Windows and Environmental Cues on Performance and Mood

Abstract

Task type and the presence of windows and posters were manipulated to examine their effects on individuals' performance, mood, and perceptions. Male and female undergraduates worked either a filing, computational, or creative task in a windowed or windowless room, with or without a poster (i.e., task-relevant cues). As predicted, the presence of windows did not affect performance. Window presence increased perceptions that the room was motivating and the likelihood that one looked about the room for help with the computational task. Unexpectedly, the number of errors on the computational task was reduced when the task-relevant poster was present. Poster presence also increased positive mood and decreased fatigue perceptions for individuals performing the creative task. Overall, poster presence increased confidence. Because perceptions of task demand were related to several outcome variables, the stimulation from windows and posters appears to interact with the task demand.