The Effect of Interruption of Activity on Affect

Abstract

The successful therapeutic use of activities in occupational therapy is dependent on a thorough understanding of activity analysis including the degree to which the client values the activity. This study investigated one component of an activity, interruption, and the influence interruption of an activity had on affect as measured by three factors of the Osgood semantic differential. A comparison was made between an interrupted group and a non-interrupted group on how they felt about the product. The subjects were 30 Female non-occupational therapy students who participated in a stenciling activity making a greeting card. Data analysis indicated the interrupted group had significantly lower scores on the power (t = - 1.90, p = .03) and action (t = - 2.47, p = .01) scores of the Osgood ratings than did the noninterrupted group. Implications of this research to occupational therapy practice are discussed as well as suggestions for future research.