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EFFECTS OF VOLUNTARY CONTROL ON PERFORMANCE RESPONSE UNDER STRESS.

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Date Issued:
2004
Abstract/Description:
Recent stressful environments within military and non-military domains are producing a new challenge for the lab-based study of stress on task performance, one that requires knowledge of underlying cognitive-motivational and goal orientation factors. Results of recent stress on task performance research traditionally employ metaphorical explanations (i.e., resource theory) in order to rapidly apply stimulus-response outcomes to the real world counterparts. This dissertation provides an alternative perspective about these metaphorical, or black box, interpretations and reveals how they may be confounded with respect to the intended real world counterpart. To examine how voluntary human control can influence traditional stress/no-stress research findings, traditional as well as exploratory paradigms were presented. Both noise and time pressure conditions produced significant differences between experimental and control groups on visual discrimination. However, when analogous cash payment-contingency conditions were employed, the traditional stress/no-stress findings were not evident. In addition, a second experiment revealed that this trend of differences (and non-differences) held consistently over 30 minutes of interrupted task performance time. This study indicates the importance of developing more diagnostic measures that include assessments of how the differences between participants' and the generalized operators' goals and motivations may alter results in stressful task environments.
Title: EFFECTS OF VOLUNTARY CONTROL ON PERFORMANCE RESPONSE UNDER STRESS.
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Name(s): Morris, Christina Shawn, Author
Hancock, Peter A., Committee Chair
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2004
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: Recent stressful environments within military and non-military domains are producing a new challenge for the lab-based study of stress on task performance, one that requires knowledge of underlying cognitive-motivational and goal orientation factors. Results of recent stress on task performance research traditionally employ metaphorical explanations (i.e., resource theory) in order to rapidly apply stimulus-response outcomes to the real world counterparts. This dissertation provides an alternative perspective about these metaphorical, or black box, interpretations and reveals how they may be confounded with respect to the intended real world counterpart. To examine how voluntary human control can influence traditional stress/no-stress research findings, traditional as well as exploratory paradigms were presented. Both noise and time pressure conditions produced significant differences between experimental and control groups on visual discrimination. However, when analogous cash payment-contingency conditions were employed, the traditional stress/no-stress findings were not evident. In addition, a second experiment revealed that this trend of differences (and non-differences) held consistently over 30 minutes of interrupted task performance time. This study indicates the importance of developing more diagnostic measures that include assessments of how the differences between participants' and the generalized operators' goals and motivations may alter results in stressful task environments.
Identifier: CFE0000019 (IID), ucf:46134 (fedora)
Note(s): 2004-05-01
Ph.D.
College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): Human performance
stress
ecological validity
external validity
noise
time pressure
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000019
Restrictions on Access: public
Host Institution: UCF

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