Social Influence Dynamics in Aptitude Tasks

Learning and, more generally, the development of cognitive processes in children has been thought to depend on the nature of the conflict induced by confrontation with others (i.e., socio-cognitive conflict). The aim of this article is to extend this notion to social-influence situations involving adolescents and young adults through the presentation of a model that explains social influence in aptitude tasks. This model takes into account the differences or similarities of the competencies of the source and target. It conceptualizes the social versus epistemic regulations of conflict in terms of an identity threat that can be induced by social comparison. To illustrate parts of the model, several experiments are briefly summarized. One demonstrates the conflict regulation dynamics involved in the similarities or differences of the sources' and targets' competencies, while the others show how social-influence dynamics are modified by the presence or absence of a threat to self-competenc

The social transmission of knowledge at the University: Teaching style and epistemic dependence

It is argued that an epistemic authority would induce greater influence in transmitting knowledge to students when there is a correspondence between the (authoritarian vs. democratic) style of the authority and students' perceptions of their relation to the authority (high vs. low epistemic dependence). In two studies it was predicted, and found, that students who perceived themselves in a state of low epistemic dependence towards their teachers were more influenced by a democratic than by an authoritarian teaching style. This difference in appropriation was not found for students who perceived themselves in a state of epistemic dependence towards the epistemic authorit

When teaching style matches students' epistemic (in)dependence: The moderating effect of perceived epistemic gap

In a 2×2×2 factorial design, 3rd year Romanian psychology students (N=94) were assigned into 2 groups according to the extent to which they acknowledged an epistemic dependence (lowvs. high) toward their professor. They then compared the competence of 3rd year students to that of 1st year or 5th year students. Finally, they were exposed to a persuasive counter-attitudinal message from an epistemic authority, framed in an authoritarian vs. democratic style. The main dependent variable was the influence of the counter-attitudinal message. Results show an interaction between the three variables. No effects were found among students in the upward social comparison condition in which they felt particularly incompetent. The expected interaction between style and dependence was significant in the down ward comparison condition where participants felt more competent than 1st year students. Students high in perceived epistemic dependence were more influenced by the authoritarian style than those low in epistemic dependence. The reverse tended to be true for participants exposed to the democratic styl

Epistemic constraint and teaching style

An experimental study investigated the influence of informational dependence on information appropriation as a function of epistemic authority's styles. In a 2×2 design, university students were informed that acknowledging epistemic dependence was related either to academic success or to academic failure, and were exposed to controversial information from an epistemic authority that used either an authoritarian or a democratic style. The main dependent variable was the extent to which participants appropriated the controversial information. Firstly the results showed that students were more inclined to admit that their own academic competence depended on the information delivered by the teachers when epistemic dependence was related to success rather than to failure. Secondly, the admittance of dependence had a different impact on information appropriation according to the authority's style. Admittance increased appropriation under a democratic style whereas it decreased appropriation under an authoritarian styl

Learning and interaction in groups with computers: when do ability and gender matter?

In the research reported in this paper, we attempt to identify the background and process factors influencing the effectiveness of groupwork with computers in terms of mathematics learning. The research used a multi-site case study design in six schools and involved eight groups of six mixed-sex, mixed-ability pupils (aged 9-12) undertaking three research tasks – two using Logo and one a database. Our findings suggest that, contrary to other recent research, the pupil characteristics of gender and ability have no direct influence on progress in group tasks with computers. However, status effects – pupils' perceptions of gender and ability – do have an effect on the functioning of the group, which in turn can impede progress for all pupils concerned