Comparison of Reaction Time and Interpersonal Communication Tasks to Test Effectiveness of a Matching Strategy in Reducing Attack-Instigated Aggression

The effects of an opponent's matching strategy on attack-instigated aggression have been investigated in at least four studies. Two studies with the Taylor reaction-time task found little or no significant decreases in aggression. Two studies with the interpersonal-communications task reported more rapid decreases. While many differences between the studies other than type of task could account for the different results, the reaction-time task may be less sensitive to matching contingencies than the interpersonal-communications task. The present research compared these two procedures in the same experiment. Subjects exchanged shocks with an opponent who attacked them and then switched to a matching strategy. Results confirmed the hypothesis that the matching strategy leads to a more rapid decrease in aggression on the interpersonal-communications task than on the reaction-time task.