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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Effects of Engagement Level on a Timing Task

May, Brandon
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1727796344150593

Abstract Details

2024, Master of Arts in Psychology, Cleveland State University, College of Arts and Sciences.
The ability to time one’s action is important as they progress through their day-to-day life because everything requires time, and one must be able to predict to some extent when events may occur so their actions are timed appropriately and accurately. By tuning the internal timekeeper mechanism, one may be able to strengthen their ability to predict and time their actions. Many factors could influence how the internal timekeeper is tuned, and I examined one of these factors in the current study: level of engagement with a finger-tapping timing task. Experimental groups were based on whether participants were more actively or passively engaged with the tapping task, depending on whether the participants were instructed to tap in time with a metronome during the initial familiarization period (active engagement) or just listen to the metronome during this period (passive engagement). Two different timing intervals (500ms & 2000ms) were also used to determine if there would be differences between groups at different time lengths between the metronome beats. I predicted that those more actively engaged with the task would perform better than those more passively engaged, particularly at the longer timing interval, because of the coordination of perceptual and motor information these participants experienced during the familiarization period, rather than just attending to the perceptual information. However, the results indicated that there were no significant differences in performance between groups at either timing interval. These findings suggest that it may not matter whether one is more actively or passively engaged with a simple task like the one used in this study in order for accurate and effective timing to take place.
Andrew Slifkin, PhD (Committee Chair)
Conor McLennan, PhD (Committee Member)
Albert Smith, PhD (Committee Member)
Kathleen Reardon, PhD (Committee Member)
Behavioral Psychology; Cognitive Psychology; Experimental Psychology; Psychology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • May, B. (2024). Effects of Engagement Level on a Timing Task [Master's thesis, Cleveland State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1727796344150593

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • May, Brandon. Effects of Engagement Level on a Timing Task. 2024. Cleveland State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1727796344150593.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • May, Brandon. "Effects of Engagement Level on a Timing Task." Master's thesis, Cleveland State University, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1727796344150593

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

csu1727796344150593
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© 2024, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Cleveland State University and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12