The Influence of Task Complexity on Performance and Arousal by Tessa Dillenbeck and Josh Plummer

The Influence of Task Complexity on Performance and Arousal by Tessa Dillenbeck and Josh Plummer

Psychology

The effects of task difficulty and task type on physiological arousal levels and task performance were examined by testing participants’ physiological arousal levels on a physiograph machine and scoring how well they performed on given tasks. Participants were given simple, medium, and complex tasks in either a quantitative or verbal condition, for which questions were chosen from the GRE. Three 3x2 mixed design analyses of variance were conducted to test significance between task difficulty and physiological arousal levels, task difficulty and type of task on performance scores, and type of task and physiological arousal levels. Significance was found in the main effects of task difficulty on physiological arousal levels, task difficulty on performance scores, type of task on performance scores, and the interaction of type of task and task difficulty on performance scores. There was no significant correlation found between physiological arousal levels and performance scores.

Tessa Dillenbeck and Josh Plummer

Senior Showcase Oral Presentation

Ripon College

April 18, 2017

The authors reserve all rights.

Major: Psychology
Minor: Business Management (Tessa Dillenbeck)