Schmitt, D. R. (1998).
Effects of consequences of advice on patterns of rule control and rule choice.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,
70, 1-21.
Rules in the form of advice can inaccurately state the effects of
recommended responses by overstating or understating size of the
consequences. Three experiments investigated the effects of such
inaccuracies on patterns of rule control and rule choice with
female college students. In Experiment 1, signaled accurate,
overstated, or understated rules specified that a given number of
points would be earned by pressing a designated key. For some
subjects, rules specified a number of points to be gained; for
other subjects, rules specified a number of points to be lost
from an amount given earlier. Point totals stated in the
inaccurate rules averaged 25% more (overstated) or 25% less
(understated) than those received. When subjects could choose
either the response specified in the rule or an alternative
response that produced an unpredictable number of points, they
showed greater sensitivity to the inaccuracy of overstated rules
than understated rules. In trials at the end of the experiment in
which subjects could choose which rule to see, subjects did not
always choose accurate rules and often chose inaccurate rules for
which they had shown less sensitivity earlier. Experiment 2
replicated this pattern in which subjects could choose which type
of rule to see on a greater number of trials. Some evidence
suggested that subjects prefer an improvement from the outcomes
promised to those later received. In Experiment 3, rules
misstated by averages of 25% and 50% were compared. Evidence
suggested that increasing the size of the misstatement reduced
the discrimination of inaccurate rules from accurate ones.
Key words: rule-governed behavior, rule following, rule control,
rule choice, advice, button press, college students