Author:
Joessel Freya,Pichon Swann,Bavelier Daphne
Abstract
AbstractFlow has been defined as a state of full immersion that may emerge when the skills of a person match the challenge of an activity. It is a special case of being on task, as during flow, keeping focused on the task feels effortless. Most experimental investigations of the neural or physiological correlates of flow contrast conditions with different levels of challenge. Yet comparing different levels of challenge that are too distant may trigger states where the participant is off task, such as boredom or frustration. Thus, it remains unclear whether previously observed differences ascribed to flow may rather reflect differences in how much participants were on task—trying their best—across the contrasted conditions. To remedy this, we introduce a method to manipulate flow by contrasting two video game play conditions at personalized levels of difficulty calibrated such that participants similarly tried their best in both conditions. Across three experiments (> 90 participants), higher flow was robustly reported in our high-flow than in our low-flow condition (mean effect size d = 1.31). Cardiac, respiratory, and skin conductance measures confirmed the known difference between a period of rest and the two on-task conditions of high and low flow, but failed to distinguish between these latter two. In light of the conflicting findings regarding the physiological correlates of flow, we discuss the importance of ensuring a low-flow baseline condition that maintains participants on task, and propose that the present method provides a methodological advance toward that goal.
Funder
H2020 European Research Council
Office of Naval Research
University of Geneva
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
General Psychology,Psychology (miscellaneous),Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous),Developmental and Educational Psychology,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Cited by
2 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献