Now listen to part of a talk in a sociology class. The professor is discussing audience effects.
Professor: OK. So we said that the way we interact with others has an impact on our behavior. In fact, there's some interesting research to suggest that in one type of interaction - when we're being observed specifically, when we know we're being watched as we perform some activity - we tend to increase the speed at which we perform that activity.In one study, college students were asked to each put on a pair of shoes – shoes with laces they would have to tic. Now one group of students was told that they would be observed. The second group, however, didn't know they were being observed. The students who were aware that they were being watched actually tied their shoes much faster than the students who thought they were alone. Other studies confirm the same is true even when we're learning new activities.Let's say someone is learning a new (ask - for example, learning how to type. When they’re conscious of being observed, they’ll likely begin typing at a much faster rate than they would if they were alone. But, and this is interesting, the study also showed that certain common behavior- things people typically do, like...making mistakes when you’re learning something new that behavior pattern will also increase. So in other words, when we’re learning to type, and we know we’re being watched, we’ll type faster but we’ll also make more mistakes.
Explain how the examples of tying shoes and learning to type demonstrate the principle of audience effects.
Audience effects suggest that with the knowledge that they're being watched while working, people usually alter their behavior during their work. And the professor illustrates the principle with two studies that suggest this. In the first study, two groups of students were asked to put on shoes that they had to tie, one group being told later that they would be observed, while the other group being kept in dark. So when the researchers began to observe, they found that the group aware of the observation tied faster than the other group. This study shows how audience effects speed up people's action. While the second study suggests that when people are learning new things, with the awareness of being observed, they will not only accelerate, but also increase certain behavior pattern. For instance, when they learn to type, they'll type faster, but meanwhile make more mistakes. (141 words)
