Differential tests of two cognitive theories of performance: Weiner versus Kukla

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology1976, Vol. 34, No. 2, 295-304

Differential Tests of Two Cognitive Theories of Performance:Weiner Versus Kukla

R. Michael LattaDrake University

Three major hypotheses were tested. Hypothesis 1 was derived from Weiner'stheory and proposes that success feedback leads to differential effort attribu-tions resulting in increased performance quality for individuals low in achieve-ment motivation and in decreased performance quality for individuals high inachievement motivation. Hypothesis 2 was derived from Kukla's theory andproposes that success feedback leads to an initial increase in performancequality for all individuals but results in differential asymptotic levels of per-formance quality for individuals high and low in achievement motivation, withthose low in achievement motivation having a higher asymptote. Hypothesis 3was also derived from Kukla's theory and suggests that significant relationsshould obtain among measures of speed of performance, performance quality,intended effort, and the individual's level of achievement motivation. Experi-ment 1 found that success feedback enhanced performance quality for every-one and did not result in differential effort attributions that mediate perform-ance quality. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1 concerning the effects ofsuccess feedback on quality of performance but also indicated an earlyasymptote in performance quality for subjects high in achievement motiva-tion. Experiment 3 found that intended effort qualified as a more adequateexplanation of differences in speed of performance and performance qualitythan the environmental factor experimenter-provided feedback.

Weiner (1972) proposed a cognitive theoryof performance that incorporates perceptions,expectancies, and intentions as explanationsof performance differences. Following Heider(1958), Weiner has suggested effort, ability(power), luck, and task difficulty as the per-ceived causes of performance at achievement-oriented tasks. The model involves threestages that resemble an information-processingsystem: (a) task evaluation, (b) goal-directedbehavior, and (c) outcomes and subsequentreevaluation. During the task evaluationstage, perceiving the task as achievementoriented evokes attributions to the fourcausal factors as potential causes of good orbad performance. The nature of these expect-ancies determines goal-directed behavior inStage 2 that results in a performance qualityconstituting either success or failure. In

Experiment 1 and Experiments 2 and 3 werepresented as two papers at the annual MidwesternPsychological Association Meetings, Chicago, May 2,1974.

Requests for reprints should be sent to R. MichaelLatta, Department of Psychology, Drake University,Des Moines, Iowa 50311.

Stage 3 the causal attributions to effort, abil-ity, luck, and task difficulty are reevaluatedin light of the adequacy of the performancelevel attained in Stage 2. The quality ofperformance attained on subsequent attemptsof the task is determined by these newattributions in a recursive process.

Research by Weiner and his colleagues hasshown that attributions about the causes ofsuccess and failure systematically vary withachievement motivation. Specifically, individ-uals high in achievement motivation havebeen found to attribute successful perform-ance of others to their effort (Frieze &Weiner, 1971), whereas individuals low inachievement motivation tend to attribute suchperformance to luck or to task difficulty(Kukla, 1970). Weiner (1972, p. 395) con-tends that these findings may explain otherfindings demonstrating individuals low inachievement motivation to exhibit greaterincrements in the quality of performance fol-lowing experimenter-provided success feed-back relative to individuals high in achieve-ment motivation (Weiner, 1966; Weiner &Schneider, 1971). Believing that quality of

295

296 R. MICHAEL LATTA

performance varies with effort, individualshigh in achievement motivation are said to"relax" following successful performance andreduce their effort. This reduction in effortreduces their quality of performance on subse-quent attempts at the task. Believing theirquality of performance does not vary witheffort, individuals low in achievement motiva-tion are said to exhibit renewed goal strivingfollowing successful performance, and theirquality of performance increases on subse-quent attempts at the task (Weiner, 1972,p. 320). Within this analysis, attributions toeffort arising from the experience of success-ful performance are considered an adequateexplanation of differences in quality of per-formance on subsequent attempts at a taskby individuals high and low in achievementmotivation.

Kukla (1972b) offered an alternative cogni-tive theory of performance based upon theproperties of behavioral intentions outlined byDulany (1968) and Fishbein (1967). UnlikeWeiner, Kukla specified two dimensions ofperformance: speed and quality. Here speedof performance (the actual effort exerted ata task) as well as quality of performance areassumed to be an increasing function of theamount of effort a person intends to exertat a task (intended effort). A postulate ofthe theory specifies that individuals who per-ceive themselves as more capable of doingwell at the task will generally have lowerintended effort than will individuals who per-ceive themselves as relatively incapable ofdoing well at the task. Since individuals highin achievement motivation report a higherestimate of their ability relative to individ-uals low in achievement motivation afterhaving worked on an identical task (Kukla,1972a, Experiment 1), the theory makes thefurther assumption that individuals high inachievement motivation will generally havelower intended effort than will individuals lowin achievement motivation because of greaterperceived ability. Thus, achievement motiva-tion (perceived ability) influences speed ofperformance and performance quality throughthe behavioral intention intended effort.

In Kukla's theory of performance, per-formance speed and quality are also influ-

enced by perceptions of task difficulty. Here,perceived task difficulty is assumed to be re-lated to intended effort by an inverted-Ufunction (Weiner, Heckhausen, Meyer, &Cook, 1972). The same relation holds for speedand quality of performance and perceivedtask difficulty (Atkinson, 1958), presumablybecause intended effort directly determines allaspects of performance. Hence, maximal in-tended effort, speed of performance and qual-ity of performance occur for tasks perceivedto be of moderate difficulty. Analysis ofperceived task difficulty also points out thedifference between speed of performance andperformance quality. Although a given levelof intended effort and speed of performanceare considered adequate for good performancefrom the individual's point of view, actualperformance quality may be low due to a mis-perception of task difficulty. In general, it isassumed that speed of performance and qual-ity of performance will be highly correlated.

Although these two cognitive theories aresimilar in many respects, they permit differ-ential predictions about the quality of per-formance exhibited by individuals highand low in achievement motivation followingexperimenter-provided success feedback on atask perceived as moderately difficult. Weiner(1972) predicted increments and decrementsin the quality of performance for individualslow and high in achievement motivation,respectively. Here, success is assumed to affectattributions to effort that produce differencesin performance quality. Kukla (1974b), onthe other hand, predicted an initial incrementin the quality of performance for everyonewho receives success feedback followed by alower asymptote in the quality of perform-ance for individuals high in achievement mo-tivation compared with individuals low inachievement motivation. Here, the experienceof success is generally assumed to alter per-ceived task difficulty from difficult to easy,at least for laboratory tasks such as anagramsand digit-symbol substitution. Thus, repeatedsuccessful performance results in a general de-crease in perceived difficulty, leading first tomaximal intended effort, then to minimalintended effort. A lower asymptote in qualityof performance should occur for individuals,

WEINER VERSUS KUKLA 297

high in achievement motivation because per-ception of the task as easy should usuallyoccur earlier for them due to greater per-ceived ability, and perceiving the task as easyresults in lowered intended effort.

Three experiments were conducted to testthe ability of these two theories to predictdifferences in performance quality (number ofcorrect solutions) on a digit-symbol substitu-tion task under uniform laboratory condi-tions. No-feedback control groups were em-ployed in each study to determine whetherincrements or decrements in the quality ofperformance of individuals high and lowin achievement motivation following experi-menter-provided success feedback are greaterthan those attributable to practice or lossof interest.

EXPERIMENT 1

Experiment 1 was designed to test theassumptions of Weiner's theory of perform-ance regarding the relationships of effortcognitions to achievement motivation andperformance quality. Specifically, individualshigh in achievement motivation should bemore likely to attribute their own successfulperformance to their own effort than indi-viduals low in achievement motivation. Thiswas done because previous research either didnot ask the participants to make judgmentsabout their own performance (Frieze &Weiner, 1971), used a task that was ambigu-ous as to the causes of success and failure(Kukla, 1970), or used failure feedbackrather than success (Meyer, 1970).

Since Weiner (1972) considered effort cogni-tions to be causally related to performancequality, attributions to effort made by par-ticipants about their own behavior shouldpredict performance quality. Because effort isdecreased following success by individualshigh in achievement motivation, the subse-quent performance quality of these individu-als should immediately start to decline belowa quality attributable to loss of interest.Because renewed effort follows success byindividuals low in achievement motivation,the subsequent performance quality of theseindividuals should immediately begin to riseabove a quality attributable to practice.

Method

A 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design with two levels ofachievement motivation (high-low), two levels offeedback about performance (success-no feedback),and two levels of causal attribution (requested-notrequested) was employed.

Subjects. Scores from the short form of theMehrabian (1968) scale of resultant achievementmotivation were used to block subjects.1 This scalecontains 26 items to be answered on a —4 (disagree)to 4 (agree) scale. Subjects were 160 males selectedfrom a group of 240 introductory psychology stu-dents tested 2 weeks prior to the experiment. The80 high-achievement-motivation subjects had a meanscore of 16.6 and constituted the upper third of theoriginal distribution of 240 scores, while the 80 low-achievement-motivation subjects had a mean score of—14.2 and constituted the lower third of the originaldistribution.

Procedure. Subjects were randomly assigned toconditions and were administered one practice trialfollowed by six 30-sec test trials of a digit-symbolsubstitution task. This task involved substituting thehighly similar symbols

± , L, -J, T , T, and 1

for the digits 1 through 6. No memory was involved,since an example of the proper matches was alwaysvisible. Each trial consisted of the subject attemptingto fill a single worksheet of 50 possible substitutions.The performance measures taken on this task werespeed of performance (the total number of at-tempted substitutions per trial) and performancequality (the total number of correct substitutions pertrial). The digit-symbol substitution task and theperformance measures were chosen for their sensi-tivity to the effects of motivation and their use inprevious research (Weiner, 1972, p. 240).

Following Weiner (1966), subjects in the foursuccess feedback conditions were given success feed-back on even-numbered trials by false norms indi-cating that the subject was doing twice as well asmost college students attempting the task. Followingeach trial, subjects in the attribution conditions wererequested to check on each of six paired-comparisonscales the extent to which effort, ability, luck, andtask difficulty influenced performance quality. Thesecausal attributions were made in response to thequestion, "Which of these factors influenced yourperformance on the last trial to a greater extent?"The paired-comparisons format also included a cer-tainty rating. Thus, if the subject was uncertain asto which of the two factors in a comparison wasmost important, he checked at the midpoint of thescale that was anchored with the word uncertain.

1 For the male version, Mehrabian (1968) hasreported low correlations with the social desirabilityscale of Crowne and Marlowe (1960), a 10-weektest-retest reliability coefficient of .78, and reasonablevalidity coefficients. See also Mehrabian (1969).


TABLE 1MEAN ATTRIBUTION SCORES FOR INDIVIDUALS HIGH

AND Low IN ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATIONIN EXPERIMENT 1 AS A FUNCTION

OF FEEDBACK

Groupa

High-feedbackHigh-no feedbackLow-feedbackLow-no feedback

Effort

94.596.487.290.5

Causal factorb

Ability

95.892.091.890.5

Luck

1.51.0

13.511.6

Taskdiffi-

culty

71.878.063.059.5

»2V = 20.b The larger the score, the greater is the importance assigned

to the causal factor as a determinant of performance.

The scales were 10 inches (3 m) long and werenumbered from 1 to 99 in multiples of 10.

Results and Discussion

Attributions. Using the paired-comparisonstechnique, it was possible to derive a separateattribution score for each of the four causalfactors effort, ability, luck, and task difficulty.This resulted in four scores for attribution(one for each causal factor) for each of the80 subjects who were requested to attributeto causal factors. The first hypothesis pre-dicted that individuals high in achievementmotivation generally attribute their success totheir own efforts more so than individuals lowin achievement motivation. Table 1 presentsthe mean attribution scores for effort, abil-ity, luck, and task difficulty after averagingover trials.

A multivariate analysis of variance was per-formed on the average attribution scoresusing achievement motivation and feedbackas classification variables and attribution tothe four causal factors as correlated depen-dent measures. An overall test (Hotelling-Lawley's trace) indicated that differential at-tributions were associated only with achieve-ment motivation, F(4, 73) = 2.91, p < .03.Univariate tests revealed subjects low inachievement motivation to consider luck moreimportant than subjects high in achievementmotivation, F ( l , 76) = 9.64, p < .003. Theopposite pattern was found for attributionsto task difficulty, F(l, 76) = 3.76, p < .05,with subjects low in achievement motivationconsidering task difficulty to be less of an

influence on their performance than subjectshigh in achievement motivation. Contrary tothe first hypothesis, attributions to effortwere not found to be significantly related tolevel of achievement motivation. Attributionsto ability were also not significantly relatedto level of achievement motivation. Neitherthe overall test nor the univariate tests indi-cated attributions to vary with feedback orthe interaction of achievement motivationwith feedback.

The means in Table 1 suggest that mostpeople view the internal factors effort andability to determine success much more sothan the external factors luck and task diffi-culty. This similarity of attribution to effortfor the high- and low-achievement-motivationsubjects is surprising, given the large differ-ences in average level of achievement motiva-tion for the subjects categorized as highand low in achievement motivation in thisexperiment.

Relation between attribution to causal jac-tors and performance quality. Total scores forattributions to the four causal factors, speedof performance, and performance quality werefound by summing across the six trials. Thesecond hypothesis derived from Weiner'stheory stated that attributions to effort shouldgenerally predict performance quality. To testthis hypothesis, a multiple regression analysiswas conducted to find the best predictoramong the causal factors with performancequality and speed as criterion variables.Achievement motivation was employed as acontinuous variable, while feedback wasscored dichotomously and the interaction termwas generated by multiplication (Kerlinger &Pedhazur, 1973). Only attribution to effortwas found to be significantly related to speedof performance, F(l, 78) = 3.60, p < .05.Contrary to the second hypothesis, none ofthe causal factors were significantly relatedto performance quality. The same solutionsresulted using a forward, backward, and step-wise procedure (cf. Draper & Smith, 1961),which indicated that order of entry was notimportant.

Effects of achievement motivation, feed-back, and attribution on performance quality.The third hypothesis tested in this experiment


predicted the performance quality of individ-uals high in achievement motivation to declinebelow a level attributable to a loss of interestfollowing success, whereas the performancequality of individuals low in achievement mo-tivation was predicted to rise above a levelattributable to practice following success. Ananalysis of variance conducted on the per-formance quality measure with achievementmotivation, feedback, and attribution asbetween-subjects factors and trials as a within-subjects factor indicated a Feedback X Attri-bution interaction, F(l, 152) = 4.0, p < .01,and a four-way Achievement Motivation XFeedback X Attribution X Trials interaction,F(5, 760) = 2.23, p < .05. Table 2 presentsthe performance quality of subjects in theeight groups as it changes over trials. Thegeneral increase in performance quality overtrials is probably due to a practice effect butdoes not obscure group differences.

In Table 2, Lines 2 and 4, and 6 and 8,indicate no support for Weiner's hypothesisconcerning the differential effects of successfeedback on the subsequent performance qual-ity of subjects high and low in achievementmotivation. Not only did success feedbackalone produce an increment in performancequality for subjects low in achievement mo-tivation, but it also produced an increment inperformance quality for subjects high . inachievement motivation. These increments areboth greater than any increases in perform-ance quality attributable to practice, sinceboth groups' performance quality was greaterthan that of the no feedback-no attributioncontrols. Comparing Lines 1 and 4 of Table 2shows that attributing to causal factors in thepresence of success feedback increases the per-formance quality of subjects high in achieve-ment motivation. If, as Weiner suggested,success leads to differential effort attributionsresulting in differential performance qualitiesfor subjects high and low in achievement mo-tivation, the attribution process should nothave facilitated the performance quality ofthese subjects.

EXPERIMENT 2

The results of Experiment 1 were consistentwith Kukla's theory in that success feedback

TABLE 2

PERFORMANCE QUALITY FOR INDIVIDUALS HIGH ANDLow IN ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION AS IT CHANGES

OVER TRIALS IN EXPERIMENT 1 AS A FUNCTIONOF FEEDBACK AND ATTRIBUTION

Trial no.

Groupa 1

High-feedback-attribution

High-feedback-no attribution

High-no feed-back-attribu-tion

High-no feed-back-no at-tribution

Low-feedback-attribution

Low-feedback-no attribution

Low-no feed-back-attri-bution

Low-no feed-back-no at-tribution

23.4 23.9 25.6 25.7 27.5 27.5

23.9 24.6 25.6 26.9 26.6 26.8

23.8 25.4 26.1 26.5 27.4 27.3

22.6 23.0 24.3 25.7 25.6 26.3

23.8 24.5 25.9 26.1 26.2 26.3

24.7 25.4 28.9 27.9 28.8 29.7

23.7 23.7 25.4 26.7 26.1 26.9

23.2 23.7 25.0 26.0 26.6 26.9

20.

produced an increase in subsequent perform-ance quality for both categories of achieve-ment motivation. Experiment 2 was designedto test the joint effects of feedback andachievement motivation on performance qual-ity predicted by Kukla's theory. Specifically,Kukla's theory predicts that success feedbackleads to an initial increase in performancequality for all individuals but differentialasymptotes in performance quality for indi-viduals high and low in achievement motiva-tion. Here, the inverted-U function relatingperceived task difficulty to performance qual-ity suggests that individuals high in achieve-ment motivation (high perceived ability) havea lower performance quality asymptote thanindividuals low in achievement motivation(low perceived ability) when given successfeedback. This effect of success feedback isdue to individuals high in achievement moti-vation perceiving the initially difficult task aseasy sooner than individuals low in achieve-ment motivation under conditions of continu-ous success. Thus Kukla's theory predicts anoverall positive influence of success feed-back on performance quality and differential


asymptotes for individuals high and low inachievement motivation.

Method

Subjects* Subjects were 80 males categorized ashigh or low in achievement motivation, selected forExperiment 2 from an initial sample of 130 intro-ductory psychology students following the procedureused in Experiment 1. The mean achievement moti-vation scores for the high and low groups were 15.3and —14.8, respectively.

Procedure. From each achievement motivationcategory, 20 subjects were randomly assigned to thesuccess feedback or no-feedback control groups andwere administered the digit-symbol substitution taskfollowing the procedure of Experiment 1. As in Ex-periment 1, performance quality was measured bytaking the number of correct substitutions per trial.


The results of a 2 X 2 X 6 repeated-measures analysis of variance performed onthe performance quality scores indicated amain effect for feedback, F ( l , 76) = 4.71,p < .03, and a main effect for trials, F(5,380) = 31.43, p < .0001, as the only sig-nificant sources of variation in the perform-ance quality scores. Figure 1 presents themean quality of performance for subjects highand low in achievement motivation as it de-velops over trials as a function of feedback.

Inspection of Figure 1 indicates that sub-jects high in achievement motivation receivingsuccess feedback reached their performancequality asymptote on Trial 3, whereas sub-jects low in achievement motivation receivingsuccess feedback continued to improve in per-formance quality from Trials 3-6. Simple-effects tests using Sheffes method indicatedthat subjects low in achievement motivationreceiving success feedback had a significantlyhigher performance quality than their cor-responding no-feedback control group fromTrial 3 to Trial 6 (p < .05). The otherthree groups did not differ significantly inperformance quality at any of the six trials.Thus the effects of the feedback variable onperformance quality predicted by Kukla wasfound in Experiment 2.

EXPERIMENT 3

Since Experiments 1 and 2 provided evi-dence consistent with Kukla's interpretationof the effects of successful performance on

subsequent performance quality, Experiment 3was designed to test Kukla's assumptionsconcerning achievement motivation, intendedeffort, speed of performance, and quality ofperformance. Recall that Kukla's cognitivetheory of performance makes the followingassumptions: (a) An individual who is low inachievement motivation should have greaterintended effort than an individual who is highin achievement motivation because the formerhas a tendency to attribute relatively littleability to himself compared with the latter.Thus, the individual low in achievement mo-tivation thinks that trying hard will compen-sate for his lack of ability, (b) Intendedeffort is positively related to speed of per-formance. This assumption reflects the per-former's belief that performance has twoaspects, quantity and quality. Hence, as anindividual's perception of his own ability de-creases, he attempts to do well at a task bymeans of being highly productive, regardlessof the quality of any single attempt, (c)Speed of performance is positively related toperformance quality. Trying hard often leadsto an overall quality of performance thatcannot be reached any other way. Thisassumption reflects the individual's belief thatindolence rarely pays off. (d) Finally, an indi-vidual's intended effort should predict bothspeed of performance and performance qual-ity. This assumption is similar to that out-lined in (c) and reflects the fact that inten-tions are many times realized.2

Method

Subjects. Subjects were 40 males classified as highor low in achievement motivation, selected from thetop and bottom thirds of an original distributionof 125 introductory psychology students followingthe previously described procedure. The averageachievement motivation scores for the high and lowcategories were 29 and —19, respectively.

2 It should be pointed out that these theoreticalrelations among intended effort, performance speed,and performance quality probably hold only formany simple laboratory tasks. For example, maximalintended effort probably leads to impaired perform-ance quality at complex tasks, and fast performancemay tend to impair performance quality at thesetasks. Hence, these predictions probably do not applyto artists, architects, or for that matter, authors.


Procedure. Following random assignment of sub-jects to success feedback or no-feedback controlgroups, the procedure was identical to that used inExperiments 1 and 2, except that all subjects wererequested to estimate their intended effort followingthe usual practice trial. As in Experiments 1 and 2,the number of correct digit-symbol substitutionsserved as the measure of performance quality. Forthis study, the number of attempted digit-symbolsubstitutions was also recorded and constituted themeasure of performance speed.


Performance measures. The variables totalspeed of performance and total performancequality were formed by averaging over trials.The group means for these variables appearin Table 3. A 2 X 2 multivariate analysis ofvariance with total speed of performance andtotal performance quality as correlated depen-dent measures was conducted to test the hy-pothesis concerning the effects of achievementmotivation and success feedback on perform-ance. This analysis indicated a significantoverall effect of achievement motivation onperformance, F(2,35) = 4.08, p < .03, thatonly applied to performance quality (p < .02)and a marginally significant overall Achieve-

• LOW ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION FEEDBACKO LOW ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION NO FEEDBACK• HIGH ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION FEEDBACK• HIGH ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION NO FEEDBACK

30 i—

29

28

27

26

2 3 4

TRIALS

TABLE 3MEAN TOTAL SPEED OF PERFORMANCE AND MEAN

TOTAL PERFORMANCE QUALITY IN EXPERIMENT 3AS A FUNCTION OF ACHIEVEMENT

MOTIVATION AND FEEDBACK

Groupa

Low achievement motivation-feedback

Low achievement motivation-no feedback

High achievement motivation-feedback

High achievement motivation-no feedback

Totalspeedof per-

formance

149.5

160.6

159.7

145.0

Total per-formancequality

135.6

135.3

132.9

116.4

FIGURE 1. Mean performance quality as a functionof achievement motivation and feedback in Experi-ment 2.

10.

ment Motivation X Feedback interaction, F(2,35) = 2.82, p < .07, that applied stronglyto performance speed (p < .02) and weaklyto performance quality (p < .08).

The most striking aspect of the means re-ported in Table 3 is the deviance of the high-achievement-motivation-no-feedback group.The large increase in performance qualityproduced by success feedback given to indi-viduals high in achievement motivation sug-gests that these individuals are dependentupon success feedback in the sense that theabsence of such feedback impairs the qualityof their performance compared with individu-als low in achievement motivation. Indi-viduals high in achievement motivation seemto require such feedback, probably because itsabsence lowers their effort. This explanationis supported by the significant AchievementMotivation X Feedback interaction for totalspeed of performance where individuals highin achievement motivation lower their speedof performance in the absence of successfeedback.

Accuracy of Kukla's assumptions. Furtheranalyses were conducted to check the accu-racy of the assumptions of Kukla's theory. Assuggested in Assumption (a), subjects low inachievement motivation exhibited greater in-tended effort {X = 48.2) compared with sub-jects high in achievement motivation (X =42.8), but the difference was not statisticallysignificant, t(36) = 1.0, p < .33. Intended ef-fort was found to be positively related tototal speed of performance, r(3&) = .36, p <

>-

oLUO

<

o

IZ-

25 -

24 -

23 -

22 -


TABLE 4DIFFERENTIAL TESTS OF TWO THEORIES

Weiner's theory Kukla's theory Finding

1. Attributions to effort shouldpredict performance quality.

2. Success enhances performancequality for individuals low inachievement motivation andimpairs it for individuals highin achievement motivation.

3. Success produces immediateincrements and decrements inperformance quality for indi-viduals low and high in achieve-ment motivation, respectively.

1. Ratings of intended effortshould predict both perform-ance speed and quality.

2. Success enhances performancequality regardless of level ofachievement motivation.

3. Success initially increases per-formance quality for everyonefollowed by a lower perform-ance quality asymptote forindividuals high in achievementmotivation.

1. Attributions to effort predictedspeed but not quality of per-formance (Experiment 1).Ratings of intended effort pre-dicted both performance speedand quality.

2. Success enhanced performancequality regardless of level ofachievement motivation(Experiments 1 and 2).

3. Success initially increases per-formance quality regardless oflevel of achievement moti-vation, followed by a lowerperformance quality asymptotefor individuals high in achieve-ment motivation (Experiment2).

.02, and total speed of performance was foundto be positively related to total performancequality, r(3S) = .69, p < .0001, as stated inAssumptions (b) and (c).3

A multiple-regression analysis was con-ducted on total speed of performance andtotal performance quality scores using achieve-ment motivation, feedback, and intended ef-fort as possible predictors. This analysis wasconducted following the procedure outlined inExperiment 1. In accordance with Assump-tion (d), intended effort was found to be thebest predictor of both total speed of perform-ance, F(l, 3S) = 5.82, p < .05, and total per-formance quality, F( l ,38) = 11.9, p < .002.

Evidently cognitions about effort, whetherthey be attributions occurring after perform-ing or behavioral intentions occurring beforeperforming, are more useful in predictingspeed of performance and performance qual-ity than are environmental variables such asexperimenter-provided feedback.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The major hypotheses and related findingsof this investigation are presented in Table 4.Generally, but with some exceptions, the find-ings outlined in Table 4 confirm Kukla'stheory and disconfirm Weiner's. However,

since the present investigation tested the twotheories for a relatively simple task and undera relatively uniform set of experimental con-ditions, it would be premature to draw con-clusions beyond the general conclusion thatthese initial studies provide more support forKukla's theory. The two theories are suffi-ciently precise to permit differential predic-tions, and this is encouraging for futureresearch along these lines.

The findings of Experiment 1 suggestthat Weiner's predictions about the relationsamong achievement motivation, effort attri-butions, and performance quality followingexperimenter-provided success feedback arenot accurate. Experiment 2 results supportedthe prediction from Kukla's theory of differ-ential performance quality asymptotes forindividuals high and low in achievement mo-tivation following repeated success. ThusKukla's assumption of an inverted-U functionrelating perceived task difficulty to perform-ance quality was partially confirmed. Finally,the results of Experiment 3 suggest that the

3 These are pooled within correlations. The pooledwithin correlation for speed of performance andperformance quality for Experiment 1 was r(l58)= .89, p < .0001, while that of Experiment 2 wasr(78) = .97, p < .001.


cognitive variable intended effort is an ade-quate predictor of differences in both speedof performance and performance quality.These findings suggest that the class of inter-vening variables called behavioral intentionscan explain performance differences.

Since Kukla's theory specifies that per-ceived task difficulty combines with perceivedability in determining intended effort, whichin turn determines speed of performance andperformance quality, further research is re-quired. For one thing, a variety of task dif-ficulties and abilities need to be employed todetermine whether different levels of intendedeffort, speed of performance, and performancequality result. Kukla (1974) has providedsome initial evidence concerning this questionby showing that individuals high in achieve-ment motivation exhibit higher performancequality than individuals low in achievementmotivation when the participants were toldthat the task was difficult. The converse wasfound to hold when the participants weretold that the task was easy. However, in thatstudy as well as in the present study, percep-tions of task difficulty were not independentlychecked. These perceptions must be measuredto certify that perceived difficulty correspondsto the difficulty level that the experimenterhas stated and to be certain that perceiveddifficulty interacts with perceived ability inproducing intended effort. Finally, more ade-quate attention should be given to partici-pants' perceptions of their own performancein relation to experimenter-provided feedback.If repeated success feedback does not producethe perception of task ease, the inverted-Ufunction relating perceived task difficulty toperformance speed and quality would notapply. What determines perceptions of easeor difficulty is probably much more thansuccess; it includes the ups and downs of ex-pectancies of success and, probably, the levelof aversive affect encountered in attemptingthe task.

Turning to Weiner's theory, little supportis indicated in Table 4. One discontinuingfinding came from Experiment 1 where attri-butions to effort did not vary with achieve-ment motivation, regardless of the presenceor absence of success feedback. A second

disconfirming finding from that experimentwas that attributions to effort did not predictperformance quality as Weiner's theory sug-gests. In order for success feedback to affectperformance quality in the manner specifiedby Weiner's theory, it is essential that attri-butions to effort vary with achievement mo-tivation and predict performance quality. Itcould be argued that the digit-symbol substi-tution task is too easy and thus an insuffi-cient means for properly evaluating Weiner'stheory. Weiner has contended (Weiner et al.,1972) that tasks of intermediate difficultyare most likely to elicit effort attributionsthat influence performance quality. Estimatesof the perceived difficulty of the digit-symbolsubstitution task were obtained from an inde-pendent sample of 60 male students followinga practice trial. The estimates were made ona 1 (extremely easy) to 99 (extremely diffi-cult) scale. The results indicated that thetask was perceived as intermediate in diffi-culty (X = 61), the most advantageous levelof task difficulty for evaluating Weiner'stheory. In defense of Weiner's position, itshould be pointed out that effort attributionsdid predict speed of performance in Experi-ment 1 and that the effects of failure maybe mediated by the attribution process asspecified in his theory.4 Future research mayconfirm that portion of the theory. To testcompletely the portion of Weiner's theoryinvestigated in these experiments, a variety oftasks are required, since task difficulty prob-ably influences the first stage in the attribu-tion process as suggested by Kukla's theory.

Inconsistent with Weiner's theory, a thirdfinding in Experiments 1 and 2 showed thatsuccess feedback enhanced performance qual-ity regardless of level of achievement motiva-tion. Once again in defense of Weiner, thepossibility exists that success feedback worksin the manner that he has specified only inambiguous situations where subjective successrather than experimenter-provided success issalient. As with any theory incorporating apersonality variable, powerful situational fac-tors such as experimenter-provided feedback

4 Weiner and Sierad (1975) have demonstrated theusefulness of Weiner's theory in predicting the effectsof failure feedback on speed of performance.


about performance may obscure the effectsof individual differences in the tendency torespond to subjective success specified inWeiner's theory. This is especially true, sinceWeiner's theory deals with subjective successthat may or may not be congruent withexperimenter-provided feedback.

Future research should clarify the limi-tations of these two cognitive theories ofperformance.

REFERENCES

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Kukla, A. Cognitive determinants of achieving be-havior. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Univer-sity of California, Los Angeles, 1970.

Kukla, A. Attributional determinants of achievementrelated behavior. Journal of Personality and So-cial Psychology, 1972, 21, 166-174. (a)

Kukla, A. Foundations of an attributional theory ofperformance. Psychological Review, 1972, 79, 454-470. (b)

Kukla, A. Performance as a function of resultantachievement motivation (perceived ability) andperceived difficulty. Journal of Research in Per-sonality, 1974, 7, 374-383.

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Weiner, . B. Theories of motivation. Chicago:Markham, 1972.

Weiner, B., Heckhausen, H., Meyer, W., & Cook, R.Causal ascriptions and achievement behavior: Aconceptual analysis of effort and reanalysis oflocus of control. Journal of Personality and So-cial Psychology, 1972, 21, 239-248.

Weiner, B., & Schneider, K. Drive versus cognitivetheory. A reply to Boor and Harmon. Journal ofPersonality and Social Psychology, 1971, 18, 258-262.

Weiner, B., & Sierad, J. Misattribution for failureand enhancement of achievement strivings. Journalof Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 31,415-421.

(Received October 6, 1975)

Documents

Differential tests of two cognitive theories of performance: Weiner versus Kukla