Effects of Social Loafing on Word Recognition

This study investigated performance on a lexical decision task as a function of whether subjects were tested individually or in a group session. The social loafing construct was examined as a possible explanation for reduced performance when subjects were not individually tested. Two groups of 44 subjects were tested using a computer-based version of a lexical decision task in which target words and nonwords were responded to as fast as possible. The main effect of group versus individual administration was significant. While both groups showed significant graphemic priming and a significant effect between words and nonwords, there was no significant interaction between group and priming condition. These results suggest that the negative effects of social loafing are strictly additive and do not appear to interact with automatic processes recruited during word recognition.

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