Effect of Observer as a Function of Prior History of Social Interaction

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of an adult observer's presence on 5-yr.-old children's performance on a simple motor task, as a function of different histories of social interaction between the observer and child. Children who were observed by an adult who had previously interacted positively and those observed by an unfamiliar adult showed performance increments, whereas those observed by an adult who had previously interacted negatively showed performance decrements. The results support the notion that the presence or absence of observer effect and its directionality will vary as a function of an observer's acquired discriminative stimulus properties.