Effects of Reinforcement Value on Expectancy Statements in Skill and Chance Situations

Abstract

Previous investigations have frequently noted that rewarding events tend to enhance Ss' stated expectations of achieving the goal. However, these results usually have been obtained in gambling situations. In this study, both skill and chance situations were studied. Four groups were run: skill-nonreward, skill-reward, chance-nonreward, and chance-reward. After 10 trials in which the reinforcement sequence was the same for all groups, a reward was introduced for successful performance for one skill group and one chance group. The prediction was that, following success in a skill situation, introduction of a reward will result in a decrement in expectancies, while in a nonreward skill situation, there will be a corresponding increment. In reward and nonreward chance situations, however, there will be no difference in expectancy behavior. Results indicated a significant difference in expectancy behavior from Trial 10 to Trial 11 between skill-reward and skill-nonreward groups in the expected direction. The corresponding chance groups, however, showed similar results. Thus, the predicted interaction did not occur. The tendency of chance Ss to show results similar to those of skill Ss was hypothesized to be a function of a failure on the part of chance Ss to categorize the experimental task as chance controlled.