PROBLEMIt is sometimes alleged that various clinical populations misperceive reality and reflect this misperception in their expectations for S U C C~S S (~~ l o ) . Even with objective and immediate feedback after each performance, some Ss may distort or fail to profit from such feedback. Wenar'l"), for example, reports progressive lowering of level of aspiration discrepancy scores (difference between performance and subsequent prediction(") over five pegboard trials in a nonhandicapped group, as would be expected. However, for moderately handicapped and severely handicapped children, a n initial lowering of discrepancy scores was followed by setting higher goals and a reversal to an upward trend in discrepancy scores. These findings were interpreted as an indication that the handicapped child can maintain a realistic attitude toward his capabilities for a limited time, but that the "frustrations" of limited or unpredictable performance change his attitude to wishful rather than realistic.Other investigations ( l -4 v 5 -7 , have documented the importance of an individual's perception of a specific task or his generalized expectancy of reinforcements in everyday activities (*) as skill or chance regulated. Lefcourt, Lewis, and Silverman ( 5 ) found Ss with internal locus of control perception (skill) t o have higher level of aspiration discrepancy scores than externals (chance). Internals made more unusual shifts (up with failure, down with success) than externals under chance instructions.It is also apparent that, in addition t o S's perception of the skill-chance nature of a task, the actual task characteristics are crucial determinants of expectancy levels and subsequent performance", B). The present experiments were designed to determine, across repeated trials, patterns of expectancies of handicapped and nonhandicapped adults under differing conditions of task perception and task control.EXPERIMENT I METHOD Subjects. The Ss were 19 male and 21 female vocational rehabilitation clients. Half had a hand-arm disability and half did not. Both groups had an equal number of Ss classified as mentally retarded. There were 10 Ss randomized into each of the four cells of the 2 x 2 (Disabled and Nondisabled arm-hand X Hope and Expect) design with 15 repeated pegboard trials.Procedure. S was instructed to put as many pegs as possible into the board in the 20 seconds provided. Further, each S in the Disabled condition used only his disabled hand, while Nondisabled Ss used the hand normally used for writing. Subsequent t o each of the 15 trials, the number of pegs was counted and recorded, and S was asked t o state the number of pegs he thought he would "actually place" in the board (Expect condition) or the number he "hope(d) or would like to be able t o place" (Hope condition) on his next trial. Each S was also administered the *The authors express appreciation to I h . John J. Miller, l h . Mnry Yeazell arid her LLqsistsnts, and the staff of the Weat, Virginia Vocational Rehabilitation Center for their assistance in da...
This study compared the effects of tour experimental treatments on levels of expectancy or aspiration of 80 disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged boys and girls. revels of expectancy were more discrepant frcm previous performance in conditions perceived as chance regulated, and in those outcomes actually controlled by chance. More unusual shifts in expectancy, down after success, were made under chance conditions. DisadvarCcaged girls perceived themselves as most powerless in influencing their own reinforcempnts, whereas the disadvantaged boys had a less external or chance of orientation.
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