Vicarious Punishment: An Investigation of Timing
The effect of varying the temporal locus of vicarious and directly experienced punishment was investigated. Boys 5 to 8 yr. old ( n = 10 per cell) in the direct experienced conditions received either early, late or no punishment. Those in the vicarious conditions observed models receiving either early, late or no punishment. It was hypothesized that subjects in the direct early-punishment condition would emit more resistance than those receiving direct late punishment and that the vicarious early-punishment condition would elicit more resistance to temptation than vicarious late punishment. It was also hypothesized that there would be no differences between direct experience and vicarious conditions when temporal locus was constant. All hypotheses were confirmed on three behavioral dependent measures.