JOB CHARACTERISTICS, PROTOTYPES, AND THE INFORMATION DILUTION EFFECT

Research on information dilution effects, information integration, and prototypes suggests that the act of performing simple tasks lowers pe rformers' evaluations even when they have demonstrated the ability to perform more complex tasks. The literature on information dilution als o suggests that some cognitive processes operate below the conscious l evel. In a study using 58 American college students who evaluated acto rs' performances of high- versus low-complexity tasks, the results sho wed that the students were unaware of the cognitive processes they use d to evaluate the actors and mistakenly believed that their evaluation s were most influenced by the quality, rather than the quantity, of th e actors' performances. However, the students did accurately estimate the relative proportions of complex and simple tasks performed by the actors.