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Advantages of difficult tasks 1
Author(s) -
Linsenmeier Joan A. W.,
Brickman Philip
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1978.tb00604.x
Subject(s) - task (project management) , set (abstract data type) , expectancy theory , psychology , test (biology) , cognitive psychology , predictive validity , applied psychology , social psychology , computer science , developmental psychology , engineering , paleontology , systems engineering , biology , programming language
A bstract If people work on a hard task before proceeding to one of intermediate difficulty, success will be relevant (predictive of future success) while failure will be irrelevant (not predictive of future failure). However, if they work first on an easy task, success will be irrelevant (not predictive of future success) while failure will be relevant (predictive of future failure). Previous research thus suggests that experience with hard tasks should always lead to more favorable evaluations of one's performance and better future performance than experience with easy tasks. The present study tested these predictions by manipulating initial expectancy (high or low), perceived difficulty of a set of practice problems (practice problems easier, harder, or equal in difficulty to those on a subsequent test), and practice problem feedback (success or failure). As predicted, experience with hard practice problems was most beneficial, regardless of the level of the feedback which students received. This was more true for males than females and for students with high ability than students with low ability.