Enhancement of Response Rate by the Mere Physical Presence of the Experimenter

Abstract

Based on Cottrell's theory of learned social drive, it was predicted that the mere physical presence of an experimenter would facilitate performance by serving as a discriminative, conditioned stimulus. In the control condition of a within- subjects design the experimenter was seated behind a cabinet, 3 m from the subject. In a mere presence condition the experimenter was seated beside the subject, but with his back toward the subject. The potential for evaluation was not increased by the experimenter's physical presence, yet his presence produced a significant increase in response rate on a simple word construction task. In a third condition the experimenter's chair was rotated to permit direct observation of the subject's performance. Direct observation produced only a minor increase in response rate, compared to the mere presence condition.