Learning, Opportunity to Cheat, and Amount of Reward

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Abstract
Subjects learned lists of words under conditions of high, medium, or low expectations concerning test-phase cheating and were then tested for recall with cheating precluded. Test performance of subjects expecting to be able to cheat was unexpectedly better, rather than worse, than subjects with low expectations, even when cheating was precluded. This suggests that subjects may have perceived the opportunity to cheat as one which, if it was combined with an intensified learning effort, could lead to maximum test performance. A second experiment excluded learning to learn as a primary determinant of the effect. A significant positive relationship between payoff and test performance was found in the first but not the second experiment.

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