The effects of group composition and evaluation on task performance

The effects of the presence of coactors working on the same and different tasks were examined. Subjects were run under either high- or low-evaluative conditions and in either a mixed group (half worked on a maze task while half worked on a multiplication task) or in a homogeneous group (all subjects worked on the maze task). A significant Evaluation by Group Composition interaction was obtained. Under high-evaluative conditions subjects in the mixed condition performed significantly better on the maze task than did subjects on the homogeneous condition, while under low-evaluative conditions, the mixed and homogeneous subjects did not differ in their maze performance. The results were discussed in terms of learned drive theory and incentive motivation.