The effectiveness of praise and blame on the discrimination performance of 720 Ss as a function of race (Negro, white), grade (2, 4, 7, 10). intelligence (high, medium, low), and sex was studied. Analysis of variance indicated that in situations involving perceptual skills, with speed as the criterion measure, reproof had a debilitating effect upon performance, while praise resulted in an increase in performance larger than that associated with practice alone.
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