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Individual Consequences Versus Different Shared Consequences Contingent on the Performance of Low‐Achieving Group Members 1
Author(s) -
Wodarski John S.,
Hambling Robert L.,
Buckholdt David R.,
Ferritor Daniel E.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1973.tb02803.x
Subject(s) - psychology , reinforcement , social psychology , group (periodic table) , incidence (geometry) , peer effects , peer group , peer tutor , developmental psychology , mathematics education , mathematics , chemistry , geometry , organic chemistry
The effects of four reinforcement conditions (individual consequence, group‐shared consequence, and two different proportions of individual and group‐shared consequence) on (a) peer tutoring, (b) arithmetic performance, (c) studying, (d) nonstudying, and (e) disruptive behavior were measured employing 60 experimental and 34 comparison children from three fifth‐grade classes in an inner‐city school. The 100% shared consequence consistently produced the highest incidence of peer tutoring as well as the greatcst increment in the number of correct problems, both within and between periods. As the proportion of shared consequences decreased, the number of problems worked correctly decreased. Concurrently, the incidence in peer tutoring decreased as the proportion of shared consequences decreased. All consequences maintained high rates of studying behaviors and low rates of nonstudying and disruptive behaviors. The results of this study suggest that shared consequences may be useful in creating cooperative work patterns and increasing arithmetic performance in classroom settings.