Older adolescents (14.9–17.8 years) show lower relational reasoning accuracy when observed by a friend than by an experimenter, across task difficulty levels¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2015 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i3 In the older adolescent group there was a main effect of social condition on accuracy, driven by lower accuracy in the friend-present than the experimenter-present condition across task-levels. → Wolf L.K. 2015

Evidence¶

Wolf L.K. 2015¶

Wolf L.K., Bazargani N., Kilford E.J., Dumontheil I., Blakemore S.-J. (2015). The audience effect in adolescence depends on who's looking over your shoulder. Journal of Adolescence, 43, 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.05.003

q3 · i3 · causal · r2

Follow-up repeated-measures ANOVA within the older adolescent group (n = 20) from the same mixed-design experiment. The social condition main effect was significant (ηp2 = 0.20), with the friend-versus-experimenter pairwise contrast reaching r = 0.63; other post-hoc comparisons were not significant (ps > 0.1).

"In the older adolescent group there was a main effect of social condition (F(2,38) = 4.86, p = 0.013, ηp2 = 0.20) with lower accuracy in the friend-present condition relative to the experimenter-present condition across task-levels (t(19) = 3.53, p = 0.002, r = 0.63) (Fig. 2)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Across all age groups, relational reasoning accuracy is lower in the friend-present condition than in the experimenter-present condition overall
• Younger adolescents (10.6–14.2 years) show lower relational reasoning accuracy when observed by a friend than by an experimenter only in low-relational trials
• No behavioural Audience × Age group interaction: the accuracy decrement was comparable in adolescents and adults
• A peer audience decreases accuracy in the complex relational integration condition in both adolescents and adults
• Older adolescents respond faster when observed by an experimenter than by a friend or when alone, while social condition does not affect younger adolescents' or adults' response times
• Being observed by a friend or an experimenter affects relational reasoning accuracy in adolescents but not in adults — a broader claim this one bears on
• The study found no evidence of age differences in relational reasoning performance, possibly due to design choices maximising sensitivity to audience effects — related