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Chapter 6So ci a l C ontr ac ts and th e Wason Se le c t io n Task:

Experiments

The game- theore t ic condi t ions governing rec iprocat ion andnon- rec ip roca tion i n s a s i a l exchange a r e too complex and tooi mp o rt a nt t o l e a v e t o t h e v a g a r i e s of t r i a l - a n d - e r r o r l e a r n i n g .Humans should have evolved i n f e r e n t i a l procedur es t h a t make themvery good a t de t ec t ing chea t ing on so c i a l con t rac t s . The " lookf o r c h e a t e r s " p r o ce d ur e p r e d i c t e d i n Ch ap te r 5 can be expected t ogenera te a qu i t e sp ec i f i c and unusual pa t t e rn of r e sponses on theWason s e le ct i on ta sk when i t s content involves s oc ia l exchange.

I n a s o c i a l e xc ha ng e s i t u a t i o n f o r w hich a s u b j e c t h a sincomple te i n ormat ion , a " look f or chea ter s" procedure shoulddraw a t t en t i o n t o any person who has NOT p a i d t h e r e q u i r e d c o s t(has he i l l i c i t l y absconded w i th the b ene f i t ? ) and any pe rson whoh a s a cc e pt e d t h e b e n e f i t ( h a s he p a i d t h e r e q u i r e d c o s t ? ) .

The Wason se le c t io n ta sk i s a paper and pe nc il problem t h a ti n v i t e s a s u b j e c t t o s e e i f a c on d i t i o n a l r u l e of t h e form " I f Pt hen Q n ha s been vi o la te d by any one of f our i ns ta nc es( repr esen ted by c a rd s ) abou t w hich t he sub jec t has incom ple teinformat ion (se e Chapter 2 ) . By p re se nt i ng one term of ac o n d i t i o n a l r u l e a s a r a t i o n e d b e n e f i t , and t h e o t h e r term a s acos t / r equ i rement , one can c re a t e a Wason se l e c t io n t a sk t h a ti n s t a n t i a t e s a s o c i a l c o n t r a c t . T h i s c an be us ed t o s e e howp e o pl e r e as o n a b ou t s o c i a l c o n t r a c t s i n t h e f a c e of i nc om pl et einfo rmat ion. Figure 6.1 shows th e cost /benef it s t r u c t u r e of s uc ha Wason se le c t io n ta sk .


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Figure 6 .1t Structure of Social Contract (SC) Problems 1

I t s your job to enforce the following law:Rule I- tandard Social Contract (STD-SC): "If you take the benefit, then you pay the cost."

(I f P then Q 1Rule 2 - witched Social Contract (SWC-SC): "If you pay the cost, then you take the benefit."(I f P then Q 1The cards below have inform atio n abo ut lo ur people. Each card represents one person. One side o f a card tells whether a person acceptedthe benefit and the other side of the car d tells whether that person paid the cost.Indicate only those card(s) you defin itely need to tur n over l o see i f any o f these people are breaking this law. .....................................................Benefit : Benefit : 4 COS . Cost :

: Accepted . : NOT Accepted . : Paid : : NOT Paid ......................................................Rule I- TD-SC: (P I (not-P) (Q) (not-Q)Rule 2 - SWC-SC: (Q) (not-Q) (P ) (not-P)

I r r e s p e c t i v e of l o g i c a l c a te g o r y , a " lo ok f o r c h e a t e r s "p r ocedur e wou ld cause t he su b j ec t t o :

1. Choose t h e "cos t NOT pa i d" c a r d and t he "be ne f i t accep t ed"c a r d . T he se c a r d s r e p r e s e n t p o t e n t i a l c h e a t e r s .

2. I g n o r e t h e " c o s t p a i d " c a r d an d t h e " b e n e f i t NOT a c c e p t e d "ca r d . These ca r ds r ep r es en t peop l e who cou ld no t poss i b l yhave chea ted .

A s Fi gur e 6 .1 shows , t h e l o g i c a l ca t egor y t o whi ch each ca r dc o r r e s p o n ds v a r i e s , and i s determined by where th e c o s t s andb e n e f i t s t o t h e p o t e n t i a l c h ea te r a r e l o c a t e d i n t h e " If -t he n"s t r u c t u r e o f t h e r u l e . For a " s t anda r d" so c i a l co n t r a c t (STD-SC)-- one w it h t h e b e n e f i t i n t h e " I f " c l a u s e and t h e c o s t i n t h e" t h e n " c l a u s e -- t h e two ch os en c a r d s c o r re s po n d t o t h e l o g i c a lc a t e g o r i e s ' no t -Q ' ( c o s t NOT p a i d ) a nd ' P ' ( b e n e f i t a c c e p t e d ) .However, f o r a "sw itche d" s o c i a l co n t ra c t (SWC-SC) -- one witht h e c o s t i n t h e " I f " c l a u s e and t h e b e n e f i t i n t h e " th en " c la u s e-- t h e same tw o c a r d s c o r re s po n d t o t h e l o g i c a l c a t e g o r i e s ' no t- P'


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how they reason about so c i a l exchange, th es e ought t o fu nc ti on ,i n p ar t , a s frame-- t h a t st ru ct u re new experie nces. T hismeans they should operate i n unfamiliar s i tu at io ns . No matterhow unfamiliar the re la t i on or terms of a rul e , i f the sub jectpe rce ives the t erms a s rep re sen t ing a ra t ioned be ne f i t and a cos trequirement -- t h a t i s , i f the subjec t recognizes the s i t ua t i ona s one of s o ci al exchange -- a " look for chea te rs " procedureshould produce th e above pa tt er n of resp onses. Non-socialcon t rac t ru l e s , e i t he r desc r ip t iv e o r p re sc r ip t iv e , should notshow t h i s pa r t i c u la r pa t t e rn of va r i a t i on , r ega rd le s s of th e i rfam i l i a r i ty . In gene ra l , they can be expec ted t o e l i c i t the samelow l ev el s of ' P & not-Q' and very low le v e l s of 'not-P & Q 'ty pi ca l l y found i n the l i t e r a t u r e for non-SC problems.

Previous r es ul ts on the Wason se lec t io n task a re co ns is tentw i t h a soc ia l con t r ac t in te rp re ta t io n ( s ee Chapter 2 fo r ade ta i l ed rev iew) . Robust and rep l ic ab le content e f f ec ts a r efound on ly fo r ru le s th a t r e l a te t e rms th a t a re recogn izab le a sbene f i t s and cos t s i n the fo rmat of a s t anda rd so c i a l con t rac t .No t he m at ic r u l e t h a t i s not a s oc ia l contr act has ever produceda co n te n t e f f e c t t h a t i s both robust and re pl ic ab le . Forthematic content a re as th a t do not express soc ia l contra c ts ,e i t he r no content e f fe c t i s found (e. g., th e food problem) , orthe r e a r e a t l e a s t a s many s tud i e s th a t do no t f in d con ten te f f e c t s a s t h e r e a r e s t u d i e s t h a t do ( t r a n s p o r t a t i o n and s ch oo lproblems) . Moreover, most of the conten t e f f e c t s rep or ted fornon-SC r u l e s ar e ei t h e r weak (Gilhooly & Falconer, 1974; Po ll ar d,1981) , c louded by procedura l d i f f i c u l t i e s (Bracewell & Hidi,1974; Van Duyne, 1974) , or have some earmarks of a s o c i a l


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c o n t r a c t problem (Van Duyne, 197 4). A l l to ld , fo r non-SCt hemat i c p r ob l ems , t h r e e expe ri men t s have pr oduced a s u bs t a n t i a lc o n t e n t e f f e c t ( t r a n s p o r t a t i o n : Wason & Shapi ro , 1971; Bracewel l& Hid i, 1974; sc ho ol : Van Duyne, 19 74 ), two have produced a weakc o n t e n t e f f e c t ( t r a n s p o r t a t i o n : G il ho o ly & Falconer , 1974;P o l l a r d , 1 9 8 1 ) , and 14 h av e p ro du ce d no c o n t e n t e f f e c t a t a l l( t r a n s p o r t a t i o n : B ra ce we ll & Hidi, 1974; Manktelow & Evans, 1979;Yachanin & Tweney, 19 82; Gr ig gs & Cox, 1982. food: Manktelow &Evans , 1979 (4 exper imen ts) ; Brown d., 982; Reich & Ruth,1982; Yachanin & Tweney, 1982; school: Yachanin & Tweney, 1982.non-SC po s t of f i c e: Golding, 1980; Gr ig gs & Cox, 19 82 ). The fewe f f e c t s t h a t w ere f ou nd d i d n o t r e p l i c a t e . I n c o n t r a s t , s i x t e e no u t o f s i x t e e n e x pe ri me nt s w i th s t a n d a r d s o c i a l c o n t r a c t se l i c i t e d s u b s t a n t i a l c on t en t e f f e c t s . These in c l u d e t h e Dr in ki ngAge Problem, t h e Pos t Of f i ce Problem, and t h e Se ar s Problem. Int h i s e x t e n s i v e l i t e r a t u r e , STD-SC r u l e s a r e t h e o n ly t h e m a t icc on te n t r u l e s t o e l i c i t s t ro n g, r e p l i c a b l e c on te nt e f f e c t s on t h eWason s e l ec t i on t a s k .

However, none of t he s e s t ud i e s t e s t e d s wi t ched s o c i a lc o n t r a c t r u l e s -- r u l e s f o r which t h e c o r r e c t s o c i a l c o n t r a c tanswer i s ' not -P & Q. ' Moreover, most of them c o n tr a st e dfa m i l i a r STD-SC ru le s wi th unf ami l i a r non-SC r u le s (d es cr ip t i venon-SC ru le s : Johnson-Laird, Leg renz i & Legrenzi , 1972; Cox &Griggs , 1982; Gr iggs & Cox, 1982; Gr ig gs & Cox, 1983.p r e sc r i p t i v e non-SC ru le s : DIAndrade, 1981; Golding, 1981; Cox &Griggs , 1982) . Hence, th ese s t ud ie s do not a l low one t o choosed i r e c t l y between a s o c i a l c o n t r a c t e x p l a n a t io n an d t h ee x pl a na t io n most p r e v a le n t i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e , " a v a i l a b i l i t y . "


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whether a rule i s a s o c i a l c o n t r a c t (SC) o r d e s c r i p t i v e ( D ) .For av a i l ab i l i t y theory , th e major de te rminan t of responses i swhether a ru le i s f a m i l i a r ( F ) o r u n f am i l i a r ( U ) . Because thesetwo va r i ab le s a r e o r thogona l , one can c r ea te an a r ray o f fourproblem typ es: Unf am il ia r- So ci al Con tr act (U-SC) , Famil ia r -Soc ia lContract (F-SC) , Unf amili ar- Desc rip t iv e (U-D) , Familiar-D e s c r i p t i v e (F-D) :

'Ava i lab i l i ty d imens ion 'f a m i l i a r u n f a m i l i a r...............................................

d e s c r i p t i v e : F -D U-D'SC ...............................................dimension' U-SCF-SCs o c i a l c o n t r a ct : : (U-STD-SC, U-SWC-SC) :...............................................

Moreover, t h e r e a r e two kin ds of U-SC problems: un fa mi li arst an da rd s o c i a l co nt ra ct s (U-STD-SC) and unf ami li ar swi tcheds o c i a l co nt ra ct s (U-SWC-SC). A l l bu t th e F-SC, which conf oundsfa mi l i a r i t y w ith being a s o c i a l c on t ra c t , c an be us ed t oc o n s t r u c t c r i t i c a l t e s t s d i s en t a n gl i n g t h e f o ll ow i ng twohypotheses :

BY: A v a i l a b i l i t y i s t he s o l e determinant of performance onWason se le c t io n ta sk s o f va ry ing con ten t . Th is i s t h e n u l lh y p o th e s i s from t h e s t a nd p o i nt of t h e e x i s t i n g l i t e r a t u r e .

* Actua l l y , th e non-SC r u l e can be e i th e r d es c r ip t i ve orp r e s c r i p t i v e . A l l SC r u l e s a r e p r e s c r i p t i v e , b ut n ot a l lp r es c r ip t i ve ru le s a r e SC ru le s . Most of th e non-SC t hemat icp r o b l e m s t e s t e d i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e were d e sc r i p t i v e .


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Experiment 5 t e s t s whether an ab s t ra c t problem wi th a s oc ia lcon t rac t s tor y context can e l i c i t SC responses; Experiment 6s h o w s t h a t t h e s o c i a l c o n t r a c t e f f e c t i s r e p l i c a b l e w it h f a m i l i a rcontent .

Experiment 1

The purpose of Experiment 1 was t o se e whether an unfamlllar.STD-SC problem would e l i c i t th e p re di ct ed S C response, ' P & not -Q1.A high pe rc en ta ge of " f a l s i f y i n g " resp ons es on a U-STD-SC i spred i c t ed on ly by so c i a l con t r a c t theo ry ; av a i l a b i l i t y t heo rypr ed ic ts a low percentage of fa ls i f yi ng responses on the U-STD-SCbecause it i s unfam il iar . Each subjec t was asked t o solve fourWason s e le c ti o n ta s k s , which were prese nte d i n random ord er.Th eo ret ica l ly , the problem types can be descr ib ed a s fol lows:

U-STD-SC: Unfamiliar - Standard Social ContractU-D : Unfamiliar - Descr ip t iveAP : Abstract ProblemF-D : Famil iar - Desc r ip t i ve

The AP was a non-SC pr es cr ip t i ve r ul e; it was included because i ti s commonly used a s a s tan dard f or ass ess ing a v ai la b i l i t y (Wason,1983) .

Table 6.1 shows th e re la t i v e percentages of 'P & not-Q' and'not-P & Q 1 responses expected i n Experiment 1, assuming thatresponses ar e determined by e i t he r S C a l go r it h m s o r a v a i l a b i l i t y ,but not both.Sub j ec t s.

Twenty-f our und ergra duate s from Harvard U ni ve rsi typa r t i c ip a te d i n Experiment 1; they were pa id volunteers recru i tedby adve rtisem ent (13 fema les, 11 males; mean age: 19.4 years).

205


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Mater ia ls and Procedures .Each sub jec t r ece ived a sea led book le t w i th i ns t r uc t i on s on

t h e f i r s t page, fo l lowed by four Wason se le c t io n ta sk s , one perpage. Each se l ec t i o n t as k was embedded i n a br ie f s to ry . Eachbook le t c on ta in ed a U-STD-SC, a U-D, an AP, and an F-D. Theorde r of th e fou r problems was randomized acr os s sub je ct s .Experiment 1 had a w i th i n sub je c t s des ign .

A l l s t o r i e s were p hr as ed s o a s t o a c t i v a t e a " d e t e c t iv e s e t "(Van Duyne, 1 9 7 4 ), and a l l a s ke d s u b j e c t s t o l oo k f o r viol^of t he ru l e . There were two ver s io ns ( ' A ' and 'B') of unfami l iarp roblem s; th e ru le s used and th e two cu l t u r es desc r ibed the re inw e r e f i c t i t i o u s . A b o o k le t e i t h e r c o n t ai n e d t h e ' A ' vers ion o ft h e U-D problem and the ' B ' v er s io n of th e U-STD-SC, or v i c eve r sa . F igure 6.2 shows the ' A ' vers ions of the unfam i l i a rproblems; Fig ure 6.3 shows t h e ' B ' versions. The ' A ' vers ion o ft h e U-D and U-STD-SC va ri ed only i n surrou ndin g s t o r y co nte xt;t h e ru l es used were id en t i ca l . The same was t r u e of t he ' B 've rs io n problems. Figu re 6.4 compares th e unf arn ili ar problemsused i n Experiments 1 and 2.

I w an te d t o u se a ny e f f e c t a v a i l a b i l i t y mi gh thave i n e l i c i t i n g f a l s i f y i n g re sp on se s t o t h e F-D problem a s am e t r i c f o r j u dg in g t h e s i z e of a s o c i a l c o n t r a c t e f f e c t . Fort h i s r e a s o n I used a t ra ns po rt at io n problem a s th e F-D problem;t h e tr an sp or ta t i on problem had been t he most su cc es sf ul non-SCproblem i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e ( s e e Ch ap te r 2 ) . V ar ious ve r s ions( u s i n g d i f f e r e n t t e r m s ) o f t h e F-D and AP problems wererandomized wi th res pec t t o each o the r and the unfa mi l i ar problems.Fi gu re 6.5 shows examples of t h e F-D and AP problems used.


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Figure 6.2 ' A ' versions of Unfamiliar rulesUnfamiliar Standard Social Contract (U-STD-SC)

PAGEYou a re a Kaluame, a member of a P olyn esian cu lt ur e found o nly on MakuIsla nd i n the Paci fic. The Kaluame have many st r i c t laws which mustbe enforced, and the eld ers have entrus ted you with en forc ing them.To fa i l would di sgra ce you and your family.Among th e Kaluame, when a man marrie s, he ge ts a t at to o on hi s fac e;only marr ied men have ta t t oo s on th e i r faces . A f a c i a l t a t t o o meansthat a man i s marri ed, an unmarked fa ce means t ha t a man i s abachelor.Cassava root i s a powerful aphrodis iac - t makes th e man who ea t s iti rr es is ti bl e to women. Moreover it i s d e l i c i o u s an d n u t r i t i o u s - ndvery scarce .Unlike cassava roo t, molo nuts a r e very common, b ut th ey a re poore a t ing - molo nuts t as t e bad, they ar e not very nutr i t i ous , and theyhave no other in ter es t in g 'medic inaln proper t i es .Although everyone crav es cassava root, eat in g it i s a p r i v i l e g e t h a tyour people closely rat ion . You ar e very sensual people, even withou tthe a phrodi s i a c a l p rope r t i e s of c a s sa va roo t , bu t you ha ve ve ry s t r i c tsexual mores. The e lder s s trongly disapprove of sexual re la t ion sbetween unmarr ied people , and par t ic ula r ly di s t ru s t th e motives andinten t ion s of bachelors.Therefore , the e l der s have made laws governing ra t ioni ng pr i vi leg es .The one you have been ent rus ted t o enforce i s a s f o ll o ws :'If a man eats cassav a root , then he must have a ta tt oo on hi s face. 'Cassava root i s so powerful an aphzodis iac, th at many men ar e temptedt o chea t on th is law wnenever the e ld ers a ren ' t looking. The cardsbelow have inform ation abou t fou r young Kaluame men si t t i n g i n atemporary camp; th er e ar e no el de rs around. A t r a y f i l l e d wi thcassava root and molo nuts has jus t been l e f t for them. Each cardrepr esen ts one man. One si de of a card t e l l s which food a man i se a t ing, a nd the o ther s i de of th e c a rd t e l l s w hether o r n o t th e manh as a f a c i a l t a t t o o .

our job i s to catch men whose sex ual d es ir es might tempt them t oreak t he law - if any ge t pas t you, you and your fami ly w i l l beIndic a te on ly those c a rd( s ) you de f in i t e ly ne e d t o tu rnver to see if any of these Kaluame men ar e breaking t he law..................

A. :: ea ts cassava :r o o t: ..............:

.................B. : not a t t o o :.................

Unfamiliar Descriptive (U-D)PAGE

You are an anth rop olo gist studyi ng the Kaluame people, a Polynesiancul tur e found only on Maku Is land i n the Pac if ic . Before leavi ng fMaku I sla nd you read a rep ort th at says some Kaluame men have t at toon th e i r f a c e s , a nd th a t the y e a t e i th e r c a s sa va roo t o r molo nu t s ,but not both. The auth or of the repo rt, who did not speak thela ngua ge , s a id the fo l low ing r e la t io n seemed t o hold:' I f a man ea t s cassava root , then he must have a ta t to o on h is faceYou decide to inv est ig at e your col lea gu e's pe cul iar claim. When yoarr iv e on Maku Is land, you lea rn th a t cassava r oot i s a s t a r c hy s t afood found on th e south end of th e is land . Molo nuts a r e very highprot e in, and grow on molo tr ees , which ar e pr imari ly found on th ei s l a nd ' s nor th shore.You a l so l e a rn th a t ba c he lor s l iv e pr ima r i ly on the nor th shore , buwhen men marry, they u sual ly move to t he s outh end of th e islan d.When a Kaluame man marries , he get s a t at to o on h i s face; only marrmen have ta t to os on the ir faces . A f a c i a l t a t to o mea ns tha t a manmarri ed, an unmarked fa ce means chat a man i s a bachel or. Perhap s mare s imply ea t i ng foods which a re most av a i l ab le to them.The ca r d s bel ow ha ve i nf o rm a ti o n a b ou t f o u r ~ a l u den s i t t i n g i n temporary camp a t the center of t he isl and . Each man i s e a t i n g e i t hcassava r oo t o r molo nut s which he has b rough t with him from home.Each card represents one man. One a ide of a c a rd t e l l s w hich food man i s e a t ing a nd the o the r s ide of th e c a rd t e l l s w hether o r no t thman has a ta t t oo on hi s face .The r u l e l a i d o u t by your co llea gue may no t be t rue ; you want t o sef o r y o u r se l f . Indi ca te only those card ( s ) you de f i n i t e ly nee d to tuover to sca if any of t he se Kaluame men are breaking the rule.

.................. .................A. : B. :no t a t too :

: t a t t o o: .............. :...............:.................

C. :: e a t s c a s sa va :roo t:...............:

.................D. :: e a t s molo :n u t s :.................

.................C. :

: ea ts molo :n u t s:...............:.................D. : t a t t o o ::...............:


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Figure 6 , 3 ',B', versions of Unfamiliar rulesStandard Social Contract (U-STD -SC)

PAGE

u are an anthr opolog ist s tudying the Namka, a hunter -gath erer cu l tu ren t h e d e s e r t s o f s o ut h we s t A f r ic a . You a r e p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t e r e s t e dwhether Namka boys obey t he laws of th e ir people.f u l l moon the re i s a s p e c i a l f e a s t i n wh ic h a d u i ke r - sma l l- s slaug htere d and eaten . Duiker meat i s q u i t e s c a r c e a nd- re a l t re a t . Ea t i n g d u i k e r mea t i s a p r i v i l e g e t h a t

r b oy s , t h i s p r i v i l eg e i s governed by the fo l lo wing law:.If you eat duiker meat , the n you have found an os t r ic h eggshel l . .

i n g o s t r i c h e g g s h e ll s i s a s o p h i s t i c a t e d a nd d i f f i c u l t t a s k w hi ch t a k e sy year s to learn . Having found an os t r ic h eggsh el l on your own i st you h a v e m a s te r ed t h e m os t d i f f i c u l t s k i l l s o fing. For th e Namka, it rep re sen t s a b o y ' s t r an s i t i o n i n t o man hoo d.der i f Namka boys ch ea t on t h i s law when nobody i s looking.de to hide behind some bushes and watch. During th e cours e ofa s t o f t h e fu l l moon, y ou see fo u r d i f f e re n t b o y s app ro ach t h eo o n e e l s e is looking.

e cards below have informat ion about the se fou r boys. Each carden t s o ne boy . One s i d e of a ca rd t e l l s w h e th e r a bo y has ev e rd a n o s t r i c h e g g s h e ll a n d t h e o t h e r s i d e o f t h e c a r d t e l l s w he th erat boy took any of t he ro aste d duiker meat .f th e roast ing duiker i s t r u l y t emp t i n g t o t h e b oy s. Yout o know if any of them cheated on th e law. In di ca te only tho se(s ) y ou d e f i n i t e l y n eed t o t u rn o v e r t o see i f an y of t h e s e b oy sbroken the law.

.................A : e a t ssome: duiker meat ::...............:

.................C. : does not :: e a t a ny :: duiker meat :.................

.................B : ha s n ev er fo und:: a n o s t r i c h :: e g g s h e l l ::...............:.................D. : h a s f o u n d :: a n o s t r i c h :: e g g s h e l l ::...............:

Unfamiliar Descriptive (U-D)PAGE

You ar e an anthrop ologis t s tudyi ng the Namka, a hunter-gatherercu l t u r e i n t h e d ese r t s o f so u t h w est A fr i ca . O ve r and ov e r ag a i n , yhear v arious Namka re peat the fo l l owing saying:' If you ea t duiker meat , then you have found an ost ric h eggshel l . .

D u i k e rs a re sma l l an t e l o p es fo un d i n t h e ea s t e rn p a r t o f t h e N amka 'shome range. Both duiker meat and os t r ic h eggsh el ls ar e sought by thNamka: They ea t th e meat and they use t he egg she l ls as canteensb ecause t h ey a r e l i g h t an d h o l d l o t s o f w a te r . F u r th e rmo re, d u i k e rsf req u e n t l y feed on o s t r i c h egg s .A s an an t h ro p o l o g i s t , y ou d o n ' t k now i f t h i s say i n g i s met ap h o r i ca lr e f e r r i n g . f o r e xa mp le , t o c l a n t e r r i t o r i e s o r r i t u a l p r a c t i c e s , o r t h e s a y i n g r e f l e c t s a r e a l r e l a t i o n s h i p t h e Namka u s e t o g u i d e t h e i rfor agin g behavior. Does it mean t h a t i f y ou f i n d t h e f i r s t you f i n dthe second? Thi s i s w h at yo u a re t r y i n g t o f i n d o u t .Is it fa ct or fo lk l or e? Do the Namkau ggs hel l s and duiker meao r a r e t h e se th ings merely symboZg fo r something e ls e ent i r e ly ?Unfo rtuna tely, you don 't know the ir lang uage well enough to ask themS o y ou d ec i d e t o i n v es t i g a t e w h e th e r t h e ru l e s ta t-ed i n t h i s say i n ghas any factual basis.Many spe cies of b i r ds populate the area , and in your wanderings youhave come acr oss sev era l caches of eggs of vario us sor ts . The car dsbelow have informat ion about four d i ff er en t loca t ion s wi th egg cacheEach ca rd rep re sen t s o ne l o ca t i o n , an d each l o ca t i o n h as t h e t r ack s one mammal associated w i t h it. One s i d e o f a c a r d t e l l s wh at k i n d oeg g sh e l l y ou fou n d a t a l o ca t i o n , an d t h e o t h ? r s i d e of t h e ca rd t e lwhich mammal's tr ac ks you found ther e.Perhaps th e Namka's saying, has no fac tu al basis. In d i ca t e o n l y t h o sec a r d ( s ) you d e r i n i t e l y n ee d t o t u r n o ve r t o s e e i f y ou r f i n d s a t a n yo f t h e s e l o c a t i o n s v i o l a t e s the ru l e ex p re ssed i n t h e Bamk a's say in g

.................A. :: q u a i l: eg g sh e l l :: ..............:.................C. : duiker :

.................B : o s t r i c h :eggshel l ::...............:

.................D. : weasel ::...............:


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Rule A:

Figure 6.4 Experiments 1 and 2 ; Comparison of Unfamiliar Problems'A ' VERSIONS OP ONPAMILIAR PRDBLMS 'B' -IONS OP ONPAMILIAR PROBLMS

(Exp 1): ' If a man eat s cassav a root , then he must have a tatt oo on hi s face. '(Exp 2) : 'If a man has a ta tt oo on h i s face , .the n he eat s cassava root

Logical Category:(Exp 1) (Erp 2).eats cassava root' P Q*eat s molo nut sg not-P not-Q= t a t t o o m P P.no tattoog not-Q not+A:Corron S to r y E l ~ e n t s : A l l ' A ' p r o b lcn s in v o lv e a f i c t io n a lPolynesian people called the 'Kaluame*. A f ac ia l t a t to o mean s a ma ni s married. no tatt oo means he i s a bachelor.AaV-D Story Smaary: You ( the subjectf , ar e an anthropologis t s tudyingthe Kaluame. Cassava roo t and molo nut s ar e foods found on twodif f ere nt par t s of the ir is la nd; men eat one or the o ther . but notboth. Harried men and bachelors te nd to l i v e on two dif fer en t pa rt s ofth e i d ~ d . here cassava root and molo tr ee s gr w , re spective ly. Your ead a r ep o r t a s ae r t in g th a t R u le A seems t o hold. If so , perhaps menare simply eatin g foods which are most avai la bl e t o them. But Rule Amay not be true. You want to in ve sti ga te for yoursel f by seeing ifany of fou r men (each car d repr ese nts one man) ar e breaking Rule A.ArV-STD. V-SWC Story Smnnry: You a re a Kaluame who has been ent rus tedto enforce your peop le's laws. Cassava roo t i s a powerful hut s ca r ceaphrodis iac and a del ic ious food source; eat in g it is a rat ionedpr iv i lege, governed by Rule A. ,51010 nu ts a r e a common, u nd es ir ab lef oo d s o u rce w i th no in t e r e s t iq g m ed ic i~ l ' r o p e r t i e s. The Kaluamehave very s t r i c t sexual mores,-and disapprove of sexual rela tio nsbetween unmarrie d peop le. Your job i s t o catc h any of fou r men (eachcard re pr es en ts one man) who might have che ate d on Rule A.*'murrtm i s l e f t o u t o f t h e f i r s t c l a u se b ec au se it violates commonEnglish ueage36. -

Rule B:(Erp 1 ) : .If you ea t duiker meat, then you have found an ost ri ch (Exp 2): 'If you have found an ost ri ch eg gsh ell , then you e a t dui

0-D Cards: 0-STD, O-SWC Ca rd s:( ~ x p r 2) (Exp 1 L 2) Logical C(Exp 1) 'duiker: .eats some duiker meatg P'weasel Q'does not ea t any duiker meat' not-P n'ostr ich eggsh ellg 'has found an ost ric h eggshell ' Q P'quail eggshell ' .has never found an os tr ic h not-Q neggshell 'BxCmon Story Elementax In al l 'B' problems, you [the sub je ct ) an anthropologis t s tudying a ( f ic t io nal ) southwes t Afr ican huntergat her er group ca ll ed the 'Namkag. Duikers ar e ante lope s whose mth e Namka ea t.B:O-D St or y Slrmrary: You want t o kn w if Rule B i s f ac t o r f o lk lo rThe whereabouts of both duikers (hunted fo r th ei r meat) and ost ri ceggshel ls (used as canteens) are of in ter es t to the Namka. Duikefrequently feed on os tr ich eggs , so you guess Rule B r e f l e c t s a rrelat i onship t ha t the Naka use to guide thei r foraging behavior. don' t know the N ak a's language well enough to ask, so you decide s ee i f R ule B has any fa ct ua l basis. To do th is, you can inv es tigany of four locat ions (each card represents one locat ion ) . Assocwith each locat ion i s the egg cache of one bird spe cies and th e trof one mammal.BID-STD. U-SWC Stor y Smmary: You a re i nt er est ed i n whether Nmka obey the laws of th ei r people. Pinding os tri ch eggshell s i s ad i f f i c u l t , s o p hi s t ic a t ed t a s k which represents a boy ' s t ran s i t ion manhood. Duiker meat i s a scarc e and priz ed food; ea tin g duiker ma t f e a s t s i s a priv ile ge th at must be earned, and i s r eg u la t ed byB. You want t o know if any of four boys a t the fea s t cheated on tlaw when no one but you w a s looking (each card represe nts one boy


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Figure 6.5 Familiar Descriptive and Abstract Problems

(F-D: Transporta tion Problem)PAGE

w job f or t he Ci ty of Cambridge i s to s tudy theYou rea d a prev ious ly doneof Cambridge residents which says:

Abstract Problem (AP)PAGE

Part of your new cle ri ca l job a t the loc al high school is t o makesure th at stud ent documents have been processed corr ectl y. Yourjob i s t o make su re th e documents conform t o th e foll owingalphanumeric rule:"If a person goes int o Boston, then he takes the eubway."

"If a person has a ' Do ra ti ng , then h i s documents must be marked ccar d repres ents one person. One si de of a card t e l l s whereother side of the card te l l s how th at

ate only those card( s) you defi nit ely need to t urn over toi f any of these people v io la te th is ru le ..................:: subway :

:z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :.................: tca bt

.................8. :

r Arlington :t II...............:

YOU suspect the se creta ry you replaced did not categoriz e thestu den ts' documents cor rec tly . The car ds below have inform ationabout th e documents of four p eople who ar e enro lle d a t t h i s h i ghschool. Each car d rep res ent s one person. One si de of a cardte l l s a person ' s l e t te r ra t in g and the o ther s ide of the cardt e l l s th at person's number code.Indic ate only those card@ ) you &fi nit ely need to turn over tosee i f the documents of any of these people viola te t hi s rule..................

. : :P ::

t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :


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The i n s t r u c t i o n s ( r ep ro d uc e d i n Fi g ur e 6. 6) a s k ed s u b j e c t s t od o t h e f o u r t a s k s i n o r d e r , w i th o u t r e r ea d i n g any p r e vi o us s t o r yor rev iewing or changing any prev ious answers . The in s t ru c t io nswe re r e a d al ou d t o s u b j e c t s ; i n a d d i ti o n , s u b j e c t s w ere g iv en a smuch t i m e a s t h e y w an te d t o r e a d t h e i n s t r u c t i o n s o ve r t ot hem se lves be fo r e b reak i ng t h e s e a l and beg i nn i ng t he exper i m en t .A 1 t hough most su b j ec t s completed th e exper iment i n about 10minutes , t hey were t o l d they could t ak e a s much t ime a s they wanted .R e s u l t s.

The per cen t of su b j ec t s choos ing 'P & not-Q ' fo r eachp robl em c l o s e l y m a tches t he so c i a l co n t r ac t p r ed i c t i on s shown i nT a b l e 6 .l. Hypotheses By and SS: b ot h p r e d i c t t h a t t h e p e r c en t of

Ta bl e 6.2 Experiment 1: Percen t of s ub j ec t s choos i ng'P & not-Q1 or 'not -P & Q ' fo r each problem (n=24)

U-STD-SC: 1 75 I 0 1I I IU-D : 1 21 1 0 II I IAP : I 25 I 0 I

F-D :

T ab l e 6 .2 shows th e percen t o f su b j ec t s who chose e i t h e r ' P& not-Q' or 'not-P & Q 1 . Residual responses: These twoc a t e g o r i e s do n o t , of c o u r s e, e x ha u st a l l p o s s i b l ecombina tions of c ard choice s -- t h e re a r e s ix te en i n a l l .Of th e 6 re spo nse s t o th e U-STD-SC t h a t were not f u l l SCanswers , 5 we re ha l f co r r ec t , " s i n s o f om is s ion" : 2 ' P Irespo nses (omi t t e d no t-Q) and 3 ' not -Q ' res ponses (omi t t e dP ) . The 'not-Q ' resp onse i s m ost i n t e r e s t i ng because no t-Qi s t h e c a r d peop l e r ou t i ne l y fo rg e t t o choose on Wasons e l e c t i o n t a s k s , and i t i s r a re l y chosen a l one . I f onecount s ' no t -Q1 a s a l s o c or re c t f o r bo th th e U-STD-SC and th eF-D, t h e magnitude of t he d i f fe re nc e be tween them inc re as es(87.5% v. 54% ).


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Figure 6.6 Instructions r~PLEASE DON'T LOOK THROUGH THIS BOOKLET YET( B u t go ahead and read thes e ins t r uc t io ns )

T h i s i s an experiment, completely optional, which w i l l take about 15minutes.I am in te re s t ed i n how people th ink about d i f f er en t soc ia l s i t ua t i on s , Youw i l l be read ing some br ie f s t o r i e s and then evalua t ing sen tences l i ke :

" I f a f r u i t i s an apple, then i t mu s t be red."You w i l l be eval uat in g the sen tence wi th re s ec t t o in formation on fourc a r d s -- a c t u a l l y , Dictures of four card s, 1 ke t he p ic tu re s below.In t h i s example, each ca rd would re pre se nt a fr u i t . Each ca rd would havethe name of a f r u i t on one s i de and th a t f r u i t ' s co lor on the o ther s id e ,for example: .................B. t t

t blue tt t

. red I: t

.................D o t t

I pear :t tOf cou rse, s i nc e they a re only pi ct ur es , you w i l l only be a bl e t o se e ones i d e of each car d. The car ds need not correspond t o th e way t he worldre al ly i s t fo r example , the "pear" card could say "yel lowN or " red" or"pur ple" on the back, th e "red" ca rd could say "apple" or "banana" or"b lue be rry " on th e back, and so on. For each story, you w i l l be asked t oi n d i ca t e on ly t h o se ca r d ( @ )you de f in i t e ly need t o tu rn over t o see if anyof them v i o l a t e t h e r e l a t i o n s t a t e d i n t h e se ntence. c i r c l e t he l e t t e r ( s )(A ,B ,C , or D ) which i s next t o the c ar d( s) you want t o tu r n over .T he re a r e f o u r d i f f e r e n t s t o r i e s on four di ff e re nt pages. Don't look aheada t any s to r i e s : Read the f i r s t s to ry and answer the ques t ion , t hen read thesecond story and answer i t s que st i on, and so on, i n t h e or de r t h e s t o r i e sappear i n t h i s book le t . P lease r ead a s to ry i n i t s e n t i r e t yW ouanswer the que sti on. Once you have fi ni sh ed answering th e qu es tio nassoc ia t ed wi th a story and gone on t o the next s to r y , b nat ga b& andrereadanyereviousstorieeQcreview.mchanaeianyDraPious-Never t r y t o answer a quest io n without first hav ing read the en t i r e s to ryca re fu l ly . There ar e no " t r ic k" quest ions . I f a sen tence or s to ry seemsambiguous, use your common sense -- I am in te re st ed i n what you wouldr ea l l y d o i f f a ced w i th t h es e s i t u a t i o n s i n r e a l l i f e .In sum: Pretend you r ea l l y do have t o inve st i ga te th e s i t ua t i on descr ibe di n a sto ry . Then, f o r each ca rd, ask yo ur se lf : "Would I need t o see th einformation on th e ot her si de of t h i s car d i n order t o make a judgment?"I f the answer i s "yes", t he n c i r c l e t h e l e t t e r , A,B ,C , or D, correspondingt o t h a t c a rd .Don't s t a r t u n t i l I have f in ish ed read ing the in s t ru ct io ns a loud . Takeyour time and have f unl

What year a r e you? Fresh -, Soph I J r - r 6 r , Other- p l ea s es p ec i f y )Are you Female - r Male ? Age ?i 1


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su b j ec t s choos i ng ' not -P & Q 1 w i l l be ve ry l ow fo r t he s e fou rproblems; inde ed, no one made t h i s respo nse i n Experiment 1 ( s e eT ab l e 6 .2 ) .

C r i t i c a l T es ts

P re d i ct io ns f o r c c i t i c a l t e s t s 1 and 2 a r e t aken f rom T ab l e6.1; f o r c r i t i c a l tes ts 3 and 4 , t hey a r e t aken f rom T ab l e 6.3.

' E

P re d i c t io ns f o r c r i t i c a l t e s t s 5 and 6 a r e der i ved f rom botht a b l e s .

C r i t i c a l T e st 1: Does a n u n f a m i li a r s t a n d a r d s o c i a l c o n t r a c te l i c i t t h e p r ed i c t ed SC re sponse, ' P & not-Q'?To answer t h i s que s t i o n , r e sponses t o t he two un fam i l i a r

problems must be compared; t he se problems use th e same r u le , butt h e s t o r y s u r r o u n di n g one r u l e makes it a s o c i a l c o n t r a c t wh er ea st h e s t o r y s u r r o u n di n g t h e o t h e r makes i t a d e s c r i p t i v e r u l e .

Pe rcen t age ' P & not-Q' responses:S o c i a l C o n t r a c t A v a i l a b i l i t yP r e d i c t i o n : P r e d i c t i o n :

U-STD-SC V. U-D. U-STD-SC > U-D U-STD-SC = U-Dh i gh 1 w 1w 1w

BJI does no t p r ed i c t , and canno t accoun t fo r , a w i de d i sc re pancyi n f a l s i f y i n g ( 'P & not -Q ' ) respo nses between th es e twounfam i l i a r p rob lem s. Yet a h i gh l y s i gn i f i c an t 54 po i n td i s c r ep a n c y o c cu r r ed , j u s t a s SC pr ed ic t s (75% v. 21%: F -112327 -1 8, p


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s i g n i f i c a n t " c o n te n t e f f e c t " when me as ur ed a g a i n s t t h e AP(75%v. 25%: F = 13.80, p < .005, r = .61). The U-D and AP

1 23b ot h e l i c i t e d t h e same low l e v e l s of f a l s i f y i n g r e s p o n se s (21% v.

. .C r i t i c a l T es t 2: Are the re more S C r e s p on s e s t o a n unfamlllars t a n d a ~ d o c i a l c o nt r ac t t ha n f a l s i f y i n gr e sp o ns e s t o a familiar d e s c r ip t i v e p r o b l e m ?A l l p ro bl em s a sk ed s u b j e c t s t o d e t e c t p o t e n t i a l v i o l a t i o n s

of t h e r u l e . T he re fo re , any e f f e c t a v a i l a b i l i t y h as i n e l i c i t i n gf a l s i f v u s. responses t o fa mi l ia r non-SC problems can be used a s am e t r i c f o r j u dg in g t h e s i z e of t h e s o c i a l c o n t r a c t e f f e c t .

Percen tage 'P & not-Q1 responses:S o c i a l C o nt r ac t A v a i l a b i l i t yP r e d i c t i o n : P r e d i c t i o n :

U-STD-SC V. F-D U-STD-SC > F-D U-STD-SC F-Dhigh low* 1w mid-low

A s s o c i a l c o n t r a c t t h e o r y p r e d i c t s , an un f a mi l i ar s o c i a l c o n t r a c t(U-STD-SC) wit h which no s u b j e c t could have had any a c t u a le x p e ri e n ce e l i c i t e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y more " f a l s i f y i n g " r e s p o n se s (SCr e sp o ns e s) t h a n a f a m i l i a r r e l a t i o n (F-D) with which sub jec t swere l i k e l y t o have had exper ien ce (75% v. 46%: F = 5.24, p


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Experiment 2

Experiment 2 was i d e n t i c a l t o Exper iment 1, excep t t heunf a rn i l i a r ru le s were swi tched ra t he r than s t andard . The fo urprob lem s f e l l i n t o t h e f o l lo w in g t h e o r e t i c a l c a t e g o r i e s :

U-SWC-SC: Unf amil ! ia r - Swi t ched Soc i a l Con t r ac tU-D : Unfami l i a r - D e s c r i p t i v eAP : Abstract ProblemF-D : Fami l i a r - D e s c r i p t i v e zTab l e 6.3 shows t he r e l a t i v e pe r cen t ages of ' P & not-Q1 and

'not -P & Q ' r esponses e xpected i n Exper iment 2 , assuming t h a tr e s p o n se s a r e d et er mi ne d by e i t h e r SC a l g o r i t h m s o r a v a i l a b i l i t y ,bu t no t bo t h .

T a b l e 6.3 Pr ed i c t i ons , Exper i men t 2: S o c i a l c o n t r a c t t h eo r y v e r s usa v a i l a b i l i t y th eo ry .

SWITCHED S o c i a l Co n tr ac t (SWC-SC) v. D e s c r i p t i v e pro ble ms.

S o c i a l C o n tr a ct A v a i l a b i l i t y S o c i a l C o n tr a ct A v a i l a b i l i t yU-SWC-SC: v e ry low 1 w high ver y lowU-D : 1w 1 w ve ry low ve ry lowAP: 1 w 1 w ver y low ve ry lowF-D : 1 w mi dd l ing t o low ve ry low ve ry low

Tab l e 6.3 R e l a t i v e p e r ce n t a g e s of ' P & not-Q' and 'not-P & Q 1r espon ses expected fo r Experiment 2 , assuming t h a t r esp onsesa r e d e t e rm i ne d by e i t h e r SC a l g o r i t h m s o r a v a i l a b i l i t y , b u t n o t b o th .'2& p o t- Q' r e s v o n s e s : S o c i a l C o n tr a c t P r e d i c t i o n s : T he se a r et h e ca r ds SC a l go r i t hm s shou l d i gnor e on sw i t ched so c i a lco n t r a c t p rob lems; hence t h e pe r cen tage of " f a l s i f y i ng "r esponses shou l d be verv low on t h e U-SWC-SC. The r a t i o n a l e f o rt h e o t h e r p r e d i c t i o n s i s t h e same a s t h a t p r e s e n te d i n T a b l e6.1 fo r Exper iment 1.'not-P st Q ' r esponses : Both hypotheses pr ed ic t a lowpe rce nta ge f o r a l l problems ot he r tha n th e U-SWC-SC, f o r which,a cc o rd in g t o s o c i a l c o n t r a c t t h e o ry , it i s t h e p r e d i c t e dr e sp o n se . S ee r a t i o n a l e i n T a b l e 6.1.


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i t i c a l T es t 4 : Are t h e r e m ore S C r e s po n s es t o a n u n f a m il i a rs w it ch ed s o c i a l c o n t r a c t t h an f a l s i f y i n gr e s po n s es t o a f a m i l i a r d e s c r i p t i v e p ro blem ?A s i n C r i t i c a l T e st 2 , one can use t he pe rcen t age o f

f a l s i f y i n g r e s p o n s es t o t h e F-D p ro ble m a s a m e t r i c f o r j u dg i ngt h e s i z e of t h e s o c i a l c o n t r a c t e f f e c t . T h i s r e q u i r e s t h a t t h e

I Cpr op or t io n of SC responsCs ( 'not - P & Q') t o t h e U-SWC-SC becompared t o t h e p r o p o r t io n of f a l s i f y i n g r e s po n se s t o t h e F-D.

Percen tage ' no t -P & Q ' re sponses t o U-SWC-SC,Pe rcen t age 'P & not-Q' r e s po n s es t o F-D:S o c i a l C o n tr a c t A v a i l a b i l i t yP r e d i c t i o n : P r e d i c t i o n :

U-SWC-SC V. F-D. U-SWC-SC > F-D U-SWC-SC < F-Dhigh 1w very low mid-low

A s SC p r e d i c ts , SC re sp on se s t o th e U-SWC-SC o u ts tr ip p e df a l s i f y i n g resp onses t o the F-D (67% v. 50%: F = 2.09, n .s . ) .l 23T he d i f f e rence i s no t s i gn i f i can t ; how eve r AY p r e d i c t s a ni n e q ua l i ty i n t h e Q D D O S ~ ~i r e c t i o n . When r a r e r e s i d u a l s a r ecou nt ed f o r bo th p ro bl em s (U-SWC-SC: ' Q ' ; F-D: 'not-Q') , t h ed i f f e r e n c e i s m a g ni f ie d t o t h e e x a c t p r o p o r t i o n s f ou nd f o r t h ep a r a l l e l U-STD-SC v. F-D comparison i n Experiment 1 , and i ss i g n i f i c a n t ( 87 .5% v. 5 4% : F =8.36, p < .01, r = .52) . T h i s1,23s u p p o r t s t h e c o n t e n t i o n t h a t SC a l g o r i t h m s a r e a m ajo rde t e rm i nan t o f r e sponses t o p robl em s i nvo l v i ng so c i a l exchange,even when t ho se prob lems a r e unf ami l i a r .


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Experiment 1 versus Experiment 2

C r i t i c a l T es t 5: I s t h e c o r r e c t SC r e sp on s e t o a s t a n da r d s o c i a lc o n t r a c t ('P & n o t- 0 ') v e r y r a r e f o r a s w i t ch e ds o c i a l c o n t r a c t?

Be ca us e t h e U-STD-SC an d U-SWC-SC a r e bo th u n f a m i l i a rp robl ems , p r ed i c t s t hey shou l d bo th e l i c i t low l e v e l s of ' P &n ot -Q ' r e s p o n se s . The s o c i a l c o n t r a c t p r e d i c t i o n c o ul d n o t be

't

more d i f f e r e n t . For a STD-SC, P re pr es en t s th e "b en ef i ta c c e p t e d n c a r d an d n ot -Q r e p r e s e n t s t h e " c o s t NOT p a i d " c a r d , t h ec a r d s t h a t a " lo o k f o r c h e a t e r s " p ro c e du r e s h o u l d c ho os e.However, f o r a SWC-SC, P r e p r e s e n t s t h e " c os t p a i d n c a r d an d no t-Q r e p r e s e n t s t h e " b e n e f i t NOT a c c e p te d n c a r d , t h e c a r d s a " lo okf o r c h e a t e r s n p r o ce d ur e s h o ul d i g n o r e be c au s e t h e y r e p r e s e n tpeop l e who cou l d no t poss i b l y have chea t ed ( se e F i gu re 6 . 1 ) .What l o g i c a l c a t e go r y t h e s e c a r d s f a l l i n t o i s s i m p l y i r r e l e v a n tfrom a s oc i a l co n t r ac t pe r sp ec t i ve . C ards shou l d be chosen ont h e b a s i s of t h e i r c o s t / b e n e f i t c a te g o ry , n ot t h e i r l o g i c a lc a t e g o r y .

Pe rcen t age ' P & not-Q' responses:S o c i a l C o n tr a ct A v a i l a b i l i t yP r e d i c t i o n : P r e d i c t i o n :

U-STD-SC V. U-SWC-SC. U-STD-SC >> U-SWC-SC U-STD-SC = U-SWC-SChigh ver y low 1 w 1w

The l a r g e an d s i g n i f i c a n t 7 1 p o i n t d i sc r ep a n cy i n ' P & not -Q ' r e s pons es be tween U-STD-SC and U-SWC-SC proble ms i s p r e d i c t e donly by SC (75% v. 4% : 2 = 5.02, p < .0000005, phi = .72*).Fur thermore , t he SC pr ed i c t i on t h a t t he dom inant , SC re sponse t o


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t h e U-STD-SC w i l l be v e r y r a r e on t h e U-SWC-SC was bo rn e o u t.Only one su b j e c t gav e t h e STD-SC an swer, 'P & n o t- Q ', i n r e s po n s et o t h e U-SWC-SC -- and t h i s was one o f on ly two su b j ec t s i n Exp 2t o g i v e f a l s i f y i n g a ns we rs t o a l l of t h e t h r e e o t he r p ro blem s.

r i t i c a l T es t 6: I s t h e c o r r e c t SC r e s po n s e t o a s w it ch e d s o c i a lc o n t r a c t ( ' n o t - P & Q') v er y r a r e f o r a s t a n da r ds o c i a l c o n t r a ct ?,

C r i t i c a l T es t 6 i s sim ply t h e f l i p s i d e of C r i t i c a l T es t 5 .The p r e d i c t e d SC re sp on se t o a SWC-SC i s ' not -P & Q ' : not-Pr e p r e s e n t s t h e " c o s t NOT p a i d " c a r d a nd Q r e p r e s e n t s t h e " b e n e f i tacc ept ed" ca r d ( se e Fig ur e 6 .1 ) . But f o r a STD-SC, not -Pr e p r e s e n t s t h e " b e n e f i t NOT accep t ed" ca rd and Q r e p r e s e n t s t h e" c o s t p a i d " c a r d -- t h e c a r d s a " lo ok f o r c h e a t e r s " p r oc e d ur es h o u l d i g n o r e , r e g a r d l e s s of t h e i r l o g i c a l c a t e g or y . Hence, SCp r e d i c t s t h a t th e co r r e c t SC answer t o a SWC-SC, 'not -P & Q ' ,w i l l be ver y ra r e f o r a STD-SC. I n co nt ra s t , By p r e d i c t s t h a tt h e p e r c e n t a g e of s u b j e c t s c h o o s in g ' no t- P & Q ' on t h e U-STD-SCand t h e U-SWC-SC w i l l be about equ a l , and very low (s ee Tab le 6 .1 ) .

Percen tage ' no t -P & Q ' responses :S o c i a l C o n tr a c t A v a i l a b i l i t yP r e d i c t i o n : P r e d i c t i o n :

U-SWC-SC V. U-STD-SC. U-SWC-SC >> U-STD-SC U-SWC-SC = U-STD-SChig h ve ry low ve ry low ve ry low

The l a r g e an d s i g n i f i c a n t 6 7 p o i n t d i s c r ep a n c y i n ' n o t- P & Q 'r e spon ses be tween U-SWC-SC and U-STD-SC proble ms i s p r e d i c t e donly by SI: (67% v. 0%: Z = 4.90, p < .0000005, phi = .71) .* p h i i s an e f f e c t s i ze , w hich va r i e s betw een ze ro and one(R osen t ha l & Rosnow, 1984).


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F i g u r e 6 . 7CRITICAL TESTS: SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY VERSUS AVAILABILITY THEORY

U-STD-SC>U-D

U-STD-SC> F-D

st2 75% >> 496,2=5 .02, p>W,2 4 . 9 0 , p 25%, 21%Exp 2: 50% > 1246.12%

Exp 1: F-D . AP: NO EFFECT F 1 ~ 1 4 . 0 2 ,.s.); F-D . U-D: FFECT F,,zl=5.31,p


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................................................................T a b l e 6.5 Experiments 1 and 2: Perce n t of s ub je c t s choos ingIP & not-Q1 or 'not -P & Q 1 for each problem

Experiment 1(n=24

Experiment 2(n=24)

P not-P P not-Pnot-Q Q not-Q Q9 CU-STD-SC: 1 75* 1 O L 1 1 U-SWC-SC: 1 4 1 67* 1 1IU-D : I I I I Iu q : I I1 2 1 1 0 I I 1 1 2 1 4 1 1I I I I I I I IAP : 1 2 5 1 0 I I Ap: 1 1 2 I 0 II I I I I I I IF-D : 1 4 6 I 0 I ) F -D 1 5 0 1 0 I 1I I I I I I I I

* p r e d i c t e d SC re s p on s e t o s o c i a l c o n t r a c t p ro ble ms .

would ex pec t i f th e same SC al go ri th ms were producing t he se two,l o g i c a l l y d i s t i n c t , r es p on s es . When r a r e r e s i d u a l s ( s e e l e ge n d ,Tab les 6 .2 and 6.4) a r e added in , th e per cen tage of SC answers onthese two problems i s i d e n t i c a l -- 87.5%. Using percen tf a l s i f y i n g a n sw er s t o t h e U-D ( same r u l e a s U-SC) a s a b as e l i nef o r c o m pa ri so n, t h e r e l a t i v e a d v an t ag e SC s t a t u s ga ve i npro duc ing SC ans wer s i s a lmost id e n t i c a l fo r bo th SC problems: 54p o i n t s between U-STD-SC an d i t s U-D, 55 p o i n t s between U-SWC-SCand i t s U-D.

T ab l e 6.6 show s t h e f r eq uen c i e s w i t h w hi ch i nd i v i du a l ca r dsw er e s e l e c t e d i n E x pe ri me nt s 1 and 2.

Table 6.6 Experiments 1 a nd 2: S e le c t io n f r e q u e n c ie s fo r in d iv id u a l c a rd s , s o r t e d by l o g i c a l c a t e g ory a nd s o c ia l c o n t ra c t c a t e g o ry...................................................................................................................................Iu-SC U-SCU-D AP P-D STD SWC STD SWCLogica l Soc i a l Contrac tCategoryr Exp 1 Exp 2 Exp 1 Exp 2 Exp 1 Exp 2 Exp 1 Exp 2 Cat egor y Exp 1 Exp 2

P 21 1 9 23 23 22 22 20 2 I Ben ef it Accepted 20 21not-P 5 6 6 6 1 1 1 17 I Bene fit NOT Accepted 1 1Q 9 12 8 14 4 1 0 21 I Cost Paid 0 2not-9 6 7 11 11 13 14 22 1 I Cost NOT Paid 22 17

When c a r d s a r e s o r t e d a c c o r d in g t o t h e i r l o g i c a l c a t e g o ry , a l l

218


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p r ob le m s r e p l i c a t e n i c e l y o v er Experiments 1 and 2 , except t h es o c i a l c o n t r a c t p r o b l e m s . When s o r t e d a c c o r d i n g t o l o g i c a lca te go ry , s e l e c t i o n f r e q u e n c ie s f o r th e U-STD-SC and U-SWC-SC a r er a d i c a l l y a t v a r i a n c e w i t h one a n ot h e r . When s o r t e d a c c o r d i n g t os o c i a l c o n t r a c t c a t e g or y , however, t h e i r p r o f i l e s a r e a lm os ti d e n t i c a l . T h i s i n d i c a t e s t h a t f o r u nf am il ia r s o c i a l c o n t ra c tp r ob le m s, a s o c i a l c o n t r a c t c a t e g o r i z a t i o n scheme c a p t u r e sd im en si on s t h a t a r e p s y ch o l o gi c a l ly r e a l f o r s u b j e c t s , w he re as al o g i c a l c a t e g o r i z a t i o n scheme d oe s n o t.

How wel l do SC a lg or i th ms ope ra te i n nove l , ver sus f a m i l i a r ,s o c i a l e xc ha ng es ?

I f SC a l g o r i t h m s a r e , i n p a r t , f r a m e - k u i h k u , a s p ro po se d,one would expec t them t o ope r a t e i n nove l s o c i a l exchanges, a sw e l l a s i n f a m i l i a r ones. I n f a c t , t h e 75% " f a l s i f i c a t i o n n r a t eon t h e U-STD-SC, an un fa mi l ia r s o c i a l co nt ra ct , i s e q u i va l e n t t ot h a t us ua l ly found fo r t he Dr ink ing Age Problem, a h igh lyf a m i l i a r s t a n d a r d s o c i a l c o n t a c t (Cox & Griggs , 1982; Gr igg s &Cox, 1982; Gr ig gs & Cox, 1983; se e Chapter 2 ) . Th i s cannot bea c c ou n te d f o r by d i f f e r e n c e s i n s u b j e c t p o p u l at i o n s : 78% of as i m i l a r g roup of 23 H arva rd unde rg radua t e s " f a l s i f i e d n on t h e DAP( s e e Experiment 6-A be low). Thus, t h e pe rc en t of Harvardunde rg radua t e s choos i ng ' P & no t- Q' on a STD-SC was t h e same,r e g a r d l e s s o f w he th er t h e s o c i a l c o n t r a c t was v e r y f a m i l i a r o rcomple te ly u nfa mi l i a r (78% v. 75%: Z = 0.26, n.s.) .The same was t r u e of t h e un fa m i l i a r sw i t ched so c i a lco n t r ac t . The pe rcen t age of sub j ec t s choos i ng ' no t-P & Q' on theU-SWC-SC d id no t d i f f e r s ig n i f i c a n t l y f rom th e percen tag echoos ing 'P & not-Q ' f o r t h e fa m i l i a r DAP (67% v. 78%: Z = 0.88,

21 9


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non-SC problems i n producing f a ls i fy i n g responses (averageadvantage = 30.5) . However, us ing perce nt f a l s i f y i ng responsest o U-Ds a nd APs a s a b a s e l i n e f o r c o mp ar is on , t h e a v a i l a b i l i t yadvantage app ear s t o be much less i mp or t an t t h a n t h e s o c i a lco nt ra c t e f fe c t . The average advantage i n producing SC responsest h a t s o c i a l c o n t r a c t s t a t u s g i v e s t o an u n f am i li a r p roblem i sabou t 1 . 8 t im es th e s i z e of th e av a i l a b i l i t y advan tage. And, a sC r i t i c a l T e s ts 2 and 4 of Figure 6.7 show, more SC re sp ons es weree l i c i t e d by unfamlllar. s o c i a l c o n t r a c t p ro bl ems t h a n f a l s i f y i n gresponses by fa mi l i ar non-SC problems t h a t had an a v a i l a b i l i t yadvantage.

Summary, Experiments 1 and 2 .Unfamil iar though they were, so c i a l con t ra c t problems

r e l i a b l y e l i c i t e d s o c i a l c o n t r a c t answer s f even when t h e s e werera di ca l l y a t var ian ce wi th formal lo gi c . Fur thermore , non-SCproblems (U-D, AP, F-D) d i d n o t show t h i s d i s t i n c t i v e p a t t e r n ofv a r i a t i o n . A v a i l a b i l i t y a l o ne c an n e i t h e r p r e d i c t no r e x p l a i nt h e r e s u l t s of t h e s e e xp er im en ts . I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e s o c i a lc o n t r a c t e f f e c t , t h e r e a l s o a p p e a r s t o h av e been a ma r g in a le f f e c t of a v a i l a b i l i t y on F-D problems.

Experiment 3

I n Exper iments 1 and 2, t h e u n f a mi l ia r s o c i a l c o n t r a c t s us edw ere expressed a s l aws of one ' s so c i a l g roup . I d i d t h i s bec aus et h e r u l e s u s ed i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e o n t h e Wason s e l e c t i o n t a s k w ereinv a r i ab l y expressed a s l aws . Moreover, u s ing a so c i a l con t ra c tlaw l e t me use t h e ex ac t same r u l e i n U-SC and U-D problems.


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However, so c i a l con t r a c t a lgo r i t hms shou ld work j u s t a s we l lw i t h c o n d i t i o n a l s t h a t e x p r e s s a p r i v a t e s o c i a l e xch an ge b etweenj u s t t wo i n d i v i d u a l s , r u l e s l i k e :

"If you do X f o r me, the n I ' l l do Y fo r you , "o r , e q u i v a l e n t l y ,

" I f I do Y f , ~ r ou, th en you do X for me. "To t e s t t h i s , I conducted two experime nts (Experiments 3 and 4 )t h a t w er e i d e n t i c a l t o E xpe rim en ts 1 and 2 , except the unfami l ia rs oc i a l co nt ra c t s used expressed an exchange between twoi n d i v i d u a l s r a t h e r t h an a s o c i a l law.

The pr ed ic t i on s f o r Experiments 3 and 4 a r e i d e n t i c a l t o t h ep r ed i c t i o ns fo r Expe riment s 1 and 2. Hence, they pr ov id e ano pp or tu ni ty t o r e p l i c a t e t h e r e s u l t s o f t h e s i x c r i t i c a l t e s t sf o r c h o o s in g between s o c i a l c o n t r a c t t h e o r y and a v a i l a b i l i t y t h e o r y .S u b j e c t s .

Twenty-f our u nder gradu ates from Harvard Uni ve rs it ypa r t i c ip a t ed i n Exper imen t 3; t hey were pa id vo lun tee r s ,r e c r u i t e d by adve rt i s emen t (11 fem ale s, 13 males ; mean age: 20.0yea r s (no da t a on age of 3 sub j ec t s ) .Mat e r i a l s and P rocedure s.

The p rocedure was i de n t i c a l t o t h a t de sc r i bed fo r Exper imen t 1.The ma te r i a l s were a l s o id e n t ic a l , with one exc ept io n: t h e U-STD-SCexpres sed a p r i va t e exchange r a t he r t han a so c i a l law. The ' A 've r s i on r u l e was: " I f you ge t a t a t t oo on you r f ace , t hen 1'11g i ve you ca s sava roo t . " The 'B' vers i on ru l e was: " I f you g iv eme your os t r i c h egg she l l , then I ' l l gi ve you duik er meat. " I nb o th c a s e s , t h e " d e a l n was o f f e r e d by t h e p e rs o n i d e n t i f i e d i nt h e s t o r y a s t h e p o t e n t i a l c he a te r . Thus, i n t e rm s of t h e v a l u e


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sys tem of the po te n t i a l ch ea te r , t he SC s t ru c t u r e of bothproblems was: " I f B (me) then C (me)" -- a STD-SC. The SC answert o such a problem i s ' P & no t- Q' . The U-STD-SC pr ob le ms used i nExperiment 3 ar e shown i n Figure 6.8.

Note t h a t b o th s o c i a l c o n t r a c t s t o r i e s i n c l u d e a t im e d e l a ybetween when th e po te nt ia l cheat er rece iv es h i s ben ef i t and whenhe must cough up C ( c h e a t e r ) -- t h e b e n e f i t t o t h e o t h e r p e rs on .In most Ple is t oce ne exchanges rec ip roc at i on was de layed, nots imul taneous ( see Chapter 5 ) . Cheat ing i s f a r eas i e r w henrec ip r oca t io n must occur a f t e r a bene f i t has been r e ce ived , andsu bj ec ts should be more l i ke ly t o suspe ct someone of in ten ding t oc h e a t i n s uc h d e la y ed b e n e f i t t r a n s a c t i o n s . I n a s i mu l ta n eo u s,face- to-fa ce exchange, i f you see th a t the othe r person has comeprepa red t o def ec t , you simply withhold what he or she wants .Sub jec t s can be expec ted t o assume t h a t such in t e r cont ingen tbehavior w i l l occur i n face- to-face exchanges, un les s they a r eg iven inormat ion t o th e con t ra ry .

If su bj ec ts made t h i s assumption, what would happen t operformance on an SC Wason s e le c t i o n ta sk w ith no time del ay?S u b j e c t s would f a i l t o c ho os e t h e " c os t NOT paid" card (U-STD-SC:not-Q; U-SWC-SC: not-P). Th is ca rd i n d ic a t e s t h a t th e p o t e n t i a lche ate r had, indeed, come prep ared t o che at -- t h a t h e h a d NOTpai d th e cos t . The subj ec t would assume t h a t upon see i ng t h i s ,th e hones t pa r ty i n th e i n t e ra c t io n would s im ply w ithhold theitem t h a t t he po te n t i a l chea te r had wan ted (B (c hea te r ) ). Noexchange would have taken pla ce, and the re fo re no cheat in g.Sub jec ts would the re f or e choose only th e "be nef i t accepted" car d:'PI a lone on a U-STD-SC, ' Q 1 alone on a U-SWC-SC.


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Figure 6.5 Experiment 5 : ' n -,,-version U-STD-S C

PAGE1 are an anthropologist studying the Kalume, a Polynesian peopleo l i v e in small, warring bands on Maku Is land i n the Pacif ic. Youe i nt er es te d i n how Kaluame *big meng - h ie f t ans - wield power.g K ik um i s a Kaluame bi g man who i s known for hi s ruthles sness.a sig n of lo yal ty, he makes his own g subj ects * put a ta tt oo onace. Uembers of oth er Kaluame bands never have fa ci a l tat to os.u has made s o many enemies i n ot he r Kaluame bands, th at beingght i n ano ther v i l l age wi th a f a c i a l t a t too i s , q u i t e l i t e r a l l y ,k i s s of death.

en from dif fer ent bands stumble int o Big Kiku's vi lla ge,ving nd desperate . They have been kicked out of th ei r respec tivelag es f or var ious misdeeds, and have come to Big Kiku becam e they .Big Kiku offe rs each of them the followin g deal:

you get a tat to o on your face , then I ' l l gi ve you cassava root.'i s a very sus tain ing food which Big Kiku's peopleThe fou r men a re very hungry, so they agre e t o Big Kiku'sBig Kiku says t hat the t a t t oos must be i n place tonight , but

w i l l no t be ava i l ab l e un t i l the fo l lowingle ar n tha t Big Kiku hat es some of th ese men f or b etrayi ng him t os enemies. You sus pe ct he w i l l ch ea t and be tr ay some of them.us, t h i s i s a perf ect opportuni ty for you t o see f i r s t hand how BigThe cards below have information about thees o f the fou r men. Each card represents one man. One sid e of ael l s whether or not the man went through with the fa ci al ta t t oot evening and the other s i de of th e card te l l s whether or not Bigku gave th at man cassa va ro ot the next day.Big Kiku get away with c hea tin g any of th es e fou r men? Ind ica tey those card(s) you def ini te l y need to turn over to see if Big Kikaa roken his word to any of th es e fou r men..................

A. : :a go t the t a t t o o ::...............:.................

C. : :: no tattoo :

::...............:

.................B. : Big Kiku :

: gave him :: nothing :

.................D. : BigKiku :: gavehim :: cassava root ::

' B ' version U-STD-S C PAGEThe Namka ar e a hunter-gatherer people who li ve i n small bands i n dese rts of southwest Africa. You ar e an anthro polog ist int ere ste dwhether members of di ff er en t Namka bands can t r u s t each other .Bo i s a c ra ft y ol d Namka man i n the band you ar e st udyi ng. Be i salways accidental ly breaking hi s os tr ic h eggshel l and would l ik e t'stockpileg some - he Namka use o st ri ch e ggshe lls a s canteensbecause they are l ig ht and hold l ot s of water . Be sees h isopp ort uni ty when four men from a neighbor ing band stumble i nt o camone morning.The four men have been on a long and unsuccessful hunting expeditiThey ar e hungry, and the y want to be able t o bring meat back to thfamil ies . Bo approachs each man priv at ely and of fe rs him th ef olloving deal :.If you gi ve me your ostr i ch eggshel l , then I ' l l giv e you d uike r mBo explains tha t hi a wife i s skinning the duikers today, and theywon' t be ready un ti l tomorrow. Earever I he w i l l need the eggshellth is evening for h is son, who is-l eavi ng tonigh t on a week longhunting expedition. Each man aceept s Bo'a of fe r, and agre es t o mehim alone i n a secluded s pot tomorrow t o cons umate the deal .You fin d th is d eal int eres ting , became you happen to know th at Bo

' who i s a ra ther unscrupulous character t o begin with , bas very l i t/ duiker meat and a large family to feed. I t i s p t rf e ct l y p s s i b l e he w i l l ch ea t some of th es e men. You deci de t o spy* on Bo and seThe cards below have informa tion about th e fo ur dea ls Bo made withthese four men. What happened i n one de al had no ef fe ct on theoutcome of any other deal. Each card represents one man. One s idi a card t e l l s whether or not the man gave his d str ich e ggshe ll t o Btha t evening, and the other side of the ca rd te l l s whether or not gave th a t man dui ker meat;,the next day.I id BO get away with cheating any of these four men? Indicate onlythose card(s) you de fin i te ly need to turn over t o see if So bas br

I his word to any of t he se fo ur men. .................................A. : He gave : 8. :i : h i s o s t r i c h : : Bo gave him ::eggshell to Bo : : nothing ::...............: 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :.................

C. :: Be gave :: Bo nothing 8:...............:

.................D. :r Bo gave him :: duiker meat :: ..............


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Such so p h i s t i c a te d re a son in g a bo ut i n t e r cont ingent behaviorsh ou ld come q u ic k ly and e a s i ly t o su b je c t s . I n f a c t , I ran a fewp i l o t s i n which I h ad fo r g o t t e n t o in c lu d e a time d e la y. Af te rdo ing th e ta sk s , a number of su b je c ts spon taneously t o l d me theyhad assumed th e in t e rco n t i ngen t scen ar i o ske tched above . The i rc a rd c h o ic e s o n b oth s tg n d a rd and swi tch e d so c i a l c o n t ra c tproblems were consistent w i t h t h e i r c l a i m .

Hence, the t ime de lay of rec i p roc a l a l t r u i sm i s a n e s s e n t i a le lement i n a s to ry when th e r u l e expresses a p r iv a t e exchange: i ta l l o ws t h e p o t e n t i a l c h e a te r t o s e i z e t h e b e n ef i t b e fo r e he i sexpected t o pay the cos t . The honest person then has no option s.

Because th e so c i a l c o n t r a c t ru l e s i n Ex pe rime nt s 1 an d 2were expressed a s so c i a l laws, the U-SC ru le s cou ld be i de n t ic a lt o t h e i r c or r es p on di ng U-D ru l e s . In e x pe r ime n ts 3 and 4 , t h ete rms used a r e s i mi la r t o th o se u se d i n th e c o rre spo n din g U-Dru le s , bu t , because the U-SC ru le s express p r iv a t e de a l s ra the rthan laws, they cou ld no t be ide n t ic a l .

U-STD-SC: " I f you ge t a ta t t o o on your fa ce , th en I ' l l give youcassava roo t . "U-D: "I f a man has a ta t t oo on h i s face , then he ea t s cassava roo t . "U-STD-SC: " I f you g i ve me your os t r i c h eg gs he l l, th en I ' l l g i v eyou duiker meat."U-D: "If you have found an os t r i ch egg shel l , then you e a t duiker meat ."

R e s u l t s.The perc ent of s ub je ct s choosing ' P & not-Q' fo r each

problem c lo se l y matches the so c i a l co n t r ac t p r ed i c t i ons shown i nTable 6 .l. No one ch os e 'no t- P & Q ' ; t h i s i s c o n s i s t e n t w i t hboth By and X. The re su l t s a r e re ma rk ab ly s im i la r t o th o se fo r


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E x p e r i m e n t 1.

T a b l e 6.7 E x pe r i m en t 3 : P e r c e n t o f s u b j e c t s c h o o s i n g'P & n o t - Q ' o r ' n o t - P & Q ' f o r e a c h p r ob l em ( n = 24 )

U-STD-SC! I 71 I 0 II I IU-D : I 25 I 0 II I IAP : I 29 I 0 II I IF-D :

T a b l e 6.7 s h ow s t h e p e r c e n t o f s u b j e c t s who c h o s e e i t h e r ' P& n o t - Q ' o r ' n o t - P & Q ' . R e s i d u a l r e s p o n s e s : Of t h e 7r e s p o n s e s t o t h e U-STD-SC t h a t were n o t f u l l SC a n s w e r s , 5were h a l f c o r r e c t , " s i n s o f o m i s s io n n : 5 ' P ' r e s p o n s e s( o m i t t e d n o t - Q ) . No o ne a n s w e re d ' n o t- Q ' ( o m i t t i n g P ) o ne i t h e r t h e U-STD-SC o r t h e F-D, s o c o u n t i n g r a r e r e s i d u a l sn e i t h e r i n c r e a s e s n o r d e c r e a s e s t h e m a gn i t ud e o f t h ed i f f e r e n c e b e t we en t h e s e t w o p ro b le m s .

C r i t i c a l T e s t sS i x c r i t i c a l t e s t s p i t t i n g h y p o t h e s i s a g a i n s t h y p o t h e s i s

SC were u s e d i n a n a l y z i n g t h e d a t a f r o m E x p e r i m en ts 1 a n d 2. Thesa m e s i x c r i t i c a l t e s t s c a n be c a r r i e d o u t o n t h e d a t a f ro mE x p e r i m e n t s 3 a n d 4 .C r i t i c a l T e s t 1: D oe s a n u n f a m i l i a r s t a n d a r d s o c i a l c o n t r a c t

e l i c i t t h e p r e d i c t e d S C r e s p o n s e , ' P & n o t - Q ' ?

P e r c e n t a g e ' P & n o t - Q ' r e s p o n s e s :S o c i a l C o n t r a c t A v a i l a b i l i t yP r e d i c t i o n : P r e d i c t i o n :

U-STD-SC V. U-D. U-STD-SC > U-D U-STD-SC = U-Dh i g h 1 w 1w 1 w


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There i s a h i g h ly s i g n i f i c a n t 46 p o i n t d i s cr e p an c y i n ' P & not-Q1re sp o ns es between t h e U-STD-SC and t h e U-D (71% v. 25%: F -l r 2 319.46, p < .001, r = . 68) . T h i s d i sc repancy i s p r e d i c t e d o n ly bya; Y p r e d i c t s a low pr o p o r ti o n of f a l s i f y i n g r e sp o ns e s on a l lu n f a m i l i a r p r ob le ms , w he th er t h e y a r e s o c i a l c o n t r a c t s o r n o t .U-STD-SC a l s o produces a s i gn i f i c a n t "conten t e f f e c t " whenm e a s u r e d a g a i n s t t h e AP (71% v. 29%: Fz = 16.43, p < .001,

1 23r = - 6 5 ) . The U-D and AP bo t h e l i c i t e d - he same low l e v e l s o ff a l s i f y i n g respo nses (25% v. 29%: F1,23= 0.19, n . s .) .

. .C r i t i c a l Te s t 2: A r e t h e r e more SC re sponses t o an unfamlllars t a nd a r d s o c i a l c on t r a ct t h an f a l s i f y i n gr es p on se s t o a familiar d e s c r i p t i v e p r o b l e m ?Percen t age 'P & not-Q' responses:

S o c i a l C o n tr a c t A v a i l a b i l i t yP r e d i c t i o n : P r e d i c t i o n :U-STD-SC V. F-D U-STD-SC > F-D U-STD-SC I F-Dhigh 1 w 1 w mid-low

The advan t age t h a t SC s t a t u s g i ves an un f am i l i a r p robl em i sl a r g e r t ha n t h e a d va nt ag e a v a i l a b i l i t y g i v e s a f a m i l i a r d e s c r i p t i v eproblem. The U-STD-SC e l i c i t e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y more "fa l s i f y i n g "(SC) re sp on se s th an t h e F-D (71% v. 38%: F = 6.57, p < .025, r1,23= . 47 ) . B JL p r e d i c t s an i n e q u a l i t y i n t h e o p p o s i t e d i r e c t i o n .T h i s s u p p o r t s t h e c l a i m t h a t SC a l g o r i t h m s a r e a m aj orde t e rm i nan t o f r e sponses t o p rob lem s i nvo l v i n g s o c i a l exchange.

Experiment 4

T h i s exper i men t i s i d e n t i c a l t o E xp er im en t 2 , e x c ep t t h e


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s w i tc h e d s o c i a l c o n t r a c t r u l e s u s ed e x p r e s s a p r i v a t e e xc ha ng er a t h e r t h a n a s o c i a l law. &! and SI: p r e d i c t i o n s a r e t h e same a sfor Experiment 2.Sub ects .Twenty-four und erg rad uat es from Harvard Un iv er si typa r t i c ip a t ed i n Exper imen t 4 ; t hey were pa id vo lun t ee r s fr e c r u i t ed by adve rt i s emen t (11 fem ale s, 13 male s; mean age: 19.4ye ars (no da ta on one su b j ec t s age) ) .Mat e r i a l s and P rocedure s .

The p rocedu re was i de n t i c a l t o t h a t f o r Exper imen t 3. Them a t e r i a l s were a l s o i d e n t i c a l w it h one e x c e pt i o n: t h e u n f a m i li a rr u l e s were "sw itc hed ." Thus, t h e U-SWC-SC r u l e s were: "I f I g i v eyou cassav a roo t , then you mus t ge t a t a t t o o on your face " ( ' A 1v e r s i o n ) , a n d " I f I g i v e you du ike r meat, then you must g i v e mey ou r o s t r i c h e g g s h e l l w ( I B 1 vers ion) . The U-Ds were th e same a si n Experiment 2 .R e s u l t s.

The re s u l t s a r e shown i n Table 6.8; they match th e so c i a lc o n t r a c t p r e d i c t i o n s o f T a b l e 6. 3.

C r i t i c a l T e s t 3: Does an un fami l i a r sw i t ched s o c i a l co n t r a c te l i c i t th e pred ic te d SC response, 'not -P & 4'3Percen tage 'no t -P & Q 1 responses:

S o c i a l C o nt ra ct A v a i l a b i l i t yP red i c t i on : P r e d i c t i o n :U-SWC-SC V . U-D,AP,F-D. U-SWC-SC > U-D,AP,F-D U-SWC-SC = U-D,AP,F-Dh i gh v e r y low v e r y l o w v e r y l o w


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T a b l e 6 .8 Experiment 4: P e rcent of su bj ec t s choos i ng'P & not-Q' o r 'not-P & Q ' fo r each problem (n=24)

U-SWC-SC: I 0 II I

U-D : I 25 II IAP : I 33 1I IF-D : I 58 II I

T a b l e 6 . 8 show s t h e pe r c e n t o f s ub j e c t s who c hos e e i t h e r 'P& not -Q ' or ' no t -P & Q'. Res idu a l r esponses : Of th e 6resp ons es t o th e U-SWC-SC t h a t were not f u l l SC answer s , 4w er e h a l f c o r r e c t , " s i n s of o m is si o n" : 4 ' Q ' r e s pons e s( o m i t t e d n o t -P ) . C o un t in g r a r e r e s i d u a l s f o r b ot h t h eU-SWC-SC ( ' Q ' ) and t h e F-D ( ' no t - Q ' ) in c re ase s t h emagni tude of t h e d i f fe re nc e be tween them (92% v. 63%).

The la r g e and s i g n i f i ca n t 75 poi n t d i f f e r en ce be tween U-SWC-SCand a l l o the r p r ob l e m s i s p r e d i c t e d o n ly by SC (75% v. 0%, 0%, O% ,L = +3,-1,-1,-1: F = 207.01, p F-D U-SWC-SC < F-Dhigh 1w ve r y low mid-low

The re were more SC re sp on se s t o t h e un fa mi li ar U-SWC-SC th an


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f a l s i f y i n g r es p o ns e s t o t h e f a m i l i a r F-D, j u s t a s SC p r e d i c t s(75% v. 58%: F = 1.64, n .s . ) . A lt hough t he d i f f e re nc e i s n o tl r 2 3s i g n i f i c a n t , By p r e d ic t s a n i ne q ua l i t y i n t h e ~ g p o s i t e i re c t i o n.When r a r e r e s i d u a l s a r e coun ted f o r both problems (U-SWC-SC: ' Q ' ;F-D: 'not-Q' ) , t h e d i f f e r e n c e i s magnif ied, and i s s i g n i f i c a n t(92% v. 63%: F = 6.75, p < .025, r = .48) . L ik e t h e r e s u l t s1 ,23of C r i t i c a l ~ e s t , t h i s s u pp o r ts t h e c o n t e n t io n t h a t SCa l g o r i t hm s a r e a m aj or de t e rm i nan t of r e sponses t o p rob lem si n v o l v i n g s o c i a l e x c h a n g e .

Experiment 3 versus Experiment 4

C r i t i c a l T e st 5: Is t h e c o r r e c t S C r es p on se t o a s t a n d a r d s o c i a lc o n t r a c t ('P & not-Q') very rare f o r a s w i t c h e ds o c i a l c o n t r a c t?BJ1! p r e d i c t s t h a t t h e U-STD-SC and th e U-SWC-SC sh ou ld both

e l i c i t low l e v e l s of 'P & not-Q1 responses because th ey a r e bo thu n f am i li a r. I n c o n t r a s t , SL: p r e d i c t s t h a t ' P & no t -Q ' , t hedomin ant, SC re sp on se t o t h e U-STD-SC, sh ou ld be ve ry r a r e on t h eU-SWC-SC.

Pe rcen t age 'P & not-Q' responses:S o c i a l C o nt r ac t A v a i l a b i l i t yP r e d i c t i o n : P r e d i c t i o n :

U-STD-SC V. U-SWC-SC. U-STD-SC >> U-SWC-SC U-STD-SC = U-SWC-SChigh ver y low 1w low

Only SC p r e d i c t s t h e l a r g e and s i g n i f i c a n t 7 1 p o i n t d is cr ep a nc yi n 'P & not -Q' r e spo nses between t h e U-STD-SC an d t h e U-SWC-SC(71% v. 0%: Z = 5.14, p < .00000025, phi = .74). The SC


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pr ed ic t i on t h a t th e dominant, SC response t o th e U-STD-SC w i l l beve ry r a r e on t h e U-SWC-SC was a l s o born e ou t: no one ga ve th eSTD-SC answer, 'P & no t-Q ', i n re sp ons e t o t h e U-SWC-SC.

C r i t i c a l T e s t 6: Is t h e c o r r e c t SC r e sp o ns e t o a s w it c he d s o c i a lc o n t r a c t ( ' n o t - P 6 Q ' ) v e ry r a r e f o r a s t a n d a r ds o c i a l c o n tr a c t?p r e d i c t s t h a t th e co rr ec t SC answer t o a SWC-SC,

'not-P & Q ' , w i l l be very ra r e fo r a STD-SC. I n c on t ra s t , BYp r e d i c t s t h a t t h e p e rc e n t ag e of s u b j e c t s c ho os in g ' no t- P & Q ' ont h e U-STD-SC and t h e U-SWC-SC w i l l be about eq ua l, and ver y low.

Percen tage 'no t -P & Q ' responses :S o c i a l C o nt r ac t A v a i l a b i l i t yP r e d i c t i o n : P r e d i c t i o n :

U-SWC-SC V. U-STD-SC. U-SWC-SC >> U-STD-SC U-SWC-SC = U-STD-SChigh ve ry low ve ry low ver y low

The l a r g e a nd s i g n i f i c a n t 7 5 p o i n t d i s cr e p an c y i n ' no t- P & Q 'r e s p o n s e s between U-SWC-SC and U-STD-SC problems i s p r e d i c t e donly by SC (75 % v. 0%: Z = 5.37, p < .0000001, phi = .77) .Fu rth er mo re, t h e dominant, SC re sp on se t o t h e U-SWC-SC was ind ee dve ry r a r e on t h e U-STD-SC, j u s t a s p re d ic ts : no one gave th eSWC-SC answer, 'not-P & Q ' , i n re sp on se t o t h e U-STD-SC.

S o c i a l C o n t r a c t T e s t s

A s b e f or e , i f t h e s o c i a l c o n t r a c t view i s c o r r e c t , c e r t a i nr e l a t i o n s s h o u ld be m a n i f e s t i n t h e d a t a , a bo ve and beyond t h o s ea d d r e s s e d by t h e c r i t i c a l t e s t s . For c o nv e ni e nc e , t h e d a t a f ro mTabl es 6 .7 and 6 .8 a r e combined i n Tabl e 6.9.


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................................................................T a b l e 6.9 Percen t of s ub j e c t s choos i ng ' P & not-Q' or'not-P & Q ' for each prob lem

Experiment 3(n=24) Experiment 4(n=24)

U-STD-SC: 1 71" 1 0 I U-SWC-SC: I 0 1 75* 1 1I I I I I IU-D : 1 2 5 1 0 1 1 U-D : 1 2 5 1 0 1 1I I I I IAP : I1 2 9 1 0 1 1 AP : 1 3 3 1 0 1 1I I I I I IF-D : 1 3 8 1 0 1 1 F-D 1 5 8 1 0 1 1I I I I I I* p r e d i c t e d SC r e s p o n se t o s o c i a l c o n t r a c t p ro bl em s.

Are t h e l o g i c a l l y d i s t i n c t SC a ns we rs t o s t a n d a r d an dsw i tc he d SC problems produced by th e same a l g o r i t h m s ?The p r o p o r ti o n s of SC ans wer s t o t h e U-STD-SC ( ' P & no t -Q ' )

and U-SWC-SC ( 'no t -P & Q ' ) a r e n o t s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t (71%v. 75%: Z = 0.32, n. s .) , j u s t a s one would expec t i f t he se t wol o g i c a l l y d i s t i n c t r e s p o ns e s we re t h e p r o d uc t o f t h e same SCa l g o r it h m s . U sin g p e r c e n t f a l s i f y i n g an sw er s t o t h e U-D (samer u l e a s U-SC) a s a ba s e l i n e f o r compari son , t he relativeadvantage SC s t a t u s gave i n produc ing SC answers i s v e r y s i m i l a rfor both SC problems: 4 6 p o i n t s between U-STD-SC an d i t s U-D, 50p o i n t s be tween U-SWC-SC and i t s U-D.

For t he se pe r so na l exchange p rob lem s, r e s i d ua l r e sponses d i dn ot s p l i t (e. g., some ' P' , some 'not-Q ' f o r t h e U-STD-SC) as t heyd id f o r th e l aw problems of Exper iment s 1 and 2; t h e o n ly " s i n sof omiss ion" i n Exper iment s 3 and 4 i nvo l ved choos i ng t he ca rdt h a t r e p r e s e n t s w ha t t h e h o n e s t p er s on d i d . T h er e w er e 5 ' P '


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a lo n e re sp o n ses fo r th e U-STD-SC and 4 'Q' a lon e re sp on se s t o th eU-SWC-SC. T h i s i s in te res t ing , because on ly Exper iments 3 and 4a dmi t th e p o s s i b i l i ty o f in te r c o n t ing e n t b e ha vio r ; h e s e a r e t h eresponses one would expec t i f a su b j ec t rea d th rough qu ic k ly , no tn o t i c i n g t h a t t h e r e i s a t ime delay between when the potentia lchea t e r ge t s h i s bene f ik and when he i s e x pe c te d t o h onor h i s e ndof t he dea l . The numbers invo lved a r e too small t o f i r mlya t t r i b u t e t h i s p a t t e r n t o t h e power of in te rc on ti ng en t reaso ning,b u t it i s a n a r e a t h a t d e se r ve s f u t u r e r e s e ar c h.

Table 6.10 shows the fr eque ncie s with which ind iv id ual card swere se l e c t e d i n Ex pe rime nt s 3 and 4 .

Table 6.10 Exoeriments 3 and 4: Se lec t ion frequenc ies for ind iv idua l cards , sor ted by log ica l ca tegory and soc ia l contrac t Category

D-SC 0-SCD-D AP F-D STD SWC STD SWCLogica l s o c i a l c o n t r a c tCat ego ry: Exp 3 Exp 4 Exp 3 Exp 4 Exp 3 Exp 4 Exp 3 Exp 4 Category: Exp 3 Exp 4

P 22 21 23 23 24 23 23 1 I Benefit Accepted 23 23not-P 4 5 4 5 0 1 2 19 I Be ne fi t NOT Accepted 2 2Q 11 11 7 9 4 5 0 23 I Cost Paid 0 1not-Q 12 13 10 14 10 18 17 2 I Cost NOT Paid 17 19

Ju s t a s b e fo re , th e two so c i a l c o n t ra c t prob le ms r e p l i c a te whenso r t ed by s oc ia l con t rac t ca tegory , bu t no t when so r t ed bylo g i c a l c a te g o ry , a s th e o th e r prob le ms do. The so c i a l c o n t ra c tc a te g o r i z a t i o n scheme c a p tu re s d imen sion s t h a t a r ep s y c ho l o g ic a l l y r e a l f o r t h e s u b j e c t s i n Ex pe ri me nt s 3 and 4,j u s t a s it did i n Experiments 1 and 2 .

How wel l d o S C a l g o ri t h m s o p e r a t e i n n ov el , v e rs u s f a m i l i a r ,soc ia l exchanges?

A f ra me -bu i lde r s t ru c t u r e s no ve l e x p e r i e nc e s a lo n ge v o lu t io n a r i ly r e l e v a n t d ime n s io n s th a t i t i s keyed t o pick up.If SC a lg o r i th ms fu n c t i o n a s f r ame -bu i ld e rs , t h en th e y sh o uldo p e r a t e w e l l i n no ve l s o c i a l e xc ha ng es , l i k e t h o s e r e p r e s e n t ed i n


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th e unfa mi l i a r so c i a l co n t ra c t p roblems. The percen tage of SCres pon ses e l i c i t e d by th e U-STD-SC -- 71% -- d oe s n o t d i f f e rs i g n i f i c a n t l y f r om th e 7 8% e l i c i t e d by t h e f a m i l i a r DAP w i th as i mi la r g roup of Harvard s tu de n t s (71% v. 78%: Z = 0.58, n.s .;see Experiment 6 -A). Ne i the r does th e pe rcen tag e of l og ic a l lyd i s t i n c t SC res po nse s e a i c i t e d by t he U-SWC-SC (75% v. 78%: Z =0.26, n. s .) . The h y p o th e s i s t h a t f a m i l i a r SC p ro bl em s e l i c i tmore SC answ ers than unf ami lia r ones i s n o t s u p p o r t e d by t h i sd a t a , even when one combines a l l t h r e e problems (F-STD-SC,U-STD-SC, U-SWC-SC) i n t o one t e s t (78% v. 71%: 75 %, L = +2,-1,-1,F = 0.23, n.s.) . Not o n ly a r e SC a lg o r i t h m s k ey ed t o a b s t r a c t1 , 6 8SC d imens ions f rom nove l s i tu a t i on s , bu t they accompl i sh t h i s a se f f i c i e n t l y i n no ve l s i t u a t i o n s a s th ey do i n f a m i l i a r o nes.

A v a i l a b i l i t y a s s e s s e d

Does a v a i l a b i l i t y have any e f f e c t a t a l l on f a m i l i a rproblems?.

The F-D d i d n o t e l i c i t s i g n i f i c a n t l y m ore f a l s i f y i n gr es po ns es t o e i t h e r t h e AP o r t h e U-D i n Experiment 3 (F-D v. AP:38% v. 29 %, F = 1.31, n.s .; F-D v. U-D: 38% v. 25 %, F -1,23 1 ,231 .3 0 , n o s . ; F-D v. AP, U-D: L = +2,-1,-1, F = 1 .3 8 , n . s . ) .1 ,46However, i n Experiment 4 t h e F-D d i d e l i c i t m o r e f a l s i f y i n gr e s p o n s e s t h a n b oth t h e AP and U-D (F-D v. AP: 58% v. 33 %, F -1.235.31, p < .05, r = -43; F-D v. U-D: 58% v. 25% , F = 11.50, p APhigh 1 w

A v a i l a b i l i t yP r e d i c t i o n :A-STD-SC = AP

1 w 1w

The A-STD-SC e l i c i t e d more "f a l s i f y i ng n respo nse s t ha n th eAP, j u s t a s s o c i a l c o n t r a c t th e or y p r e d i c t s it should ( Z = 2.34,p < . 01 , ph i = . 36) . Hypothes i s AY does no t p red i c t and canno te x p l a in t h i s r e s u l t . However, t h e s i z e of t h i s e f f e c t i ssomewhat sm al ler tha n th os e found i n Experiments 1 and 3 fo r t heU-STD-SC v. AP comparisons -- about 57% th e s i z e (.36 f o r A-STD-SC v. AP, v e r s u s . 61 and .6 5 f o r U-STD-SC v. AP i n E xpe r im ent s 1and 3 ) . T he re a r e a t l e a s t t h r e e e x pl a na t io n s f o r t h i s s m al le re f f e c t s i z e :

1. A b s t r a c t s ym bo ls a r e more d i f f i c u l t t o p r o c es s t h a n w or ds , nom a t t e r how un fam i l i a r t hose w ords a re . I f t h i s w ere t r ue ,t h e n i n Ex pe ri me nt s 1- 4, f a l s i f i c a t i o n r a t e s would h a ve be enlower for AP prob l em s t han fo r U-D problems; they were not .T he re f o r e , t h i s e x p l a n a t i o n i s r a t h e r u n l i k e l y .2 . Random va r i a t io n i n popula t ion sampl ing -- I have no way ofa s s e s s i n g t h e m e r i t of t h i s e xp l an a ti o n.3. The A-STD-SC was not a "f ul l - s t re ng th n s o c i a l co nt ra ct problem

wh er ea s t h e U-STD-SCs of E xperi ments 1 and 3 were (seed i s c u s s i o n a b o v e ) .

I have no dat a t h a t would al l ow me t o choose between t h e seconda nd t h i r d e x p l a n a ti o n s .


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Summary, Experiment 5 .An a b s t r a c t s t a n da r d s o c i a l c o n t r a c t e l i c i t e d a " co nt en t

e f f e c t " , a s r e su l t p r ed i c t ed on ly by so c i a l con t r ac t t heory . Theef fe c t was somewhat smal le r than the s oc ia l cont r ac t e f f e c t sfound i n Experiments 1 through 4 for the unfamil iar problems.

Experiment 6So f a r , un fami l i a r and abs t r a c t s oc i a l c on t r a c t p roblems

have a l l e l i c i t e d h igh l e ve l s of p r ed i c t ed SC r e sponses : t he sew ere t h e t h e o r e t i c a l l y c r u c i a l p ro blem s f o r e s t a b l i s h i n g a s o c i a lco nt ra ct e f f e c t and choosing between hypotheses SC and BY.

In Experiment 6 , f a m i l i a r STD-SC problems a r e p i t t ed aga in s tab s t ra c t problems and fa mi l ia r de sc r ip t iv e problems. Soc ia lco nt ra ct theo ry p re di ct s t h a t a fa mi l ia r STD-SC problem (F-STD-SC) ,l i k e i t s unfami l ia r ana log , w i l l e l i c i t h ig h l e v e l s of " l o g i c a lf a l s i f i c a t i o n ". Avai lab i l i ty predic t s middl ing per formance onboth F-D and F-STD-SC pro ble ms , u n l e s s , be ore s e ei ng t h e r e s u

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