[Inhibitive effects of observer's presence on the choice latency]

The purpose of the present experiment was to compare the relative usefulness of drive and self-presentation approaches to social facilitation. Thirty-nine undergraduates were divided into two groups for the experiment. Group 1 was given a delayed choice reaction task under two different conditions. The first session was done with the subjects in isolation, and the second session was done with the subjects in front of an audience. Group 2 was given a delayed choice reaction task under the condition of isolation only. Latency was found to be substantially longer under the audience condition. There were, however, no significant effects on the mean number of the correct responses. These results point to inadequacies in drive approach and give support to self-presentation view, which assumes that subjects may scan more carefully and attempt to exhibit a socially valued behavior in others' presence.