DEVELOPMENT OF COOPERATION IN ALTERNATIVE TASK SITUATIONS

This study is a follow-up of previous work by Mithaug and Burgess (1967, 1968) which suggested that when (a) subjects are permitted to watch their points accumulate on individual and group task counters and (b) are free to work together on the group task or alone on individual tasks, i.e., during the condition of group and individual reinforcement with individual feedback, cooperation does not develop. The present study investigates this finding in more detail. Children, ranging from five to ten years of age, were divided into four three-member groups. The data indicate that cooperation can be produced in alternative task situations when (a) rewards resulting from the group task are greater than rewards resulting from individual tasks and (b) task situations permit subjects to learn to discriminate between group and individual tasks in terms of their relative payoffs. © 1970.