PRISONER'S DOGMATISM SCORES AND CREATIVE ALTERNATIVE GAME BEHAVIOR UNDER FULL COMMUNICATION AND REAL REWARD CONDITIONS - A CORRELATIONAL STUDY

• NCJ Number: 37065
• Author(s): D R SEIBOLD; T M STEINFATT
• Date Published: 1973
• Length: 22 pages
• Sale Source: Eric Document Reproduction Service; National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: PAPER PRESENTED AT ANNUAL MEETING OF SPEECH COMMUNICATIONS ASSN., 1973.

Annotation

REPORT ON A STUDY TO EXTEND INFORMATION ON COMMUNICATION TO GAME THEORY IN A FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION ENVIRONMENT.

Abstract

THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE WHETHER THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DOGMATISM OF PLAYERS AND GAME BEHAVIOR IN A CREATIVE ALTERNATIVE GAME AND TO COMPARE THE BEHAVIORS OF FEDERAL PRISON INMATES AND COLLEGE STUDENTS PLAYING A GAME UNDER CONDITIONS OF REAL REWARDS AND FULL COMMUNICATION OPPORTUNTITIES. AFTER COMPLETING DOGMATISM TESTS, 20 PRISONERS SUBJECTS WERE ASSIGNED TO PAIRS FOR THE CREATIVE ALTERNATIVE GAME ACCORDING TO TEST SCORES. RESULTS OF 37 GAME TRIALS SUPPORTED THE ASSUMPTION THAT LOW DOGMATIC PAIRS WOULD ARRIVE AT MORE CREATIVE SOLUTIONS THAN HIGH DOGMATIC PAIRS. COMPARISON OF THE PRISONER RESULTS WITH FOUR COLLEGE EXPERIMENTS INDICATED THAT THE PRECENTAGE OF COOPERATIVE RESPONSES WERE SIMILAR IN BOTH GROUPS, WITH LOW DOGMATIC PAIRS IN BOTH GROUPS BEHAVING MUCH THE SAME WHILE HIGH DOGMATIC PAIRS AMONG THE PRISONERS TENDED TO PLAY MUCH MORE COOPERATIVELY THAN THE STUDENTS. FINDINGS ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OF THE DOGMATISM VARIABLE ON COMMUNICATION BEHAVIOR STILL REMAIN INCONCLUSIVE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)