Abstract
This experiment examined whether the tendency for people to adhere to rules or instructions that no longer occasion effective action, depends on the: 1) source (self- versus socially-generated) and/or 2) nature (plys or tracks) of the rule. This was done by providing participants with either instructions (i.e., a ply or track) or no-instructions about the contingencies operating in a Matching To Sample (MTS) task. During the first phase of this task instructed and non-instructed contingencies overlapped. However, halfway through the task, the non-instructed contingencies reversed so that now instructed and non-instructed contingencies conflicted. Overall, the results indicated that after the non-instructed contingency reversal participants adhered more to 1) socially- as opposed to self-generated rules and 2) plys compared to tracks.