System Response Time and Problem Solving Behavior

Abstract

In order to determine the Influence of duration and variability of System Reponse Time (SRT) on performance on a selection concept learning task, an experiment with four conditions was carried out. In two conditions, SRT's with zero and ten seconds were used. In two other conditions, variable SRT's with a mean duration of ten seconds and standard deviations of 2.5 and 7.5 seconds were used. Contrary to widely held beliefs, an increase in duration and variability of SRT did not have any negative influence on performance. The data indicate that SRT's of moderate duration and variability tend to have a benlficial effect on performance.