Relation of Task Difficulty to Persistence

Abstract

The present study was a replication and expansion of Eisenberger's 1992 model of learned industriousness which states that task persistence is determined by one's prior history with effort and reinforcement on previous tasks. He predicted a linear relationship between these factors. College students (32 women and 22 men) participated in this study which examined the relationship among seven levels of difficulty on a digit-array task and persistence on an unsolvable anagram task. Analysis indicated a quadratic relationship; at intermediate levels of difficulty and reinforcement, persistence was highest, and at low and high levels of difficulty and reinforcement, persistence declined. We attribute these findings to the effects of both learned industriousness and learned helplessness.