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The effects of induced frontalis tension variation on aspects of cognitive efficiency
Author(s) -
Moran Carmen C.,
Cleary Patrick J.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1986.tb01981.x
Subject(s) - alertness , psychology , tension (geology) , audiology , muscle tension , task (project management) , variation (astronomy) , cognition , developmental psychology , physical medicine and rehabilitation , neuroscience , medicine , physics , management , psychiatry , astrophysics , economics , classical mechanics , moment (physics)
Sixteen subjects performed a serial reaction‐time task while varying frontalis tension levels. There were three levels of induced tension variation: high, moderate and low. Results indicated that reaction times were differentially affected across the three tension levels, and the slow response end of the reaction‐time distribution was slightly more sensitive to frontalis tension changes than the median. The relative importance of errors of omission and errors of commission may determine which tension level is optimal for task performance, but the results reported here indicate that attempts to reduce frontalis tension levels may be inappropriate in situations requiring sustained alertness.