e the effects of social pressure on learning. In their experiment, they tested if the subjects could remember the concept of colored circles and triangles by subject. They had three groups: the first group received correct feedback for their answers; the second group received incorrect feedback for their answers. It was observed that the subjects in the first group performed better than the subjects in the other two groups. The experiment was then extended to two groups that had to perform two tasks; one received positive feedback after the first task and negative feedback after the second. The second group received negative feedback after the first task and positive feedback for the second task. It was observed that the group that received the negative feedback performed poorer on the second task than they had before receiving the negative feedback. Allen and Bragg’s experiments directly relate to social pressure in school. This was also confirmed by Frith “social pressure can affect a student’s performance by influencing his or her motivation. Putting doubts into a student’s mind is a form of social pressure that can reduce his or her motivation”. The most evident symbols of social pressure are grades, which can be looked at as secondary reinforcers. These secondary reinforcers have their positive as well as negative side. A reward can sometimes be looked at as a negative social pressure. For instance, a student may study just to get a grade and not because he is interested in the subject he is studying. His/or Her desire to learn would be disregarded and their performance would start to decline. This is an example of extrinstic reinforcers. Along with the negative effects of social pressure there are positive effects. The positive effects of social pressure are increasing academic performance by increasing it significantly. This means that if people are given a positive impression they are more ...
