The Impact of Task-Related Information on Performance Variability

Abstract

The focus of this study was regulation/control. One hundred and fifty subjects participated in a laboratory experiment in which they were given varying amounts of task-related information, in the form of instructions, on how to complete an assembly procedure. This resulted in the subjects completing the experimental task with a low, moderate, or high degree of task information prescribed for them. Generally, the findings of the study demonstrated that subjects in the less-controlled experimental groups have considerably greater variability of performance times, while participants given maximum task information had only a minimum degree of variability in completion times. The findings suggest that as the amount and appropriate timing of task information is optimized, variability among individuals completing the task decreases.