo llo ? /s from H u l l 's fo rm u la tio n s (15) t h a t th e spaced group has r e ­ ceived a g r e a te r t o t a l amount o f re in fo rc e m e n t, and t h e r e f o r e , h a b it s tr e n g th should be g r e a t e r i n th e spaced group than i n th e ex p erim en tal groups a t every t r i a l e x ce p t t h e f i r s t .

I t fo llo w s from t h i s p o in t th a t i f

87

th e i n i t i a l p o s t - r e s t perform ance o f th e e x p e rim e n ta l group i s compared with t h e perform ance of the spaced group on th e t r i a l o f th e same o rd in a l number, th e f a c to r o f d i f f e r e n t i a l h a b it s tr e n g th i s d is re g a rd e d even though th e hig h er s c o re o f the s p a c e d group may be due p a r t i a l l y to g r e a t e r h a b it s tre n g th i n t h e spaced group r a t h e r th a n w holly to c o n d itio n e d i n ­ h i b i t i o n in th e e x p e rim e n ta l g ro u p . R ecognizing t h i s c r itic is m o f W im ble's method o f m easuring ^ I r , th e p re s e n t experimenter u t i l i z e d , in a d d itio n to t h i s method, a m o d ific a tio n o f it.

T h is m o d if ic a tio n , which we h a v e term ed t h e cum ulative mean method,

a tte m p ts to ta k e i n t o account th e f a c t o r of d i f f e r e n t i a l h a b it s tre n g th (number of re in fo rc e m e n ts) by com paring th e e x p e rim e n ta l and spaced c o n t r o l groups on t r i a l s fo llo w in g similar* numbers o f re sp o n se s ( l e t t e r s p r in te d ) r a t h e r th a n on t r i a l s o f th e same o r d in a l num ber,

with t h i s p rocedure

th e r e i s more j u s t i f i c a t i o n fo r a t t r i b u t i n g any s u p e r io r ity o f th e spaced ggoup to th e d ecrem e n ta l e f f e c ts o f ^ I r on th e ex p erim en tal group sin ce th e two groups h a v e had ap p ro x im ately th e same number o f re in fo rc e m e n ts . In a d d itio n , the r e s u l t s o f t h i s m ethod may be compared w ith th o se of K im b le 's method. I t diould b e remembered t h a t t h e m atching o f the c u m u lativ e means could o n ly be a p p ro x im a te ,

f o r t h i s reaso n th e r e i s s t i l l th e need f o r

a s tu d y designed s p e c i f i c a l l y to compare th e s e two methods o f m easuring o

it

However, t h e r e s u l t s are c o n s is te n t and c l e a r - c u t , and i t w ill be

w orthw hile to n o te them in some d e t a i l . I t may be s e e n from Table IX t h a t th e two methods su g g e st very s im ila r tr e n d s , t h e main d if f e r e n c e between t h e r e s u l t s of th e two b ein g t h a t t h e valu es o f ^ I r g o tten by t h e cu m u lativ e mean method a r e c o n s i s t e n tly

88

s m a lle r th a n th e s e g o tte n by K im ble's method.

The s i m i l a r i t y of th e

t r e n d s su g g ested by b o th methods o f m easurement i s most c l e a r l y i n d ic a t e d by a com parison o f t h e smoothed c u rv e s shown i n f ig u r e s 9 and 13.

It

seem s p ro b a b le , th e n , t h a t K im ble's m easure i s b e in g contam inated some­ w hat by some a d d itio n a l f a c to r (p e rh a p s h a b it s t r e n g t h ) .

However, s i n c e

o n ly th e a b s o lu te m agnitude of th e v a lu e s i s a f f e c t e d w h ile th e r e l a t i o n ­ s h ip s between th e v a lu e s remain a p p ro x im a te ly th e same, th e v a li d i ty o f K im b le 's c o n c lu sio n s concerning c o n d itio n e d i n h i b i t i o n i s n o t re d u c e d .^ T his w i l l be even more ev id en t in th e l i g h t o f th e fo llo w in g more de­ t a i l e d d is c u s s io n of t h i s aspect of th e r e s u l t s o f th e p r e s e n t e x p e ri­ ment . I n t h e sta te m e n t o f th e problem ab o v e, th r e e s p e c if ic p r e d ic tio n s w ere made co ncerning th e development o f g lp .

A ccording t o th e f i r s t p r e ­

d i c t i o n , b e fo re th e th r e s h o ld value o f I r has been reach ed no ^I r s h o u ld be p r e s e n t . in g .

I n o th e r w ords, no g l^ s h o u ld be p r e s e n t ve;ry e a r ly in l e a r n ­

F u r th e r , s in c e t h e degree of m o tiv a tio n a f f e c t s th e c r i t i c a l l e v e l

o f I ^ n e c e s sa ry f o r th e development

of

bI ^ , i t would be e x p ec te d t h a t

th e tw o m o tiv a tio n c a te g o rie s would d i f f e r somewhat in the p o in t a t which SI R f i r s t a p p e a rs .

More s p e c i f i c a l l y , sin ce h ig h m o tiv a tio n r e s u l t s i n

t h e r a i s i n g o f th e c r i t i c a l le v e l o f 1 ^ , and t h u s , l e s s r e s t i n g d u rin g l e a r n i n g , i t would be expected th a t t h e i n i t i a l ap p earan ce o f ^ iR w ould o c c u r somewhat l a t e r w ith high m o tiv a tio n th a n w ith low m o tiv a tio n I t may be seen from F ig u res 1 , 2 , 8 , 10, 1 1 , and 12 and from T ab le 1 . I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o n o te th a t th e a p p l i c a t i o n o f th e cu m u lativ e mean method o f m easuring conditio n ed i n h i b i t i o n to th e r e s u l t s of a n o th e r s tu d y r e c e n tly r e p o r te d by Kimble (24) does n o t change th e t h e o r e t i ­ c a l s ig n if ic a n c e o f th e r e s u l t s . A gain, i t m erely re d u c e s th e a b ­ s o lu te m agnitude o f a lR (from 4 .6 t o 3 . 7 ) .

89

IX t h a t the r e s u l t s of t h i s exp erim en t co n firm ed every a s p e c t o f t h i s p re d ic tio n .

F ig u r e s 1 and 2 may b e used to n o t e th e amount by w hich th e

sp a c e d p r a c tic e curve exceeds th e rem in iscen ce p o in t as m easured byK im b le 's m ethod.

F ig u res 10 and 1 1 may be u t i l i z e d s im ila r ly in a p p ly ­

in g t h e c u m u lativ e mean m ethod.

F ig u re s 8 an d 12 d ep ict t h e developm ent

of 0 I _ a s m easured by th e two d i f f e r e n t m e th o d s. O

ft

I t may be seen t h a t with

low m o tiv a tio n j-jlR f i r s t appears a f t e r fiv e p r e - r e s t t r i a l s , w hile w ith h ig h m o tiv a tio n ^1^ f i r s t appears a f t e r ten p r e - r e s t t r i a l s , th e r e s u l t s b e in g e s s e n t i a l l y the same r e g a r d le s s of th e m ethod of m easurem ent, ^-'his i s f u r t h e r c l a r i f i e d in T ab le IX w here i t may b e seen t h a t w ith low m o ti­ v a tio n th e s c o r e d if f e r e n c e

f i r s t becomes s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t

a f t e r f i f t e e n p r e - r e s t t r i a l s , w h ile with h ig h m o tiv atio n t h i s f i r s t o c c u rs a f t e r f i f t e e n p r e - r e s t t r i a l s by K im b le 's method and a f t e r tw e n ty f iv e p r e - r e s t t r i a l s by t h e c u m u lativ e mean m e th o d . I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o n o te t h a t in K im b le 's experiment (22) ^ I r f i r s t a p p e a re d a f t e r t e n p r e - r e s t t r i a l s .

I f the m o tiv a tio n in K im b le 's e x p e r i­

ment i s assumed t o be somewhat g r e a t e r than t h a t o f th e low m o tiv a tio n g ro u p s o f th e p r e s e n t e x p erim en t, t h i s fin d in g i s u n d e rs ta n d a b le .

T hat is ,

w ith somewhat h ig h e r m o tiv a tio n s lR should a p p e a r somewhat l a t e r i n W imble's g ro u p s than i n t h e low m o tiv a tio n groups o f t h e p re s e n t e x p erim en t. T h e second p r e d ic tio n co n ce rn in g ^I r s t a t e d th a t l a t e i n le a r n i n g the r a t e o f developm ent of c o n d itio n e d in h ib iti o n sh o u ld be l e s s w ith h ig h m o tiv a tio n th a n w ith low m o tiv a tio n .

In o th e r w ords, s in c e th e h ig h m oti­

v a t i o n groups d o le s s r e s t i n g l a t e i n le a rn in g th a n do th e low m o tiv a tio n g ro u p s i n s p ite o f the f a c t th a t m ore I r i s p r e s e n t in th e fo rm er, t h e cu rv e d e p ic tin g th e development o f ^ I r with h i g h m o tiv atio n should r e a c h

9Q

an asym ptote sooner th a n t h e low m o tiv a tio n c u rv e ,

in f e r e n c e Id -fig u re s

8 and 1 2 , aid e s p e c i a l l y t o th e sm oothed c u rv es shown in -fig u re s 9 and 13 in d ic a te th a t t h i s p r e d ic tio n was a ls o confirm ed by th e r e s u l t s .

Regard­

le s s o f th e method of m easurem ent, th e high m o tiv atio n cu rv e a p p a r e n tly reaches an asym ptote a f t e r tw e n ty -fiv e p r e - r e s t t r i a l s , w h ile th e low m oti­ v a tio n c u rv e a p p a r e n tly o n ly s t a r t s to approach an asym ptote some tim e a f te r .th ir ty p re -re st t r i a l s . I n g e n e ra l, th e s e r e s u l t s a g ree w ith th o s e of Kimble (2 2 ) who fo u n d th a t th e asym ptote had not y e t been re a ch e d a f t e r t h i r t y p r e - r e s t t r i a l s . I f KimfcLe’ s groups a re assumed to be somefchat b e tte r m o tiv a te d th an t h e low m o tiv a tio n groups of th e p re s e n t e x p e rim e n t, i t would b e expected, th a t h is c u rv e (p . 20) would re a c h an asy m p to te so o n er than th e low m o tiv a tio n curve o f th e p re s e n t e x p erim en t.

However, t h i s in fe re n c e c an n o t be v e r i ­

fie d s i n c e the maximum number of p r e - r e s t t r i a l s used by K im ble was t h i r t y . The t h i r d p r e d ic tio n concerning c o n d itio n e d i n h ib iti o n s ta t e d t h a t l a t e i n le a rn in g th e amount o f $ I r sh o u ld be l e s s with h ig h m o tiv a tio n than w ith low m o tiv a tio n . I n o th e r w o rd s, i n s p ite of th e g r e a t e r amount of

l a t e in le a r n in g w ith high m o tiv a tio n a s compared w ith low m o ti­

v a tio n , t h e g r e a te r r e s i s t a n c e to 1^ w i l l r e s u l t in le s s r e s t i n g , and t h e r e f o r e , le s s

I r

th a n w ith low m o tiv a tio n .

Again, th e

r e s u l t s shown

in F ig u re s 8, 9 , 1 2 , and 13 and T a b le s IX, X, and XI c l e a r l y confirm t h i s p r e d ic tio n .

I t may be seen from t h e smoothed curves shown i n -fig u res 9

and 13 t h a t th e h ig h m o tiv a tio n .

cu rv e c o n s is te n tly l i e s below t h e

low m o tiv a tio n c u rv e , and t h a t th e d iv e rg e n c e o f the two becomes g r e a t e s t beyond tw e n ty -fiv e p r e - r e s t t r i a l s .

Though -figures 8 and 12 a re more

v a r ia b le than th e smoothed c u rv e s, th e e x is te n c e of th e t r e n d i s unm is­

91

ta k a b le .

This f in d i n g i s f u r th e r confirm ed by th e a n a ly sis o f v a ria n c e

shown in T ab le X.

a s can be se e n t h e F - r a t i o s f o r both m o tiv a tio n and

amount o f p r e - r e s t p r a c tic e a re s i g n i f i c a n t re g a rd le s s of th e m ethod o f measurement of gl^*

In o th e r w o rd s, u s in g e i t h e r method o f m easurem ent,

th e d if f e r e n c e in g l^ produced by th e m o tiv a tio n v a ria b le and th o s e p ro ­ duced by th e p r e - r e s t p ra c tic e v a r ia b l e a r e s ig n if ic a n tly g r e a t e r th a n would o c cu r by c h an c e . A d d itio n a l co n firm atio n o f th e r e l i a b i l i t y o f th e d if f e r e n c e s betw een th e two m o tiv a tio n c a te g o rie s i n amount o f c o n d itio n e d i n h i b i t i o n l a t e in le a r n in g i s found i n Table XI where i t may be seen th a t w ith b o th methods o f measurement th e low m o tiv a tio n groups from group 30 on show s i g n i f i c a n t ­ l y g r e a te r amounts o f g l^ than do th e c o rresp o n d in g high m o tiv a tio n groups. I t i s q u ite c l e a r , th e n , t h a t th e r e s u l t s of th is e x p erim en t a re in complete agreem ent w ith each o f th e p r e d i c tio n s derived from th e m ajor h y p o th e sis which th e experim ent was d e sig n e d to t e s t .

92

SUMMARY AMD CONCLUSIONS A to t a l of 538 Ss d iv id e d in to tw e n ty -tw c groups was u t i l i z e d in an a lp h a b e t p r in t in g experim ent in o rd e r t o t e s t th e fo llo w in g hypo­ t h e s i s based upon K im b le's e x ten sio n o f H u l l 's perform ance i n h i b it i o n th e o r y : High m o tiv a tio n sh o u ld r a is e t h e c r i t i c a l ( to l e r a b l e ) l e v e l o f Ij^ n e c e s s a ry to produce t h e autom atic r e s t i n g re s p o n s e ,

•‘■he s p e c i f i c

p u rp o s e of th e experim ent was to put to an e m p iric a l t e s t fiv e p r e d ic ­ t i o n s (p . 30) b ased upon t h i s h y p o th e s is . Two c o n d itio n s o f m o tiv a tio n , low an d h ig h , were u se d ,

■ ‘■'he low m o ti­

v a t i o n c o n d itio n was p ro v id e d by th e u s e o f ta s k - o r ie n ta t io n , and th e h ig h m o tiv a tio n c o n d itio n by th e u s e of e g o - o r ie n ta tio n .

Under each m o tiv a tio n

c o n d itio n a m assed co n tro l group p r a c tic e d u n d er c o n d itio n s of maximal i n ­ h i b i t i o n , a spaced c o n tro l group p r a c tic e d under c o n d itio n s o f m inim al i n ­ h i b i t i o n , and n in e e x p e rim e n ta l groups worked under c o n d itio n s o f massed p r a c t i c e except f o r th e in tr o d u c tio n o f a te n -m in u te r e s t a f t e r v a ry in g am ounts of p r a c t i c e ,

lo r th e s e n in e e x p e rim e n ta l g ro u p s under e ac h m o ti­

v a t i o n condition th e r e s t came a f t e r t r i a l s 2, 5, 1 0 , 15, 20, 25, 3 0 , 35, and 40 r e s p e c tiv e ly .

Each o f th e tw m ty-tw o groups h a d f i f t y th ir ty - s e c o n d

t r i a l s during th e course o f one re g u la r c l a s s s e s s io n . T he in c r e a s e i n p erfo rm a n ce a ft e r r e s t m ea su re of r e a c tiv e in h ib it io n ,

( r e m in is c e n c e ) w as u s e d a s a

^ h e a m o u n t b y w h ic h t h e s c o r e o n t h e

f i r s t p o s t - r e s t t r i a l f a i l e d t o eq u a l t h e s c o r e o f t h e sp a ced p r a c t ic e g r o u p a f t e r a s i m i l a r n um ber o f t r i a l s ( K im b le 's m e th o d ) and a f t e r a s i m i l a r n um ber o f r e s p o n s e s ( c u m u l a t i v e m e a n m e t h o d ) p r o v i d e d t w o m e a s u r e s o f c o n d it io n e d i n h i b i t i o n , t h e r e s u l t s o f w h ic h c o u ld b e co m p a red .

93

I'he r e s u l t s and p r in c ip a l co n clu sio n s may b e summarized a s fo llo w s : 1) Spaced p r a c t i c e was fo u n d to be d e f i n i t e l y s u p e rio r t o massed p r a c tic e . 2) High m o tiv a tio n r e s u l t e d in p erfo rm an ce which was s i g n i f i c a n t l y s u p e rio r to th a t w ith low m o tiv a tio n , th e d if f e r e n c e becoming p ro g r e s s iv e ly g r e a te r as p r a c tic e c o n tin u e d . 3) R e a c t i v e i n h i b i t i o n w a s b u i l t u p e x t r e m e l y r a p i d l y w i t h b o t h h i g h a n d lo w m o t i v a t i o n , b u t t h e m a x im a l v a l u e t e n d e d t o b e r e a c h e d so m e w h a t e a r l i e r w i t h h i g h t h a n w ith l o w m o t i v a t i o n .

4) Hess r e a c t i v e i n h i b i t i o n was m o tiv a tio n th an w ith high m o tiv a tio n .

p r e s e n t l a t e in le a r n in g w ith low T h is f in d in g was a t t r i b u t e d to more

fre q u e n t r e s tin g d u rin g le a r n in g under t h e fo rm er c o n d itio n . 5) There was a s l i g h t ten d en cy f o r 1 ^ to b e g re a te r w ith low m otiva­ t i o n than with h ig h m o tiv a tio n e a rly in l e a r n i n g (up to te n p r e - r e s t tria ls ).

Though t h i s tendency was, on t h e w hole, n o t s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n i­

f i c a n t , th e r e s u l t s suggest t h a t th e re may be a d i f f e r e n t i a l betw een th e two m o tiv a tio n c o n d itio n s in e f f o r t e x p e n d itu re a t d if f e r e n t s ta g e s of le a r n in g . 6) As a r e s u l t o f le s s r e s t i n g d u rin g le a r n i n g ^ r e s u ltin g i n le s s d is s ip a tio n of of

I

r

d u rin g le a r n i n g ) , and th e p o s s i b l e g re a te r accu m u la tio n

r e s u ltin g from th e r e s i s t a n c e to r e s t i n g w hich high m o tiv a tio n pro­

d u c e s, th e d e c re a se i n rem in iscen ce which u s u a l l y occurs l a t e i n le a r n in g was not c le a r ly shown with h ig h m o tiv a tio n , b u t was q u ite m arked w ith low m o tiv a tio n . 7) N o w a r m in g u p e f f e c t was fo u n d a f t e r r e s t .

H ow ever, i t

w as su g g e st­

e d t h a t a n y w a r m in g u p e f f e c t w h i c h w a s p r e s e n t m i g h t h a v e b e e n o b s c u r e d

by th e o p p o site e f f e c t of t h e d i s s i p a t i o n o f

d u rin g r e s t .

94 8) F o llo rd n g th e i n i t i a l r i s e (rem iniscenced and subsequent f a l l in s c o re a f t e r r e s t th e p o s t - r e s t perform ance cu rv es were g e n e r a lly c h a ra c ­ t e r i z e d by a g ra d u a l improvement which c o n tin u e d up to th e l a s t t r i a l . T his g ra d u a l improvement i s u n d e rs ta n d a b le in term s o f th e p r e s e n t ex­ te n s io n of th e perform ance i n h i b i t i o n th e o r y . 9) No c o n d itio n e d i n h i b i t i o n was p re s e n t v e ry e a r l y in le a r n in g u n d er e i t h e r m o tiv a tio n c o n d itio n ,

f u r t h e r , b ecau se o f a h ig h e r c r i t i c a l le v e l

o f I p ( g r e a te r r e s is ta n c e to Ip ) w ith h ig h m o tiv a tio n th a n w ith low m o ti­ v a t i o n , th e i n i t i a l appearance o f y ip o ccu rred l a t e r

w ith th e foun e r

th a n w ith th e l a t t e r . 10) The c u rv e of developm ent o f .jlp reached an asym ptote so o n er w ith h ig h m o tiv a tio n th a n with low m o tiv a tio n as a r e s u l t o f le s s r e s t i n g l a t e in le a r n in g w ith th e former th a n w ith th e l a t t e r ,

i n o th e r w o rd s, l a t e

i n le a r n in g t h e r a t e of developm ent o f ^ Ip was l e s s w ith h ig h m o tiv a tio n th a n w ith low m o tiv a tio n . 11) L ate i n le a r n in g th e amount o f ^ I r was l e s s w ith high m o tiv a tio n th a n w ith low m o tiv a tio n .

I n o th e r w o rd s, in s p i t e o f t h e g r e a te r amount

o f I p l a t e in le a r n in g w ith h ig h m o tiv a tio n as compared w ith low m o tiv a ­ t i o n , th e g r e a te r r e s is ta n c e t o I p w ith th e form er r e s u l t e d in l e s s r e s t ­ i n g , hnd t h e r e f o r e , le s s ^ Ip l a t e in le a r n in g th a n w ith th e l a t t e r . 12) The cu m u la tiv e mean method p e rh a p s y ie ld s a " p u re r" m easure o f BI p th a n does K im ble’ s m ethod.

However, th e c o n c lu s io n s based upon th e

two methods w ere i n agreem ent. 13) W ithout an e x cep tio n th e r e s u l t s o f t h i s experim ent served t o sub­ s t a n t i a t e th e m ajor h y p o th e sis in a l l o f i t s a s p e c ts , th u s le n d in g c o n sid ­ e r a b le su p p o rt to th e e x te n s io n o f th e perform ance i n h i b i t i o n th e o r y which has been e la b o ra te d i n t h i s s tu d y .

95

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m tom uwmem OM ITORSITT HEIGHTS