Similar Reactivity Produced by External Cues and Self-Monitoring

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Various theoretical explanations have been proposed to account for the reactivity of self-monitoring. This experiment tested the Hayes-Nelson explanation that the self-monitoring procedure and other cuing procedures are functionally equivalent in signaling environmental consequences likely to be contingent on the target behavior. After a baseline period, sixty female undergraduates were instructed either to self-monitor their face-touching, or to notice when a slide appeared that said "Don't touch your face," or to remain in baseline (control). Comparable decreases in face-touching were produced by self monitoring and by external cuing, whether or not the slide was shown contingent on the subjects face-touching. Theoretical and practical implications of this cuing explanation of self-monitoring are discussed.