Entangled task dismensions: An impediment to interpersonal learning
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abstract
The effects of intercorrelated task dimensions on interpersonal learning (IPL) were investigated. Each S was first trained to utilize one of two different judgment policies for a two-cue probability learning task. Ss were then paired so that in each pair S1 had been trained to depend in a positive, linear fashion upon one cue and to ignore the other, and S2 had been trained to depend upon the cue S1 ignored and to ignore the cue upon which S1 depended. Each pair then worked together on a task in which they were required to reach a mutually agreeable public judgment on 10 trials. For half the pairs (Group I) the task-trial cues were highly intercorrelated (+.90): for the other half (Group II) the cues were orthogonal. An interpersonal-prediction task followed. IPL about the Other, as measured by the correlation of one S's judgments with the other S's predictions of his judgments, was significantly better for Group II (p < .001). Differences in IPL were not a result of group differences in amount or type of communication during interaction. Group differences in IPL disappeared after Group I also had access to a set of task trials with orthogonal cues. The results demonstrate that IPL is a function of the properties of the task system the Ss encounter, as well as the properties of the cognitive system the Ss bring to the task. 1974.
