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Event Type
Research Presentation
Academic Department
Psychology
Location
Dana Science Building, 2nd floor
Start Date
26-4-2024 1:30 PM
End Date
26-4-2024 3:00 PM
Description
Under the direction of Dr. Seunghee Han
A child’s capability is tied to the environment in which they learn. No child will learn in a vacuum; their environment becomes as much a part of their experience as the curriculum. Previous studies have found that classrooms with excess visual displays may draw eye movement away from the task (Hanley et al., 2017). Children also require external reminders in activities involving internal time regulation to generate the same level of accuracy (Mäntylä et al., 2007). How do we gauge just how much distraction can affect performance? Are we able to negate the effect of distraction by informing the child of an oncoming deadline? This observational study of ten children aged 7 - 12 years old introduced a visual/auditory distraction, as well as a deadline to a puzzle task, which revealed information about children’s cognitive processing and self-restraint in distracting environments. We formed three hypotheses of the interactive effects between deadline and distraction on children's performance: Children under the deadline condition will be able to complete a task better than they were able to with no deadline (A), children with the distraction condition will experience a decrease in the percentage of task completion (B), and children under both the deadline and distraction condition will perform the task better than those under the sole distraction condition, but worse than under the sole deadline condition (C). Out of these Hypotheses, we found sufficient evidence to support A, but mixed results on B. Hypothesis C has some support, but more research must be completed to establish statistical significance.
The Influence of Deadline and Distraction on Children’s Task Performance
Dana Science Building, 2nd floor
Under the direction of Dr. Seunghee Han
A child’s capability is tied to the environment in which they learn. No child will learn in a vacuum; their environment becomes as much a part of their experience as the curriculum. Previous studies have found that classrooms with excess visual displays may draw eye movement away from the task (Hanley et al., 2017). Children also require external reminders in activities involving internal time regulation to generate the same level of accuracy (Mäntylä et al., 2007). How do we gauge just how much distraction can affect performance? Are we able to negate the effect of distraction by informing the child of an oncoming deadline? This observational study of ten children aged 7 - 12 years old introduced a visual/auditory distraction, as well as a deadline to a puzzle task, which revealed information about children’s cognitive processing and self-restraint in distracting environments. We formed three hypotheses of the interactive effects between deadline and distraction on children's performance: Children under the deadline condition will be able to complete a task better than they were able to with no deadline (A), children with the distraction condition will experience a decrease in the percentage of task completion (B), and children under both the deadline and distraction condition will perform the task better than those under the sole distraction condition, but worse than under the sole deadline condition (C). Out of these Hypotheses, we found sufficient evidence to support A, but mixed results on B. Hypothesis C has some support, but more research must be completed to establish statistical significance.