Psychometric Measures of Task Difficulty Under Varying Levels of Information Load

Abstract

Two experiments were performed to determine the efficiency of male and female subjects in estimating task difficulty and task performance relative to actual task performance. In experiment 1, three groups (N = 24) used one of three types of scales to rate either task difficulty or task performance on a four-choice discrimination task varied across 7 levels of information load. Correlations of .95, .89 and .85 were obtained between actual task performance and ratings of task performance, ratio ratings of task difficulty and category ratings of task difficulty respectively. In experiment two, two groups (N = 32) used either a ratio or category scale to rate task difficulty on each of four tasks: a four-choice discrimination task, a Sternberg target identification task, a random presentation of the four-choice or Sternberg task and the simultaneous presentation of the four-choice and Sternberg tasks. Each of the four tasks were equated in information load and varied across 7 levels. Analysis of variance indicated that the ratio ratings of task difficulty more accurately reflected actual task performance over all four tasks than did the category ratings of task difficulty. In both experiments no sex differences were noted in either task performance or task ratings.