Effect of divergent self‐monitoring strategies on motor performance and emotion as a function of alternating task complexity

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of implementing different self‐monitoring (SM) strategies as a function of varying task complexity on a computer game, ‘Shufflepuck’. Self‐monitoring theory suggests that positive self‐monitoring (PSM) results in better performance for difficult tasks, whereas negative self‐monitoring (NSM) is preferable for easy tasks. When SM was tested under easy and complex task conditions, it was found that performance effectiveness was a function of matching appropriate task difficulty with the SM strategy. Unpaired t‐tests compared the first set of 100 trials (pre‐task) with the second set of 100 trials (post‐task) on a computer skills game requiring hand‐eye coordination. The results showed that subjects who changed from the difficult task/PSM condition to the easy task/PSM condition (different task, same SM strategy) performed significantly poorer (P < 0.001) than subjects who changed from the difficult task/PSM condition to the easy task/NSM condition (different task, different SM strategy). A second unpaired t‐test comparing the two sets of difference performance scores indicated that performance was significantly superior for subjects using the PSM than the NSM strategy while performing the difficult task (P < 0.05). That is, changing from the easy task/NSM condition to the difficult task/NSM condition produced poorer performance than changing from the easy task/NSM to the difficult task/PSM condition. In terms of subjects’ emotions, the use of NSM and PSM when performing easy and difficult tasks, respectively, resulted in markedly less negative affect (P < 0.01), but did not influence positive affect, on pre‐ and post‐task comparisons. Finally, correlations between affect and performance, based on pre‐ and post‐performance and affect scores, were moderate to high. Implications of the present results for slumps in sport performance are offered.

Keywords:

• Affect
• motor performance
• self‐monitoring
• self‐regulation
• task complexity