The experiments here reported are concerned with the effects of relative success and failure experiences on levels of aspiration in an experimental situation in which the learner is one of several members of a group, all of whose scores are known. 1 Some individuals progressively fall behind the others, some progressively advance ahead of the others. The question to be answered is how these differences in relative standing affect what the individual expects of himself. It might be supposed that repeated success would establish confidence, hence over-prediction, and that failure would produce caution and under-prediction. On the other hand, individuals may refuse to estimate their own performances as much better or worse than the group, and hence be conservative in attributing either success or failure to themselves. Only experimental data secured under a variety of conditions can aid in the interpretation of the circumstances under which one of these results will be found and those circumstances under which the other alternative will be found. In the present study, there is a tendency to judge one's performance somewhat in terms of the group, thus tempering either too much success or too much failure through predicting somewhat nearer the mean. MATERIALS, SUBJECTS, AND PROCEDUREResults are reported for brief learning series participated in by undergraduate college students working in groups of from 3 to 6 members. The task chosen was successive subtraction of 3-place numbers. Each student was provided with a pad consisting of 11 sheets of problems, 24 problems on a sheet. While ostensibly similar,

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