Recall that Zajonc and his colleagues (1969) employed the lowly cockroach in their studies of social facilitation. In the presence of other cockroaches, roaches would run faster down a straightaway to escape a bright light than they would alone, but took longer in the presence of a cockroach audience when the escape route was more complicated (i.e., when they had to run a maze). These findings support the idea that __________.

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The findings support the idea that the presence of other members of a species elicits the most dominant response, which in the case of a simple task (running down a straightaway) is to perform better, and in the case of a complex task (navigating a maze), is to perform worse. This is consistent with the theory of social facilitation, which suggests that the presence of others can enhance performance on simple tasks but impair performance on complex tasks.

Recall That Zajonc and His Colleagues (1969) Employed the Lowly