The Effects of Task Experience, Goal Setting, and Knowledge of Results on Performance and Task-Goal Attributes

Two laboratory studies were conducted to determine the relationships between task-goal attributes and the necessary and sufficient conditions for goal setting and knowledge of results (KR) to influence task performance. The first study tested the effects of task experience and goal setting on performance of an arithmetic computation task. Perceived goal difficulty, effort, expectancy of goal attainment, and goal acceptance were assessed with a questionnaire. The results demonstrated that only goals influenced effort and perceived goal difficulty, while task experience and goals influenced expectancy of goal attainment and goal acceptance. The relationships between these variables indicated that as effort and perceived goal difficulty increased significantly across goal levels, expectancy of goal attainment and goal acceptance decreased significantly. In the second study, the results demonstrated that KR and a goal of "do your best" were sufficient to significantly increase performance in relation to receiving no KR and a goal of "do your best." This finding was attributed to an independent motivational effect from evaluation apprehension for the KR/"do your best" group and the incorporation of controls for initial task ability and past performance. The relationship between task experience, initial task ability, and task-goal attributes were discussed with the implication for future research that initial task ability and task experience need to be controlled to assess accurately the relationships between goal setting, task-goal attributes, and performance.