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Suggested Citation:"Part V New Directions." National Research Council. 1994. Learning, Remembering, Believing: Enhancing Human Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2303.
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Page 249

PART V
New Directions

Chapters 10 and 11 present findings from two relatively new fields in the area of human performance. In Chapter 10 we consider socially induced affect: it has been the subject of many experimental studies, but its implications for performance have not been developed. Some of these implications are discussed in the chapter. As a part of the more general question of the relationship between affect and performance, socially induced affect has special relevance for performing the kinds of cooperative learning and team training tasks discussed in Chapters 5 and 7.

Thought suppression is a mental-control strategy that has been discussed in the clinical literature for over a century. However, only recently have its implications been subjected to the scrutiny of laboratory research. Chapter 11 considers those implications, both for research and performance.

Suggested Citation:"Part V New Directions." National Research Council. 1994. Learning, Remembering, Believing: Enhancing Human Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2303.
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Suggested Citation:"Part V New Directions." National Research Council. 1994. Learning, Remembering, Believing: Enhancing Human Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2303.
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Page 251

10
Socially Induced Affect

Socially induced affect refers to an emotional experience in one person that is induced by someone else's affect, that person's observable emotions or feelings. This definition implies two parties—a person directly showing affect (the model) and a person observing the model and experiencing emotion as a consequence of the affect of the model. For example, a soldier's distress due to the loss of a loved one induces feelings of distress in his or her team unit members.1 In this case, the soldier is the model and the team members are the observers.

The transfer of feelings from model to observer is incidental in the sense that it is caused not by an intended action of a person, but only by the presence of the other.2Identified originally by researchers working on problems of social facilitation (e.g., Zajonc, 1965), this transmission of affect from one person to another does not depend on the relationship that may exist between them; it occurs between strangers as well as between friends. Results from a large number of experiments document the phenomenon of socially induced affect.3

Socially induced affect has long been an important topic in psychology. (For historical accounts see Gladstein, 1984; Deutsch and Madle, 1975; Wispé, 1986; for extended discussions see Gladstein, 1983; Goldstein and Michaels, 1985; Hatfield et al., 1992; Hoffman, 1977; Stotland 1969.) Interest continues today in clinical, developmental, and social psychology (Demos, 1984; Gladstein, 1984; Hatfield et al., 1992). It has been used to explain processes in social learning (Bandura, 1971), helping behavior (Batson and Coke, 1983), the avoidance of people in distress (Berger, 1962), the patient-therapist relation (Freud, 1921/1957), and crowd behavior (Le Bon,

Suggested Citation:"Part V New Directions." National Research Council. 1994. Learning, Remembering, Believing: Enhancing Human Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2303.
×
Page 249
Suggested Citation:"Part V New Directions." National Research Council. 1994. Learning, Remembering, Believing: Enhancing Human Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2303.
×
Page 250
Suggested Citation:"Part V New Directions." National Research Council. 1994. Learning, Remembering, Believing: Enhancing Human Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2303.
×
Page 251
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Learning, Remembering, Believing: Enhancing Human Performance Get This Book
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Can such techniques as sleep learning and hypnosis improve performance? Do we sometimes confuse familiarity with mastery? Can we learn without making mistakes? These questions apply in the classroom, in the military, and on the assembly line.

Learning, Remembering, Believing addresses these and other key issues in learning and performance. The volume presents leading-edge theories and findings from a wide range of research settings: from pilots learning to fly to children learning about physics by throwing beanbags. Common folklore is explored, and promising research directions are identified. The authors also continue themes from their first two volumes: Enhancing Human Performance (1988) and In the Mind's Eye (1991).

The result is a thorough and readable review of:

  • Learning and remembering. The volume evaluates the effects of subjective experience on learning—why we often overestimate what we know, why we may not need a close match between training settings and real-world tasks, and why we experience such phenomena as illusory remembering and unconscious plagiarism.
  • Learning and performing in teams. The authors discuss cooperative learning in different age groups and contexts. Current views on team performance are presented, including how team-learning processes can be improved and whether team-building interventions are effective.
  • Mental and emotional states. This is a critical review of the evidence that learning is affected by state of mind. Topics include hypnosis, meditation, sleep learning, restricted environmental stimulation, and self-confidence and the self-efficacy theory of learning.
  • New directions. The volume looks at two new ideas for improving performance: emotions induced by another person—socially induced affect—and strategies for controlling one's thoughts. The committee also considers factors inherent in organizations—workplaces, educational facilities, and the military—that affect whether and how they implement training programs.

Learning, Remembering, Believing offers an understanding of human learning that will be useful to training specialists, psychologists, educators, managers, and individuals interested in all dimensions of human performance.

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