Abstract
Flow is a state of “optimal experience” that arises when skill and task demands match. Flow has been well studied in psychology using a range of self-report and experimental methods; with most research typically focusing on how Flow is elicited by a particular task. Here, we focus on how the experience of Flow changes during task skill development. We present a longitudinal experimental study of learning, wherein participants (N = 9) play a novel steering-game task designed to elicit Flow by matching skill and demand, and providing clear goals and feedback. Experimental design involves extensive in-depth measurement of behavior, physiology, and Flow self-reports over 2 weeks of 40 game trials in eight sessions. Here we report behavioral results, which are both strikingly similar and strong within each participant. We find that the game induces a near-constant state of elevated Flow. We further find that the variation in Flow across all trials is less affected by overall performance improvement than by deviation of performance from the expected value predicted by a power law model of learning.
Highlights
In many fields of human endeavor—such as music, art and sports—the skilful performance of a demanding task can elicit a state of “optimal experience” called Flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975)
When we examine Flow with fine granularity, we see that variation in Flow responses relates less to overall performance improvement, than it does to deviation of performance from the expected value predicted by a power law model of learning, with higher performance associated with higher Flow and lower performance with lower Flow
We report results that self-reported Flow in a novel, challenging, and engaging high-speed steering task relates to trial-by-trial task performance relative to the learning curve: “better than expected” trials have higher Flow scores, and “worse than expected” trials have lower scores
Summary
In many fields of human endeavor—such as music, art and sports—the skilful performance of a demanding task can elicit a state of “optimal experience” called Flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975). C3 the setting should provide unambiguous feedback on goal achievement When these conditions are met and the individual enters a mode of high performance, they may experience a set of phenomenological features characterizing “the Flow experience”: F1 total focus in the present moment, and concentration on what one is doing; F2 merging of action and awareness (“being one with the task”); F3 loss of reflective self-consciousness, a sense of effortlessness; F4 a sense of personal control and confidence in one’s skill; F5 positive affect, the activity is experienced as
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